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-   -   2020 VW Polo 1.0 TSI | Engine failure & breakdown | Cylinder damage | Pathetic service by VW (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/238734-2020-vw-polo-1-0-tsi-engine-failure-breakdown-cylinder-damage-pathetic-service-vw-5.html)

It's more common than we think and definitely in case of VW, vital components failing is no new news.

Multiple reasons which make this petrol only stance even worse for VW.

1. All this talk of cars being tested in "Indian conditions" and we still continue to see cars and even critical components fail on engines. Everyone knows if you have a smaller TDi (1.5/1.6) your water pump, timing kit and injectors will fail prematurely. VW continued to use those shitty Continental injectors which continued to give customers nightmares (I got mine changed too!) And that when the 2.0 TDi engines rarely faced the injectors issue presumably because of a superior make. VW had the solution at hand but never used it. The company already isn't solving a problem they already have the solution too!

2. The petrol versions never really sold, did they for VW? And those sales were across so many variations - 1.0 MPI, 1.2 MPI, 1.6MPI, 1.2 TSI, 1.4 TSi and 1.8 Tsi!

So here they sit on a wealth of knowledge about how the 1.5/1.6 TDi behaves - a tested workhorse of a machine with known daemons which they potentially have solutions too. And what is the stance they take? Launch a 1.0 TSi untested machine (in real world). That's a risky little game :D

As against "months old Polo engine fails, VW makes customer wait months and still refuses to replace engine'?

It's only one so far but we also need to remember that this engine was introduced shortly before lockdown so car may not have had their normal running for the reliability factor to be truly understood like the 1.5 or 1.6 diesels. Can't recall any failures for the 1.2 TSI either.

While an single failure can hardly be cited as a cause to taint the engine, the response of VW is the major issue here. But that too is unsurprising. Even in my Polo ownership from 2014 - 2017 I have cited multiple times that VW does not own the customer relationship. Any complaint is driven back to the same dealership that you complained about. While Maruti is so much the opposite. They take the initiative of interacting with the dealer and driving out a resolution. This amount of confidence and goodwill this creates in the brand is huge. Nexa is not so proactive but still much better.

Another aspect is that I am not so sure that the customer can prescribe how the engine should be fixed as long as the company/dealership is prepared to give a warranty on time. Here too the trust or lack of it becomes a sticking point. What may be accepted in Maruti may not be accepted by the customer in VW precisely because of the trust deficit. Good to know that VW has agreed to replace the head in it's entirety.

What's interesting is that this engine is going to explode in volumes now that the Kushaq is in the market. Engine reliability issues, no matter how much warranty is given, will simply kill it in the market.

Drive on,
Shibu.

Any car how so ever perfectly made, may fail. It’s a machine after all. This case of engine failure may be one odd case. But what matters the most is the response of the company. Enthusiasts fighting tooth and nail with dealership to get a defective machine/ part repaired or replaced is simply pathetic. This is where Toyota and Tata truly shine. One call or email to the customer care, ensures the customer gets a justified solution and within a reasonable time frame. I remember my Tata Aria’s engine failed at 15000 kms way back in 2012. Probably the first case of engine failure in Aria then. The response from customer care was just amazing. The engine was airlifted and replaced along with the turbo charger. I was kept updated time to time. The Product manager UV North gave me a call just to reassure everything is going well. The car had multiple issues but every single complaint was addressed to; parts replaced without any questions. I may dislike the Aria but really appreciate the customer care response. The European cars are an enthusiasts dream drive but issues like these ( and response from VW) sends shivers down the spine.

This is surprising for sure. I have owned a Skoda & Volkswagen for over 13 years now, the ASS of Skoda was pathetic but VW never disappointed me, not the dealer but the company. I have had numerous issues with their cars but my issues with skoda never got resolved, but VW issues always got sorted.

My brand new polo decided not to start and had to be towed to the service centre. The issue was a faulty fuel pump in a brand new car. It took them some 10 days to replace it but a team came down from the factory to check why the fuel pump failed in a brand new car. The company was responsive to me & kept me in the loop.

Another time after a regular service the gears wouldn't slot smoothly, when i made a complaint to the service center, they said they had no engineer available and bring the car after 3 days & we will see what's wrong with your gearbox & suggest suitable remedy. I pointed that i had no issues with my gearbox but after taking the car back from service this issue has started. When they refused, i called the company helpline, within 15 minutes i received a call from the workshop asking me to send the car immediately, and the loose gearbox connections were sorted within 2 hours.

Similar thing happened with my steering issue, the engineer stated that its fine but because i have complained he will look into it. He came back with a reply that it needs to replaced, when i told him my car is under warranty thus he should straight away go ahead and replace the steering, he was shocked. He had no option but to replace the steering now, but afterwards they refused me delivery saying that warranty team has not approved it, again i called up the helpline & in half an hour i received a call from workshop that my car is ready for delivery.

From my experience, i would very much doubt that the company is creating issues, it must be the dealer or their inexperience. If the company is involved in a complex engine they might need time as replacing an engine means changes to the smart card as well.

Hope the problem is resolved asap.

My thoughts exactly when we first got introduced to the 1.0L tsi. It made me think that this would probably effect reliability just as when you do mods on smaller engines to extract more power. I just hope these are just a few instances and does not go the DQ200 way. As someone had pointed out to describe the German cars as "have a blast till it lasts"

Very unfortunate. And worrisome. Yes, this can be a one off case, but the point is why should it happen in a 25,000 kms run, nearly new automobile. Irrespective of OEM.

If VW Service & it's merry men have some strategic sense, they should immediately provide a loaner car and carry out all replacements, no questions asked. It's quite obvious that they wish for a PR disaster.
Wonder whether they would've responded in the same way, had this happened to one of their European or American customers, in their respective countries!

No wonder the Japanese rule supreme in India. My 15 year old, Gen-1 Swift has covered 150,000+ kms on its G-13B and has never missed a beat. It still meets the stipulated emissions comfortably & returns 12.xx kmpl in abominable city traffic with AC. :)

Please push for a full replacement. We had a similar issue with our Q5 2.0TFSI. The whole engine was replaced under warranty. Took 2 months to get it resolved.

I cannot pin point the exact issue as it wasn't shared with us but the symptoms were the same and the whole block was changed including the head and injectors etc.

It'll be hard but all the best!

I am really sorry to hear Op's predicament. I am facing issues with my Skoda rapid which has ECM issue due to a rat bite. Even in my case all the legwork is handled by the dealership itself. There was one CRM who interacted with me from Skoda on the day i tweeted the thread to Zack Hollis. But she has been a mute spectator on all the email exchanges. Also even after I resolve who pays for the ECM in my case, its not so easy. That part has to be shipped from Germany and the service advisor said it will need atleast 10-15 days after you pay for the part.

Looking at the issues I am facing and the 1.0 TSI engine issues in this thread I am concerned with my decision on buying the Rapid. Both of my earlier vehicles (Hyundai and Suzuki) were basically trouble free. Never have I had the car in the workshop for more than a day or 2.

The case is here is not as straight forward as it sound. Without understanding what exactly is wrong we cant comment whether this needs an engine or just the head would suffice.

Guys, this is the practice in India. At least this is what I have seen while dealing with Hyundai and Mahindra. In case of the latter, the company washed off their hands completely and directed everything to the dealer. So this is how it works here and is nothing VAG specific. :)

Any positive response from VW India so far?

The way VW CS team works is literally crazy. If you are not satisfied with the dealer and complain to VW India then they will send the exact email to the very same dealer. That makes the whole scenario pointless. VW India customer relationship team is a joke.

Coming to this issue, I'm sure the owner might have really fed up. No matter how bad or good he drove it, 25000 odd Kms are exceptionally low for an engine to fail. Unless drove with no oil in it. The modern day turbocharged engines are very complicated machines and fixing those from the dealer level will not be probably the same with factory Fitment.

I would ask VW to do 3 things to gain your customers trust again.
1. Either replace the engine at least under a nominal cost.
2. Replace or rectifying the engine at VW India factory. This can be a case study as well.
3. Till the issue get resolved give a loaner car to the customer. By doing so, you can evaluate the customer's way of driving and also the customer (s) will be getting some trust back on VW.

It's a win win situation for both parties.

If VW India refuse those without any valid claims then I will have to conclude something really fishy from VW India. Imagine those prospective buyers of the Taigun and Kushaq bumping to this thread. You already have a bad name for reliability and don't just add and chase away your customers. It's a request VW India, don't screw it up again.

Has the issue been resolved by VW India?

Any update on this ?

In the mean time lots of speculations doing the rounds.
1. Manufacturing defect, of course is the majority.
2. Car was remapped, however I expect this is the first check, the VW service center will do.
3. Revved hard without proper warmup everytime.
4. Was running low on engine oil which the owner didn't realize since VW/cars have a tendency to drink oil. The manual says to expect 500ml / 1000 kms.

An update and the cause would be very welcome to existing and potential 1.0 Tsi engine owners. An official statement from VW would be the icing on the cake.

I was planning to buy a Polo TSI manual Highline Plus. I have already contacted to my nearest dealer and got the quotation. Before advancing with my decision I thought I should research a little bit on how reliable this engine is and I thought I should post a thread in here for taking suggestions on the same. Then I came accross this thread. Now, I have kept my buying decision on hold. Let me tell you my scenario.

I have got my first job, I have always dreamt of buying a car when I get my first job. I have grown up with Maruti Suzuki cars and we still have them.

Currently my family owns, Brezza Diesel which I primarily use, it's 2016 make and has done 36,000 kms. A Swift diesel, which has clocked 2, 70, 000 kms, it recently got serviced and had a complete front suspension overhaul and with no major issues still. And an alto 800 which has clocked 90,000 kms.

I have to go to Banglore and I need a new car. My budget for this is max 8 to 9 lacs. I started thinking about the Swift petrol, it's reliable but not safe and not so well built. Then I thought grand i10 nios is a value for money car and I would have opted for 1.2 ltr manual Asta. Finally I decided let's take a chance with VW, as an enthusiast this would be the perfect car for me. It's safe, the reviews that we have on different forums for Polo is good, it's fun to drive and my daily running will not be much so I don't need to care that much for the mileage. From my school days I have always dreamt of owning a Polo but my family never shifted from Maruti because of reliability and peace of mind.

Let me get my priorities straight :
1: Safety
2: Reliability
3: Engine which is fun to drive and avg fuel economy.
4: This is my first car, so, will keep it for my entire lifetime in top notch condition. So, the vehicle should be able to stay with me for long.

Polo tsi was satisfying all this I thought because VW group is trying to improve now by taking many initiatives such as reducing maintenance cost by 25%, 6 years/1,50,000kms warranty ( may be 1,25,000 kms I don't remember) etc. But now this thread has put me in dilemma. This is my first job, so, I need a car with avg cost of maintenance. I have planned my finances accordingly. I will be helpless if the TSI engine turns out to be unreliable and if VW won't take proper ownership of all this. FYI, I drive my car very responsibly and carefully but sometimes I would like to take the engine to its redline otherwise what's the fun of having a powerful engine?.

I don't want to go for TATA for reliability issues. I don't want to go for Ford, though I would like to but the thought of ford leaving India tells me not to go with it.

What do you guys suggest?

I want to know the reliability of this TSI motor. Hope you guys can help.

Regards,
Samay
(Proud team-BHPian and car enthusiast)

I would say go for it. This engine is new in India so no one can state the reliability of the engine in India. But worldwide it is an award winning engine, and I have not seen a single complain with this in briskoda or vw forums in terms of the engine failing. This thread might be a one of case.

Also there is a new thread up where a brand new Hyundai i20 petrol has had engine failure in <1500 kms and 2 months. Another Teambhpian's Baleno, driven by his wife, just 27k on the odo, parts of the engine block casing has broken off. You can see the pistons inside. If you keep thinking about all this, you can never buy a car.

You are a young chap and you want to take a chance - I think you should. But your priorities start with Safety and Reliability?!

Anyhow, first cars are often mistakes which are realized a few years afterwards - denial is instant though. So while its alright to make that mistake, be ready to let go off the first car and move to something more family friendly as your needs change.