Next car purchase following Mk7/7.5?

[willni]

BMW 330-340d or i, touring (or saloon if you're that way inclined), the only car that beats the golf on everything imo, except for easy parking and price. My GTI is nearly fully loaded and the mid-range m-sport G-series bmw's makes mine look dated, and with a selection of 6 cylinders that get great mpg it's a great move.

Not everyone wants a BMW of course but Mercedes are woeful and Audi are underpowered unless you go for an S4 or above which are rocketships.

I really like the TCR's but they don't have a 10-12k premium over a GTI pp, £2-4k maximum because how often will you be using that extra 45bhp? 1%? Maybe 3% of the time?

 

[Watts]

I have an aversion to any car that isn't manual, so feel that would be a deal-breaker for me anyway.

If you feel that strongly then why did you start this thread saying that a TCR was your top option? Given the above, it shouldn't have even featured?

[Meister]

I have an aversion to any car that isn't manual, so feel that would be a deal-breaker for me anyway.

If you feel that strongly then why did you start this thread saying that a TCR was your top option? Given the above, it shouldn't have even featured?

The TCR isn't the top option, it is the only option. In fact there aren't really any options! The thread is completely valid and has prompted some great discussion. The TCR is the least flawed option, but is highly flawed given the price difference! (As is everything haha).

[Yusee]

It has been a great thread which I’ve followed with interest.

Are there no good cars out there to replace the ageing mk7 golfs, or were they  just too good for the money (when people make these judgements, price has to be a factor)?

I had 2 Bmws before my golf, both 6 cylinder, both  rear wheel drive, both far more expensive than the golf and less enjoyable to drive. I wouldn’t go back to them.

[Guzzle]

I remember when the Mk8 first came out, it was almost universally disliked in varying degrees on here.

Yet somehow we have a very active Mk8 forum, with some former Mk7 / Mk7.5 drivers moving across.

I suppose what I'm saying, don't rule the Mk8 out purely on the basis of how it looks. Go and have a try, you might just surprise yourself.

[Yusee]

^ my thoughts exactly

Perfectly good looking car, does everything the brilliant mk7 did, and you can set the user interface up and forget about it.

The only important user interface is steering, gearstick and 3 pedals.

[Ceefeesh]

I remember when the Mk8 first came out, it was almost universally disliked in varying degrees on here.

Yet somehow we have a very active Mk8 forum, with some former Mk7 / Mk7.5 drivers moving across.

I suppose what I'm saying, don't rule the Mk8 out purely on the basis of how it looks. Go and have a try, you might just surprise yourself.

I agree with this. I moved from a 7.5 to the Mk8 recently. I felt cars had evolved and perhaps foolishly, I felt like I was being left behind. I wanted the new gen tech. I don’t regret it. Until recently I did not like the look of the Mk 8 and to some extent I was influenced by the motoring press and YouTubers. The reviews on YouTube struck me as generally very negative. I had not automatically decided to buy a Mk 8. I had seriously considered an A3, S3 and 128ti / 135. I found TR Hamza’s Mk 8 review was more positive and I went and looked at an Atlantic blue car but I left feeling underwhelmed. However, having looked at some of the  car models I considered, after 3 weeks I went back and looked at another Mk 8. I posted on this forum, took advice from the sages and after driving it, unaccompanied, I subsequently bought it. I thought the value in buying a Mk 8 compared to other marques was favourable. You know when you have found the car you want, remaining objective, listening to both heart and head.

I do miss some features of the 7.5 that are no longer fitted, as per my post on the Mk 8 section, ‘And it’s gone’. However, I have now lived with the car for around a month. I find the handling is exceptional, forgiving but accurate. On my 7.5 I changed 19” Santiagos to 18” Richmonds as I found the ride too harsh. My Mk 8 has 19” Adelaides which I assumed I would need to change too. I am not sure I will need to. Neither car was fitted with DCC.  There are also lots of familiar traits between the two marks. There is an inherited feel that has passed between them. I have adapted to the absence of buttons, the screens and menus. I have learned how to operate most necessary functions and now quite like the interface which has gone from being confusing and frustrating to being logical and accommodating. Volkswizard has a couple of great videos on the Mk 8 software that helped me to adapt, particularly how to turn off the lane assist with a push of the button on the indicator stalk followed by pushing the OK button. Thankfully, I can now switch it off in a second. The car now feels familiar and its VW roots are apparent and reassuring. The strange, new, ‘dull’ pattern of the upholstery, compared to the 7.5, has even grown on me. 

As Guzzle has commented, don’t accept the perception of others. I have found the car is still a great all rounder and I believe its performance, like for like, is as good if not better than its predecessor. I am once again enjoying owning the car and it’s familiar ambience and function. I have owned Mk 6, 7, 7.5 and now Mk 8 Golfs so I am very familiar with their feel through the years. Yes, it’s different to my Mk 7.5 which I really liked and I wish it had retained some of its features and kit, such as the illuminated sills and storage cubbies but the Mk 8 still generates that GTI feeling of contentment. I think it is a sharp looking car, particularly in my choice of moonstone which I think shows the lines of the car very well. I am glad I changed to the Mk 8 and I have added aluminium sill inserts to improve its quality feel and carried out other other small tweaks that I had made to the 7.5 that reinforce the continuity between the two. If it looks like a GTI, drives like a GTI and sounds like a (heavily filtered) GTI; it is a GTI.  In some aspects the progression of the Mk 8 is evident. I accept others may have a different opinion. The smile on my face, which my family comment is often absent, is back on my face every time I drive it. Isn’t that why we drive performance Golfs? 

[Hertsman]

See there is lot of comments to the TCR and its worth over a standard MK 7.5 and given my intention was to buy at end of this 3 year lease, have to agree it is way overpriced for the actual car it is, taking it out of my affordability bracket given other demands.

Cannot comment MK 7.5 GTI to TCR but can comment MK 7 R to TCR and aside from some lift in tech the experience of being in a MK 7x cabin is exactly the same, and its only when you really start to drive the TCR do you appreciate the increased engagement, as its basically a little lighter on its toes but keeping the R pace. Cannot imagine a MK 7.5 GTI being much less of an experience.

Absolutely love the look of my TCR, Pure Grey, Reifnitz Alloy and Akrapovic exhausts (a MY20 freebie) but aside from the Akrapovic it is just different colour and alloys with some added gloss trim. So again, I get there is maybe some lift in what is being asked for over the standard MK 7.5 GTI as there is more BHP, R brakes, plus the exclusivity, but have seen them at price of this car when it was purchased 3 years ago and its too steep to justify.

Think some of my problem, is Golf fatigue, having spent 9 years in the same cabin pretty much, I am maybe not appreciating the TCR cabin experience as someone jumping into it for the first time, as I sat in a MK 6 GTI a few months ago and really really liked it, felt a quality place to be in, which must be down to it being a new experience.

I am extremely sad to be seeing my TCR go, someone is going to be getting a really well kept car once its been through auction and onto forecourts but the prices are exorbitant and unjustifiable, and even with the exclusiveness can see quite a drop in them in a couple of years when you think prices will settle as backlogs on new cars ease and forecourts get flooded with second hand options.

As previously mentioned, my move is to a BMW i28Ti which from limited test drives seemed to stack up well to experience seeking (GTI like) and the interior is for me a big leap above the TCR (which is no surprise really as designed in 2019 and now has the addition of the digital cockpit and previously option media system as standard)

Might return to the MK 7.5 GTI (maybe TCR) as second car in a few years, there is a lot out there and you would think when prices do settle, could be some good deals, but not now, at mid £30,000, its too much when consider the BMW i28Ti was £35150 new.

[Adam T7]

For what it’s worth, I did a 300 mile round trip last weekend in my GTI with my close mate who has owned some amazing cars over the years (new Evo’s, Porsche 911’s, M3’s, R4’s) and he commented a GTI is all you really need.
Underlined my view on not changing. I do tiny miles now so car still feels new.

[P6GTD]

I change my car at around 2 years but am now in year 4 of my GTI 245 and cannot see me changing in the foreseeable.
But, it’s always fun to dream “what if I HAD to change tomorrow”.
Believe it or not, I have always loved Alfas (it’s that badge!), and I have a guilty secret yearning for a nearly new Giulia 280 Veloce.
Makes a change from BMW, Audi and Merc.
But I wouldn’t buy a new one as I suspect the drop in value is quite savage.
It’s a bit left field which is why I am compulsively drawn.
But…..it’s just a daydream, I’m hanging on to what I’ve got. Arguably the most elegantly understated performance car on the road.