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Not so much a big jump, I used to drive an avensis estate as a company car before switching jobs some months back, so had to pick something cheap up which lead me to the getting the corsa. Im used to having an estate, albeit a larger one then im currently looking for.
Id argue that though the space gain from golf to small estate is marginal, it is more than noticeable and handy. I wack my bikes in the car, canoe on top (no a fan of overhang, personal thing I guess) bits and bobs such as tillers, rotavators and mowers to climbing gear, bouldering crash mats and people. The luxury for me of having an estate being able to fit larger amounts of gear in the boot without having to collapse the rear seats or spill out onto them, which plays in turn when you want to carry stuff and also have people in the car.
Golf GTI is sadly out of my sub 11k, 45k milage frame, at least for a newer car. Not to mention sky high insurance, and luckily, Im far far away from the big smoke. The best part of the UK, the North ;)
StunningJam-
I ended up buying a Fabia Estate to satisfy the similar need to carry bikes / climbing gear etc. I also bought a 1.6 TDI which has been great, 20 quid to tax and between 60 and 75mpg on a run.
My Dad worked for Skoda for over 10 years, i used to like borrowing his Octavia Estate and later his Yeti was really good too.
I'd not buy another diesel in hindsight, i don't do anywhere near enough mileage to justify it really, we only do about 8000 miles a year in that car and a petrol would be better.
mcmyk
That's quite a big jump. What do you need all the extra space for?
I like the idea of an estate, just because I always loved the old Audi 80 estates. In reality though most don't seem worth it. Passats have a serious amount of space, but imo most others don't seem to have much more extra usable space than a Golf.
Why not a Golf GTI?
If you live/will drive in London I wouldn't buy anything older than 2010-ish or diesel. Unless it was a fun car - like a sports car or lifted pickup.