Volkswagen Golf SE cars

What is the Volkswagen Golf SE?

Volkswagen has offered endless trim levels on the Golf over the years, but the SE is an example of a well-thought-out and affordable version.

Although VW stopped offering the SE trim toward the end of the Mk7 model’s time on sale, it dates back to the Mk4 model, which means there’ll be no shortage of Volkswagen Golf SE cars for sale.

While there may be more expensive versions of the Golf available, the SE still gets access to many of Volkswagen’s popular engines, so you won’t miss out.

– Read our Volkswagen Golf review

What are the Volkswagen Golf SE specs?

When the Golf SE Mk7 first became available, you could either get it with a 122hp 1.4-litre petrol engine, a 105hp 1.6-litre diesel, or a 150hp 2.0-litre diesel.

By the time it went off sale, it was also available with some of VW’s newer petrol engines, including a 115hp 1.0-litre engine and a 130hp 1.5-litre unit.

A few revised diesels also went on sale, including a 115hp 1.6-litre diesel engine which should be able to do around 60mpg on a long run.

Used Volkswagen Golf SE features and equipment

In the case of the Mk7 Golf SE, you get things like air-conditioning, a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, and even adaptive cruise control.

Even previous M6 models come with automatic lights and wipers, alloy wheels and regular cruise control.

While there’s no high-tech digital instrument cluster like on newer Mk8 models, there is a small screen between the speedometer and rev counter that shows a digital readout of things like your speed or fuel economy.

Where the Golf SE sits in the Volkswagen range

SE is a mid-spec model that sits above S and BlueMotion variants, offering a step up in quality without too much of a price hike.

SE Nav, with a slightly better sat-nav, was also introduced, as well as higher-spec GT and R-Line variants.

Beyond these, there are performance GTI, GTD, and GTE models, plus an all-out Golf R and an electric e-Golf, but they’re all generally considered to be slightly separate from the core Golf range.