@rhys15; Smart move IMHO.
The Polo has grown in size over the years and the current generation car isn’t that much smaller than the Golf. You lose out a little on luggage space and there are probably a few more pieces of hard plastic in the interior, but equipment levels are good and it’ll accommodate four average sized people without issue (five at a squeeze). Model for model it’s also quite a bit cheaper than the Golf; comparing list prices, the Polo GTI’s list price is 23% less than the list price of the cheapest Golf GTI, and based on discussions over on uk-polos.net forum, the typical lead time for a brand new Polo GTI is currently around 5-6 months compared to 12 months or longer for a performance Golf. From what I’ve not read, the latest Polo doesn’t seem to be affected by the many software issues that the Golf has suffered from either. The potential downside to the Polo is the limited engine range - either a 1.0 litre petrol with power output ranging from 80-110 ps, or a 2.0 litre 207ps in the GTI.
I‘ve owned my current Polo GTI Plus (a 2020 model which is current shape car but the pre-facelift version) since September 2020 and it’s been trouble free - the only trip back to the dealers was for its first service last September. Well equipped and performance is very good, as is fuel economy.
So for anyone who’s fed up waiting for their Golf or who is considering ordering a Golf but hasn’t done so yet, maybe the Polo would be a viable alternative?