11th Apr 2009, 12:27

Hi, I have recently bought a 99 T reg polo 1.4 CL.

The passenger side electric window has packed up.

Central locking doesn't work from the key, but will work if you are inside the car and push drivers side door pin down.

Gearbox has been hard to engage into 1st and reverse for a few weeks, and also there was a slight grinding in 3rd and fourth, and now today there was a loud thud from the gearbox, and now a loud grinding noise is heard in all gears apart from fourth, which seems to no longer exist. Does anyone have any idea how to fix the issue, and what it could be?

Also any ideas on the central locking fiasco.

Cheers

Shaun (a disgruntled VW owner)

28th Jul 2009, 10:15

I have a 1.4 2001 Polo SE. Got it used with VERY low mileage - however the drivers window stopped working a few months ago (seemed to be the switch).

Then the passenger window did the same BUT ONLY FROM THE DRIVERS SWITCH. Passenger switch operates passenger window perfectly. Diagnostics from the VW dealer said the drivers side motor needs replacing, but 'it could be wrong' says the mechanic. Better to get a new switch 1st?

Any ideas? Also - central locking ceased completely around the same time - also controlled from drivers door I believe. Sounds to me like a wiring issue in that area?? Is that likely? DB S.E London

26th Aug 2009, 18:10

Oh NO!! I have just bought a 1.4 Match Polo 51 plate on ebay thinking I would spend more than my usual £500 Fiesta money for a more reliable and long lasting car... and reading this is terrible!!! :( Have a bought a useless pile of metal?? :( Had hoped this car would last me years and years!

7th Nov 2009, 16:10

I bought a Volkswagen Polo Match 1.4 2001 facelift model a few weeks ago, clutch cable needed adjusting, wrong, the pedal box snapped at the clutch pedal end, after reading all the comments wish I had not bought it. If only I had read the comments earlier, will VW repair free of charge?

18th Nov 2009, 11:59

I own a VW Polo Match automatic, bought when 2 years old with only 6k on clock. I have had so many problems; ABS light always coming on and dealers say nothing wrong with it! Central locking and windows doing what they want, up and down, also brake pads changed so much, engine fan gone, exhaust ready to go and lots of other faults. Inside window handle fallen off.

The car is a nightmare. Never again buying VW. A shame as the Golf very nice, but who knows how much that will cost in the end!

24th Nov 2009, 16:20

Hi everyone.

I've got a 'X' plate 2000 model 1.4 16v Polo. The main problem I've got with is the engine keeps cutting out when slowing down, at a junction and even when turning. As you can imagine it's quite scary and dangerous. I have had this problem about a year ago and the garage replaced few sensors and gave the throttle body a clean, and was okay since, but the same problem is back again. Any ideas on what I should do? And I just replaced all spark plugs, but no change.

25th Nov 2009, 13:54

I bought a Volkswagen Polo 1.4 Match reg 2001 in October and have had no end of problems with the clutch pedal, due to the pedal box breaking by the clutch pedal because of the poor design and fabrication of the metal and spot welds. No joy with customer services who insist that "model was not part of recall" no goodwill there.

Had to pay Volkswagen £300 plus parts to have the job done, 10 days later, guess what the pedal box fractured in the same place. It's going back to Volkswagen on Friday to carry out repairs to change pedal box again. They are still supplying inferior parts, so I don't know how long the next one will last?

3rd Dec 2009, 05:46

Hi, I just bought a Polo 1.4 Match 2001 with 8,000 miles on it. Just noticed water has got in my driver door. My mat and carpet are soaked through. Is this a common fault? And there's a noise coming from the dashboard, like metal loose. Help.

18th Jan 2010, 17:18

Just bought Polo 1.4 Match. Clutch pedal box is now bent and needs to be replaced. Wish I had heard of this problem with Polos before having a new one fitted. Hope that one will last.

22nd Feb 2010, 12:27

I have a Y reg VW Polo 1.4 SE, and I'm having the same trouble some of you have described above. I assume after reading this forum, it's a pedal box problem. Not long after buying the car, just under a year ago, the clutch pedal became quite stiff, the biting point was very high and the pedal would creak a lot. Now it's become very difficult to get into any gear, even when shoving the clutch down as hard as possible, which is the only thing that (eventually) works. And I have the reverse gear crunch every time I put the car in reverse.

I've spoken to VW customer services, and they claim to know nothing about the pedal box problem, and said I should take it for diagnostic tests at my local VW dealer. When I quizzed further I realised that basically what they are saying, is fix it and pay for it yourself.

I guess my questions are can anyone who managed to negotiate a free of charge pedal box replacement recently give me any advice? Also is a new pedal box fitting something that my local independent garage could do, or do I have to go to VW? VW quoted me around £350 for the parts, labour and VAT over the phone.

Any help or advise would be much appreciated.

14th Mar 2010, 22:28

Hi everyone,

Just want to say to all those with the engine cut out problem (when pulling up at lights, going round corners and the low revs and rough idling speed etc), that it is your throttle body that needs cleaning! It takes about 10 minutes and costs virtually nothing (mine was £10). It's because of carbon build up around the butterfly valve restricting the fuel, causing the engine to cut out as I found out through experience.

I also have a 99 VW Polo 1.4CL, and have several of the problems I have read above. Mine has a dodgy drivers side window that likes to get stuck, the water in the footwells and a few days ago has started being very difficult to get in 1st, 2nd and 4th gear. I am guessing that this is the dreaded pedal box fault that everyone is talking about. I should have seen this coming as when I bought it, about a week later the brake lights got stuck on, but I took it back to my mechanic and he did something to the pedal box, and it's been alright for the last year until these recent gear selecting problems. I wish I had researched the reliability of this car before I bought it, as if I had read this stuff before hand, I wouldn't have bothered!

Good luck everyone, sounds like we are going to need it!