[Chethan B G]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Chethan, what about you? Can you check what you have because I think the diesel spec is slightly different and also because you have one of the first Polo diesels in India.



I drove the 1.6 briefly over the last couple of days. When you start it, for a brief moment (1-2 seconds) there is a clutter as if it is diesel. After that there is a hum. The engine is very refined with no vibrations inside the cabin at all.

When I drove I felt totally in control. Steering is very precise. Suspension is fantastic. You go over a pothole at speed and all you hear is a faint thud and that's it.

In between I revved the car to reach 3,500 rpm in second gear. I was thrown back into my seat. I just loved that feeling and tried it once more the next day. I am totally amazed by this car.

Polo-Diesel Specifications has always mentioned about Steering as EPS. There is no confusion here. But I checked below the battery & the space is empty. So, that confirms that atleast Diesel-Polo has only EPS. VW may have done this to improve FE.

But this EPS is well calibrated, dampening is taken care off and it offers fairly good feedback. I have never felt any problem with the steering with respect to feedback, at any speed. I have driven this car to a speed of 160 Kmph Maximum, in different terrains. Even though the feedback is less compared to Electro-Hydraulic Power Steerings, it is more than adequate for normal usage. Let us not have any doubt about that.

On the contrary, EPS will be good to use in City than EHPS - since it will be lighter. It takes us just about 200 Kms, to get used to the steering on Polo.

Nice to know that you enjoyed the drive. That makes my waiting period seem much longer!!

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Previous post in this series is here.

I booked the car on June 29th. After that there was absolute silence for close to two months.

Then the Vento was launched in early July, however there was still no word on the Polo 1.6. Since it wasn't launched, I thought there was no point in calling up Volkswagen.

Then vvvinod's friend got his 1.6 in early August and that made me wonder what was going on. However I had a feeling that since sadnabrina had booked his 1.6 a couple of weeks before me in Kolkata, I had to keep my eyes peeled for his report and perhaps I could get mine a couple of weeks later.

In the meantime, I checked out the financial angle and decided to pay for the car out of our own funds. Somehow the fact that we were looking at an Innova earlier and this car cost only half the price of the Innova made us feel very comfortable with its price. I ditched my motto of amortizing a car over a long period that I myself have preached on Team-BHP for the financial freedom it would give us.

On 15th August, GTO comes out with his Independence Day report of the Vento and pans the 1.6 petrol. That sowed some seeds of doubt in my mind. It also strikes me that I have not looked at any other car in the hatch segment. I immediately called up Honda and asked them to bring the Jazz for a test drive. Surprisingly the Jazz TD never materializes due to some scheduling conflicts. Anyway when I tell my wife about the Jazz, she says she has already seen it and isn't in any mood to change her mind.

So I go through the all the specs once more and my only solace is that, at least on paper, the Polo 1.6 petrol can still smoke the Vento 1.6 diesel from 0 to 100 kmph.

Then on 21st August, sadnabrina finally gets his car! This was the first car which I knew that was delivered based on a regular booking. I immediately told my wife that we should contact Volkswagen Corporate and find out the status of our car.

So on 22nd August, my wife dashes on an email to VW. The very next day, Monday morning, I am shocked to find that our car would be shipped the same day and would probably reach on Tuesday.

I immediately got on the phone with VW Downtown and told them that I need at least a few days to arrange the funds. They said they can hold the car for up to a week, but since I had been on Team-BHP long enough I began to have nightmares of test-drive cars with disconnected odometers.

It took me a week to arrange the funds and in the meantime the car hasn't reached Bangalore yet! It took me a while to piece together what happened. As per Wildon's report, the car was manufactured on 9th August. So that probably explains how when we contacted VW 2 weeks later, they shipped the car the very next day on 23rd August. I guess because of the rains, the transport got delayed and it only reached Bangalore on 31st August.

We got the corporate discount on the Polo. When I checked out the insurance it was an eye-popping 25K! Now I had actually planned to sell our Esteem just prior to receiving the Polo so that I could transfer the NCB to the Polo. I called up Bajaj Allianz (BA) to confirm whether the NCB requires sale of the prior car. However the response I got really left me bemused. The lady said that I can only transfer the NCB from one Maruti to another. So when I tell her that she is wrong, she asks me to contact the local office. At the local office the gentleman says that I cannot transfer my NCB from one vehicle class to another. So I asked him what the classes were and he says -- below 1000 cc (1 liter), 1000 to 1500 cc and above 1500 cc. He says the Polo 1.6 and Innova are in the same class!

Posted the insurance information in this thread (Indian Car Loans & Insurance - Team-BHP) and GTO & SS-Traveller reply that what BA said is all nonsense. I decided to dash off an email to BA so that I have something for my records just in case I decide to litigate or inform IRDA later. Surprisingly I get a call from BA and when I give them the background, I am asked to get a notarized Sale Deed registering the sale of our Esteem. I immediately dash off to the Koramangala BDA Complex and pay Rs. 275 (Rs. 100 for Stamp Paper, Rs. 100 for Notary and Rs. 75 for Typing Charges) and scan the Sale Deed and send it to BA. They immediately issue the NCB, but I lose a couple of days in the process.

Finally after talking to the SE at VW Downtown, we fix Saturday 4th September to receive our new car. The SE calls in the morning wondering whether we can come in the evening instead.

Reach at 5:00 pm as agreed and find out that the car is not ready yet. The only accessories we purchased were the mud flaps, rubber mats, door sill guards and reverse parking but the last one wasn't in stock. The SE comes to me with art leather seat covers in beige and asks if we would like that. He says the one in beige and black is better. I say No.

Around 6:00 pm, we are restless and start walking around the workshop which is filled with Polos of all hues. We look at the badges of all the silver Polos and find out that they are 1.2s. Suddenly in the back we see one guy furiously pulling some art leather beige and black seat covers FROM a Polo and go there to find out that it is our car! I confront the SE and he says that 1.6 is for someone else and ours is not in the workshop. I confront him with the VIN and he apologizes. Later on I find that they are allocating cars on the fly based on colour and some other SE decided to give our car to another customer and they found out only at the last moment that its a 1.6.

So if the SEs at the dealer can make this mistake, I guess even with the 1.6 badging we have a sleeper car in our midst!

THE END

[sadnabrina]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

I am getting fuel consumption of 12.3 kmpl as per MFD owing to my wife's driving style. sadnabrina, I think this may have to do with the current climate in Bangalore as well -- AC usage is only 20% or so.

With only 20% ac the FE would definitely increase. I have my ac on even while standing in the perpetual red traffic lights as well. Btw I have recorded 11kmpl this time with full ac and about 20% highway. I have covered 1300kms on the car now and FE has started to improve a bit.

[Chethan B G]

Well narrated facts! Thanks Nowwhat?

I had my Insurance with United. I did not have to sell my Spark. I just gave them a written request and Rs.100 fee, and they pulled out NCB within half an hour. I got 20% bonus. Two days after that, I sold my car. IMHO, nationalized Insurance companies are any day better in this respect.

How much has your car run until now?

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Around 6:00 pm, we are restless and start walking around the workshop which is filled with Polos of all hues. We look at the badges of all the silver Polos and find out that they are 1.2s. Suddenly in the back we see one guy furiously pulling some art leather beige and black seat covers FROM a Polo and go there to find out that it is our car! I confront the SE and he says that 1.6 is for someone else and ours is not in the workshop. I confront him with the VIN and he apologizes. Later on I find that they are allocating cars on the fly based on colour and some other SE decided to give our car to another customer and they found out only at the last moment that its a 1.6.

So if the SEs at the dealer can make this mistake, I guess even with the 1.6 badging we have a sleeper car in our midst!

Congrats on your new buy! Excellent colour indeed. Always been a fan of Silver colour. My personal opinion is that no other colour can match the elegance of Silver.
By the way, on the above quote - did you get a black & beige seat cover, or a beige one? And how much did you pay for those?
Some interior pics would be great.

[kiran1103]

Did any one face the braking effectiveness. I felt the braking did not work sometimes. It happened for 3 times now. On sudden braking instead of stopping it was almost free. Weird. Just crossed 2k kms and feel the steering is bit tilted to left and when left free the car moves to left. I think the alignment is off.

[manubhai]

I've booked the 1.6 on July 15th, Palace Cross, was told delivery in 4 months, i.e; Dec. No sign of car, extremely poor feedback from dealer, actually none at all.
New delivery schedule : sometime in March !
Been hearing that production has stopped to sort out 'issues'. Wonder what these are, surprised that VW car has 'issues' after being put on road, wondering if its a good choice.

I've sent an email to VW India : no reply
VW Germany : got a response saying VW India will look into the matter : of course none received.

[tburman]

Originally Posted by kiran1103

Just crossed 2k kms and feel the steering is bit tilted to left and when left free the car moves to left. I think the alignment is off.

Did your car come with Apollo Acelere tyres? If so, it's the tyres. My dealer just confirmed this. It has nothing to do with the alignment -- I've had my car alignment done twice with no result. Put this in record with VW and the dealer. Apparently, they're waiting for a circular from HQ to replace the tyres of all affected cars with new JKs (new Polos come with OEM JK tyres).

tushar

[nowwhat?]

Originally Posted by tburman

Did your car come with Apollo Acelere tyres? If so, it's the tyres. My dealer just confirmed this. It has nothing to do with the alignment -- I've had my car alignment done twice with no result. Put this in record with VW and the dealer. Apparently, they're waiting for a circular from HQ to replace the tyres of all affected cars with new JKs (new Polos come with OEM JK tyres).

tushar

Yo buds, Tushar & Manu, I have been trying to bury this thread especially as my better-half actually owns the car.

Imagine my surprise on seeing my own thread pop up on Team-BHP in the New Year. Happy New Year to you both!

My car does have the Accelere tyres and we do not have any problem with the car veering left.

I would suggest you take whatever the dealer tells you with more than a pinch of salt.

[AvonA7]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

I would suggest you take whatever the dealer tells you with more than a pinch of salt.

I agree and do not agree

As per user experience in Team-BHP for other new car launches, I 'guessed' and @tburman confirmed it - please refer below link, post #84

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2122108

I sincerely hope its true and many Polo owner's only issue (if I may say so!) is sorted out at the earliest. Frankly, as far as my experience with Polo goes - even if there is a 'left side pull', it's not acceptable referring to safety/security of driver/pedestrians and the earliest it's sorted out the better.

But as many owners have reported this incident, I would love to believe it's a tire fault rather than Polo's manufacturing defect as a whole.

[nowwhat?]

I recently gave my car for routine 1st service at VW Downtown Bangalore, the experience of which I have detailed in sadnabrina's thread below.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2556819

To my surprise, I found out that whereas I paid Rs. 10,202, Ankit got his Polo 1.6 serviced for Rs. 8,600.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...ml#post2501933

I did not have the bill the entire time. Finally fed up with the dealer, I wrote to VW Corporate and I finally received the bill a few minutes back. I have enclosed the bill to this post.

The first thing I could make out is that the bill is for Rs. 9,809 whereas I paid Rs. 10,202. Obviously they must have tried but could not make the numbers fit. It may also explain why each time someone says they will send the bill in 10 minutes, they don't send it and finally it took a full working day to produce this bill.

The second thing I could make out is that whereas Ankit consented to optional tyre rotation and alignment, I was never asked about it. I had specifically asked them not to do anything extra. The bill says they have done balancing and wheel alignment, but does it make sense to do this without tyre rotation?

Team-BHPians: I need your help. Could you kindly go through this bill and see if it makes sense?

[nowwhat?]

It's been 6 years already and I haven't visited my own thread in a long time though I am still active on other sections of Team-BHP.

Took our Polo for service to VW Whitefield today. One thing I can't get over this car is that their service still sucks after all this time. Replacement costs are also sky high. Really not something I look for every year.

After handing over the car for service, they called me for additional work and since I was seated right there, I went and met them myself. The mechanic told me that the coolant tank needs to be replaced and it would cost ₹2,000 extra. He told me there was some crud in the bottom of the tank and it was already adhered to the insides of the bottom half, so replacement was the only option. When I asked how that would have happened as I have been taking it for service only to the VW authorized dealer, he replied that the coolant tank had to be replaced after 5 years anyway. They would also bleed out whatever previous coolant was in the system.

On my way back from VW Whitefield, I began to wonder if that white plastic coolant tank actually costs ₹2,000. Have any other Team-BHPiand had to do this and how much did it cost you?

I ask this as I have become skeptical of VW service centers generally. Today, they also asked me to replace the wiper blades as it was worn out. When I replied that I replaced the wiper blades with Hella only last week, he told me there was no need to do it.

[Gannu_1]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

On my way back from VW Whitefield, I began to wonder if that white plastic coolant tank actually costs ₹2,000. Have any other Team-BHPiand had to do this and how much did it cost you?

Rs 1184 (not sure if the taxes are included) when I had checked last (Nov '15) though I didn't have to replace the one on mine.



I had inquired for some other reason.