[Endless....]

Originally Posted by CarBot

There is only 1 car in transit now for Whitefield VW which is allotted to me. So now the dealer is having upper hand. At least my sales advisor Mr. Gana is not trying to take advantage of this situation. Apart from me calling other dealers. He himself called few of his friends in other dealership and enquired about Highline Plus AT but no luck.

My first colour option was flash red, second was white. The car in transit and allotted to me is white.

Congratulations on your ride! She looks awesome! I’ve been in the market for a used octavia or superb. Prices and age of some of the available cars are simply prohibitive. I did not want to spend anymore time thinking about ‘what car?’, hence made a couple of calls to folks at apple vw. As luck would have it, someone who booked the red HL Tsi automatic had to cancel their booking yesterday and I did not wait even a second to jump right in and claim my gift from the heavens car is in transit and is expected to arrive at the dealers yard tmrw. I got a final quote of 10.95 L. This includes insurance at 28k. What was the insurance quote you received? I am anyways planning to get insurance externally and am certain that I will be able to knock off 4k. I plan on adding the black spoiler and GT badges similar to what we did to a friends ride a month or so ago. While he got the reverse cam installed at the dealer, I think I will give it a miss. The picture quality when compared to what I have on my Rapid is just horrible to say the least.

For those of you wondering why a polo when I was looking for an octavia initially, this whole ‘need a new car itch’ creeped in with dad wanting a car to replace his alto. My current ride is a 3 yr old Rapid MT 1.6 MPI in flash red and warranted no replacement whatsoever. I figured I’d just upgrade to either a octavia or superb and hand over the Rapid for dad to use. As luck would have it, all the cars I checked out were either overpriced or too old to take a chance, especially considering the ever looming fear of DSG woes. I then decided to just buy dad a new car and enjoy my current ride. I made a few calls to get pricing on existing hatch backs from maruti and Hyundai’s stable, none of them tugged the hearts string nor made sense from a price to quality/performance point, for me personally. I’ve driven a good friends month old HL polo on a couple of road trips and was already smitten by the turbo petrol bug. One thing led to another and I finally decided it’s time I acted on this asap and not waste anymore time thinking about ‘what car?’ The rest is history

That being said and done, here’s my new issue, I’m in 2 minds about handing over the polo to dad. Instead, I am considering retaining the polo for myself and hand over the Rapids keys to dad!! Let’s see how this plays out now!

Originally Posted by CarBot

Thanks Pankaj, Yes I got the GT badge from dealer, it costs Rs.350
Interesting fact is that the GT TSI sticker on C pillars costs 3500 where as the metal GT badge costs Rs.350

I literally had to pick my jaws up from the floor when the dealer quoted 3.5k for that sticker when we did the Gt monicker mod on a friends polo we took delivery recently now that my ride is booked, I will just get a sticker done in black/grey and proudly plaster it on that hot red hatch back for a princely sum of 10 bucks!

[CarBot]

Originally Posted by Endless....

As luck would have it, someone who booked the red HL Tsi automatic had to cancel their booking yesterday and I did not wait even a second to jump right in and claim my gift from the heavens car is in transit and is expected to arrive at the dealers yard tmrw. I got a final quote of 10.95 L. This includes insurance at 28k. What was the insurance quote you received?

Thanks Endless, I had the same quote of 27k on insurance but it was only comprehensive, I spoke to the sales advisor and he got me a discount of around 2 or 3 k on bumper to bumper. In total I had to pay 32.5k.
I also took 2 years additional warranty for Rs 17888, so in total now there is 6 years factory warranty.

Congrats on your Red one, I was told there were no cars available in red and the only one which was alloted to apple vw was booked. As you said it is heaven sent gift for you

Count me in sticker if you are getting it done outside in grey / black with the same font.

Regarding the camera, I got it added at dealership, it is not great but will do the job. Do share the pics once you pick up your new ride.

[thisissoumya]

Originally Posted by thisissoumya

I am going for a TD for the Polo to VW Thane. Lets see how the experience is going to be.

I had asked the sales person to make both the transmissions (Manual & TC unit) available so that I can drive them back to back and understand the overall experience better. I was scheduled for the TD at 4:15 PM and without much delay I was behind the wheel of a Highline plus manual Polo.

Engine & Gear Box - What an excellent motor it is !! I had never seen such a rev friendly motor in my driving tenure. In no time the car reaches 80kph in 2nd gear and the refinement is satisfactory for a 3 cylinder. At higher rpm the motor gets vocal but in a good way, I liked it.

Gearbox is slick but is a bit notchy and requires a bit of effort for quick shifting. This is not a deal breaker though.

What I also noticed is though there is Turbo lag below 1800 rpm, the engine still has enough power to move forward without fuss. My 110 PS Duster’s lag is much more before the Turbo kicks in.

Suspension - I was pleasantly surprised by the way this car handles bad road. I currently drive a Duster so am a little spoiled for the so called magic carpet like ride quality and even by that standard I liked it in Polo.

The clutch travel is on the longer side and will be bothersome in city traffic. The 2nd and 3rd gearing ratio will help reducing the need to change gears but still B2B traffic will be a pain is what I believe.

Driver side footwell is not very specious to operate the pedals. Each time used the clutch, my left knee kept on brushing the panel that connects the gearbox and the dash. I wonder how taller guys will manage. Also I am not sure whether I felt so because I am used to more foot space in the duster and in reality the space in Polo is just adequate. The official review also mentions the foot space is a bit cramped.

After a 20 – 25 minutes drive in both the cars my back was hurting. I was surprised because though there was no Lumber support (as told by the sales person), the driving seat is designed in a way that it has some sort of support for lower back.

GT TSI

The creep function is a bit aggressive and more so while reversing.

While driving the manual, I thought the foot space will be more in this car because of 1 pedal less but unfortunately that is not the case.

When I was driving in D mode and came to a standstill at a signal, the gearbox downshifted till D2 instead going down till D1. I was confused, when asked, the sales person he had no answer. Has anyone experienced this? Would like to know.

The TC unit shifts are seamless post D3. The D2-D3 shift is the most noticeable one. However all shifts are in no way annoying or jerky or involves head nod . Its just that since I was comparing it with DSG shift, I could notice the gear shifting. Things improved when I drove in sports mode. The box held the gear till 3200 – 3500 rpm before upshifting and shifts were even smoother. I think someone who is looking for a smooth Automatic hatch will have no complain. Having said that, the enthusiasts will be happier with the manual.

Dealership Experience

The overall experience was satisfactory. Sales person was reasonably well-informed about the car’s feature and mechanicals and was not pushy. Test drive car was arranged on time as I had mentioned earlier and I was the only client there. While enquiring about the stock I was told that Highline plus Automatic is not available and they also have no update as to when they will have one. As far as the Manual is concerned, stock is sold out for Dec and Jan stock is awaited. GT is available. I could clearly see that they have been instructed to push the GT variant.

I requested the sales person to update me when he has anything on the Highline plus Automatic or the Manual. Received a Brochure when I asked for it, thanked him and left. After an hour I received a call from him saying they have one last highline plus automatic in white color with a little discount on offer (dealership discount) to which I politely refused as I am sure about the color I want (Flash Red or Lapiz Blue).

[haritabh7]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Hey thanks for the concern. Yes, it was quite a weird phenomena for me as well when I first noticed this 2 months ago during one of my test drives, but I would like to mention a few more things :-

Observations

• Coolant bubbles even after a 10min or 15min or 2 hour long drive.
• Coolant temperature perfectly maintained at 90 Degrees with no sign of overheating.
• A phenomena I witnessed right from the first day and also witnessed it on 9/10 1.0 TSI engines which makes me hope that this is normal.
• Coolant perhaps overfilled from the factory since it was well over the MAXIMUM mark on all of these cars and I really do not understand how Volkswagen's plant would do this.
• I also noticed a similar phenomena on an immaculately maintained 1.2L TSI DSG GT TSI with 23000kms under its belt in 2 Years, making me believe this could just be an operational trait, but at the same time my mechanic friend remarked that it was indeed the first time he had witnessed the same event.

This is actually not the coolant bubbling but the electric water pump staying on after switching off the car, which recirculates the coolant around the block to cool it down uniformly and faster. Hope this is helpful.

[CarBot]

Originally Posted by thisissoumya

Suspension - I was pleasantly surprised by the way this car handles bad road. I currently drive a Duster so am a little spoiled for the so called magic carpet like ride quality and even by that standard I liked it in Polo.

The clutch travel is on the longer side and will be bothersome in city traffic. The 2nd and 3rd gearing ratio will help reducing the need to change gears but still B2B traffic will be a pain is what I believe.

I too own a duster and I too had exactly same review as you mentioned. Suspension was more than satisfactory in Polo. Clutch travel was more compared to duster, I also felt clutch to be on heavier side.

I was not very particular on color so I settled with White. I was also told that there will be no new highline plus AT since GT sales were low. When I bought the car I had all color choices in GT but only white in highline plus AT.

[PankajKara]

Took the delivery of the car!

Some pictures during delivery.

Everything went smooth. Mudflaps weren’t in stock. Will get those installed when I get the number plate installed. Posting more pics with a better background soon.

[ArunRam]

Originally Posted by Endless....

I got a final quote of 10.95 L. This includes insurance at 28k. What was the insurance quote you received? I am anyways planning to get insurance externally and am certain that I will be able to knock off 4k.

Hi, I see that your family owns a Volkswagen make car ( rapid). Did you get additional loyalty discount ( 10K) as well?

[Endless....]

So, took deliver of my flash red TSI on New Year’s Eve Drove about 50 kms so far. Here is my initial impression about the car. Coming from a manual tranny Rapid, I am in love with the torque converter, especially in sports mode. The car gets to silly speeds before I know it. I haven’t driven a DSG enough to make a comparison, hence will leave it to the experts to comment on the DSG v/s TC. Build quality inside out is comparable to the Rapid and remains very good. This is a extremely engaging car to drive and I am loving every bit of that experience. Not an ounce of regret here. What it lacks in bells and whistles, it more than makes up for it as soon as you get behind that rather nice steering wheel. Coming from a top spec Rapid, I do have a few bones to pick with VW though. Keep in mind that I picked this car up knowing fully well about what I am getting for my money. Just quoting the below points for folks who may want to consider as well.

1. No reverse camera. The Rapid has an excellent reverse cam with the RCD 330 G HU. Not providing one on the Polo’s 340 G has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I almost feel handicapped without the camera and need to do some un-learning. The camera offered by the dealership is below par for the price quoted. Suggestions welcome.

2. That single horn is just horrible. For the life of me, I cannot imagine why they would provide just one trumpet horn. Apparently couplers to attach another horn are not yet available with the dealers. Hoping to solve for this sooner than later. If it takes too long, I may just go install hella trumpets and fling my warranty out of the window along with that damned excuse for a horn

3. For a million and some rupee car, there is no underbody protection. Paid extra and had that resolved. Thanks to one of the posts on this very thread. Very helpful input.

4. No projectors and DRL’s. Who does that with headlights in today’s world.

5. No back-pockets on the front seats. Total bummer but I guess scooping out the back and eliminating the pockets was another way to create some room for rear passengers. My little dog won’t be needing that leg room anyways but still, I am certain this will be a criteria for quite a few prospective buyers out there.

6. No height adjustability for front seat belts. I got too used to that on the Rapid.

What I love- besides the driving, which, like I said before, is awesome as far as I am concerned.

1. The auto box is perfect - for me. No complaints

2. The plain Jane interior may put quite a few people off, but for me-it works. The layout is the same as in the rapid and is screwed together really well. Love the all-black interior as compared to the black beige on my Rapid.

3. Paint quality is top notch. Washed and waxed the car today. An hours worth of elbow grease, totally worth it. Love love love

4. Boot space- I’ve owned a swift in the past. The polo beats it hands down. I guess they ate up into the rear leg room to get this space, but then again, who buys a polo for rear leg room

5. Alloy wheels- They look stonking

6. Steering- Always wanted a flat bottom steering, missed that bus on my Rapid. Itch has been taken care of.

7. Apple car-play- Finally the RCD 340. Been meaning to upgrade the HU on my Rapid. One more box checked.

8. Tinted windows straight from the factory is great.

Things I’ve done so far on my ride:

1. Gt badging. The real-ish Gt does not make any sense to me and I am certain that the HL will soon be replacing the current line up of Gt’s

2. Gt spoiler

3. Blackened mirror caps

4. Continental UC 6 tyres

5. Window curtains. Bought for all 4, installed on the rear ones only. Got too used that on my Rapid. Bought em off Amazon and they don’t hold a candle to the quality of the screens provided by skoda

Things I will consider doing in the near future:

1. Get rid of the speed chimes at 80 and 120+

2. Gt Tsi badging for c pillars

3. Frameless wipers for aesthetics

4. Maybe a round of detailing. Maybe. I say maybe because I am beginning to think that a round of wax every couple of months by myself will more than suffice, considering the awesome paint quality

5. The whole gamut of VCDS features will be enabled

6. Last but not the least, continue to pay that EMI with a smile plastered on my face

7. Forgot to mention, blackened roof? Too common, too passé me thinks. Let’s see.

Before I forget, special mention to Mr. Y Narasimhan and his sales manager Antony and team at Apple auto. They did a wonderful job. I am a happy camper. As circumstances would have it, for this purchase, I did not haggle, considering how lucky I got with being able to book the car itself, that too in red. These guys did an awesome job and I would be happy to point any prospects in their direction.

That’s all for now. Not putting up pics since red polo’s are not a rare sight.

Happy motoring folks!

[Endless....]

Originally Posted by ArunRam

Hi, I see that your family owns a Volkswagen make car ( rapid). Did you get additional loyalty discount ( 10K) as well?

They did throw in a corporate discount. The Rapid is a lease, hence loyalty discount may not apply me thinks. Either ways, for this purchase, I did not bargain or push the sales folks around like I would usually since I knew this HL+ was probably one of the last that will be available in a while and I really needed the car.

[deepfusion]

Congratulations on buying the little fantastic beast.

Originally Posted by Endless....

1. Get rid of the speed chimes at 80 and 120+

Please share the process. I would also like to get it done. Fail to understand why provide such a spoilsport when the car is so good and capable of way more than these limits.

[RoadMonkey]

Originally Posted by Endless....

So, took deliver of my flash red TSI on New Year’s Eve Drove about 50 kms so far. Here is my initial impression about the car. Coming from a manual tranny Rapid, I am in love with the torque converter, especially in sports mode. The car gets to silly speeds before I know it.
...

3. For a million and some rupee car, there is no underbody protection. Paid extra and had that resolved. Thanks to one of the posts on this very thread. Very helpful input.

I hope you're abiding by the break-in period rules for a new engine, VW recommends not going WOT in the new car till ~1500kms and keeping the engine revs sane until that limit. I know it's hard to contain yourself given how well it drives - I own the same car, but this would be better in the long run.

And can you help me with underbody protection? I was not made aware of this by the dealership. how much did it cost and how did you procure it? Thanks!

[Endless....]

Originally Posted by deepfusion

Congratulations on buying the little fantastic beast.



Please share the process. I would also like to get it done. Fail to understand why provide such a spoilsport when the car is so good and capable of way more than these limits.

Thank you. The speed chimes is the regulation per BS6. Hoping to tap into contacts of mine who are tuners to help removing the beep. It’s possible and not complex from what I know so far. There is a whole thread on this topic around here somewhere. I will keep you posted.

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

I hope you're abiding by the break-in period rules for a new engine, VW recommends not going WOT in the new car till ~1500kms and keeping the engine revs sane until that limit. I know it's hard to contain yourself given how well it drives - I own the same car, but this would be better in the long run.

And can you help me with underbody protection? I was not made aware of this by the dealership. how much did it cost and how did you procure it? Thanks!

Owners manual says not to rev beyond 2/3 of the engines potential. Trust me thats a lot. Being able to get up to 120 kmph in a flash is silly. You are right about keeping the revs at check and I surely am playing by the books.

About the guard, the part number is 6RG805PETKIT. Costs 9k thereabouts. I think it’s a 2 piece kit, one engine guard and then another part I don’t really know what it’s for. I only picked up the guard for about half of that price. Please do check with your dealer if that’s an option. I really need to go back a few pages to find the original person who posted this info. Big thanks to him/her.

Question for Polo owners here. My car does not flash indicators while locking with the remote key. Only unlock elicits a flash. Is that normal? My Rapid would flash indicators for lock and unlock, hence the question. TIA

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by Endless....

Question for Polo owners here. My car does not flash indicators while locking with the remote key. Only unlock elicits a flash. Is that normal? My Rapid would flash indicators for lock and unlock, hence the question. TIA

Hi! Could be either of two things which is causing this behaviour.

1. The Code for Visual Entry (Blinking and Honking) on Unlock is Uncoded/Unchecked in the CECM (Central Electronics Module). This can be checked by the Dealership or using VCDS.
2. One of the doors, or boot switch or hood (My Polo does not have a Hood Microswitch) is not closing correctly.

In either of these scenarios, the Locking won't flash, provided the Coding is correct.

Originally Posted by RoadMonkey

I hope you're abiding by the break-in period rules for a new engine, VW recommends not going WOT in the new car till ~1500kms and keeping the engine revs sane until that limit. I know it's hard to contain yourself given how well it drives - I own the same car, but this would be better in the long run.

And can you help me with underbody protection? I was not made aware of this by the dealership. how much did it cost and how did you procure it? Thanks!

I have installed an underbody stone guard on my Polo. I have detailed the pricing and technicalities on my thread. You can check it out here. (Review: Driving home our Sunset Red VW Polo Highline+ TSI Automatic)

[Endless....]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Hi! Could be either of two things which is causing this behaviour.

1. The Code for Visual Entry (Blinking and Honking) on Unlock is Uncoded/Unchecked in the CECM (Central Electronics Module). This can be checked by the Dealership or using VCDS.
2. One of the doors, or boot switch or hood (My Polo does not have a Hood Microswitch) is not closing correctly.

In either of these scenarios, the Locking won't flash, provided the Coding is correct.

Thank you fluidicjoy for your response. I just checked again and lock indications are working like they should. I guess I didn’t close the boot properly while locking up last night. Also, huge thanks for sharing part number info for the under belly protection. That was a good one.

What was the other piece that you picked up along with the engine guard though?

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by haritabh7

This is actually not the coolant bubbling but the electric water pump staying on after switching off the car, which recirculates the coolant around the block to cool it down uniformly and faster. Hope this is helpful.

Yes you're right. I did identify it as the Auxiliary Water Pump. But the thing is, the coolant bottle bubbles even when the engine is running. I frankly don't have an explanation for why it bubbles when the car is idling. The coolant bubbling after the car is switched off because of the Second Water Pump seemed fairly logical to me.

Originally Posted by Endless....

What was the other piece that you picked up along with the engine guard though?

The part number you have mentioned is a Lock Carrier Kit which includes the Stone Guard. The Stone Guard as a separate part number was quoted to me for about Rs. 19k. Volkswagen offers the Lock Carrier Kit at Rs. 10k. The thing is the present lock carrier doesn't fit the 1.0 TSI engine. So effectively it's a waste. It is about Rs. 5000, so the stone guard and the mounts should be the remainder.