I love the MK 8 Golf, BUT......

[rosco1407]

There are 3 things that bug me off the top of my head right now about my MK 8 R Line....
1. No ability to toggle Lane Assist off permanently
2. When you nip onto the shop and back out; unless you leave the engine running (not advised!) The Drive Mode defaults back to D!
3. No cheap simple cover for the drinks cup holder bit like there was on the MK 7!

Do think the MK 9 if it comes will be electric, I have drove MK6, MK7 and MK7.5. Believe this MK 8 will be my last. Mk7.5 will be my favourite!

Any recent gripes you have folks have with the MK8? Who agrees with my few? Cheers!

 

[SRGTD]

@rosco1407; I’ve owned previous generations of the Golf (I’ve owned VW’s for over 20 years). I don’t have a mk8 and sadly I wouldn’t buy one; very good dynamically and a great driver’s car but the following factors would steer me towards another (non-VAG) brand when the time comes to change my current car;

• I’m not a fan of the ‘everything touchscreen’ approach, although I appreciate it’s not only VW who have gone down this route. However, IMHO there’s a balance to be struck between user-friendly physical controls and functions accessed via a touchscreen and that balance is lacking in the mk8.
• the cost cutting measures compared to the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf - e.g. no gas bonnet strut, no sliding cup holder cover, no lower dash storage cubby near the driver’s knee, no illumination for the heater and volume controls, removal of physical controls, the glovebox no longer has a felt lining (there are probably other cost cutting measures too). If the mk8 is an owner’s first Golf, then they won’t be aware of omissions / downgrades such as this these. However, they will be apparent to someone moving from a mk7 / mk7.5 to a mk8 and may make the mk8 feel less of a quality product compared to previous generations.
• looks are subjective I know, and although the mk8 is unmistakably a Golf, IMHO it’s not a great looker; hopefully that’ll be rectified with the mk8.5 facelift.
• the big one for me is the software. Although many of the software-related bugs and gremlins have been fixed, there are some that are still present after numerous software updates, and some that were fixed seem to reappear. Some mk8 Golf owners on other forums who are on the latest software version are getting multiple persistent ‘bongs’ and false error warnings, sometimes lasting for entire journeys. Unacceptable IMHO, considering the mk8 has been on sale for around three years. VW have had plenty of time to sort out these issues.

The above is just my opinion and I dare say there are many mk8 owners who are very happy with their cars.

As for the mk9 - IMHO it’ll almost certainly be an EV.

 

[M|W]

I agree with SRGTD, in particular regarding the software bugs. I got the car August 2020, and it took VW two years to take it from nightmare to acceptable, but not perfect.

The feature I miss the most is the ability to make travel assist sticky, so it re-engages when I re-engage cruise control.

The worst bug is the car’s tendency to suddenly detect and break for imaginary bends and even the occasional roundabout on the motorway.

 

[M|W]

The satnav has two options that can be turned off.
1) speed signs - this slows the ACC down at speed signs - it can pick inappropriate signs.
2) road layout - this slows the ACC down at bends and roundabouts. It also has the disconcerting behaviour of slowing down on the motorway because the car thinks it's getting off the slip and getting back on.

Thanks for mentioning that.
1) I keep that turned off. It also picks up speed limits from the satnav, and those are wildly inaccurate in my area.
2) I have that turned on. The adaptive cruise control does an excellent job slowing down when approaching actual intersections and roundabouts. So I chose to live with the faults rather than loosing the function. But I would still like VW to address the faults.

In any case, my next car is now on its way. It is another brand and has similar functions. It will be interesting to see how well that does.

 

[tos]

It takes about 6 months if you correct speed limit info to map:
https://mapcreator.here.com/

Of course you must have We connect plus, for online map updates...

 

[M|W]

It takes about 6 months if you correct speed limit info to map:
https://mapcreator.here.com/

Of course you must have We connect plus, for online map updates...

Thanks, that might be worth a try.

 

[floraur]

Where are my pockets?
Where are the other buttons?
What happened with climate controls?
I don't like many things... too many I guess!

 

[C0TT1S]

A lot of these gripes will be replaced and/or rectified in the facelift 8.5, the overwhelming feedback from customers is just to loud for Volkswagen to ignore. I’ve come from a 7.5 and I agree the 8 doesn’t have the same level of quality but it’s still not to be sniffed at. Some times progression requires adaption and after a few weeks of ownership I’m used to the changes.

 

[floraur]

They will bring back the physical buttons on the while, but I don't think this is where the problem lays... I want big changes on infotainment area, clima, volume. Nothing will be changed from this list.
We can see what they are thinking at, by looking at the ID7.

 

[C0TT1S]

No i agree you won’t see a change to the infotainment system that will just be a carry over screen from the Tiguan and Passat but other areas will change. I won’t expect a huge amount of change with the 8.5 being a 24MY and the golf lasting till 2030. I would expect to see a 8.75 as well but the trend for no buttons will stay firm with VW now.

 

[Maturedriver]

Thanks for mentioning that.
1) I keep that turned off. It also picks up speed limits from the satnav, and those are wildly inaccurate in my area.
2) I have that turned on. The adaptive cruise control does an excellent job slowing down when approaching actual intersections and roundabouts. So I chose to live with the faults rather than loosing the function. But I would still like VW to address the faults.

In any case, my next car is now on its way. It is another brand and has similar functions. It will be interesting to see how well that does.

Don’t be such a tease. What new car have you ordered?

 

[Silverstoned]

There are 3 things that bug me off the top of my head right now about my MK 8 R Line....
1. No ability to toggle Lane Assist off permanently
2. When you nip onto the shop and back out; unless you leave the engine running (not advised!) The Drive Mode defaults back to D!
3. No cheap simple cover for the drinks cup holder bit like there was on the MK 7!

Do think the MK 9 if it comes will be electric, I have drove MK6, MK7 and MK7.5. Believe this MK 8 will be my last. Mk7.5 will be my favourite!

Any recent gripes you have folks have with the MK8? Who agrees with my few? Cheers!

What part of the world are you in? I disabled my lane assist on day 1 and it has never returned. I can't disagree with you on the other 2 things, but to be honest I don't really miss/need a cupholder cover.

 

[Silverstoned]

@rosco1407;

• the cost cutting measures compared to the mk7 / mk7.5 Golf - e.g. no gas bonnet strut, no sliding cup holder cover, no lower dash storage cubby near the driver’s knee, no illumination for the heater and volume controls, removal of physical controls, the glovebox no longer has a felt lining (there are probably other cost cutting measures too). If the mk8 is an owner’s first Golf, then they won’t be aware of omissions / downgrades such as this these. However, they will be apparent to someone moving from a mk7 / mk7.5 to a mk8 and may make the mk8 feel less of a quality product compared to previous generations.

While I won't challenge your other points since they are opinion, I don't think it's fair to say there is ANY cost cutting on this car. Yes, they took away the hood strut and the felt lining in the glove box, but they give you so much more in the mk8 platform. The rear diff alone is a huge upgrade over the haldex. A ton of more tech, cooled seats, rear heated seats and many other things. They took some things away in order to give you other things that most people will find of greater value. I realize this is all opinion, but if you looked at what was taken away and come up with a dollar value, then look at what they added in and what it would cost to put that on a mk7.5, the mk8 is actually more value for your $.

 

[Arky]

My beloved 7.5 was stolen just before Christmas (don’t get me started on the woeful security) and I got the Mk8 GTD after a month or so. It arrived against someone else’s cancelled order so I had no say in its spec.
On day one it tried to kill me by suddenly slowing down on the M25 when the predictive cruise control wrongly perceived a 50mph limit.
So an hour or so in the car with the manual let me disable as much of the advanced automation as I could. The ACC is great but predictive? Rubbish.

My major niggles now are the lane assist defaulting to on at every start. As does D drive mode.
The infotainment dumps my favourite phone numbers.
The haptic steering wheel buttons are so easily changed inadvertently by a brush of the hand whilst steering.
I’m sure the touch screen buttons are easy to hit accurately at rest. But on the average British country road it’s a lottery!
No usable trip meter!

Overall the first few hundred yards of each trip are spent head in retrieving the settings I want and cursing the geeks who designed the bloody thing.

I’m actively looking for a low mileage Mk7.5. Just to retain my sanity.

As for a Mk9? No chance. It’s called an ID3

 

[SRGTD]

My beloved 7.5 was stolen just before Christmas (don’t get me started on the woeful security) and I got the Mk8 GTD after a month or so. It arrived against someone else’s cancelled order so I had no say in its spec.
On day one it tried to kill me by suddenly slowing down on the M25 when the predictive cruise control wrongly perceived a 50mph limit.
So an hour or so in the car with the manual let me disable as much of the advanced automation as I could. The ACC is great but predictive? Rubbish.

My major niggles now are the lane assist defaulting to on at every start. As does D drive mode.
The infotainment dumps my favourite phone numbers.
The haptic steering wheel buttons are so easily changed inadvertently by a brush of the hand whilst steering.
I’m sure the touch screen buttons are easy to hit accurately at rest. But on the average British country road it’s a lottery!
No usable trip meter!

Overall the first few hundred yards of each trip are spent head in retrieving the settings I want and cursing the geeks who designed the bloody thing.

I’m actively looking for a low mileage Mk7.5. Just to retain my sanity.

As for a Mk9? No chance. It’s called an ID3

Your experiences echo most of my concerns and the reason I wouldn’t buy a mk8.

I have a current shape 2020 Polo GTI+ which is the pre-facelift model. It has conventional controls for all the functions you need to use on a regular basis - air con, heating and ventilation that can be adjusted on the move through touch alone (no need to look away from the road ahead to look at the controls), a proper rotary light switch, real buttons on the steering wheel and a volume knob on the infotainment screen. The software is the generation before the problematic software installed by VW in current models and apart from the clock in my car changing to a random, incorrect time and the trip recorder zero-ing on just one occasion a couple of years ago (it only ever did it that one time), everything’s worked as it should with no false error messages and no false warning ‘ping‘ or ‘bong‘ noises like those experienced in the mk8 Golf.

The current facelift Polo GTI has moved to a touch pad for heating / ventilation / air con that’s difficult to adjust on the move, haptic touch pads on the steering wheel and a version of VW’s latest software - complete with false errors and warnings. Some owners over on the Polo forum are waiting for a new steering wheel or steering wheel internal components to supposedly fix some of the issues (this fix doesn’t always work in the mk8 Golf, based on feedback on some forums), but such is the demand for these replacement parts, they’re on back order with no ETA for delivery.

Good luck in your quest to find a good mk7.5 Golf.