I’m always baffled by people who need to adjust their temperatures multiple times per drive, apparently. I haven’t touched our climate controls (big knobs) since two days after we got the car 2.5 years ago. I also disagree with “cheap plastics around the door” – while not as upmarket as in the Golf 7.5, it’s not cheap feeling either. Especially compared to our current car where they actually used cheap plastics (SEAT).
I will say that the touch sensitive buttons on the steering wheel are bad, worse than in the 7.5. Maybe they take more time to get used to than the 4ish hours we test drove the GTE, but i certainly would prefer proper buttons.
I’m not sure if the GTD is closer to the GTI than the GTE (the GTE isn’t lowered, for example), but if the GTD is closer to the GTE, then the suspension is firm in a good way (the suspension in our Ateca is firm in a bad way), rather comfortable. The sport seats are some of the best you can get in that segment, incredibly comfy even on “longer” distances (we drove around 100 miles on our test drive) with plenty of support.
Hadn’t had any issues with sat nav or infotainment in general, other than the touch sensitive buttons on the wheel and accidental activations of the heated steering wheel when parking because of them.
All in all, a very solid car. Yes, i prefer buttons over full on touch-everything as well, but realistically, the only time i use the screen is straight after delivery to set everything up our liking, and then every time we use the sat nav. Which “requires” a touchscreen anyway. But that’s just us.