GTI Mk7.5 vs Mk8: Real World Experiences In Daily Driver Land?

As I've crested 50k miles on my 2020 Kia Forte GT, I'm not sure how long I want to own it. I've been hearing horror stories of people with stock cars blowing them up anywhere from 60k-100k, and even if you make it to 100k, they don't seem to last much longer than that. This could all be hyperbole, but it has me spooked a bit and thinking about my next daily driver. 

What I like about the Forte GT is the size, the efficiency, the simplicity of the infotainment/HVAC controls, and the overall package of sportiness and crisp handling. What I don't like is not having a hatch (my old Mazda 3 is sorely missed here) and I'd like to get something with some sort of automatic that doesn't suck since I spend most of my commute in mind-numbing traffic. I also don't like the lack of aftermarket support and the absolutely abysmal Kia dealership experience. This has me looking it all sorts of cars, but the first that comes to mind is the venerable VW GTI. 

Now, I made myself a pact that I'd never, ever own another VW after the miserable experience I had with my old 2002 Jetta, but VW has to be doing something right, because the GTI is still going strong after all these years, and most people who buy them love them. I almost went GTI or Jetta GLI last time around, but it was in the middle of the pandemic and supply was low on everything when the Kia kinda fell into my lap. It was dirt cheap, and most importantly, it was available. I much prefer the styling and utility of the GTI over the GLI, so I'm inclined to go that route. Hatches RULE, the hotter, the better. 

So, this has me looking at both the Mk 7.5 and the current Mk8 GTI. I prefer the styling of the Mk8, but the Mk7.5 still looks great. The biggest issue on the surface is the Mk8's interior and infotainment. The Mk8 replaced all the buttons, knobs, and switches with touchpads with haptic feedback, and I am not a fan of that, because I like easy-to-use, non-distracting vehicle interfaces. I've read and watched opinion pieces that range from "It's not as bad as people say" to "This absolutely RUINS the car, VW on a whole, and my entire life". I've read that the 2025 adds back the steering wheel buttons, at least, so there's that. 

The other thing is reliability. Again, I did the VW thing 20 years ago, and it was not fun at all. I put a lot of miles on my cars, and although this seems like the sublime formula for a daily driver, I don't know much about the EA888 (that's the 2.0T, right?) and the current 7-speed DSG. Are they durable? Do they have issues? Can you pile miles on one of these with regular maintenance? I tend to wrench on things myself, so is working on one easy enough or are they a PITA? 

Anything else I should consider about these, or anything that I'm missing? 

I have put a good amount of seat time in our project MK7 GTI and I really like it. It has had issues that a Civic Si most likely wouldn't have, like the infotainment screen randomly crashing, but it is a blast to drive. With the MK8 it is nice and a good update to the styling but the in the interior where they replaced all the buttons with touchpads makes it a deal breaker for me. I am sure you could get use to it but it was difficult to know if what you were pushing was actually what you wanted and at night a lot of the pads are not backlit so you have no idea where some of the controls are. 

Mine's not a GTI, but my mk7 Alltrack has been a great DD, with the exception of the rear diff failing. You won't have that issue with the GTI at least. Cliff notes:

Ergonomically, its great. Controls feel nice and are intuitive to me. Seats (Alltrack SEL got essentially the same seats as the Golf R) are a nice place to spend time in. Pretty quiet in the cabin, not much wind or tire noise, but the engine note is a little too muted for my taste in stock form. GTI's might get the fake exhaust note, which I'd recommend deleting. Steering feel's pretty dead, but it's not bad for EPAS.

Mechanically, my car's been relatively reliable. As mentioned above, replacing the diff was a PITA, but that's been my only complaint with the car. The Gen 3 EA888 has two common failure points it seems: water pumps and PCV. I haven't had to deal with a water pump yet (knock on wood), but it seems like a pretty involved but straightforward procedure to replace one. PCV's simple and I'd recommend upgrading to the mk8 version if/when it fails. Carbon cleaning's a thing every 100k miles or so, but that's a reality for any DI only car. FWIW, my car's done basically half its life as a full bolt on (IS38 with all supporting mods on an APR tune) making almost double the factory rated horsepower. I wouldn't have dreamed of DDing a big turbo AWP, but the CXBA handles it no problem. Plenty of options for tuning out there. I'm currently running APR ECU and TCU software, but TuneZilla is doing some really cool things with these cars, and I'd probably go that route if I were doing it all over again, especially since I'm thinking about going MPI in the future.

My car's a DSG since its the backup kid hauler and SWMBO doesn't like driving stick. It's good for an automatic, but I miss having 3 pedals. No issues with it, just be sure to service it every 30-40k miles. It's only a little more complicated than an oil change, imo. I'm pretty sure VW replaced the DQ250 (6 speed) with the DQ381 (7 speed) in the mk7.5 cars. I don't have any firsthand experience with the 381, but I haven't heard anything bad about it.

Maintenance wise, VCDS or OBDeleven is absolutely a necessity (especially if you have a DSG) and will pay for itself after the first scan. Also count on getting a good set of triple square bits. For a modern car, I feel like it's pretty easy to work on, and being MQB architecture, there's a decent amount of OEM+ upgrades you can do to it.

These cars like a larger rear sway bar and some added camber up front.

I just realized this is in the wrong bucket. This should be in the Grassroots Motorsports forum. Could someone move it when they get a chance? Thanks!

Saw BOTH a modded Golf R and a lowered Golf Alltrack wagon on my commute between yesterday and today. Life is a simulation, and the algorithm is mocking me. 

I had a Mk7.5 Golf R for a few years and it was a great car.  Literally nothing went wrong on it, full bolt's car making double the power.  My only complaint was a lack of storage space, it's a relatively small car.  My son and 90lb dog didn't fit well in the back seat together.  If my son and I were going skiing, the two of us would fill the car with our stuff.  There'd be space for a third person, but not their bags.   

The golf wagon or alltrack is probably a better choice if you need to carry more stuff, as they're the same car, just a wagon

In reply to docwyte :

This will strictly be a commuter, and we have a Mazda CX-50 as well as my Dodge Power Wagon in the fleet for hauling things if necessary. I do haul things occasionally in the DD, and having a hatch with fold-down seats is nice. I did plenty of that in my Mazda3 over the years, so I don't see any reason a GTI couldn't do the same. Anything too big would go in one of the other vehicles. 

In reply to Tony Sestito :

I daily drove a 3-door MK6 GTI for 8 years and treated it like a little van and it fit a ton of stuff in the back. It was surprisingly practical for the size and I imagine it would be similar to how your Mazda3 was. 

I had a mk8 (non GTI) as a rental on euro land. Excellent car mechanically but my wife and I agreed the UX was terrible. Not intuitive at all. 

No experience with the Mk8, but owned a Mk7.5 GTI for a few years.  For a period of time, it was my only car, so it had to do everything.  Commuter, road trip car, autocrosser, the works.  It took everyrhing I threw at it flawlessly.  My biggest complaint was that it did everything well enough that it kind of lost a bit of excitement because of it.  

If I were in the market for an everyday car again, I would look at the Mk7.5 GTI first.  

We've had my wife's 2018 Alltrack six speed since new.  It's now at 125k with a Golf R IS38 since 90k.  It's on its third water pump.  40kish and done with the turbo and all at 90k.    Other than that it's been reliable.  

My DD is a 2023 GTI Autobahn.  No issues (knock on wood, cross fingers, seance, etc.) that haven't been fixed by software updates.  The infotainment does take time to get used to. Steering wheel controls are zero issue.  There's enough of a topology that you can feel and don't need to look to use them. 

The screen can be distracting.  If you're a set and forget at the beginning of the drive type of person, you're fine.  If you like to fiddle with controls during your drive it is tough if what you need is in a menu.  You can set up shortcuts for quick access for some things.  Android Auto works well.  My wife uses CarPlay and likes it.  Take an hour in the garage to learn it and you'll be fine. Learn the voice controls you use often and you don't need to dig.

I get about 30mpg average on my 50/50 hwy, city commute​ at actual Michigan highway speeds (70mph limit). 34k miles as of today (purchased 12/22).​

​​​​​TLDR: I found the complaints overblown.  Driving experience is great for a FWD. Great fun commuter that can hustle and gets decent mileage.