19th Oct 2007, 08:04

Bought a new 1.2 Polo 55 plate; 14,000 miles to date so far.

A hole appeared in rear seats, and the spring came through. The rear seat has never been sat on. Agents replaced it free of charge.

The passenger door has dropped, and scrapes on the sill. Agents say it is not a build fault and it may have been caught in wind. It has never been caught by wind.

Rear hatch glass failed; agents are just replacing. This is my own fault as I bought a new Golf in 2001, had it 4 years, seats squeaked at front, water came in under dash, rear light lenses.

I am a careful person who changes the oil every 5,000 miles and cares for my car. I will go for Toyota next time.

Paul, Blackpool, Lancs.

3rd Nov 2007, 16:08

We bought a new 52 plate Polo 1.4. We don't drive much - mileage only 13k. Not surprisingly then we have not returned to the dealership except for the recommended services, where I doubt much gets serviced.

With such low mileage I am surprised recently at the increased need to top up the oil; a recent petrol consumption increase, and the (by the above letters seemingly common) intermittent E.P.C. warning light, (mercifully without attendant engine failure). Are these symptoms linked?

And, why do I assume that Volkswagen will not acknowledge at least the EPC as a corporate responsibility, and instead of fixing it for free, will use it as a way to milk me of money?

10th Dec 2007, 10:45

I bought a 1.4 polo 51 reg at a car auction at the beginning of November. Its been more in the garage than out. The car looked good one day, and the next it would go into limp mode. I paid £600 to have it serviced, and MOT new throttle and thermostat, but now I have been told it is the electrics. The cheap car from the auction is turning out to be the most expensive mistake I have ever made.

1st Feb 2008, 12:04

Please could anyone tell me why my engine fan stays on for around 15 minutes after use even when its not hot. I also only have to turn ignition on, but not fire it up and the fan will come on. Oh and it's a polo 1.4 2001 Thanks.

15th Feb 2008, 15:26

Polo 1.4 R reg 1998. The dash gauges are not working after the gearbox was changed and a new clutch. Everything checked OK, but still not working; speedo, temp gauge, rev counter and digital mileage and fuel gauge all still u/s. Anyone know how I get it fixed? Before this gearbox problem the car was great.

10th Mar 2008, 10:30

I have a 52 reg 1.2 petrol Polo and it has been nothing, but trouble from new.

3 weeks ago the engine started cutting out when I was doing 60-70mph- very scary!!

VW ran a diagnostic and said it was the cam chain tensioner had failed and damamged some of the pistons and valves the total cost for the repair £1000, however I was pleased when VW agreed to pay half of the cost as a goodwill gesture excellent I thought, however they wanted to charge me £25 per day for a courtesy car as I had been having mine serviced at my local garage rather than at VW, I decided not to have the courtesy car!! The car was 'mended' and I went to pick it up and paid my half of the bill, however there was still the same fault even on my drive home!!

Took it back to VW who said they would need to keep it a week, cost of courtesy car £25 per day, I kicked up a stink and they agreed to let me have a car for nothing!! over a week later car still at garage, I have to keep phoning them to ask what is happening and just get answers such as 'well its complicated!'

Anyway finally today they have told me the cylinder head has gone and they are trying to persuade VW to pay the full cost.

I am so cross as this appears to be a commen fault why has it taken them so long to find it and mend it.

I would be wary of buying a VW again.

10th Mar 2008, 12:00

Hello.

To cut a VERY long story short, I have bought a (2nd hand) Polo 16V 2000, in July '01. At the time, the car was only 8 months old, with 5k Miles on the clock.

Unfortunately, the car has had all sort of problems. From a gear box replaced to brand new Valves (few months back), from main cables (that is, the clutch pedal cable -2 needed) to two ECU (Electronic Control Unit) failures, VW says, due to "being clogged up with carbon... And again (!!) long time ago, also an AIRBAG failure... VW confirmed, that was due to a cable (AIRBAG control cable) failure. You, unlucky people, would think, and you still own the car?..My answer is: YES, even though, I bought a second car, which is more reliable (TOYOTA branded). The Polo, after almost 8 full years, is still ONLY 50000 MILES old... But to tell you the truth, its time to retire, has arrived.

Good Luck to You All.

31st Mar 2008, 01:11

My name is David and I have a 2002 Polo 1.4SE Spanish build bought new in Australia. My EPC light used to flicker on and off occasionally, a problem dismissed by the VW dealer because they never saw it. Eventually it stayed on and car started running rich with a strong fuel smell in the exhaust. The Polo was under warranty then and after a week in the workshop, the dealer returned it with a new exhaust sensor. That was about 3 years ago.

The car now has 97,000km on the clock and is used to commute 150km at highway speed. Last Friday it started losing power and finally ended up running on three cylinders. The VW dealer said bring it back on Tuesday and they would have a look. Dissatisfied, I drove home and took it to a mechanic in the village. He diagnosed a dud injector coil pack in just 5 minutes armed only with a pair of pliers and the tool used to remove injectors. However it is still off the road due to the inability of VW to supply the part.

But interestingly, after reading the posts here, during the whole decline in the engine and the 75km trip home on three-cylinders, the EPC remained off!

Buy another VW? Not in rural Australia, I wouldn't. The quality of dealer support is poor. They couldn't even replace a headlight bulb without breaking the headlight, which cost me $350 to replace when the village mechanic noticed the bulb was melting the reflector. VW windscreens are also too expensive in an environment where stone damage is an ever present risk.

24th May 2008, 18:43

Somehow my problem with the EPC light has something to do with the lambda probe located in the catalyst. After taking it out of there, all warning lights are off but the noise is too loud. My catalyst is fine, but I still get a warning on the dashboard (the sign that looks like an engine). I also have all the symptoms mentioned above (power loss, higher fuel consumption) and the engine actually stops while driving.. that is not breaking or anything, and because I'm in motion it starts again.

I still have my faith in VW because they are reliable cars, but somehow the ones made for the UK market are s**t. Some of my previous cars were VW (Golf and Passat) and they were purchased from Germany... very big difference. Didn't have a major problem even after 250000 km.

Chris, London.