[uvmallya]

I had purchased a VW Polo TDI Trendline from Downtown Volkswagen, Bangalore during the last week of May 2010. The vehicle was delivered to me after PDI by the dealer.

On driving the car from Bangalore to the city of my residence, Mangalore I had a very unusual problem that had cropped up. All diesel VW Polo cars have an amber coloured coil like designed light which lights up as soon as you switch on using the ignition key. You then crank the engine when this light goes off which normally happens in a few seconds. This light came on when I switched on the ignition and went off in about 6 seconds after which I cranked the engine and it came to life. But after driving a couple of kilometres the same light started to flash continuously. Now when this light starts to flash the turbocharger gets disconnected and results in the engine having very little power. I immediately brought this to the notice of the dealer who asked to me to use the car and bring it to their workshop during my next visit to Bangalore.

Accordingly it was about a month ago that I brought my car to Bangalore and took it to the dealer. After attending to the required work they delivered the car back to me. To my surprise the problem still persisted and I once again took the car back to the dealer the next day. On further checking they informed me that there was a problem with the turbocharger unit and it had to be replaced. Since they did not have stock of such parts they had to get it from the factory/import and it would take three weeks time for the part to arrive at their workshop. I had no option but to leave the car in Bangalore at a friends place and went back to Mangalore.

On completion of three weeks I contacted the dealer to enquire whether the part has arrived to which they replied saying that it would arrive soon.
It is at this moment that I sent an email to VW India informing them about the complaint of my car. I promptly got a mail from them saying that they would be attending to my car in the next few days. Finally I got a call from the dealer in Bangalore informing me that the part would arrive by 11th September, they would collect my car on the 12th & give the car back to me on the 13th after the required job was done.

To my surprise nobody from Downtown Volkswagen contacted me or collected my car even on the 12th of September. I myself contacted the dealer on 13th only to be assured that the part had arrived in Bangalore and would reach their workshop by evening. Again on the 14th I took my car to their workshop and they assured me that the part would be reaching them 100% by that evening. Even though I was losing my patience I decided that I will give one more chance to the dealer to see if they could set right the problem.

Finally on the 15th morning I kept the car at the dealers workshop who started to attend to replacing the required part. My car was delivered in the evening and while I was driving back to my friends house the problem resurfaced all over again. I took the car back to the dealer on 15th morning. Now they told me that somebody from VW has to come and check out the problem and that are helpless. My car is still at the dealers workshop and I have yet to hear from them if the problem has been set right. My emails to the officials of VW India concerning this problem has not met with any success. I had to wait for 3 months from the date of booking to get this car and after getting delivery of it this is the story of my car.

I have hardly driven the car for 2000 kms and since the last one month the car has been lying at Bangalore without me knowing when I will be able see this problem being solved.

[ajmat]

I somehow don't think the turbo charger is at fault. Turbo is not working since the engine is in safe mode and turbo is not engaged to reduce damage.

It might be an electrical issue or ecu issue. If only we knew the fault codes!!!!

[uvmallya]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I somehow don't think the turbo charger is at fault. Turbo is not working since the engine is in safe mode and turbo is not engaged to reduce damage.

It might be an electrical issue or ecu issue. If only we knew the fault codes!!!!

Could be possible because the turbocharger works when the light goes off. But again when the light starts to flash while running the turbocharger gets de-activated. The VW engineers have been at the car for the last 3 days and probably working with the problem on a trial and error method. I am sure that they would have checked the fault causing codes.

[ajmat]

I just did a search. It could be a fault in the brake light circuit. Dont ask me the logic but the ECU fault light, in this case your glow plug light, shows up if the brake light switch, maybe bulb is faulty. Also ask them to replace glow plugs, even for a trial from a demo/ new car!

[uvmallya]

Originally Posted by ajmat

I just did a search. It could be a fault in the brake light circuit. Dont ask me the logic but the ECU fault light, in this case your glow plug light, shows up if the brake light switch, maybe bulb is faulty. Als ask them to replace glow plugs, even for a trial from a emo/ new car!

Will do that tomorrow morning. I do not know if the VW engineers will accede to my request. But there is no harm in trying. Thanks a lot for the suggestion. I wish your diagnosis proves right.

[nowwhat?]

Sad to hear this, uvmallya. I am sure I and a lot of others here would be following this thread closely to see how this issue is handled by both the dealer and VW.

On a personal note, at this moment I have more faith in VW than VW Downtown. I have had to constantly follow with VW Downtown on everything from the car to mud flaps. It would probably have been better if you contacted VW from the onset, but I would sincerely suggest that you call up the VW helpline as often as you can.

A few questions, perhaps unrelated:

• I could see Mangalore on the VW dealer map. Is no dealer there? Doesn't the dealer provide service?
• Someone had said something about a temporary replacement car if the problem is not fixed within 24 hours or so. Have you availed any such facility?

[Palio_2005]

So much for VW build quality. There are enough horror strories for Skoda which is the group company and hope they don't happen to VW as well. Hope your problem is resolved at the earliest.

[black12rr]

Update the thread title with the actual issue. Mention the dealer name also .
Its horrible to have a brand new car go this way .

[ajmat]

More on why the brake light check. The brake light switch has two outputs. One to the light and the other to the ECU to tell engine you are slowing down.

I am not sure if you actually have a check engine light or only the glow plug light

It could also be the coolant light sensor or the engine RPM sensor.

If I had the upgrade can-bus diagnostic cable, I could have helped you further

[uvmallya]

Originally Posted by nowwhat?

Sad to hear this, uvmallya. I am sure I and a lot of others here would be following this thread closely to see how this issue is handled by both the dealer and VW.

On a personal note, at this moment I have more faith in VW than VW Downtown. I have had to constantly follow with VW Downtown on everything from the car to mud flaps. It would probably have been better if you contacted VW from the onset, but I would sincerely suggest that you call up the VW helpline as often as you can.

A few questions, perhaps unrelated:

• I could see Mangalore on the VW dealer map. Is no dealer there? Doesn't the dealer provide service?
• Someone had said something about a temporary replacement car if the problem is not fixed within 24 hours or so. Have you availed any such facility?

I beg to differ my friend. The dealer has gone all out in helping to solve the problem. In fact it is VW who seems to be least concerned in solving the problem. As mentioned earlier in my thread I did contact VW by email and they did respond saying that they would attend to this problem.
Yes I am given to understand that the dealership for Mangalore has been finalised and will be opening in a month or two.
Regarding temporary replacement of the car, if only the company had considered the hardship I have to undergo without my brand new car, it would have been a different story altogether. Niether the dealer or VW India has given me such offers.

[uvmallya]

Originally Posted by Palio_2005

So much for VW build quality. There are enough horror strories for Skoda which is the group company and hope they don't happen to VW as well. Hope your problem is resolved at the earliest.

As you said I do wish that my problem is solved at the earliest. But what is really baffling is the attitude of Volkswagen India. It appears they are compounding the stories of Skoda in India.

Originally Posted by black12rr

Update the thread title with the actual issue. Mention the dealer name also .
Its horrible to have a brand new car go this way .

I have given the actual issue in my thread in detail and also mentioned the name of the dealer in my thread. I request you to once again go through it in detail.

Originally Posted by ajmat

More on why the brake light check. The brake light switch has two outputs. One to the light and the other to the ECU to tell engine you are slowing down.

I am not sure if you actually have a check engine light or only the glow plug light

It could also be the coolant light sensor or the engine RPM sensor.

If I had the upgrade can-bus diagnostic cable, I could have helped you further

I will emphasize on the brake light check tomorrow. Incidentally on some occasions the engine light was not going off even after the engine had started and was running. This had been brought to the notice of the dealer and they have observed it during the trial tests. I had been told by the service supervisor that they had checked most of the wiring circuits and possibly could have included the coolant light sensor and engine RPM sensor. Will surely use your info to help solve the problem. Thanks once again.

Originally Posted by hillram

This is sad to hear.Im planning to book a Polo for myself soon in Hyderabad.I will keep tuned on to this thread.
This is the nice part of Team BHP.We come to know through ownership(both good and bad) experiances and can keep ourselves informed.

It is better that you share the experience of existing owners regarding the performance of the car and the attitude of the company towards problems faced if any by the owners before deciding to buy their vehicle.I am very happy to have the support and guidance of many team BHPians fellow members whenever i face a problem with my vehicle.

Originally Posted by StarrySky

Sorry to hear about your car uvmallya. I had read about a problem with your car in one of the other threads, but I was under the impression that the issue is solved. I hope the issue will be fully resolved soon.

Yes I hope the issue get solved soon.



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[hillram]

This is sad to hear.Im planning to book a Polo for myself soon in Hyderabad.I will keep tuned on to this thread.
This is the nice part of Team BHP.We come to know through ownership(both good and bad) experiances and can keep ourselves informed.

[StarrySky]

Sorry to hear about your car uvmallya. I had read about a problem with your car in one of the other threads, but I was under the impression that the issue is solved. I hope the issue will be fully resolved soon.

[eagle_bush]

Just thinking aloud.

I suspect the issue can be due to the glow plugs or the glow plug timer which might have been failing. Alternatively, it can even be the temperature sensors which detect the glow plug temperature and cut them off.

Hope your car recovers soon. Please do keep us updated on what the issue was once recified.

Thanks

[uvmallya]

Originally Posted by eagle_bush

Just thinking aloud.

I suspect the issue can be due to the glow plugs or the glow plug timer which might have been failing. Alternatively, it can even be the temperature sensors which detect the glow plug temperature and cut them off.

Hope your car recovers soon. Please do keep us updated on what the issue was once recified.

Thanks

Thanks for the suggestion. I will be going to the dealers workshop this morning to find out the progress in the matter. Will surely keep updating the progress in the matter and if rectified, the cause of the problem.