Many years ago, a man in Germany came up with the idea of a “People’s Car”, which was pretty much the only smart idea Adolf ever had. However, he did make a wise choice in vehicle, the famous Volkswagen Beetle/Bug, which was a robust little car that offered fairly decent transportation for a family of four, and was pretty economical to run. They sold in the millions, and even today, it’s pretty hard to find anyone who hasn’t at least sat in one!

Now let’s zip forward a few decades and see if we can come up with the modern-day interpretation of that idea.

Well that was simple enough because I’ve just handed back the keys to what I view as the perfect candidate, once again from Volkswagen, the 2010 Golf TDI wagon.

Forget the hype you’ve heard about the future being driven by electrically-powered vehicles. They’re all well and good for someone living within the city limits, but they’re not much use for those of us who live and commute from the suburbs each day. No, what we require is an economical mode of transportation, preferably diesel, capable of accepting vast amounts of mileage, and priced not to break the piggy bank. We also, as active Canadians with a reputation for enjoying outdoor sports/activities of various forms, could do with a vehicle which can haul more than just a bag of groceries.

What we need is the new Volkswagen 2010 Golf TDI wagon.

By now you’ve probably noticed a slight resemblance to last years Jetta wagon. Well spotted, because that’s pretty much what this vehicle is, simply a 2009 Jetta wagon with the new Golf face added to the front and a few other niceties thrown in. The switch to the Golf nameplate was basically a marketing move as all Golf and Jetta models have shared the same platform for several years now. However, this has allowed the company to reduce the prices somewhat, which means that this practical little wagon now serves up even more value for the money.

I actually like the look of the new Golf and in some ways prefer it to that of the previous Jetta wagon, so this idea works for me.

The range starts with the 2.5L 4 cyl gasoline-powered Trendline model at just $22,675 (that’s an $800 price reduction from the 2009 Jetta Wagon). Sadly though, to move into the fuel-efficient diesel-powered wagons, you’ll now need to purchase the mid-grade Comfortline model as the base diesel Trendline is no longer available. However, the company has knocked $1400 from the price of the Comfortline to make this slightly more digestible (now just $26,875). The top-of-the-line Golf Wagon Highline has also been given a reduction of $1200 which reduces its price to $30,475.

Personally, I feel that the mid-range TDI Comfortline offers the best value for money, and I would always recommend the diesel-powered units over the gasoline versions. For a start there’s the great fuel economy you’ll receive (6.7 L/100 km City and 4.6 L/100 km Hwy). In fact, over the course of a week, my tester returned an average of 5.4L/100kms. Think about that for a moment, you’d be lucky to get much more than that out of a Smart car or a Prius hybrid, especially when trying to keep up with hwy traffic and this is a fairly decent sized wagon to boot!

That’s just one of the things I like about diesel-powered vehicles. Another is their longevity, because diesel power plants typically last longer than gasoline units so you can pile the miles on without concern. Then of course there’s the torque which you get from diesel power plants. This is basically the feeling of thrust which you get when you push down on the accelerator pedal. Now I’m not saying that this little diesel wagon will be able to take on the likes of a Chevy Corvette, but I think buyers will be pleasantly surprised by the power on tap for overtaking etc, especially at hwy cruising speeds.

Along with the new front Golf front end styling, the interior has also been upgraded for 2010 with more/better soft-touch materials, and if you enjoy playing with a manual transmission, then you’ll be pleased to hear that the old 5-speed unit has now been replaced with a 6-speed.

Of course, this wouldn’t be a wagon review if I didn’t mention the cargo carrying capacity. With the 60/40 folding rear seats in position, there’s 32.8 cubic ft of load-lugging space available, and should you fold down those seats, this jumps to a whopping 67 cubic ft. Now that’s a lot of cargo room for a vehicle as frugal to run as this, and for those who like to load up and head off to the lake, there’s also a large roof capable of taking a couple of canoes/kayaks etc.

Basically, I see this as the perfect all-round Canadian family vehicle. Ok, so it’s not a honking great SUV with four-wheel-drive capabilities, but trust me, throw a decent set of winter tires onto one of these and you’ll be surprised how well it’ll handle winter. Then of course, with the money you’ll save from ditching that gas-guzzling SUV, you’ll be able to take the family on one or two nice winter vacations to Disneyland!

In summing up, we started out looking for the “People’s car of the 21^st century” and although the 2010 Golf wagon from Volkswagen might not fit everyone’s personal lifestyle or taste, given half-a-chance, I feel that it would actually suit most of us. Being honest, I’d seriously consider purchasing one as my next vehicle. Its bang-up-to-date stylish, comfortable, cheap to run, and family-budget affordable. What’s not to like about that?

Well done Volkswagen, the Golf range simply gets better and better all the time!