[dhruvritzed]

PRELUDE:

After being on Team BHP for almost 6 years and having gone through thousands of ownership reviews, I decided it was time I wrote one too. Now you all must be guessing seeing my handle name that I must be having a Ritz, but that is not the case now, I had it till around 4 years back.

Flashback 2011, I had recently turned 18 and my metro runs to the college were tiring and the itch for a car started. For the first few months of college, I used to park my old Alto VX 1.1 at a metro station and board a metro that took me straight to my college. That was a simple car that did only the basics right, had par for the course fuel efficiency, modest pick up and just about enough space. It could be excused because daily usage was under 20 kms. Major disadvantages of the car were poor performance with AC and no safety kit. Now there was a slew of launches of B+ segment hatches in 2009-10, mainly the Nissan Micra, Maruti Ritz, Hyundai i20, Fiat Punto & the Maruti Swift was updated with the latest K series engine from the Ritz. Not including the Honda Jazz as that car costed almost C segment money. That was the segment I targeted for my next car purchase.

The Ritz Life:

Now was the time to have something that could be used to commute to and from college, so I ended up picking the Ritz from Maruti True Value in November 2011.It was an April 2010 car in Silky Silver and a ZXI as my dad was adamant on safety features. It had done around 20000 Kms at the time of purchase, we picked it up for 4.3 lacs and it carried a 1 Year Warranty with 3 free services. My college commute that time was 70 Kms a day and since we had exam breaks and car-pooling for quite some time, the car would end up doing 1200-1400 Kms a month (pretty much manageable in petrol rather than spending more on a diesel car). The car was comfortable, fast enough for my then needs and very frugal, used to average 16 kmpl easily. Also service was cheap (I used to get bills in the range of 3000-5500 after the free services got over) but part replacement was frequent through the life of the car. I also ended up in a few small accidents with this car as did my younger brother, so it had its fair share of panels painted and bumpers replaced once. It met my needs to the T, so much so that when I left Delhi in 2015 June to pursue my MBA in Mumbai, I wanted to take it along. However, practicality dawned upon me and I didn't take it along because of lack of parking space, just a 2 Km commute to my college from my place of stay in Andheri East and the fact that I just wouldn't get much time to drive it because of a busy schedule. At the time of leaving Delhi, the odo stood at almost 69000 Km, I had done almost 50000 Km with the car in just over three and a half years. Subsequently, dad put the car up on OLX and started getting offers, however he was happy with an offer only in January 2016 and the car was finally sold with the odo reading 73xxx Km.

Here are some pictures of the Ritz that still make me nostalgic.




Had double the Ritz fun when a friend dropped his car at my place for some days, his car was also a Silky Silver Zxi.


The one between the cars is yours truly, the picture dates back to August 2014. Pardon me for the picture quality as all these images were clicked by relatively inferior camera equipped early smartphones.

Some points regarding the Ritz Ownership:

• Suspension bushes were changed within 1000 Km of purchase
• Spark Plugs were changed at 37000 Km
• Brake Pads were changed at 39000 Km
• The car had a recurring problem of caliper pins having to be replaced
• Complete front suspension with shockers all around were changed at 50000 Km
• Clutch overhaul was done and related components were replaced at 53000 Km
• Stock tyres JK Vectra lasted almost 55000 Km but had very poor performance right through.
• ABS sensor went kaput at 58000 Km
• Wheel bearings were changed at 60000 Km

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All these even though seem plenty weren't exactly very expensive but then made me aware of the fact that Maruti Parts were no more of the quality that we had in our 2001 model Maruti Baleno 1st generation (A car that carried a lot of Suzuki Genuine Parts). I must mention that maintaining the car at Motor Craft, a Maruti Workshop at Noida Sector 8 was a breeze. The service advisers knew their work well, part availability was never a problem, their insurance tie-ups made claims easier and quality of work done never disappointed me. To date, I highly recommend that workshop to any person asking for Maruti repairs or regular service.

Cut to present day, we have the following cars in our garage:

1. Audi A4 2.0TDI 2011 that we bought used in 2015 September, currently stands at 97000 Km


2. Honda City i-Vtec S-AT 2009 that we bought used in May 2014, currently stands at 93000 Km


3. Verna 1.6 VTVT SX+ AT-bought in August 2019 brand new, currently stands at 13000 Km


4. Polo GT TSI 2014 bought used in May 2016, currently stands at 73700 Km


5.Baleno Delta Automatic bought brand new in July 2017, currently stands at 26200 Km


6.Skoda Laura 1.8 TSI Classic 2011-bought used in January 2020, currently stands at 39700 Km.


Story of the "Zindagi Badalne Wali Gaadi" as I lovingly call it:

It is purely coincidental that the car which is featured here, its search started with the booking of a Maruti Baleno. First up, circa 2016 March-I was back in Noida for my Summer Internship and we were on the lookout for a decent large hatchback for our family use once we had sold the Ritz in January 2016.Being used to the convenience of a hatchback and now that most of our cars were automatic (after we bought the A4 in September 2015), we probably wanted to combine the two and were looking at automatic hatchbacks. Since I would stay at home these two months, I would use it for those months and later my brother would use it till I finish my MBA in March 2017.Since NGT had just wreaked havoc in December 2015 regarding Diesel car life being restricted to 10 years and had closed registration of Diesel vehicles above 2000cc entirely, there was a negative sentiment with respect to diesel car purchase, so we mainly considered petrols in our research. Plus, the fact that none of the hatchbacks offered a diesel automatic, made our search easier.

Our primary requirements were:

1. Conventional Automatic Transmission -
Having had experience of driving Torque convertors and CVT's with my current cars and also having driven my best friend's Celerio AMT, I just could not digest the jerky behaviour of made to cost automatics.

2. Safety:
We needed minimum 2 airbags and ABS because even our outgoing Ritz had that much. So base models of most hatchbacks were out of consideration.

3. Features:
Rear Wash Wipe was one of the basic requirements because we were so used to it in our hatches that we had owned, as were Power Windows, Steering Mounted Audio Controls, Steering Adjustment (at least tilt if not telescopic) and Bluetooth connectivity (sorely missed in the Ritz).

4. Value for money:
Our budget was strictly set as 8 lacs after calculating all we needed. Also we had recently bought the A4 that costed us a bomb, so we needed to restrict ourselves from going overboard.

The cars that fit our budget or could be accommodated were:

1. Maruti Baleno:


Well it was the case of a namesake (we had the previous Baleno too from 2001-14, what a car it was, still miss it) and the fact that after its launch in October 2015 it had generated interest few cars have ever done and commanded tremendous waiting periods of up to 26 weeks for the petrol automatic. Upsides of the car being excellent space, good feature distribution across variants, lots of variants to choose from, neutral design liked by all in my family, proven K series engine (from our Ritz and supposedly made better), good value for money. Downsides being - it was available in only one trim in automatic, poor refinement with respect to outside noise as pointed out by various reviews and very average plastic quality (which we could live with).

2. Honda Jazz (2nd generation in India):


Having two generations of Honda City (2nd and 3rd generation) at home, this was one car that found universal acceptance at home and each one of us at home were looking forward to a test drive. Upsides of the car being the fact that it was a global model, proven 1.2 engine, legendary Honda reliability, good space inside and the looks were really modern, also this particular generation was much more realistically priced compared to the previous generation. Downsides were few, though on test driving we felt it was a bit underpowered, major blow came in the form of the S CVT trim not having airbags that was clearly a big miss and the next CVT version that met our safety requirement was more than a lac above our budget. Being a new model it didn't have any discounts either, we walked out of the showroom a bit disappointed.

3. Hyundai Grand i10 Automatic:


Now this doesn't compare favourably with the other two but it was considered only because its elder sibling, the i20 Elite did not offer an automatic transmission at all (gross negligence on Hyundai's part as direct competitors had a free run). At that time the pre facelift car was available and didn't find much favour at home because of its very neutral styling. We still gave it a shot but most of the dealerships refused test drives citing unavailability of automatic test drive vehicles. Upsides being proven Kappa engine, good value for money, nice to have features and being one of the largest selling cars in India, resale and part availability would never be a problem. Downsides were mainly a smaller size and terrible fuel efficiency as reported by some.

4. Polo GT TSI:


Again, this did not fall directly under our budget but then the DSG, evergreen looks, TSI engine's famous tractability caught our attention, so much so that we started looking for used alternatives and also asked the dealership where we test drove the car for some old discounted stock or sale of their test drive vehicles. Upsides were mainly pace unheard of in the hatchback segment, fast acting DSG, lovely flat bottom steering wheel and good features on the latest model. Downsides being literally no space at the back if my brother or I were driving, DSG horror stories, expensive VW maintenance and supposedly poor fuel efficiency (not exactly proven in that aspect).

The Build-Up up to find a Baleno without waiting for it:
In the meanwhile, we booked a Baleno Delta Automatic in Urban Blue at Rohan Motors Nexa because we were almost sure of it and the waiting periods were very long, which would give us ample time to decide what we wanted. Also, Maruti's booking amount of Rs.11000 was small enough to take a risk over, so we took it. Baleno was coming out to 7.8 lacs on road (Pretty much within our budget). Jazz and Grand i10 didn't really find favor so were pushed out. Come April and our search became frantic, we rang up various dealers for early delivery of Baleno, even went to the extent of asking for some premium to be paid as part of the deal. Most dealers were promising early delivery of manual petrol cars and all models of diesel but that was not that we wanted. Found a dealer in Punjab who had a display car for sale but just as we were ready to transfer funds, we were informed it had lots of accessories installed that were totaling to more than a lac (complete waste of money because when I saw the car's photos that the Sales Adviser sent to me over WhatsApp, it looked cringe-worthy, white car with an overdose of chrome and wood stickers splattered all over the black insides).

Going all out for a used GT TSI:
With a broken heart in the Baleno finding episode, we came across a used Polo GT TSI 2013 on Olx, it was a car from the initial batches and had done 38000km and final negotiated price came to around 5.5 lacs, just as we were going to sign the dotted line, the thoughts of a pre-facelift car with no flat bottom steering, the old generation red backlighting, beige interiors (not entirely suited to the GT TSI IMO) and one whose service record we hadn't checked came to our mind. So we left the owner's place citing a return once we verify the service records. We visited VW Noida (Viraj Automotives) the following day to ask again for sale of test drive vehicle, to which their reply was a certain no and to check for the service record of the car we had shortlisted. To our surprise, the car didn't have extended warranty (must have in my books for the GT TSI) and since the owner didn't visit the service centre after the 2 year standard warranty got over, we became a bit wary. Also, all was not well with the car as we got to know, it had premature replacement of brake pads, suspension bushes well within the 2 year mark.

We decided against this car and told our sales advisor that we can look at used options if they had any. A week passed looking at OLX for GT TSI's, at that time there weren't many available, we were also following up for a Baleno with different dealers but to no avail, we even thought of manual cars at that time and went and test drove the S-Cross, the i20 Diesel and the Brezza, but all felt too cumbersome in traffic compared to the breezy automatics.

Later that week, we got a call from VW Noida that one of their customer was looking to sell his 1.5 year old GT TSI. On enquiring further, we got to know that the car was a post facelift car from September 2014 in Flash Red, had done just 7000 Kms, asking price was 7 lacs, had extended warranty, also the car was sold by VW Noida and had full service record. We immediately asked for pictures and boy they were impressive, same day evening my brother went to see the car and was of the opinion that we should act fast. Very soon, we made our mind regarding it and I, my father and my brother went to the owner's place to finalize the deal. Now came the real thing in front of my eyes, it was in really good condition and had just a faint, small scratch on the left door, nothing else. As we sat on the negotiation table, the owner told us the car was on loan and he needed full payment wired to pay the bank and then the bank would release the NOC post which we could take delivery, this seemed fishy to us and we proposed he take the money from some relative and pay the bank in case he didn't have liquid cash. The owner asked for a day or two regards the same and called on the third day for final price to be negotiated and to tell that he had cleared the loan. The three of us, I, my dad and my brother got on a conference call with him, started at 6 lacs and ended up at 6.45 lacs as the final price. We transferred the token amount and rest to be paid on day of delivery with NOC and form 29,30. Final price after transfer of car and commission came to 6.55 lacs and here we were saving on almost 3.5 lacs over a new car with an almost new car.

In another 5 days we took delivery of the car and what a drive it was that night, our first fast hatch with a proper sports mode, great maneuverability and stability in the league of the big German we had at home. Here are a few pictures of the car just post we got it.

[dhruvritzed]

Design and Style:

• Offend no one kind of styling that really doesn't stand out as much as say an Elite i20 but ages well.
• Since my car has the Dual Barrel Headlamps from the 2014 update, it looks better but light throw has always been poor with these stock lights.
• I had added Matrix Style Headlamps and GTI Grille for aesthetic purposes but since the headlamps weren't good at all and used to come loose in the brackets, I later sold them off in combination with the grille(pics of both attached and details mentioned later).
• My car has the 15" wheels with the Portage alloys, looked handsome to me since day one and I never felt the need to upgrade. Have heard ride is better on them than the 16'rims on the new cars.
• Paint Quality is top notch, no reasons to complain.
• Takes time to get used to the fuel filler cap on the right for someone like me.
• The mirrors on the car are just the right size and pretty useable. My car does not come with auto-fold mirrors.
• The driver door needs to be opened to access the bonnet lever, inconvenient at 5 Star Hotels.
• The rear wiper sweep area is really less and is a major irritant during rains.
• I find the black wrapped spoiler extremely tasteful and it looks much better integrated than on today's GT where it looks like an add on.
• Black mirrors have taken several hits and are bike friendly.

Interiors:

• Front seats are comfortable and if you travel two up, this car is ideal.
• My car comes with the Milan Titan Schwarz upholstery and it is pretty good, relatively easy to clean and doesn't look bad either.
• I had installed aftermarket covers but threw them away within 6 months because of poor fitting and the fact that I liked the stock fabric more.
• Black interiors, so no problems of getting soiled as easily as beige ones.
• I like the fantastic looking flat bottom steering that just feels so good in the hands.
• Special mention must be made of the leather stitching on the steering wheel, it is of extremely good quality and is still holding up well for all the use.
• Seat height adjustment has a lot of scope and I usually use the lowest position.
• Telescopic steering function is great, if there are passengers behind me I tend to move the steering to the farthest front.
• Single but heavy tone parp type horn is very useful and loud, but you can listen to it inside the car too.
• Some piano black inserts on the dashboard are a dirt magnet.
• Audio quality is impressive for a stock unit.
• Lots of connectivity options with the stock audio RCD320, but I will soon upgrade to the RCD340 because of need of android auto.
• Literally no rear seat space behind my seating position, good then that rear seats are hardly used.
• Reasonable boot space for the size of car, I have carried a lot of stuff at times by folding the 2nd row of seats.
• The power windows are all auto up/down, best thing to have with respect to convenience.
• The leather wrapped handbrake has held up well over the years.

Engine and Transmission:
Enough has been said about the 1.2 TSI on the forum already, yes it is an SOHC, yes we don't get the latest version but I still feel this is by far the best 1.2 engine our market has ever received. Comes mated to a 7 speed DSG which really feels like a match made in heaven. Move the key and it starts off with a hardly noticeable crank and settles down soon. In winters there is some RPM shoot, to around 1100rpm but settles down soon after. It gets to its 90 degree optimum temperature in about 2Kms of driving. Move the beautiful gear lever out from P to D and the car shifts from D1 to D2 almost immediately. After that you really will not have cause for complaint, it sounds nice, moves briskly though too keen to upshift in D mode. Following are the shift points I've noticed on mild throttle inputs:
D1-D2 at 10-13 Kmph
D2-D3 at 26-20 Kmph
D3-D4 at 35-40 Kmph
D4-D5 at 44-48 Kmph
D5-D6 at 52-56 Kmph
D6-D7 at 63-66 Kmph

After the D2-D3 transition, you will hardly notice the upshifts, there is adequate pulling power at low engine speeds and it certainly isn't dead with turbo lag. Under heavy throttle inputs, upshifts happen at 4500 rpm in D mode and around 5500 rpm in S mode. For completely taking it to the redline, you need to be in M (Manual) mode. I have maxed out all gears up to M5 in manual mode and I must say it is a joy to do so. The ESP light glows on hard launches and in interest of protecting the transmission, I haven't done many launches. The engine's smooth and effortless nature endows it with a character that is suited to both relaxed driving and pedal to the metal driving. The turbo boost and long gearing means you can embarrass much bigger cars at times and a lot of people in their swifts and i20's will try and race you at the first go. For most of the times, I enjoy its smooth nature but on highways and in city overtakes, it is the other side of the engine that I admire. I have never really felt the need for a remap because I don't take the car to the redline every now and then and it doesn't feel like a good investment since I value long term reliability, I won't be surprised if I keep this car well past the one lac km mark too. To date it feels fresh and 73000 Km feels like just 73000.

Coming to the gearbox, enough has been said about the reliability issues with the now infamous DQ200.I feel one should take the necessary precautions with respect to this engine, some points just to highlight what I've learnt over the years to prolong the life of this gearbox:

• Smooth throttle inputs lead to lesser judder and effortless pick up of pace with adequate shift speeds.
• Do any hardcore launches and you will feel the gearbox judder, the car has a static rev limit of 2500 rpm for this very reason.
• I've seen a friend's car with mechatronic failure at 18000 Km and I've seen a car at my service centre with 104000 Km without one. So it's highly unpredictable and dependent on driving conditions a lot.
• Bumper to bumper driving will lead to heat being transmitted through the dashboard plastic just next to the gear lever, no one ever told me this but I've observed it 10 times out of 10.
• D1-D2 gives a jerk post 55000 Km service where an update was performed and car now downshifts to D1 more frequently.
• Living with the DQ200, you realise the updates bring in a lot of change, just like our phone updates do.
• The more the car tries to lug in D2, lesser would be the clutch life, so beware.
• I have done a lot of open road and highway driving in this car, the gearbox is reluctant to downshift, its a fact. You feel that on the highway especially in higher gears.
• I have heard excellent reviews from people who got TCU remaps from TVS, Quantum Tuning etc, my stock car obsession didn't allow me to do it so cannot comment but have heard it prolongs gearbox life. Since I don't know anyone personally who has driven a GT TSI more than me, so cannot testify longevity.
• Single biggest reason I never remapped my car is the various rounds of rumours around the mechatronic failure/clutch pack issues.

Ride and Handling:

• My last car wasn't exactly a handling benchmark, so I feel the Polo was a huge upgrade that way.
• The car's stability feels solid even today compared to the new crop of hatchbacks.
• I feel the rear wheel-well gap looks a bit ungainly and can be lowered a bit.
• I have not suffered underbody hits in everyday usage unless going to really bad patches of road which I sometimes happen to, my car also comes with an underbody protector that has taken a lot of the beating over the years.
• It is only after I've bought the Laura that the polo comes across as a bit skittish.
• Ride is a bit firm always, but I now realise I like it this way.
• Upgrading to Sachs Dampers made quite a difference, thanks to Mod Suhaas for his thread on them.
• I also changed the front suspension arms which had become noisy and rackety, again huge difference after the change.
• The suspension bushes lasted a much longer time than in my other cars.
• The steering is direct and has enough feedback for 99% of my driving times.
• I had changed tyres to Yokohama Earth 1 at 34700 Km for front and 38000 Km for rear, they made quite a difference and still have quite some life left.
• I had a lot of punctures with the Apollo Alnacs that came fitted in my car from the factory, also the grip was poor and the front tyres were literally bald by the time I changed them.
• The rear does tend to step out at high speeds when cutting lanes, you can feel it.
• Off late, I've heard good reviews of Cobra Springs, might as well try them.

Living with the Polo GT TSI:

Now for the first year of ownership, I used the GT TSI for a month and the relocated to Mumbai for my 2nd year of MBA. During this time period, my brother used the car and his Honda City i-Vtec was used by my mother in that time period. It did around 1600 Km in the month it was with me and after that my brother used to average around 700-800 Kms a month. But since my brother's usage was in heavier than usual traffic, the car never returned more than 11 Kmpl, also the fact that it was still relatively fresh, we had to run it in almost which meant the mileage would definitely improve with time. The car was previously serviced at the 6000 Km mark as it had completed a year that time. On checking the details of that service, we found out that the service centre guys had added a lot of stuff that wasn't necessary. So, I always asked my brother to be a bit cautious with the VW guys whenever we visited them for 6 Month inspection.

Now, a few months passed by into ownership of the car quite uneventfully, come October 2016 and it was time for the second yearly service of the car. We had some observations with time as we used the car:

• There used to be excessive fogging of the windshield after rains and would just not go with the blower air, it caused very poor visibility at all such times.
• The car's alignment was just not right despite getting it aligned at a reputed shop known to us for years now.
• Also, there were vibrations at the steering wheel under heavy braking which we thought was because of the alignment or warped discs.
• The chrome lining in the bumper grille lost its sheen and wore an oxidised black shade.
• The car's mileage in heavy traffic was very poor.
• Then, there was the famous jerk when the DSG downshifted from D3-D2.

All of these were reported to the service adviser while giving the car in for service, in this service the usually changed parts annually would be done and the issues would be attended to. The odo read 13500 Km when the car went in for its second annual service. The list of parts is as follows:

• Engine Oil Fully Synthetic-Castrol Professional
• Air Filter-Lumax Make not UI
• AC Filter-Requires change every annual service
• Oil Filter-Was found as not changed in the 1st yearly service because of less running
• Coolant Top Up
• Doors and hinges were lubricated along with something called cylinder lubrication which is an AC disinfectant kind of sham that was not allowed in further services.

Now the rest of the problems were mostly well attended, the brake discs were faced and found to be OK as were the brake pads. On doing a test drive of the vehicle it was found better. The jerk was there but apparently they had performed an update and told us that was as much as they could do. Regarding the mileage, they told us to wait for some more Kms for the car to open up more. Now the major issue that remained was the alignment, somehow even the SA was bemused and wasn't able to get it right. I was there besides him and he himself said there's something wrong to it, thereafter they went on to rotate the tyres and told us to take the car. Since it was Diwali that week, the car saw heavy running and the problem re-surfaced. Dejected, we drove the car back to the A.S.S post Diwali, it was then that I met their Head of Service and he assured me he will try his best to eradicate the problem. He asked for my cooperation in the fact that they might need to drive the car and hence it may clock 20-40 Kms and it may take them a day, I gave them a go ahead and left. The next morning, I got a call from the SA that I can come and take the car, I went there, test drove the car and was surprised there were no alignment issues, no pulling to the left. On asking them, he said they finally gave up on their alignment machine methods and did the alignment with the thread method, it seemed to work and in the coming days there were no issues, so all was well.

Days passed with no issues in the car and one morning in March 2017 I got a call from my brother stating that he accidentally hit a dog crossing the road and the Polo had suffered quite some damage. I immediately asked him about the dog's well-being to which he said it was fine. Since my brother had an MBA entrance interview in a short while, I asked him to leave the car as is and take a cab. However, the place of accident wasn't very far from my place, so my father handed over the A4 to my brother there. From the pictures I received, I could make out that there was significant damage and asked my father to immediately get it towed to the service centre. That evening, received a quotation from the service centre of around Rs.60000, appeared a bit on the higher side, to which the SA replied that they take a higher figure because on opening up, parts may not need actual replacement. Gave him a thumbs up and intimated the insurance company for claim settlement. Within 3 days the car was inspected by the insurance company and work commenced. In around 12 days, the work was completed because a lot of parts to be replaced were not in stock. The picture of the car at accident site is attached for reference.



Following is the list of work carried out:

1. Front Bumper Painting
2. Additional Radiator Replaced
3. Lock Carrier Kit for the Radiator Replaced
4. Retainer Kit Replaced
5. Headlight (Left) Replaced
6. Grille (Bottom) Replaced
7. Vent for Grille Replaced

The work was carried out satisfactorily and the bill came to Rs.37189 after taxes (this is pre-GST times), the insurance company paid around Rs. 32000 and the rest was paid by us.

Soon after, I got done with my MBA and relocated to Noida, fortunately my workplace was also in Noida and was around a 17Km commute per day. Started with my job in June 2017 and my brother left for his MBA in Bhubaneshwar around the same time, so it was the Polo that was my daily car now. So after June 2017, all the Polo's running has been single-handedly by me. As I started to drive the car more and more, here are my impressions about the car:

• Excellent driving positioning possible for driver because of wide range of adjustability of steering and seats.
• The leather wrapped steering is of really good quality and doesn't wear out easily.
• The air conditioned is fine for the front seats but not as much for the back.
• The ride has always been on the firm side but changed for the better once I switched to Sachs Dampers.
• For this car's pace and poise, the stock brakes are really a joke.
• Stock Apollo tyres weren't that bad but I suffered frequent punctures on them.
• The speedometer and the digital speed display are not really in sync.
• Mileage displayed on the MID is close to actual without the AC only.
• The car is really a great point and shoot car for the NCR region because you get enough empty spaces to gun it and the dimensions are good enough to slice through traffic.
• You should really count out that you have rear seats if you have a laidback driving position as I do.
• The car really grew upon me fast, as during the first year I used to always compare it to the A4 and it would fall short.
• The stock music system was not bad at all but lacked max volume.
• The Bluetooth Connectivity was fast compared to the Baleno.
• I still longed for the fantastic driving position of the Ritz.
• The boot space was sufficient for my occasional use.
• Yes, the car was very stable but had noticeable body roll.
• The horn on this car is fantastic but can be heard inside the cabin. Gets intrusive because it is so silent inside.
• The car has never disappointed me with its ground clearance, for a fact my car came with the engine guard from the factory and it has taken a beating over the years.
• The car is super smooth in a way no 1.2 can manage, it feels more refined than the i-VTEC I also have at home.
• Initial fuel efficiency figures used to hover around 12 kmpl that kept on improving as I started to use less throttle and enjoy the effortless nature of the engine combined with 7 speeds that allow a low RPM cruise in the city at all times.
• I immediately took the car out for a highway trip, within a month of having it at my disposal permanently and wasn't disappointed.
• Initially, I didn't like the Flash Red, but I believe it has grown upon me, somewhere I still wish it were a white or black.
• The car's paint quality was excellent as a few nicks and dings that I have accumulated over the year haven't solicited a visit to the paint shop.
• I started looking for mods because the GT TSI is like a magnet for mods.

Usage Pattern:
Well, the usage pattern has never been constant, my commute has always been 12-16 Kms but apart from that I've always had high weekend running, occasional highways running for work or leisure trips. So much so that the car has never seen less than 1000 Kms a month from the start of June 2017 to March 2020 when lockdown occurred. The car was at 18000 Km in June 2017 and stood at 73500 Km on 22nd March 2020 post which it hasn't seen much running for obvious reasons. Some milestones and dates along the way:

• Completed 10000 Km on 15th August 2016.
• Completed 20000 Km on 25th June 2017.
• Completed 30000 Km on 4th January 2018
• Completed 40000 Km on 8th May 2018.
• Completed 50000 Km on 17th January 2019.
• Completed 60000 Km on 9th August 2019.
• Completed 70000 Km on 25th January 2020.

Breaking it into parts, 10000-20000 Km was slow because of my brother's limited usage. 20000-30000 Km was faster because of my daily running plus the weekend trips. 30000-40000 Km was the fastest till date because of my Gujarat trip spanning Ahmedabad, Mandvi, Great Rann, Dholavira, Udaipur. 40000-50000 Km was again normal because of increased work pressure and lesser highway trips. 50000-60000 km was faster than the previous because of more highway trips and work based running. 60000-70000 Km was fast because my fiance shifted to NCR permanently and weekends itself the car would do 200-250 kms.Had it not been for the lockdown, probably the car would have done close to the 75000 Km at the 4 year mark on 9th May, 2020.The car has seen Rajasthan, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Gujarat and never let me down anywhere. Currently the odo stands at 73650Km.

Service Experience:
If I were to describe my service experience with VW Noida in one word, it would be "Delightful". Reasons for the same are:
1.Fast issue resolution, mainly during the 2nd annual service.
2.They usually stock a lot of service parts that other VW showrooms I've heard do not.
3.Helpful with processing of warranty claims fast (needed only once).
4.Knowledgeable SA's, namely Mr. Sushil Tyagi and Mr. Rajnish Roy.
All said and done, there was a big loophole regarding my car's 6th year add on warranty that I will explain later.

Service History:

• 2nd Annual Service at 13500 Km in October 2016. A detailed post regarding the problems, solutions and rectifications has been shared.
  Cost: Rs. 11000
• Accidental Repair at 17300 Km in March 2017. List of items replaced and insurance claim settlement has been detailed.
  Cost: Rs. 37200
• 3rd Annual Service at 27600 Km in November 2017. Usual items were replaced - Engine Oil and all filters. There were no problems as such apart from the fact that the brake pads were on their last legs.
  Cost: Rs. 9300
• 4th Annual Service at 40100 Km in May 2018. Completed this service before time because the car had done a very long trip and was munching miles over less than ideal roads feeling sluggish. Usual engine oil replacement and filter replacements were carried out.
  Cost: Rs. 9100
• 5th Annual Service at 55500 Km in May 2019. At this time the gearshifts appeared very jerky because of which a mechatronic update was performed resulting in the car holding on to the 1st gear much longer and also downshifting more readily. Usual engine oil replacement and filters replacement was also done.
  Cost: Rs. 10000
• 6th Year Add on Warranty Inspection and Spark plug change at 62600 Km in September 2019. During this, a faulty boot door latch was replaced in warranty.
  Cost: Rs. 2600 for spark plugs and Rs. 15900 for add on warranty refunded later.
• 6th Annual Service at 69500 Km in January 2020.The usual changes were carried out and front suspension arms along with suspension bushes were replaced. A TSI engine additive was also added to the petrol tank for the first time.
  Cost: Rs. 18000

I have never felt the ASS to be too expensive to maintain the car, that said some part replacements have been carried out outside of the ASS at my FNG (Raj Motors Noida Sector 65), following is the list for the same:

• Front Brake Pads changed to Brembo Make (Sourced from Amazon) at 27800 Km in November 2017.
  Cost including labour: Rs. 3500
• Headlights changed to Taiwanese make matrix type and grille changed to GTI type at 28500 Km in December 2017.
  Cost: Rs. 24800 for headlights and Rs. 2500 for grille
• Tyres changed to Yokohama Earth 1, front two were changed at 34700 Km in February 2018 and rear two at 38000 Km in April 2018 in stock size.
  Cost: Rs. 19200 for four
• Battery was changed at 47800 Km to Exide make.
  Cost: Rs.4000 after exchange of old battery
• Shockers and their Mounts changed to Sachs at 51000 Km in February 2019.
  Cost: Rs. 22000 inclusive of labour
• Headlights upgraded with Xenons for low and high beam at 69500 Km in January 2020. This was done by a friendly guy in Delhi circles by the name of Rachit Verma (Company Name: DB Concepts)
  Cost: Rs. 9500

All in all, part replacements have been far fewer than happened in my Ritz and since the service intervals are wide apart, I've had less visits to the service centre in general.

Experience with Add-on warranty:

In 2018, just when my car was about to turn 4 years old and the extended warranty was going to end, I came to know about the add-on warranty feature introduced by VW India for 5th, 6th and 7th year. Since my car was stock and the mechatronic failure loomed large, I decided it was an expenditure worth it. So I called up my service advisor, he told me that they'll have to check the whole car and do some scans and also might drive the car unto 40Kms for the add on warranty. Cost for the 5th Year Warranty would be Rs. 11700, though I thought it was expensive but looking at the bigger picture it seemed okay. Went ahead and got it at the start of 5th year of life and around 45500 Km.

A year went by uneventfully and the car had completed 5 Years and 62500 Km, so it was time to get the 6th year add on warranty. I thought like last time, I should go to VW Noida Workshop and get it done, went there, paid Rs.15700 by card and asked them to invoice the same. Got some minor checks done on the car and left, they told me that they would mail the add on warranty certificate soon. After that I left for Europe and didn't bother checking for 20 days, on return I got a call from the VW Noida receptionist that my car's add on warranty for 6th year stands cancelled as their partner for providing the add on warranty has denied the same after studying service record.

I was furious as the car was always maintained at VW and had all kinds of service records available. On digging deeper, they forwarded me a mail that stated that in my car spark plugs weren't changed at stipulated intervals, I clearly told them that it was their service advisor's decision entirely as they always inspected but never changed, to which she stated that nothing can be done now and I can take the refund. Also talked to my SA who apologized but said he couldn't do anything. I think this was one area that left me a bit frustrated with the VW guys. They should take into account their own old job cards and their employee' recommendation rather than a business partner's audit. Anyway, took the refund and thought of it as an exception but the problem is I've not had a mechatronic failure till now and now I don't have warranty cover either. Just pray to god that they honour goodwill warranty if need be. Hearing people's stories regarding goodwill warranty makes me more confident of the same.

I leave you with some favourite images of my car over the Gujarat trip I did in 2018.









Update as on date 10/05/2021:

The car recently completed the 5 year mark with us and also crossed 90000 km around 3 weeks back, since then usage has been very light. I am also now awaiting its successor as soon as the lockdown lifts, will soon try and upload relevant pictures of it soon. All hasn't been easy going with the car in the last one year, following work was done as part of regular maintenance:

1. Battery was changed as soon as the lockdown lifted last year due to inconsistent performance from the previous Exide one, decided to go ahead with O.E battery made in Germany to avoid any risks and get a warranty that would actually stand some value.

2. At 79326 km on 26th of August 2020, the dreaded multi clutch failure happened and as a result, car would skip odd gears, my dad was driving it that time and the next day car was at VW Noida and the scan revealed the same, they quoted Rs. 133000 with flywheel change as on date and reduced post discounts to around 110000 and then 95000, I prodded them further and kept patience for around a week when the area sales manager finally gave an approval of 50% being absorbed by dealer and manufacturer, at that time I gave a go ahead and parts were ordered, took around 15 days in total post that and I took delivery on 15th of September 2020, no issues post that of same regard. Do note that I got a 2 year unconditional warranty with regards to the parts changed and the final bill stood at Rs. 68300.I agree it's not cheap but it isn't something extraordinary considering the finesse of engineering this car provides.

3. Post that, in December, I had the major service scheduled, where apart from regular stuff, water pump was changed along with complementary parts as a precautionary measure, I also happened to change the DSG oil which people usually don't in case of DQ200, it was readily available but even the ASC was reluctant to change it, pressurized them to change it and my good relationship with them ensured they did their best, it cost me an extra Rs. 2500 and labour for the same was also a bit expensive at Rs. 2000, nevertheless my bill amount for this service was a not so inconsiderable Rs. 22000 meaning I spent more than a lac rupees in 2020 itself in 5th / 6th year of ownership.

Quality of work performed through has been top notch and I do not hesitate in taking the car for very long trips at the blink of an eye. In 2020, I did lots of highway trips mainly to Uttarkhand, Rajasthan thrice, Agra and others.

Car has been supremely reliable apart from some minor hiccups. Also changed tyres to Continental CC5 at 82800 km for front and at 89800 km for rear, shifted the previous well performing set of Yokohama Earth 1 to my Honda City which is a beater car. Tyre performance has been great with the Yokohama and Continental both as there are no punctures or undue surprises to report.

For whole of 2020, my car averaged in excess of 15 kmpl regularly because of less traffic and my easy going driving manners, so much so that good BHPian friends think I've done a TDi swap on the car.

Last change has been the front discs and pad set at around 88000 km, my discs were stock and pads were Brembo make that lasted more than 61000 km, yes I'm not joking, VW part life is fine if you don't give it the beans all the time.

Would want my thread to go live as I want to set the bad reputation around VAG cars right, they're all good in the right hands I'd say.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car will go to our homepage tomorrow .

[eyeman]

Great review of a great car. We also happen to own a 2016 model Polo GT TSI, bought brand new. Used by my wife, it has crossed one lakh, and she is very happy with it. Due to the heavy running, we were lucky enough to develop the multi clutch issue in the warranty period itself, and so got it covered. Whenever I even make a hint to her about considering another car, she cuts me off saying that all she wants is her Polo boy . Enjoy many more years in your car.

[Aditya]

Nice review. Very comprehensive and informative.

Interior space aside, the Polo is still one of the best hatchbacks money can buy. It is the default choice if you are looking for a driver's car. It's also good-looking, strongly built and safe. The GT TSI has been a long time favourite among enthusiasts now. It punches above its weight when it comes to performance, road manners and handling. I'm not a fan of the interior though. It's old to look at and feels properly outdated.

Wish you many happy miles in your car.

[shabeermohamed]

It's a wonderful car to drive. I had bought one in 2018. Used it for two years and did 20K kms. Sold it off a couple of months back in Bangalore for 9 lacs. Tough decision. I still miss it everyday.
I was not very confident to maintain it now that the model is discontinued. Moreover the service centre in Bangalore Whitefield was just average. My fuel cap sensor conked out and they refused to cover under extended warranty. That actually triggered my decision to sell.
The good thing was the car was in demand in the used car market and I was able to sell it off in a couple of weeks.

[Utsav3010]

Great review Dhruv! The amount of effort that has been put into the review shows your passion and enthusiasm, and how close this car is to your heart.

Nice garage as well. Hoping to see your Q2 review soon Congratulations in advance on that.

[dhruvritzed]

Originally Posted by Utsav3010

Great review Dhruv! The amount of effort that has been put into the review shows your passion and enthusiasm, and how close this car is to your heart.

Nice garage as well. Hoping to see your Q2 review soon Congratulations in advance on that.

Thanks a lot for the kind words Utsav, it is to our umpteen meets and discussions that I got to complete my thread with the inputs coming in from almost all the team bhp mates. Will definitely compile a small review of the Q2 after spending some time with it on the review section or its relevant thread. Take it as my liking for the polo so much that I got an AWD GTI successor in my eyes.

Cheers

[thechinmay]

Great review. I own a 2018 GT TSI and have considered a few mods, mainly the headlights and dampers, but haven't pulled the trigger yet because my car is still under extended warranty.
Its great to know that the stock discs lasted so long. I can already feel my OEM brake pads starting to give up at around 33k kms.
Its otherwise a fantastic car - great build, decent feature list, brilliant dynamics and exciting powertrain, as long as you don't need the backseat.

[dhruvritzed]

Originally Posted by thechinmay

Great review. I own a 2018 GT TSI and have considered a few mods, mainly the headlights and dampers, but haven't pulled the trigger yet because my car is still under extended warranty.
Its great to know that the stock discs lasted so long. I can already feel my OEM brake pads starting to give up at around 33k kms.
Its otherwise a fantastic car - great build, decent feature list, brilliant dynamics and exciting powertrain, as long as you don't need the backseat.

Absolutely agree with everything you said there, have felt that the headlights could do with an upgrade earlier than I did, regarding the dampers I would say if Sachs is available, do not hesitate in getting it, will improve your confidence in the car by leaps and bounds. Brake pads more or less are dependent on driving style and I cannot comment on yours but have heard that unless you are really aggresive, they do last long.

Originally Posted by Aditya

Nice review. Very comprehensive and informative.

Interior space aside, the Polo is still one of the best hatchbacks money can buy. It is the default choice if you are looking for a driver's car. It's also good-looking, strongly built and safe. The GT TSI has been a long time favourite among enthusiasts now. It punches above its weight when it comes to performance, road manners and handling. I'm not a fan of the interior though. It's old to look at and feels properly outdated.

Wish you many happy miles in your car.

Thanks for the thread corrections Aditya, wholeheartedly agree with your viewpoints there, so much so that I wanted an upgrade to a GTI and even though I found one around a year back, didn't consider it mainly because the interior felt inferior for the 20 big ones I'd have spent. Yes space is a real concern but for the most part, hasn't been a concern for me as I drive alone 99% of the times and it's only recently that I got married so I've felt the need for more space in the car.

Originally Posted by shabeermohamed

It's a wonderful car to drive. I had bought one in 2018. Used it for two years and did 20K kms. Sold it off a couple of months back in Bangalore for 9 lacs. Tough decision. I still miss it everyday.
I was not very confident to maintain it now that the model is discontinued. Moreover the service centre in Bangalore Whitefield was just average. My fuel cap sensor conked out and they refused to cover under extended warranty. That actually triggered my decision to sell.
The good thing was the car was in demand in the used car market and I was able to sell it off in a couple of weeks.

That's an early sale you made there I see, must've been a tough decision, yes the service has been a throw of the dice kind of situation mostly a hit or miss. It isn't actually very tough to maintain trust me since it's the most common hot or may I call warm hatch out there. Plus it's an internationally hit model with tremendous parts availability so even if O.E doesn't stock, you have other or better options available.
I was shocked to see many aftermarket stockists had a multi clutch for my car series in stock when I had to search, so all is not bad.

Originally Posted by eyeman

Great review of a great car. We also happen to own a 2016 model Polo GT TSI, bought brand new. Used by my wife, it has crossed one lakh, and she is very happy with it. Due to the heavy running, we were lucky enough to develop the multi clutch issue in the warranty period itself, and so got it covered. Whenever I even make a hint to her about considering another car, she cuts me off saying that all she wants is her Polo boy . Enjoy many more years in your car.

Very nice to see that you've done a lot of miles there on your car and are also satisfied, I was actually of the opinion that there aren't many high run GT TSI's on the forum which is why I decided to pen down my review. Also good to see that VW changed your multi clutch in warranty, unfortunately I wasn't as lucky but I felt the pricing was fair there, also wish to see you soon as six digit figures soon.

Cheers

[amol4184]

Originally Posted by GTO

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Reviews section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car will go to our homepage tomorrow .

Just realized this thread spent a proper year in mysterious assembly line before appearing.
Team-bhp is doing a Maruti Suzuki.

[prammohan79]

Congrats on your purchase and I can vouch for that buttery smooth Tsi engine. I own a 2015 Gt Tsi. Apart from the cramped rear legroom, its a wonderful performance hatch. The 1.2 L petrol motor is a gem of an engine and roars to life on S mode. Even after 6 years of usage and clocking 50k kms on the Odo , it hasn’t given me any huge maintenance issues , just regular annual services. Wishing you many more years of happy and safe driving.

[QuentinTino]

Great thread, I must admit. VAG cars are still underestimated in today’s time by most of us Indians. This reminds me of the time I was travelling by air to Bengaluru for some exam and the gentleman next to me invited me to his place to take a TD of HIS GT TSI. I was elated to see the guy’s enthusiasm for the car! This led me to get a TD at the VW dealership in my city and I eventually got one too in 2018. It got the company of an Ameo TDI DSG in 2020 in our garage, and our city drives feel like Highway drives now

[car_guy1998]

Well written review Dhruv Bhai!

Even though the design of the Polo is a decade old, it's still a head-turner when compared to other hatchbacks!

And, I'm surprised that the DSG gearbox is holding well despite the odo is at 90K Kms!

[dhruvritzed]

Originally Posted by car_guy1998

Well written review Dhruv Bhai!

Even though the design of the Polo is a decade old, it's still a head-turner when compared to other hatchbacks!

And, I'm surprised that the DSG gearbox is holding well despite the odo is at 90K Kms!

Thanks a lot for your kind words Abhinav, as has been mentioned in the last update, my car's multi clutch and flywheel have been replaced at 79400kms, a friend's car has had same problem at 58xxx km. It's a consumable in the eyes of VW like a clutch in a normal manual car but I think they're trying to hide the DQ200's deficiencies underneath that. Didn't cost a arm and a leg so I'm happy and as I said I've hardly ever launched the car or driven with a very heavy foot or in extreme traffic for long periods, so I expect the second one to do better.
All said and done, I think the TC replacing the DSG on the new GT TSI is a great move, also VW has slashed part prices left right and centre, so adds to the lower costs of ownership across the 1.0 TSI range.

Hoping to see you get one soon! Cheers