Interior materials-poor quality?

[Bane]

Now I know that using the same things more often will accelerate deterioration,but in just under 3years of ownership,should I really expect the A/C button and the electric window switch to have shedded the black coating and have the white plastic coming through?

[stealthwolf]

I use the windows and AC regularly and they look like new.

Are you sure something hasn't scuffed or damaged them which would have accelerated the process. My car is now 5 years old.

[Portent]

I'm looking at mk5's right now and I'll be honest, I do feel there has been a drop in qwuality compared to my 53 reg mk4. No doubt the mk5 is a better overall car but the interiors of the older cars feel so much more solid.

[Andy]

Think the interior did suffer a bit but it makes up for it in all other areas over the mk4.

[GTI-Pirelli]

I have noticed this on the early mk5 golf's.

I had a 54 2.0 FSI and at under 3 years old I had the same problem with the window switches in the drivers door and the headlight switch. It looks as though the buttons are made of a kind of nylon then painted. The paint doesn't seem to stay on!
I also had a problem with the air vent chrome strips cracking. I hardly ever touched them!

I now have a 58 Pirelli and the switches seem to be of a much higher quality. No wear & tare so far (touch wood). Although the auto lights mean I rarely touch the headlight switch. The buttons seem to be moulded black plastic with inset light guides opposed to painted (dare i say more like the MK4).

I can't imagine VW would admit to it but they seem to have ironed these niggles out for the later MK5's.

[Ree]

My cars a 56 plate on 60,000 miles and the interiour is mint apart from that dreaded plastic rubber coating thing they use on the grab handles and other door parts, you guys know what am on about.

All my buttons are still fresh !!!

[ashley]

The early cars seem to of suffer the most. At first I put this down to age but there is a quality difference. I have owned a 2007 and currently now a 2008. The 2007 was high miles but the interior still mint unlike 2005/05 cars I looked at. The swtichgear and plastic is different.

[mad_pete]

My 58 Pirelli has worn off the paint on the Passenger window control.

[E30Dom]

The carpet quality is shocking too... I was hoovering out my dads Mondeo ST and that had lovely plush carpet...

[john87]

It might sound mad but I think it depends on who's using such controls  for instance, me and my colleague got our laptop docking stations on the same day, about two years ago, and the paint has worn off his 'On' button, whereas mine is like new!

[Gene Hunt]

I really think VW need to sort out the quality of materials on the drivers seats. Mine is fine due to taking loads of care getting in/out but i've seen many that have started to wear & some with low miles. Maybe they could reinforce the drivers side bolsters etc?.

[RedRobin]

.
The black finish on one of my aircon controls started wearing off to expose white on my 05-plate / 06-build Mk5 GTI when it was within its 3-year warranty (just!). I merely mentioned it to my VW dealer when booking my car in for something else and didn't ask them to do anything. When I picked up the car they had replaced the whole front unit and system! All free and under warranty.

That Service Manager was a real star. He's left VW now but Shabba will know who he is.

But the point is that earlier GTI's did suffer from this and I rarely use those switches. I expected they might wear badly again but 4 years later they are still like new.

[RedRobin]

I really think VW need to sort out the quality of materials on the drivers seats. Mine is fine due to taking loads of care getting in/out but i've seen many that have started to wear & some with low miles. Maybe they could reinforce the drivers side bolsters etc?.

....The collapse of the right hand bolster on the driver's seat is worse on the Recaro's (an early factory option) because it's higher and therefore more prone to the problem. But the seat gives so much extra support and isn't effected functionally as the internal framework remains intact - It's just a cosmetic problem.

I have no visible wear on my Interlagos cloth after many many thousands of miles.

I like the strightforward interior quality of the Mk5 and not the blinged up silver bits on the Mk6. Just because something is shiny it doesn't make it better quality but the car makers have recognised that the average person is attracted to shiny bits unfortunately.

[Portent]

I really think VW need to sort out the quality of materials on the drivers seats. Mine is fine due to taking loads of care getting in/out but i've seen many that have started to wear & some with low miles. Maybe they could reinforce the drivers side bolsters etc?.

I've noticed that too. The 06 R32 I looked at an the 08 Pirelli both had damage to the drivers side bolster. Yet my 53 mk4 (60k) has hardly any marks and my 94 Corrado cloth recaro's (140k) are near perfect. Either buid quality has dropped substantially or sopeople don't look after their cars nowadays.

[dmac1969]

My 05 GTI is near perfect inside , only that crappy rubber on the door grab handle is marked , by what looks like someone wearing wedding ring or similar. 51K miles.