Buying a New Mk8/8.5

[Wolfie71]

Hi there
I am new to the forum so pleasae have patience if this has been discussed before.
My last Golf GTI was a Mark 2 Edition One G60 and i have been surprised by the negative comments made about the current Mark of GTI.  I am a keen reader of Car magazine and the overall feeling by the journalist(s)_ is that is IS a good car. I am keen to buy one, so why is there such negativity by so many GTI enthusiasts and other so called car enthusiasts?
I look forward to your contributions....

[fredgroves]

The Mk8 had some features that one person hated and everyone else jumped on the bandwagon.

It genuinely had a whole pile of software bugs that took vw far too long to fix but they did get there in the end.

Driving wise it's always been far better than the problems IMHO.

The MK8.5 is supposed to be an improvement but not one big enough to make me swap... Unless maybe it's an ED50... But probably not as the whole new car thing is out of my pay reach at the moment. An ED50 will be something like 45k and with a couple of grand tax on top and 600 a year road tax.

Not worth it for me.

Eying up a Renault 5 ev at the moment.

[SRGTD]

Eying up a Renault 5 ev at the moment.

If I was thinking of going electric just now, the Renault 5 would very likely be top of my list; IMHO a very good modern interpretation of the original R5’s design, well equipped, decent value for money and decent range for a small EV, and Renault aren’t afraid to be bold with paint colour choices either. The R5 also comes with a heat pump as standard. Anticipated very high demand is likely to help residuals too.

I’m fortunate that I’d be able to charge at home and these days my typical journey is around 30-60 miles, so I’m probably seen as an ideal candidate for an EV. With the R5, the main criticism by motoring reviewers seems to be the less than generous rear passenger legroom - that wouldn’t be an issue for me as I hardly ever carry rear seat passengers.

Apologies for going off topic………..

[valentino]

Bought my first Mk8 when they first came out. Bought my second Mk8 just a year ago. Great cars. Performance and economy. Need i say more?

[Wolfie71]

Many thanks.  Are there any extras that are worthwhile?

[valentino]

Both My MK8s were standard as they left the factory.. Good enough for me without extras

[JoeGTI]

The MK7 generation, and particularly the 7.5 (facelift) was a particularly loved iteration of the GTI. It did everything really well and the looks inside and out were on the money. A 7.5 GTI is still a really good looking car in the right spec!

The MK8 got a bit of a lukewarm reception... the looks aren't quite as good (to most people's eyes anyway) and VW went "full digital", replacing physical buttons with touch screens and haptic buttons. The software was very ill thought out, many cars suffering from bugs, cars plagued with bings and bongs and dealers clueless about fixing them. There's probably not many MK8's that haven't had at least one new steering wheel fitted...

I think a lot of the negativity around them comes from YouTubers (as Fred alluded to above), who have the car for 20 minutes and b!tch and moan about the steering buttons or the touchscreen. But if you own the car and get used to it over a few weeks, these YouTuber issues are non-issues.

I had a MK8 Clubsport for 3 years and it was largely a pleasure to own, I may have been lucky but I didn't have any of the software issues. It was probably the most reliable VW I've owned, as I don't think I was ever back to the dealers for warranty work.

I recently replaced it with a new 8.5 and I'm especially delighted with the new car. I think they've really nailed it with this one. The iffy styling elements of the MK8 are much more resolved in the new car imo. And the new software / infotainment screen is on another planet in terms of usability, ease of use, etc.

In terms of desirable options, it's very much personal choice, but I think most agree that the standard 18" wheels are absolutely gash, so you gotta upgrade those to one of the 19" options. That would be my main dealbreaker anyway.

After that, I'd strongly recommend looking for a car with DCC (adaptive chassis). It does make a big difference.

In my new car I opted for the pano roof and I love it! Such a cool feature, delighted I spec'd it.

[Wolfie71]

Many thank for such a full report.  I will take your ideas with me when I visit the dealership.

[Exonian]

Welcome Wolfie71 
I’m impressed that you owned an Edition 1 G60, I used to love seeing those at VW shows back in the day and always wanted one. Are you UK based or ‘overseas’?

I’m on my second mk8, I had a Clubsport for 3 years and have had an R for 16 months.
Aside from the previously mentioned issues with bongs resulting in a new steering wheel my cars have both been pretty reliable. An odd spurious fault crops up now and again then goes away as suddenly as it appeared, but no dealer visits for warranty work as yet 🤞🏻
Both of mine have suffered low speed squeaking from the suspension at times but not enough for me to book the car in or for that matter even mention it at service time.

I don’t think there are any ‘must have’ options as the cars are well specced anyway.
If you like gadgets you can easily get carried away on the option list, but I’d not consider any of them essential. Others would disagree no doubt.

In fact if I were buying a new 8.5 today I’d be incredibly pushed to pick one trim level over the other never mind which colours or options to tick!