[amoghchaphalkar]

A suggestion:
Get the wheel alignment and balancing done from a competent tyre shop. 1400 rupees for wheel alignment and balancing is an absolute rip off !! Does this include tyre rotation too ?
Rs.1300 labour charge just for changing the oil ? It takes not more than 30 minutes to remove the plug, drain the oil and put in new oil.
If it was not for the labour charges - the service cost is pretty ok. Filters are also competitively priced.

Originally Posted by AvonA7

This 01yr warranty / 15km warranty is indeed a unique one in our country.

Well not really. Safari 2.2 Dicor has a 1 year / 15k service interval, Linea & Punto have a 1 year / 15k service interval.

[gaurav_chopra04]

@Omega Man, find attached the picture of polo with ECU labelled.



Washing engine bay with pressure washer shouldnt be an issue after sealing the ECU completely, but still I ll be a bit concerned. I am one of those who love gleaming engine bays, but in Polo, its better to leave it as it is. The ASC cleaned it with a cloth during service, completely refused to wash the engine bay.

[poloman]

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

A suggestion:
Get the wheel alignment and balancing done from a competent tyre shop. 1400 rupees for wheel alignment and balancing is an absolute rip off !! Does this include tyre rotation too ?
Rs.1300 labour charge just for changing the oil ? It takes not more than 30 minutes to remove the plug, drain the oil and put in new oil.
If it was not for the labour charges - the service cost is pretty ok. Filters are also competitively priced.

.

The wheel balancing and alignment is not even 1400. it will come to 2200 with alignment.
881(balance weight)+ 551( balancing labor) +750 (alignment)
I would have preferred a break up of consumables also which is costing 650/- not sure whether they have topped up fluids like coolant or windscreen wash.

[fuel_addict]

Originally Posted by Furebo

+100 to that! I have myself seen this happen; I had accompanied my friend and I was shocked to see that the cleaning bloke was happily spraying water with a jet in the engine bay of a customer car!

Even the battery was not spared!

Note to all: Please supervise the staff when you ask for under the hood cleaning!

Do they not use a high pressure air jet to dry out the engine bay after washing? This is normally done before handing over the car to the customers. I have seen this at Maruti & Honda service centers.

[Omega Man]

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

@Omega Man, find attached the picture of polo with ECU labelled.

Attachment 554303

Washing engine bay with pressure washer shouldnt be an issue after sealing the ECU completely, but still I ll be a bit concerned. I am one of those who love gleaming engine bays, but in Polo, its better to leave it as it is. The ASC cleaned it with a cloth during service, completely refused to wash the engine bay.

Thanks a million Gaurav for your quick response.

If thats the ECU, I remember removing it last week to check, what this sealed metal Black Box was? Actaully I was looking for the Cabin Pollen Filter???!!!

Read somewhere on this thread that the Service guys also liesurely water jet spray the engine bay???

[AvonA7]

Originally Posted by poloman

You won't believe Chethan, the wash at the dealership is more dangerous. They were happily directing the pressure spray in to the under bonnet region. Also I had painted the wiper bite on my Polo just before the wash. These wash guys lifted the wiper again and I had to touchup the scratch a second time.

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

I am one of those who love gleaming engine bays, but in Polo, its better to leave it as it is. The ASC cleaned it with a cloth during service, completely refused to wash the engine bay.

I noticed this procedure (actually worse) in one of the world renowned car care/accessories exclusive showroom where the guys were pouring water on the engine bay using a pipe (no pressure wash) as if gardening / watering plant. Looking at them, it felt like its taking time for them to put water on all possible places in the engine bay, if they were provided with a bucket, it would have been easier and faster for them to clean the engine bay

Yes, I too noticed couple of times the same thing at the dealer place, water pressure wash in engine bay. Strange, no body advised the guys washing to be careful while spraying water in the engine bay. Same manufacturer but different dealers, different experience. Before any car launch, the Sales Team, SAs are given initial training on the particular car about its features, dos/dont's etc , ofcourse depending on the role of the individual. I came to know this from someone associated with one of VW dealers that they had to go to Chakan for this training before the Vento launch. Obviously the knowledge is not shared properly.

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

This makes me think. I should check places where they do only water wash and nothing else. They may be more serious about the work they do.

+1

Originally Posted by gaurav_chopra04

Washing engine bay with pressure washer shouldnt be an issue after sealing the ECU completely, but still I ll be a bit concerned.

Originally Posted by fuel_addict

Do they not use a high pressure air jet to dry out the engine bay after washing?

Once I took my car some 5-6 months ago to one of the independent garage here in Pune just to have a water pressure wash. The guys are expert, initially I was reluctant and asked them not to wash the engine bay. But they covered the battery, ecu, engine with plastics and then removed the dust with high pressure air jet, sprayed kerosene, washed the enigine bay with water spray, its more of a sprinkle rather than high pressure wash, followed by high pressure air jet. Removed plastic, put petroleum jelly on the battery terminals. They have hydraulics, and my car underbody was washed, again the area just under the bonnet was taken care (Polo's engine bay is the least compact one and especially the 1.2 have lots of open spaces), brake dust cleaned etc.

Originally Posted by Chethan B G

It will be nice if somebody who has a good knowledge on "cleaning under bonnet and engine parts" help us with details.

I have seen many videos and almost everybody uses some engline cleaning product followed with water pressure wash.

I generally clean the engine bay once a week, to start with I use different size brushes (very soft ones) to remove the dust and then use a moist m/f cloth cleaning it up, it helps keep clean. No chemical, no product only moist m/f cloth using water.

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

Well not really. Safari 2.2 Dicor has a 1 year / 15k service interval, Linea & Punto have a 1 year / 15k service interval.

It is good if its really like this, but Team-BHP ownership reviews suggest otherwise, some posts -

Safari 2.2
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2164613

Linea
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post1672685

Punto
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2110937

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by AvonA7

It is good if its really like this, but Team-BHP ownership reviews suggest otherwise, some posts -

Safari 2.2
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2164613

Linea
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/long-t...ml#post1672685

Punto
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2110937

Didn't get you buddy !?!? We are talking about service intervals right ? One year or 15k kms - whichever earlier. I thought that is something you said was unique about the Polo - which I said wasn't since Safari, Punto, Linea offer the same service interval. Or am I missing something ?

[Klub Class]

Amogh, even I got confused when I read AvonA7's post for the first time!

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

Or am I missing something ?

Yes, you did.

The first service of VW Polo is at 15k kms/ 1 year. That's unlike Fiat cars, which have first service at 3k.

Please correct me, if wrong.

[AvonA7]

Ok, hope this helps -

The Team-BHP ownership reviews I mentioned in my above post, respective owners mentioned - 1st free service at 3months/3K kms etc

For Polo -
no free service
1st service after 01yr or 15K km whichever is earlier
no need to take the car to showroom before that for any check-up (excluding free summer/monsoon type camps), no engine oil change, no visual inspection...

[amoghchaphalkar]

Originally Posted by Klub Class

Yes, you did.

The first service of VW Polo is at 15k kms/ 1 year. That's unlike Fiat cars, which have first service at 3k.

Please correct me, if wrong.

It's not a service : it's a check up. No filters are changed, no oil change. Nothing is done. Doesn't qualify as service !! A colleague of mine has vibration issues in his Polo TDi. Each time he goes to the SC they check all the fluid levels, he even replaced the oil at 8k. If the check up qualifies as a service : what would you call the above ? And come on : even in normal course we check the fluid levels on a regular basis.

The only thing that I find unique about VW is that they charge extremely high labour charges right from first service while almost all other manufacturers in that class don't charge any for first two/three service visits.

[sadnabrina]

Originally Posted by amoghchaphalkar

It's not a service : it's a check up. No filters are changed, no oil change. Nothing is done. Doesn't qualify as service !! A colleague of mine has vibration issues in his Polo TDi. Each time he goes to the SC they check all the fluid levels, he even replaced the oil at 8k. If the check up qualifies as a service : what would you call the above ? And come on : even in normal course we check the fluid levels on a regular basis.

The only thing that I find unique about VW is that they charge extremely high labour charges right from first service while almost all other manufacturers in that class don't charge any for first two/three service visits.

The last time I was at the VW workshop and was discussing with the manager about vibration - he mentioned a unique fix they had applied to a 1.2 petrol - loosen the engine mount nuts a bit, start the engine, put the car in gear and slightly release the clutch while keeping a strong foot on the brake. The car will try to move forward and the engine would vibrate a lot during this. Try this a few times and then tighten back the mount. This will reduce a lot of unnecessary vibrations from the car. It seems that some of the cars develop some minor mount issues which causes vibrations. When this method is applied the engine vibrates itself back to a stable position and when tightened back it retains the position and results in reduced vibrations.

[gaurav_chopra04]

Originally Posted by sadnabrina

The last time I was at the VW workshop and was discussing with the manager about vibration - he mentioned a unique fix they had applied to a 1.2 petrol - loosen the engine mount nuts a bit, start the engine, put the car in gear and slightly release the clutch while keeping a strong foot on the brake. The car will try to move forward and the engine would vibrate a lot during this. Try this a few times and then tighten back the mount. This will reduce a lot of unnecessary vibrations from the car. It seems that some of the cars develop some minor mount issues which causes vibrations. When this method is applied the engine vibrates itself back to a stable position and when tightened back it retains the position and results in reduced vibrations.

Its a common fix (though very useful) to get engine back to its accurate position. Its done mostly if you face engine vibration issues or when an engine is put back on the car after some engine job. Thanks for sharing . In fact, 2 out of 3/4 mounts (depends on car) should be loosened for accurate fix.

[H4ck3R]

Guys, Read the whole thread almost and other similar ownership threads. I've booked 1.2 trendline as I did not have enough moolah for highline and comfortline were not VFM compared to trendline.

I have some concerns and questions. I hope to get the answers from all POLO owners and experts.

Concerns:
I had planned to Hyundai Accent but my father insisted on POLO. SO I had no other option. I hadn't test driven the POLO or Accent yet. But heard Accent has bigger engine so obviously it would have been a great VFM. anyways, I am trying to get over that. Finally test drove the POLO. As soon as I released the clutch while driving my first question to the SP was "Is it diesel?" He said its petrol. I was like.. what?? The car felt heavily underpowered. I have been driving Original Waogn R (1100 CC) for over 6-7 years now. All I can say is the Wagon R till date has better pickup compared to POLO. Not sure about running in thing.. but I read others also observed the same issue. Is this true? Will this car live up to my expectations. I would like to have a better car compared to my existing one.. in terms of performance at least.

Second, What is the verdict on maintenance cost of POLO. I believe there are alot of people who own POLO for over 1 year. And its enough to gauge the same.

Third, there is a difference of around 2 lac rupees in trendline and highline. I believe except ABS and Airbags everything can be installed in the car. Am I right? If yes then where can I get all the things that are available in Highline?

Fourth, I read "Warranty Void" in this and similar threads for about thousands of times. What's wrong with VW. They are behaving like Apple. I purchased the car and I would want to do certain things with it. I understand certain things like messing with engine and tearing apart stuffs from the car during modifications. But changing the Tyre, ICE, etc shouldn't be a problem. How the hell in this world can changing the Tyre and rims can cause warranty void issues provided one stays in the defined specifications.

Fifth, I got Trendline for 4.8 lac on road with free insurance, AMC, corp discount including colored door handles, colored side view mirror, mud flaps, mats and those door strips. I am from Delhi. Is this good price? As per the website one can get 40k discount from VW. I got around a discount of 17k insurance, 20k AMC, 8k corp discount and those goodies included.

Sixth, I opted for AMC, does this mean I don't have to pay a single penny at the Service Station when I go for servicing for the next 3 years.

Have more questions but for now I want to know your suggestions on these. I will keep coming back.

BTW I am taking delivery on Friday. Someone said Venus is down for the last 15 days and next 30 days as well. Is it not auspicious to get a car in this time? I've had a miserable time with Wagon R. Too much money spent on it (Accidents/Servicing/Wear and Tear). I am thinking may be we took in on wrong day. :P Just assuming. We all learnt to drive with Wagon R. 4 members of my family except mom. she does not drive.

[poloman]

H4ck3R, I think it won't be a wise decision to buy a car simply because some one insisted so. But Accent is a car which is at end of its life and Polo is a modern car in all aspects.
Polo 1.2 is not built for performance. As you have experienced even a Wagon R 1.1 may put it to shame in this department. Reason;this is a solidly built car weighing more than 1100Kg with a not so great 1.2L,3 pot engine.You should buy Polo for its driving dynamics, superb build quality, niggle free ownership( atleast for me so far) and a better brand.Maintenance cost will be roughly 7K-8K/year. Don't read too much in to VW "Waranty vioid" Claims since lot of Polos with such modifications are present in this forum itself.
Also I think you got a really good price there. Get a good ICE set up.

[H4ck3R]

poloman, I understand the car is underpowered and not meant for performance. But comparing with a 7 odd year old 1100cc car is a shame for VW IMO.

Anyways, about the ICE. I was thinking of going for a carputer. Would that be a good idea? and what is the min cost involved in that. I like to listen to the music loud in the car.. mirrors up, mind you :P

Also,
1. Would I still have to pay for servicing if I have opted for AMC.
2. Where the hell are *Terms and Conditions on VW India website. I can't find them. Any idea?
3. I want to know where are the Mods/Parts available for converting Trendline to Highline. Am I being realistic about it?


Overall, so far, I am really pi**d off with the way VW has introduced itself as a brand in India. Extraordinarily expensive accessories, Warranty Void - Warranty Void everywhere, No free Service, Premium Price for nothing are few to name.. Though I am buying the car but I am yet to be impressed with the car and the company itself. lets see how it goes. Fingers crossed.