All that said, the interior of my friend's base '18 wagon was a lot nicer than the interior of the base '17 hatch I rented.
What was the difference?
Leather steering wheel, nicer dash trim, better infotainment.
I think the Tendline had and option package (Convenience I think) which added the leather steering wheel among other things. For 2019, it's seems like it's standard on Comfortline which now is the base trim (I was wrong in an earlier post when I said Comfortline was removed. It's the Trendline which is gone for FY19)
My wagon (2018 Trendline AWD MT) has a leather wheel but that might be a wagon vs hatch packaging thing.
I think the review is pretty spot on. It's a good car with a versatile lineup. I really like mine.
I LOVE the covered backup camera. I know it'll break eventually and I'll happily pay to fix it.
AWD is great - I've had lots of fun with it and I think it'll take a lot to get stuck now.
Fuel efficiency isn't great but isn't awful. My lifetime average has been in the 8 l/100km range, with lots of city driving. Highway trips are like 6.5l/100 km.
If I was buying today I'd be intrigued by the Corolla Hatch (will likely be more reliable and will sip fuel in comparison) but I think the golf is a very competent car.
One thing the car excels at compared to the other cars I've driven in its class is that it's nice and quiet. No droning on the highway, and you can have a conversation at a normal volume. Probably half as loud as my old fit. Japanese cars in particular let a lot of wind noise in the car at higher speeds.