The car on its own is simply amazing. But having already experienced the pain of owning a VW group vehicle (2014 Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI), it’s Deja Vu for me.
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2022 Polo GT Legend
1 Year, 24,500 kms Update
My last update was in August last year after completing 10k kms in 100 days. Mile munching has slowed down as days have gotten a lot busier.
I was planning to write another update at 20k kms but glad that I held it off so that I can talk more about the car and the problems that come along with it.
The car on its own, it’s simply amazing. But having already experienced the pains of owning a VW group car (2014 Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI), it’s Deja Vu for me.
The problems started after the first service (15k kms) and they kept on piling up.
- Broken AC vent clip, the driver-side AC vent clip broke soo easily, I don’t even use that vent much as it’s always pointed towards the window, the clip alone cannot be replaced, one has to replace the entire vent.
- Alignment/Balancing: Ramani Cars, Hosur did the alignment and balancing at 7.5k kms and 15k kms, but after the first service, there was a slight pull towards the left and the steering wheel centering was a bit off. Had to get it fixed outside.
- I never use the charging port when the engine is turned off, but once I was on an important call and charged the phone with the engine turned off. The next day the battery drained. There was an error on the cluster as well as the VW connect app for a few days, was thinking of clearing the error using OBD eleven but the error went away on its own.
- Engine refinement: When the car was new, one couldn’t tell if the engine was turned on or not, but now there are very mild vibrations during idle, (I’m just writing this off due to the age of the car as I’ve already driven 24k kms in a year). There is a jerk when you start the car (like a diesel engine). Is anyone else experiencing this?
- Sensitive to fuel: I strictly stick to IOCL XP95 and Shell V-power. Earlier most IOCL outlets used to have good quality XP95 but recently it’s easy to tell which outlet has good quality fuel and which ones are selling regular petrol as XP95. If the quality isn’t good, the engine doesn’t pull as easily, the turbo lag is much more apparent and the shifts are jerky. Coming to the Shell V-Power, for the first time in my life I noticed an engine knocking sound, at first I thought it might be a bad batch of fuel, I gave a month break and refueled with V-power again, noticed the engine knocking sound again. Haven’t refueled with V-power since February. This is not a VW issue but more of an issue with the quality of the fuel available.
- Trim rattling: There are minor sounds from various places (dash, rear doors) I’ve shown this multiple times to the service advisor, but they asked me to leave the car for at least 3 or 4 days to completely diagnose the source. I have postponed this as I don’t have much free time till June.
- Vibrations: I don’t exactly remember when it started (most likely around 20,000 kms) but the car starts vibrating after 120 kph and gets worse as you go faster. I thought it was an alignment issue but there wasn’t any pull towards left or right even at high speeds. (more on this later)
- Braking: Nothing much to elaborate on, just poor quality brakes.
All these are minor issues on their own but together they are very annoying.
First Service (15k km)
This was in December 2022 and there weren’t any complaints other than worn-out brake pads and mild shuddering under braking. The service advisor at Ramani Cars, Hosur suggested replacing the brake pads and skimming the disc (which was done outside). Which they did and it fixed all the issues. I had mentioned the rattling sound due to loose trim but I couldn’t leave the car for 3 or 4 days at that time. The bill was Rs. 12.5k not cheap for a first service.
Car insurance was due for renewal in April, and spam calls from multiple insurance agents started well before a month in advance. I spoke to as many agents as I could and asked for two things, high IDV and a good deal on the insurance premium. Many offered 10 to 20% discount, cash back etc. but none offered more than 9 lakhs IDV, but Royal Sundaram offered 10 lakhs IDV with 20% NCB, Rs. 1200 cash back offer as well with a low premium compared to others (Rs. 14,400).
Now coming to the pain of VW ownership
Since my mile munching phase has slowed down significantly, I didn’t go on long drives for a few months and didn’t get to stretch the legs of Polo on open Highways. Because of this, I can’t really be sure when the issue started but I noticed this around the end of February this year.
The car started vibrating mildly at 120 kph and got worse at higher speeds. Called the service advisor and talked about it briefly, but couldn’t come to a conclusion without inspecting the car. There wasn’t any pull to left or right when let go of steering completely, there wasn’t any wobbling so I pushed off the visit to service center.
3 weeks ago I asked a service advisor at Bosch to check out the issue, he took it for a small drive and told me that Tire was the culprit. I was planning to visit the service center soon and at around the same time my front bumper got damaged when parked by a Tata Ace, there was an inch-wide hole which I couldn’t ignore.
Finally, this incident warranted me to visit the service center. I would have visited the Hosur ASC, but they don’t have a body shop and if one wanted to get body work done by Ramani Cars, we have to send the car to their Salem branch and the car owner has to bear the petrol expenses. So I decided to visit another service centre at Hosur Road (Singasandra). Even my friend decided to tag along as his Virtus 1.0 AT was due for the first service. I will not mention any names but this has to be one of the worst service experiences for both of us.
At the time of drop off, I told the service advisor to replace the bumper by claiming insurance, they don’t have a cashless facility with Royal Sundaram. Before I continue my rant regarding this service centre, a thumbs up to Royal Sundaram, they sent the surveyor immediately and he completed the survey within 2 hours of registering the claim. They also sent the approval within 2 days.
Back to the issue, I had mentioned the vibrations/wobbling and the rattling noise in the trim so they asked me to get a general checkup and I obliged. Fast forward 7 days and I go to pick up the car and I notice paint scraped at the edges on the newly replaced and painted front bumper, when asked they said the body shop might have cut the paint during polishing and asked to come back the next day as they would repaint the bumper. I collected the car after 2 days, I’m not entirely sure if they repainted the bumper or just sprayed some paint at the edges but there weren’t any visual discrepancies so no harm done.
The service advisor told me that they tried their best but couldn’t pinpoint the cause for the vibrations at 120 kph or higher and suggested me to take the car to Madhu’s wheel alignment as they have all the equipment required to check out everything. On the way back home I noticed the vibrations now started at 70 kph rather than 120 kph. The “VW Mechanics” just made it worse rather than fixing the issue. A quick call to the service advisor made me realize they didn’t know how to rectify the issue. Oh yeah the general check up, not sure what exactly was done, they didn’t check the wipers had to be replaced, they didn’t fix the rattling noise, they didn’t fix the loose beading on the boot door (A black beading strip on the boot door comes with Legend edition), just a total waste of money.
The car was now undrivable as the vibrations were bad at 70 and got severe past 90 kph. I couldn’t wait to make time and visit Madhus, instead, I visited a nearby local Alignment place where they don’t even use laser alignment, but everything is done manually. After one quick test ride, they removed all 4 wheels to check for any issues with the alloys, the alloys were totally fine and just by visually inspecting the tires they said that issue was uneven wear. They removed the balancing weights added by the certified VW mechanics, swapped tires diagonally, and rebalanced and now the vibrations are almost gone. How much did it cost me? 400rs for Alignment, 400rs for Balancing and 300rs for the weights. (1100 Rs total). The balancing guy said that after the swap, the wear and tear will be much higher now and to replace all 4 tires after a few thousand kms. The whole ordeal with this service centre has left a sour taste in my mouth.
Adding to the list of issues with this service centre, like I mentioned earlier my friend also dropped his Virtus 1.0 AT for the first service as well as rear bumper replacement and dent removal on the boot door (with repainting). It took them 3 weeks to finish the job (they blamed HDFC insurance for the delay), and they didn’t even touch the car to fix other issues as the car was sitting idle waiting for the liability from the insurance company.
At the time of delivery, the same story repeats, the rear bumper wasn’t fit properly, the boot would touch the bumper without locking, the tail lights on the boot weren’t properly fixed, and they even missed fitting back one of the license plate lights. They asked to leave the car for another day to fix all the issues.
Just be extra vigilant with this VW service division. People say it’s a costly affair to own and maintain a German car but in this case, even if you are ready to bear the costs of maintenance, you are paying money to buy more issues.
Enough of the rants, I have a few queries to long-time Polo owners.
- Tires: What are the best tires for Polo (195/55 R16)? Some suggested me Continental or Yokohama Earth 1, but the Skoda advisor swears that Continentals aren’t that good and he has seen multiple Continental tire failures. Our Rapid has Earth 1s (R15) but I feel they don’t offer the same grip as alternatives. Some suggested me to go for Michelin tires and this has left me in confusion. I am looking for something with good sidewall strength without much comprise in grip. It’s okay if they last for 30 to 40k kms as the current Good Years lasted for 20k kms before the vibrations kicked in.
- Engine oil: Does it void the warranty if we provide with engine oil of our choice rather than the Castrol 5W40 used in VW ASC (given it’s the same grade as suggested in the manual)? If it doesn’t void the warranty what are some good engine oils for the sweet 1.0 TSI engine?
- Brakes: Where can I source some Brembo Rotors in Bangalore? What are good alternatives which don’t cost sky-high?
Bonus
Here’s my fuel expense tracking
Keyword: 24,500 km with Polo Legend: Multiple issues & poor service experience