Golf 7-5 V. Golf 8 cost cutting

[fredgroves]

I think my next Golf is an Audi, it has gas struts, dash buttons and looks better. Sorry VW.

And if its anything like the last A3 its about 6k more expensive than the Golf.

I'm sure I could have someone hand build me a custom gas bonnet strut for that.

[ub7rm]

And for balance

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fYcMJUfIf-g

[baka]

Like a not insignificant amount of people, I can't lift a heavy bonnet without a gas strut. one of the reasons I always bought a VAG car. I'm not buying a car if I can't even fill up the screenwash.

Not that I would buy one anyway, the whole new Golf/A3/Leon/Octavia line up is pretty hideous and really naff, inside and out. I can see myself getting a late 7.5 when the time comes and keeping it for a very long time.

[andykram]

I have to say I like the external look of the Mk8 - I've seen one out and about and thought it looked pretty smart. I've not had a chance to sit inside one though so can't comment from direct experience. However, from reading several reviews as well as watching that You Tube comparison, these are my thoughts :_
1. It is clear that the Golf (and VW in general) are downgrading the quality of their interiors. There seems to be lots more hard touch plastic than there used to be. The T Roc started that trend and other models seem to be following. Can you imagine spending £40k on a T Roc R and having a hard plastic dashboard. I'm sorry but that isn't good enough in a car costing that much.
2. Whilst reserving judgement until I've actually tried it, I'm not convinced by this touch control stuff. I'm quite capable of using touch screen gadgets but normally I'm not using my phone/tablet at 50mph whilst trying to steer a car in a straight line. On the wife's Mk7 R it's so easy to change the temperature and stuff like that with a simple knob or button. It comes down to a simple matter of safety - am I likely to drift into the kerb or into an oncoming car whilst I'm searching for a slider or through some menus? The idrive on my 3 series is a doddle to use and I can twiddle the knob and press it to get through menus without taking my eyes off the road. Consequently, I'm more likely to stick with BMW in a few months time when the PCP is up rather than go back to VW because it's safer to operate.
3. Price. I've said this before, if you're going to charge premium money it has to look and feel premium. Otherwise, why bother paying the premium? I suspect the GTi and the R will be well over £30k, possibly nearer £40k and that's a big ask for what is still only a Golf. I have sat in the new 1 series which is admittedly a bit Marmite in the looks department but that does feel premium and high quality inside.
So all in all, a mixed bag for me. Having said that I've been critical of VW before and ended up with another so I know I will consider one!! And you'll all call me a hypocrite when I end up with another GTi or R - the photos of the new R look really smart!!!!!

[Moots]

All this cost cutting, but none of it is being passed on to the customer. My previous GTI was just over £30k, the new GTI looks like its going to come in at about £34k, if thats the case I’ll keep my Current mk7.5 and look at an Audi or something else.

[fredgroves]

You do know that the cost of making the car is not just the cost of the parts right? If you don't try to stay on top of production costs you either lose margin or have to keep putting the selling price up. Taking out items from the build is one way of trying to fight inflation.

The current prices of the mk8 are roughly in line with the equivalent price of the mk7s from earlier this year. If you say its more than you paid for yours then that's because your car is several years old...

Car prices increase every year...

If you want a cheaper car, you won't find it at audi either. Those tend to run at about six thousand more for the same spec as a gti...

[king monkey]

Having come from an S3 to the R I can say that the interior build quality and general materials used in the Audi are much better than the Vw.

On finance, I wouldn’t be surprised if the Audi is cheaper as the S3 was significantly lower in the monthly payments than the R was before I paid it off.

That said, I much prefer the Golf. I don’t expect a lot to change with the next generation.

As for the T-Roc, my impressions from a friends car are that the plastics are poor in places but the dash is certainly not hard. Equivalent to a Golf on the top of the dash. The rest more like I’m expecting the Mk8 to be like. Not so good!

[SRGTD]

@king monkey; the T-Roc I had as a courtesy car earlier this year when my car was being serviced had no soft touch plastics on the dash. The top section of the dash has a ‘grained’ finish to the plastic - the same as that on the soft touch dash in the Golf - but it was definitely made from hard scratchy plastic.

Check out some of the reviews of the T-Roc on YouTube and you’ll see most of the reviewers comment on this. In the Carwow video review of the most expensive T-Roc (the R model), Mat Watson highlights the poor quality interior plastics and at 7min 35sec you can tell the dash top is hard scratchy plastic when he runs his fingernails over it. Link to Carwow T-Roc R review below;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwKLbiFEg0

At least VW have retained soft touch plastics for many of the touch points in the interior of the mk8 Golf.

[Guzzle]

Golf 8 has much better interior plastics than the T-Roc. The T-Roc I sat in at the dealers was hard scratchy plastics everywhere. In fairness it seemed reasonably well put together, but the materials are poor. Golf 8 is pretty similar to Golf 7.5, the cost cutting is incremental.

[king monkey]

@king monkey; the T-Roc I had as a courtesy car earlier this year when my car was being serviced had no soft touch plastics on the dash. The top section of the dash has a ‘grained’ finish to the plastic - the same as that on the soft touch dash in the Golf - but it was definitely made from hard scratchy plastic.

Check out some of the reviews of the T-Roc on YouTube and you’ll see most of the reviewers comment on this. In the Carwow video review of the most expensive T-Roc (the R model), Mat Watson highlights the poor quality interior plastics and at 7min 35sec you can tell the dash top is hard scratchy plastic when he runs his fingernails over it. Link to Carwow T-Roc R review below;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XuwKLbiFEg0

At least VW have retained soft touch plastics for many of the touch points in the interior of the mk8 Golf.

Interesting. I seem to remember the top of the dash being ok from my friends T-Roc but obviously I’m wrong. Tbf I am most of the time! I know the plastics in general aren’t great but obviously not sat in a mk8 so can’t make a comparison.