[BODHI25]

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

Hello Bodhi, that's great to know. At the moment, the noise doesn't bother me or my dad at all so we're happy to leave it as it is but it looks like you've found a cheap and effective fix for those who care about the noise!

Congrats on two years with your Polo. Do put up an ownership report as 1.2 MPi reports are relatively rare on this forum

Thanks McLaren Rulez. I will surely try my best to put up an ownership report of my Polo(Kathleen) in this forum after finishing my college exam.
And I agree ownership reports of Polo 1.2 MPi are very rare in this forum!

Originally Posted by abhishek46

I didnot know things like these are available as accesories.
Since when is this available?

Also, is the benefit only during idle or during city/highway driving also?

Nevertheless, I will get this fixed in my car asap. My car is a 2012 model, hope it fits.

This material is not available as an accessories for Polo petrol, you've to order it from the service centre as an spare part.

This material will reduce the overall noise inside the cabin which comes from the engine. You'll still hear the engine noise but it will be much lesser than before.
On highway you'll hear the engine noise but at reduced rate as I said earlier! I'm personally very satisfied with the sound deadening material. Just tell them you want the heat insulation or sound deadening material which comes with the Polo diesel. It's a direct and very easy fit, even you can do it yourself.

Originally Posted by Samfromindia

Lovely review of one of the most iconic hatches on our road today Wishing you thousands of happy miles with her. I am surprised to find that the replacement ORVMs for polo costs a hefty 6K+, while ones on my Ecosport (which has turn indicators plus blind spot view edges) costs 2.5K only. VW should really consider lowering the price of spares to a more sensible amount.


I believe the part of the diesel model will be an exact fit for the petrol one. The petrol polo is not silent, and this seems to do the trick. Will tell this to a friend who owns one.

Yes, it's an exact fit for Polo petrol as you have said. You can surely tell your friend if he owns the 1.2 MPi Polo about this material.

[McLaren Rulez]

With the onset of the monsoons and lovely cool weather, playing Polo just got a lot more fun! And all the little things that we take for granted on modern cars such as windscreen defoggers and rear wash and wipe (remember, we're coming from an Omni that has neither!) as well as the not so little things like ABS make life for my dad a lot safer too.

Here are some pics from a recent trip to Gaganachukki, which is around 50 km from Mysore

[McLaren Rulez]

Time flies, doesn't it?

It's already been a year since the Polo came home and in that time, it's covered a nice sedate 4600 km. The first service and oil change happening early is something I am happy about. I'm not too sure about running a brand new engine on the same oil for 15,000 km as VW suggests. Here is the bill for the same

The service was done at the dealer in Mysore. I ensured that no extra items were done and the bill came to just over Rs. 6000. Not bad, I guess but the windshield fluid top up seems like a total ripoff. I'm not sure if wheel alignment and balancing is needed at this low mileage but will probably get it done outside soon. The only little concern is that VW didn't do the lock cylinder lubrication (or at least it isn't shown on the bill) even though this is mandatory. Any other Polo owners whose bills don't show this item?

The best part is that there have been absolutely no issues faced in this year. No mechanical or electrical problems, not even a rattle. I'm as surprised as you and hoping I haven't jinxed it with that statement!

[VKumar]

Wow, just wow. Looks like there are a lot of things common in our ownership experience. Congrats for the coming first anniversary of your Polo; mine is also coming though. As of today, I am owning two of them; one is 1.5 Highline TDi and one is 1.2 Comfortline MPi; both of them are orange and both will be celebrating their first anniversary in December and January respectively.

Originally Posted by McLaren Rulez

I must tell you that I'm utterly in love with this machine

Whenever I drive myself and it's a dual carriageway or city drive, the petrol car is the preference for it's lighter wheel and lighter clutch as well as gearbox.

Cars considered

3) Ford Figo: And enter the car that nearly made it!

Exactly same. Till 6th December afternoon it had to be Figo diesel Titanium, then on 7th morning I visited VW dealer. I needed the car on 7th itself and with Ford dealer throwing some tantrums + Polo being readily available; took the delivery by 4:30 pm on same day. Figo is very close but once you are inside the car, then it is Polo all the way.

a) The rear is cramped, especially for the fifth passenger. However, this wasn't a big deal for us as there would only be two people in the car 90% of the time.

100% same in my case, only difference is thatit's me and my friend or me and my chauffy inside most of the time.

The low end response and driveability are actually very good

10 kph I slot into 2nd
20 third
30 fourth
40 fifth

The car always pulls without any drama or vibes even on slotting in the said gears at said speeds (In fact 4th at 27 and fifth at 35 kph is also easily taken with 4 on board). On hilly drives, Polo petrol simply never ever demands you to slot into first gear until the speed is below 13 kph (As per MID) on a steep slope.

c) VW service: Service costs are going to be higher but I didn't mind that. What about VW horror stories? You can read more about my dealer and what people think about him below. In a nutshell, he seems to be among the better VW dealers so I was happy with that.

My first service bill at 15k was 9400 and at 30k was 10,200 for Polo diesel. These figures 10,200 and 9,400 are also because of some extra work done on my request. Else it's 8000-9000 normally for diesel car. Petrol one must be going for service in December as it has done 13,900 kms as of now and is in resting mode for 10-15 days.

The total price (including zero dep insurance and two years of extended warranty) came to 7,56,xxx. The dealer gave me a 45k discount making it 7,11,xxx. I understand that I could have saved some cash by shopping for insurance from the outside (the dealer's insurance cost me 23,xxx) but I was pressed for time and didn't bother. Perhaps when renewal comes up, I'll remember to do that. By the way, the handling charges of Rs. 6000 were not waived, despite me requesting it. I don't think anyone has managed to get it waived from a VW dealer yet.

Accessories and Dealer Experience
[/b][/u] The dealer offered free mudflaps and floormats and that was that. Tried to get some seat covers from him but he only offered a discount on them. I decided not to take that up. I'm still looking for good seat covers and door edge guards. Any opinions on options in Mysore? I also bought some microfibre towels and a car shampoo from an accessories shop nearby.

Well, I am not a PDI-strict guy and six month old car works for me. Here is the deal I got on diesel Polo Highline (July 2015, no cruise control or indicators on mirrors) in December 2015:
Car + Mats + Mudflaps + Seat Covers + Door visors + Door side beading + Zero dep insurance with engine protector + 7500 bucks service coupon (After recommending second car to myself) + Extended warranty = 8.4 lac.

Then followed the bumper deal

In January my friend bought Polo petrol (June 2015 car) and the deal was:
Car + Rubber mats + mud flaps + Cushions + Seat Covers + Door visors + Door side beading + Zero dep insurance + Extended warranty = 6.3 lac

So basically I bought two VW Polo cars (Both pre facelift) with total benefits worth more than 2 lac

service team seemed competent and the service area was very well organized. The Maruti service centers we've used feel like barely organized chaos in comparison.

Same for my dealer, VW Gurgaon.

The floor hump is large and if you add that OEM front center armrest, the fifth passenger will likely take the bus instead.

You'vs got some writing flair man. 100% agree on the above point.

The electric ORVM control is perhaps the only part that feels a little cheap.

Check that of Marutis'.

Equipment levels are acceptable but some rivals give you more toys.

It is better to have thoughtfully put features than a thoughtless list.

[/b]The gearshift in the Polo is lovely and you'll enjoy slotting the stubby little lever into its gates. The clutch is light (although the travel is a bit long) and makes city driving effortless.

The gear lever has that tight feeling with zero play and so is the clutch, they make me feel very confident about themselves.

The dead pedal is hard to use if you have large feet. I ended up putting my foot on the floor instead.

One more common attribute!

Fuel Economy
The car hasn't gone for too many long drives but within the city, with intermittent AC, the FE is roughly 13 kpl. Couldn't do a more thorough measurement but I expect this to improve after running in. Right now, it is using Shell's premium petrol but I think I'll switch to ordinary fuel soon.

Mine manages 16-17 kpl easily overall for a 80% highway, 15% village and 5% city drive that I undertake regularly.

- Spare key: Ordinary key, not a remote.

GT also gets the same way, but on Highline both are remote keys.

Mirrors don't fold the other way. Thanks to Thebat for confirming this on the Polo review thread.

No no, they do. Mine are the ones without blinkers on them, and they easily fold the other way, ya they don't fold completely though. shall post a pic tomorrow of the same.

- Wipers must be brought to service position before they can be raised. Hopefully no one forgets this and tries to raise it by forcing it past the hood.

I have paint chipped on the bonnet edge there for the same reason.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by VKumar

Congrats for the coming first anniversary of your Polo; mine is also coming though. As of today, I am owning two of them; one is 1.5 Highline TDi and one is 1.2 Comfortline MPi; both of them are orange and both will be celebrating their first anniversary in December and January respectively.

Thank you very much and congratulations on your cars. Please start some ownership threads. I would love to read about your experience so far in detail, especially the petrol which is relatively rare on the forum!

Originally Posted by VKumar

No no, they do. Mine are the ones without blinkers on them, and they easily fold the other way, ya they don't fold completely though. shall post a pic tomorrow of the same.

The pre-facelift ones do but the post facelift ones with blinkers on them don't. Got to be extra careful with errant bikers now!

[redcruiser]

Hi Maclaren,
I was wondering why windshield cleaner is priced at 282 Rupees. I think they would have just put distilled water.It should a good DIY for you.
I recollect people don't go for this by reading some other threads here.

[McLaren Rulez]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

Hi Maclaren,
I was wondering why windshield cleaner is priced at 282 Rupees. I think they would have just put distilled water.It should a good DIY for you.
I recollect people don't go for this by reading some other threads here.

Yeah will keep that in mind the next time. The VW windshield cleaner is some proprietary concentrate, not just water but obviously, the system will work with just distilled water as you say.

[lordvader]

Originally Posted by BODHI25

This material is not available as an accessories for Polo petrol, you've to order it from the service centre as an spare part. This material will reduce the overall noise inside the cabin which comes from the engine.

Thanks for the suggestion! I got this fitted in my Polo petrol and it has definitely made difference to the noise levels. So much so that I ended by changing gears a tab too late because of the reduced engine sound.

Originally Posted by VKumar

The car always pulls without any drama or vibes even on slotting in the said gears at said speeds (In fact 4th at 27 and fifth at 35 kph is also easily taken with 4 on board). On hilly drives, Polo petrol simply never ever demands you to slot into first gear until the speed is below 13 kph (As per MID) on a steep slope.

I'm very keen to know as to how it performs on hills. I'm yet to explore hills on polo especially because of its low GC and supposedly less than adequate power. But I do concur that city driving is a breeze in polo petrol.

[VKumar]

Originally Posted by redcruiser

I was wondering why windshield cleaner is priced at 282 Rupees.

Since long time, I have been following the practice of putting highly concentrated solution of Amway car wash + RO purifier water in the windshield washer tank. In case of Polo the tank capacity is around 5 liters (it's over 4.5 liters in any case), so I put half cap of Amway car wash and RO drinking water in that tank after thoroughly making the solution in a bucket. It works really well for me, even if the windshield is completely covered with dust.

Rest I have also heard that vim or prill solution also works real well, never tried anything other than Amway though.

Originally Posted by lordvader

Thanks for the suggestion! I got this fitted in my Polo petrol and it has definitely made difference to the noise levels. So much so that I ended by changing gears a tab too late because of the reduced engine sound.

Told my service adviser to order one for me too. I once asked him if he can put insulation on the firewall too, but he looked skeptical.

I'm very keen to know as to how it performs on hills. I'm yet to explore hills on polo especially because of its low GC and supposedly less than adequate power. But I do concur that city driving is a breeze in polo petrol.

Believe me my friend, it pulls really well on the hills. I have been to Mussoorie, Vaishno Devi, Dalhousie, Lansdowne and some more places with steep inclines, it just keeps pulling and that also in second and third cog. In fact, on a trip to Badrinath, I managed to shift to fourth too whenever I got to touch the speed of 50kph or above on the hilly road. No wonder I am in love with my Polo petrol (I drive MPi mostly myself and TDi is mostly driven by my chauffy, hard clutch you know), I find it capable enough for all my requirements and it is frugal too if driven sanely. You hit an expressway and keep driving at 80-90 kph, the FE will be over 18 kpl for sure.

[McLaren Rulez]

5000 km update
It's now one year and one month since the start of the Polo's journey and the odo now stands at 5400 km. Only one issue to report - the front number plate is making a mild squeaking noise over bumps. Unfortunately, nothing we or VW have tried so far has fixed this. You may recall we had trouble with the rear number plate earlier - clearly, whoever installed it did a poor job.

On the bright side, zero mechanical issues, rattles or squeaks from the car. Really impressed with the build quality and how she's holding up to a fair amount of rough road use! And along those lines - I had an unfortunate incident where an Indica taxi misjudged an overtake and hit my mirror with his, despite me braking hard. His mirror broke from its mounting point while mine folded in. I was angry at first but then I went home, cleaned off some of the paint from the Indica and I was left wondering if I'd imagined the whole thing!



That aside, the exteriors are largely free of blemishes thanks to the fact that heavy traffic is still a rarity in Mysore and the car is parked in a covered garage. The interiors are holding up quite well too. A few recent pictures below



















Meanwhile, the engine has opened up a lot after the first service and some good ol' Italian tune ups. You do need to downshift and push it a little for quick overtakes but the little engine is eager enough for me. Fuel efficiency is still hovering around 13 kpl in the city and around 17 kpl on the highway.



For the first time since we got the car, there's been some regular night drives. The Polo has got some complaints about weak headlights but I haven't really faced any issues. The only small problem at night is that the headlight switch lighting reflects off the driver's window and onto the ORVM - this can be a tad distracting. I also wish that the ORVMs had a night mode like the IRVM.

Travel stories
Recently, we went on a holiday from Mysore to Neliyampathy, which also included stops at Palakkad and a couple of smaller towns nearby. Overall, the drive had a great mix of fast highways, narrow city/village roads, Kerala's twisty back roads and hill driving including the 27 hairpins at the Sathyamangalam pass. The car simply ate it all up. Outside temperature in Palakkad hit 34 degrees (in December!) according to the temperature readout, and the aircon had its work cut out. I must say, the AC can be quite noisy at blower level 3. We did need it occasionally although most of the trip was managed with blower level 2. We have no sunfilm installed, in case you're wondering.

For those considering this holiday, we stayed at the Green Land Farmhouses and it is a decent enough place. Car parking is available at the ITL resort nearby because the farmhouse is accessible through a jeep trail. The highlight is the night safari that they organize. After a trek the next morning, we left to Palakkad with stops at Kollengode and Alattur where my father spent his childhood. Some pictures of these beautiful places are attached below.













And that's pretty much the story so far. Waiting to see what adventures 2017 has in store for the Polo

[McLaren Rulez]

Been a while since I had time to update here but no news in general is good news and it's not different with the Polo. The car is now 2 years and 8 months old and the odo stands at just under 15,000 km.

Second service
Not much to report here except that due to low running, there wasn't much work to be done. Somehow the silly windshield washer fluid wasn't removed but my dad takes care of these things and probably forgot to get it off the list. Anyway, no other complaints regarding the service center. My dad thought about changing the wiper blades (still the original ones that came with the car) but the SA told him it was unnecessary. I'm as surprised as you at his honesty! The bill is attached.



Long trips
A couple of long trips within Karnataka and a couple to Chennai are the main sources of the miles on the odo. In particular, the highway from Bangalore to Chennai is absolutely fantastic in terms of design and road surface. Take a look at the pictures below - that's the kind of roads you have for nearly the entire journey! The tolls come to around Rs. 200 - 300 each way.





After a couple of these trips and the extended ownership experience, I think it's time for an update on what works well and what doesn't.

Likes
+ Stunning looks: I struggle to name a single car that looks better and comes in under 10 lakhs. As designs go, this is damn near perfect.
+ Excellent build and rich feel: I never feel like an accountant got anywhere near the exterior and interior parts. Feels like new and feels thoroughly expensive. It's also ageing very nicely.
+ Ride and handling: Excellent over most surfaces and at speed, it's so reassuringly planted.
+ Safety: Since I've bought the Polo, the only other car under 10 lakhs that officially passed Global NCAP with a similar rating is the Liva. All others have either not been tested or have been tested but do worse. Unbelievable!

Neutral
o The engine: It's grown on me. Yes, it could have had more power and make less noise but I can't really fault it. Driveability is great and on the highways, it's got plenty of push to cruise comfortably at 100-120 kph. Overtakes aren't really a problem either provided you use the gearbox properly. And finally, that three cylinder note is also a rather nice hum. Maybe I'm being too kind but I'm happy with this engine.
o Practicality: Missing rear bottle holder and the lack of a split folding rear seat are both annoyances that I've had to deal with lately. But then again, the boot is spacious and front passengers get plenty of storage space.

Negatives
- The AC: It's not enough once you get to hotter places like Tamil Nadu. No sunfilm on my car, black seat covers and the near 40 degree heat together are too much for the AC. Do Polo owners in Chennai and other hot places have sun film installed or is there a better solution?
- Front seats: They aren't supportive enough and long drives are not comfortable enough for the lower back. The rear seat, despite the low legroom, is actually better shaped for the back! The front passenger seat is also a bit twisted towards the driver e.g. it hits the center console before running out of travel range (and this seems to be the case in all Polos, not just mine).

Quirks
VW obviously wants to drive people with OCD mad. Do you see the problem here?



Yes, the volume and power for the factory music system are the same knob and you have to get to the right volume, turn it off, turn the knob till the icon faces up and then turn it back on again. Ugh!

Scratches and dents
The car looks great overall but I do have some tiny scrapes and chips on the front bumper. I guess these are just stones on the highway or random incidents when the car's been parked? The rear spoiler also has a tiny scratch.







These are truly minuscule but I assume I will eventually collect enough of them. I'm not sure how to proceed at that point though. Should I

1. Get the car detailed at a 3M outlet or similar - Will this work and what would be the cost? I suspect that the chips in the paint can't be fixed without touch up paint of the same colour though.
2. Try a DIY fix with something like [COLOR=blue]https://www.amazon.in/Genuine-Volkswagen-Reflex-Silver-Metallic/dp/B0094X3XW6[/COLOR]. Looks good but quite pricey at Rs. 4000. Then again, I assume all future small scratches will be taken care of with something like this. Question is, will it work?
3. Give it to the dealer/FNG and get a small set of touch ups when there's enough of these small chips and scratches?

Erratum
Earlier on, I had said that the mirrors on the Polo do not fold the other way. There was some confusion regarding this but I was wrong and some others like VKumar were right - they do. It's just that they are quite stiff when the car was new. Here's a picture for proof.




Random pictures
What a poser, aye?

[McLaren Rulez]

During the past month, the Polo developed the first real issue that required an unexpected trip to the service center. Turn up the speakers and listen to the video taken from the stationary vehicle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qwZ7-Z5YETo

Turns out that the problem is a common one for the Polo and has been discussed here before - see posts here http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/offici...eview-267.html. The problem appears to be dirt and dust/mud causing the strut mount lubrication to be ineffective. And the past month did involve a lot of driving in muddy and rainy weather.

The solution, as mentioned in that thread, was to grease the mounts and the noise has now disappeared. VW eventually agreed to do it for free and informed me that a technical bulletin advises dealers to do this lubrication when customers report this issue. I do not know if the issue came back for the other users but I hope not. I do not want to end up having the struts removed and lubricated for this issue.

If anyone from VW is reading, here's some feedback - loud and clear:
1) This shouldn't happen this early in the life of a car (15,000 km and 2.5 years old). Period.
2) VW tried to make me pay for the labour costs (Rs. 1200 or so) and I had to be extremely firm before they agreed to fix it for free. I think it's bad enough that I have to take time out to bring in my car but for heaven's sake, why am I wasting yet more time talking to a bunch of clowns trying to make money off of this? Not happy at all with how it was handled.

The car's back to normal now but after the third service is finished in a few months (last scheduled service within the extended warranty period), I may look into independent mechanics who are able to deal with VWs.

[McLaren Rulez]

A wallpaper moment from a recent trip to Kerala. The sunset, the palm trees and the calmness of the water meant I couldn't resist sharing!

[McLaren Rulez]

No news is mostly good news and the car is chugging along with 24k on the odo now. Some minor updates

1) The OE wipers are at the end of their life. They're leaving small streaks along the edge. This is the original set of wipers that came with the car - I'm assuming that they lasted this long mainly because the car is always garaged. Planning to replace them with an OE set at the next service because they work well (plus they come with a really cool spoiler for the driver's side unit!) and non OE options have mixed reviews.

2) Rear right power window started to make a slight noise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R0lt...ature=youtu.be

The cause was unclear but the fix involved opening the door card, adjusting the window and spraying lots of lubricant. The cost was Rs. 368 but was covered under extended warranty.

3) Had some nice monsoon drives over the last few weeks in Karnataka and Kerala. On the tight twisty Kerala roads (that were mostly well maintained) with very little traffic and constant rains, it was a joy to drive. The lush greenery all around was incredible!

[PSM_360]

Originally Posted by BODHI25

Great ownership report Maclaren Rulez and congratulations for your purchase. 👍🏻
The 3 pot engine is noisy but bearable as the engine noise doesn't sounds that bad in my opinion. The best thing about this engine is its drivability in city which I enjoy a lot!
I also own a 1.2 MPI pre facelift model and I'm very happy with my purchase as of now and my one will be complete 2 years on June 11.

Petrol variant doesn't comes with the sound deadening or the heat insulation cloth like the diesel variant of the Polo. If possible order one through the service centre and get it fixed in your Polo as that material will eliminate 30-40% of the engine noise from the cabin and the cabin will be more silent. Costs around 1.5k excluding the tax and I will suggest every 1.2 MPI owner to get it fixed as this will reduce the noise from the engine while idling and the cabin of your car will be more silent.
Personally I'm very happy with sound deadening cloth or heat insulation cloth as the noise has reduced significantly!

Attachment 1514314
Here's the picture of the sound deadening or heat insulation cloth in my Polo 1.2 MPI.

Hi,

Could you please share part number of this insulator?

Thanks
psm_360