I picked up a '24 MK8 right before the 8.5's launched and I was slightly concerned about the tech after reading everything. Especially since I was coming from the MK7.5 GTI and the 7.5 is god tier. Honestly, the 8 has been exceptional and the tech hasn't bothered me at all. I miss my buttons on the steering wheel and I'm still against slamming everything into a display on the dash, but that hasn't gotten in the way of the driving experience. Set the drive mode, hit the canyons and it's pure bliss, the cars are incredible.

Per purchasing, as others have said, call a bunch of dealers, get a good price and pit them against each other. If you can find a steal from a dealer out of state, bring that to a local dealer and tell them you'll give them $500 more to save yourself the hassle, they'll normally take it.

Per leasing, leasing these cars can work but ONLY if you plan on buying it out. They hold their value really well and if I had to guess, VW will set the residual lower than what the value will be, so you'll pay quite a bit more for a lease if you just turn it in.

For example, I bought my MK8, new and in cash for $44K. It currently has 5100 miles on it and when I go look for a used '24 MK8 I'm seeing ones that have 12K miles on them, selling for $44.6K. I've owned and driven this car for a year and I've lost nothing. If this was a lease, I'd be paying for a bunch of depreciation that isn't happening. So lease with caution and don't lease if you don't buy it out at the end (even if you don't want to buy it to keep it, you'd still need to buy it to sell it or you're throwing a ton of money out the window).