Used 2019 Volkswagen Golf R Consumer Reviews
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We have a limited number of reviews for the 2019 Golf R, so we've included reviews for other years of the Golf R since its last redesign.
Quick enough!
Steve, 07/27/2018
updated 02/02/2019
2018 Volkswagen Golf R 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
11 of 11 people found this review helpful
This is a small car. I traded my MB E350 for the Golf R. I wanted a sporty car that could be serviced locally. This car is for people who like to drive rather than sit and aim. It is a high performance car that is totally fun and it is fast. I am just through the 600 mile break in phase and am looking forward to upping the revs. The mileage is about 23 all around but I have not been concerned. The 13 gallon tank last about 2 week. The most fantastic thing about this car is the electronics and displays. The nav is fully integrated in the touch screen and with gauges in the dash. Make sure you talk to a salesman who knows the car. I have no regrets and do not miss the big Mercedes. Good luck!
Good AWD performance at a price
Nathan Apticar, 06/16/2019
updated 06/10/2020
2019 Volkswagen Golf R 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
45 of 50 people found this review helpful
I’ve had this car for about 8K miles and one year. I have driven the car in four inches of snow and solid ice, and driven a 500+ mile trip from western Texas to Colorado up through Raton Pass, NM. Overall, it’s an amazing vehicle. I still recommend buying it over the GTI if your budget allows. The four drive modes (eco, comfort, normal, race, and custom) make a difference in ride comfort and acceleration. Normal mode does well for everyday driving, comfort mode noticeably smoothes out the bumps on the highway, and race mode significantly reduces the turbo lag to get you going extremely quickly, changes the shift points, and tightens up the suspension. I average about 20 mpg in the spirited way I drive, but can get 29 mpg on the highway when I drive reasonably. The DSG is very responsive; rarely have to use the paddle shifters to downshift. I chose the DSG over the manual because of the stop-and-go traffic when commuting to/from work each day and because Edmunds' expert reviews revealed the DSG is faster than the manual. One update after 8Kmiles: off-the-line acceleration in Normal mode results in significant and annoying turbo lag; I find myself driving in Sport mode most of the time to reduce the lag. Still considering APR-Plus tune. The interior is of high quality soft touch materials, plastics and leather. The cabin is quiet for a car with 35 series summer tires. Spoiler: there’s no spare tire. The seats have excellent bolstering and the driver’s seat is 12-way adjustable; both front seats are perforated and heated. The digital dash is cool and customizable. The sound system is very good and the interface is very user friendly and responsive. I had to refer to the owner's manual because of the many ways to customize the electronics of the car. Additional gadgets: Apple CarPlay, Android Auto, auto wipers, nav, adaptive suspension, auto LED lights all around, mini SD card slot onto which to load music, ability to direct cooled air into the glove compartment, ability to have nav and other displays in the central part of the digital dash, and cool blue ambient lighting strips in the doors and on the front door sill scuff plates. Update: I do would like a lockable compartment in the car. The center console has a storage compartment and the arm rest slides forward and can be adjusted for height. Through a recall, added the performance monitor (gimmicky). The exterior. The paint is excellent and smooth; no orange peel effect. The ground effects are cool looking and don’t detract from the overall smooth and adult vibe of the car. Once I washed the car by hand, I discovered just how difficult it is to clean all of those nooks and crannies of the plastic ground effects. Some downsides (still worth it in my opinion). The purchase price is about $10K more than the GTI and VW does not give much of a discount as it claims there are limited units arriving at US shores each year; of course, none for 2020 and maybe 2021. The front seats are comfortable, but the seating position is low. If you're larger than I am (5'9, 180 lbs), then it will be a tight and maybe uncomfortable fit; applies especially to getting in and out of the car and side bolsters around the upper back and shoulder areas. The steering doesn't telescope or tilt as far as I initially liked, but it does have a flat bottom, so that makes getting in and out of the car a little easier. The piano black plastic trim used extensively throughout the front of the cabin get dusty and shows finger prints very easily. Of course, this goes for the 8" display, too. The car demands premium fuel; costs about $40 to fill up and takes me about 350 miles in mixed driving. Finally, there are the summer tires that are not run flats and there's no spare tire. You can get the Euro spare tire kit online for about $300. I replaced my stock summer tires with Ultra High Performance All Season tires, Continental DWS-06. The car did very well in 4" of snow and ice. Handling on dry and warm roads was only slightly better with summer tires. I wish the 12V outlet were co-located with the USB port in front of the shifter so my radar detector cord didn't stretch across the cup holders to the base of the center arm rest. Apple CarPlay: phone fails to connect to car about 50% of the time; have to plug it in again to make it work. I blew the 20A fuse for the 12V outlets each time I plugged in the factory air compressor; don’t know. There is no fuse diagram in the owner's manual or car; Googled it. Nevertheless, driving this car is a blast. I’m in my late 40s and have owned several sports cars and luxury sports sedans. I highly recommend this car if you enjoy cars, driving fast, feeling connected to the road, high quality materials, and a sleeper that will easily compete with the average high performance sports car in a straight line, but smoke it in the twisties. It’s amazing in Colorado. Finally, it’s not very common, making it even cooler to drive.
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2019 Volkswagen Golf R for sale near you
3 of 8 listings
- 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $25,5008 mi away
- 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $33,000124 mi away
- 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr HatchbackMSRP: $29,499175 mi away
See all 8 listings
Loving VW Golf R
LaCa Golf R, 05/21/2018
updated 05/24/2021
2018 Volkswagen Golf R 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
24 of 26 people found this review helpful
Had 2 GTI’s before this car. Loved them and decided to go for even more bang. It’s more than I need but super fun to drive. The tech on it is great and I enjoy driving this car. The suspension is sporty so you do feel the road, which I like. But avoid potholes. Update: May 2021 Still LOVE the car but have to put suspension DCC in Comfort as potholes have gotten 2 tires and ruined one rim.... If you live in an area with good roads it won't be an issue. But I live in LA......
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I've loved both my R's!
Allen C., 08/23/2019
updated 06/21/2023
2019 Volkswagen Golf R 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 6M)
17 of 18 people found this review helpful
I'm driving a 2017 and my son continues to drive my 2011. Both have been great cars, but the 2017 is better for it's real world power. The earlier car was plenty fast, but you needed to run it pretty hard to gain much over a standard GTI, but the 2017 develops torque earlier and is definitely worth the premium price. One thing you should know is that the clutch on the manual is not up to the task of handling all that torque. At 45K miles it started to slip in high gears under WOT. I've never worn out a clutch on car with less than 100K miles on it, so I was surprised to say the least. The good news is I used it as an excused to install a performance clutch and an APR stage one tune (high torque version). WOW. 370HP and 383 foot pounds of torque. It is now very fast. According to the tuner, the clutch situation is not unusual for the R, given it's the same as the GTI's and with the extra power and grip, the wear all goes on the clutch. The early car is still on the original clutch with over 200K by the way. Anyway, I'm still giving the car 5 stars... it's that good
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As a former GTI owner,definitely worth the extra $
Ross Larkin, 03/19/2020
2019 Volkswagen Golf R 2.0T w/DCC and Navigation 4dr Hatchback AWD (2.0L 4cyl Turbo 7AM)
8 of 8 people found this review helpful
What can I say, I’m in love with this car. I purchased a 2017 GTI in December 2016 after being told I was not allowed to test drive the Golf R by every VW dealer in the Washington DC metro area. I figured the car was just hyped by the manufacturer and dealers to get people to pay sticker or close to sticker. I did not purchase vehicles without test driving them. 2 years later, I became employed by a local VW dealer. As soon as the first of the 2019 R’s arrived, I had a customer put a deposit so I took the car to put fuel in it. I instantly realized why the car was worth the extra money. As soon as I was able to secure enough funds to get my payment to an affordable level, I purchased a 2019 Golf R DSG in Lapiz Blue with 6 miles on it. That was July, and I now have 6,200 miles on my Golf R. I have nothing but good things to report. This car feels like it has much more than 70 extra horsepower over the GTI. The 4MOTION all-wheel drive system is an excellent system. This thing never wants for traction. Power is put down so well. When launching, it is virtually impossible to get any wheelspin at all, even in the wet. Launch control is pretty violent and it puts a smile on my face every time I use it. You can feel that car use the rear axle to pivot the vehicle when going around curves. Not only is the GTI’s wheelspin cured with the all-wheel drive, but so is the wheel-wrenching torque steer I had when my GTI was tuned. Also non-existent is the annoying wheel hop that plagues the front drive GTI. I thought about tuning my R, but the stock performance is so impressive (4.7 sec 0-60 and 13 sec 1/4 mike) that I feel tuning the car would be overkill and get me in way too much trouble. So at least for now, my R is stock. The equipment level of the Golf R is top notch. Compared to its competitors, the R looks high tech with its digital cockpit, adaptive cruise control, and other driver assistance features. The warranty is also a very generous 6 years/72,000 mikes bumper-to-bumper, giving the R another advantage compared to its competition. The build quality is excellent. Close your eyes while feeling around the cabin and your fingers read “Audi”. I’ve always wanted a German built VW and the R is one of only 3 models that are (the others being Arteon and e-Golf). For some reason, this car feels more expensive than the GTI as the interior even has a higher quality smell to it. I know this sounds pretty trivial, but it makes me feel like I’ve gotten what I’ve paid a premium for. But really, the added performance alone would be enough. One thing to be careful of: this car is very sensitive to the octane level in the gas. I only use 93 octane. I can tell when I have gotten a batch less than 93 because acceleration becomes sluggish and the engine sputters. The car also bogs down on acceleration. I know this is from the gas because the code scanner showed timing was being pulled and the problem was solved by adding Boostane octane boost. I get this problem every time I use gas from Costco. Just make sure to always use Top Tier 93 octane gas and be consistent with where you buy your fuel from and you will have no problem. As a side note, I get around 18-20 mpg in mostly city driving with a very aggressive driving style (I tend to drive my R like I stole it). You can do much better (around 28-30) if you can restrain your right foot. Overall, the Golf R is an impressive car. It’s exhilarating performance, superior build quality and warranty, German built pedigree, and high level of standard equipment make it worth the premium it commands over the GTI.
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