Craig

Like others, I dislike having lost the manual controls, now having to to prod the screen instead. I reckon it's dangerous, especially at my age, as I should have my full concentration on the road at all times. After a MK 6R and two Mk7Rs, this put me off the MK 8 until I considered opting for voice control. Anyone have experience of using it, how well does it work and how many functions does it control?

My 7R is coming up to 5 yo now, though on fairly low miles. Had been thinking about an 8R but defo not now. The extent of the cost-cutting shown in the vid is very disappointing and has put me off, never mind the exterior "styling". I doubt if the 8.5R will be much better so I suspect I'll go for a low miles 7.5 in due course. Looks like you've dropped the ball VW.

Thank you all for your responses which are very helpful. Looks like all will be well provided the car hasn't been thrashed too hard or done more than a handful of launches. He'll be buying a dealer car so I'll suggest to my son that he asks if they can tell him how many launches have been done. Thanks again.

My son's looking for a used manual 7.5R (up to 25k miles) but is being put off by concerns about their weak clutches. One dealer told him they won't sell used manuals at all for this reason. Would appreciate any experiences, good or bad, you've had with standard clutches, whether cars driven very hard, cost of replacing at dealers and indies, and so on. Mileage at replacement would be useful, signs of serious wear (other than slipping) and anything else helpful. I doubt whether he would want to pay for an uprated clutch but cost of these, inc. fitting, would be interesting. Have done searches but nothing useful coming up. Thanks.

Thanks for all your replies. I'll pass this info on. R_Wannabe_Owner, I did a search using "buckling". Shows just how specific you have to be.

A friend's looking for a used R with Pretorias. He's spoken to a VW sales guy specialising in Rs and GTIs who said Prets had "a tendency to buckle". Anyone have knowledge or experience of this, whether due to potholes etc. or otherwise?

As above, but make it a Reaper so that if you find the scum responsible you can fire off a few missiles.

They're on Halbeath Road.

My son's thinking about buying an R there but I've heard a couple of iffy reports in the past about them. Anyone comment? Thanks.

Looks like I'll be buying my next R rather earlier than I expected!

Mine too!

Grossly unreasonable for the decision to be down to you. This is up to the boy and his parents only. If the boy is so idle and the parents are letting him get away with it then it's up to them to sort the car or scrap it. He was an idiot to buy in the first place if he can't even drive and especially if he ignored your advice. Wash your hands of the whole situation.

Definitely have a quiet chat with the police, perhaps if you arrange a police home security review, which I recommend. I did and two accredited local companies were suggested, one of which I went with after research.

^^^^ Very sensible suggestion.

If that's the state of the car they presented to you, I'd be very concerned that the front end repaint could well be a cheap blow-over. Good luck getting it all sorted to your complete satisfaction.