Went to look at one of these today to help my mum out. It was a 2.0 TDI, though.
It's stupidly quiet compared to my ageing Peugeot HDI engine and still much quieter than the 1.9TDI in my dad's Skoda. Common Rail technology has come a long way seeing as my HDI is a CR engine.
The Golf is so much nicer to sit in than any other car we've looked at though, from a material point of view. We've looked at the Ford Focus, Alfa Romeo Giulietta, VW Polo and a few others and the Golf has come out on top every time. Apart from interior style where the Alfa Romeo was the best, but the materials weren't.
It's a high possibility my mum might trade her Polo in for the Golf in the next few days. She's always been a VW Golf person, she went for a Polo because she thought it would just be a smaller Golf but now after less than two years she wants back in with a proper Golf.