Volkswagen Golf Mk7, Mk7
The generation where the Golf got lighter, quieter and considerably better, and the one most people should be shopping for now.
Overview
The Mk7 is the hatchback Volkswagen Golf, built 2012–2019 and facelifted in 2017. 4 standard engines are documented here plus 1 GTI/R model, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €5,000–€18,000, and 0 of the 4 carry a risk level of 4 or 5; the facelift cars sit at a premium over otherwise identical pre-facelift ones. The 1.2 TSI CJZA is both the cheapest way in, from €6,500, and the lowest-risk engine of the range, which makes it the obvious starting point. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.
Volkswagen Golf hatchback (Mk7) · photo Volkswagen GOLF VII TSI front by Tokumeigakarinoaoshima · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons
| Body style | hatchback | Production | 2012–2019 |
| Platform siblings | Mk7 Variant wagon | Facelift (LCI) | 2017 |
Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 2012–2016
The 4 variants sold before the 2017 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.
| Badge↕ | Engine | Fuel | Years↕ | Power↑ | Torque↕ | Risk↕ | Issues | Price band↕ | Good buy↕ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 TSI | CJZA | petrol | 2012–2016 | 105 PS | 175 Nm | R2 | 3 | €5,000–€12,500 | €6,500 | Buy |
| 1.6 TDI | CLHA | diesel | 2012–2016 | 110 PS | 250 Nm | R2 | 4 | €5,500–€14,000 | €7,250 | Strong buy |
| 1.4 TSI | CZEA | petrol | 2013–2016 | 150 PS | 250 Nm | R2 | 3 | €6,500–€16,000 | €8,500 | Strong buy |
| 2.0 TDI | CRBC | diesel | 2012–2016 | 150 PS | 320 Nm | R2 | 4 | €6,500–€16,500 | €8,500 | Buy |
Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2017–2019
The 4 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.
4 variants from the facelift on, carrying a real market premium of roughly 9% over an otherwise identical pre-facelift car. Variants appearing in both tables were sold either side of the changeover, the build month decides which one you're looking at, not the model year.
| Badge↕ | Engine | Fuel | Years↕ | Power↑ | Torque↕ | Risk↕ | Issues | Price band↕ | Good buy↕ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.2 TSI | CJZA | petrol | 2017–2017 | 105 PS | 175 Nm | R2 | 3 | €5,450–€13,650 | €7,100 | Buy |
| 1.6 TDI | CLHA | diesel | 2017–2019 | 110 PS | 250 Nm | R2 | 4 | €6,000–€15,250 | €7,900 | Strong buy |
| 1.4 TSI | CZEA | petrol | 2017–2019 | 150 PS | 250 Nm | R2 | 3 | €7,100–€17,450 | €9,300 | Strong buy |
| 2.0 TDI | CRBC | diesel | 2017–2019 | 150 PS | 320 Nm | R2 | 4 | €7,100–€18,000 | €9,300 | Buy |
Market availability varied by country; check the engine code stamped on the block rather than the badge on the boot. · Compare every engine side by side →
GTI/R models, separate category
Listed apart because they share a bodyshell with the range and little else. Their prices are excluded from the range figures on this page.
GTI and R models share a shell with the range and little else. They're listed apart so their prices don't distort the ordinary range.
Prices above are for GTI/R cars only and aren't included in the range figures quoted elsewhere on this page.
Model-year availability
Which engines were on sale in which year, from the year ranges in the variant records. Availability varied by country.
Rating map, price against risk
Good-buy price plotted against risk level for every standard engine, so the value corner is visible at a glance.
Every standard engine in the chassis, plotted at its good-buy price against its risk level. Cheap and low-risk is the top-left; expensive and fragile is the bottom-right. M cars are excluded, they would stretch the price axis and tell you nothing about the rest.
Prices across the range
Where the money sits across the whole chassis. Every figure here is an illustrative placeholder, not a sourced market sample.
Every standard engine on one euro axis: the bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile of asking prices, the tick is the median and the green marker is the good-buy figure. GTI/R cars are excluded; they sit an order of magnitude above the rest.
Every standard engine · cheapest first · 1.6 TDI CLHA highlighted as best value
at or under the good buy · good buy · median · bar spans the 10th–90th percentile
Chassis-wide issues, every engine inherits these
Faults recorded against the bodyshell and running gear rather than one engine, so every variant on this page inherits them.
Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 5 times: GTI/R cars included, since the bodyshell and electronics are shared.
Buying summary
Our read on the chassis, built on the records above rather than added to them.
Best value: 1.6 TDI. It's economical to a fault and the least stressed engine in the range. Best petrol: 1.4 TSI, and the ACT cylinder-deactivation version is the one to find. Two things to check on any of them: whether the water pump and thermostat housing have been done, because they leak on this engine family, and whether a dry-clutch DSG has had its service. The GTI is the quick one and it's genuinely good, though it has been modified more often than any other car here.
Cheapest and dearest in this chassis
The ends of the range by good-buy price. Useful for sanity-checking anything you're quoted.
Lowest entry price
1.2 TSI CJZA : from €5,000, risk 2
1.6 TDI CLHA : from €5,500, risk 2
1.4 TSI CZEA : from €6,500, risk 2
Lowest risk
1.2 TSI CJZA : risk 2, good buy at €6,500
1.6 TDI CLHA : risk 2, good buy at €7,250
1.4 TSI CZEA : risk 2, good buy at €8,500