I'm sure I watched a review of the new Golf that featured a storage drawer under the front passenger seat. Our new Golf bought on 1 March doesn't have this and, to be fair, I cannot find mention of it in the specification.
Am I mistaken, and this is not included in current models?
This has been discussed recently on another Golf forum. Most models until recently had a drawer under the front passenger seat and some models also had one under the driver’s seat too.
It seems that there are other parts that are no longer being fitted, or there’s been a (perceived?) downgrade in the quality of materials used;
- door mirror attachment bolts used to be covered. Now the bolts are exposed.
- battery cover no longer fitted.
- VW went through a period of not fitting covers on Isofix fixings on rear seat. I think they may have started fitting them again.
- drawers no longer fitted under the front seats
On other models that I’ve read or watched reviews on;
New Polo;
- headliner mounted grab handles no longer fitted
- interior door cards are hard plastic; no cloth insert
- the spring loaded cover over the tailgate locking catch, along the bottom of the boot opening no longer fitted
New T-Roc
- hard plastic interior door cards and the dashboard’s all hard plastic too; in fact AFAIK, there are no soft touch interior plastic trim at all.
- as with the Polo, the spring loaded cover over the tailgate catch isn’t fitted.
I know it’s in VW’s best interests to cuts costs and maximise profits, and Dieselgate costs have to be paid for. However, it’s sad to see and hear of these omissions/changes, which probably don’t result in much of a build cost saving per car, but overall probably represents a significant sum, bearing in mind the number of vehicles VW build. Cost cutting measures like the use of hard scratchy interior plastics could alienate some potential new customers and also existing customers. I wonder how far VW will take their cost cutting / penny pinching on the mk8 Golf?
