Originally Posted by Big Andy

The Auris did indeed narrowly beat the previous model Golf in an Autobild test. The test was between two 2.0 litre diesel models and cheaper price of the Auris was the deciding factor. Autobild acknowledged that had both vehicles been the same price then the Golf would have won. There's nothing wrong with the Auris - it's a perfectly good car (and built in the UK) and I'm no great fan of the Golf, but in terms of interior quality/ambience, handling and engine choice it is superior. 5 mins in either will confirm that.

Whether the Auris warrants 2.5 stars and the Golf, 4 stars, is subjective. To sum up Autocar rates the Auris as "acceptable, average in key areas, but disappoints" and the Golf as "very good, very competitive in key areas, competitive in secondary respects", which is probably about right - bearing in mind that rating was given when the Auris was first released and since then the engines have been upgraded. I do think that now the Auris would score higher, in particular the hybrid, and I do think it'll be more reliable.

In fact, here's a good review of the Auris:

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/road-tes...-auris-hybrid/