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-   -   Volkswagen Polo 1.2L GT TSI : Official Review (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/official-new-car-reviews/135550-volkswagen-polo-1-2l-gt-tsi-official-review-451.html)

Folks, our well kept GT TSI is up for sale now. Details are listed here - https://classifieds.team-bhp.com/buy...gen/Polo.html/

Anyone keen can reach out to me.

With the condition of the Mumbai roads geeting worse during the rains, driving after sunset is a challenge. Too often I find myself hitting a nasty pothole which I did not see as my standard light beams do not have a good enough throw. Request suggestion of how to improve the beam, which bulbs are best and pricewise good value. Mine is a 2018 GT TSI

Turn on your front fog lights.

Fog lights are aimed much lower, and will illuminate the road right in front of your car. Because they are aimed low, they will not dazzle anybody else, except dogs, maybe. In fact, the other day, I remarked to my wife that they should be called dog lights, as they had just helped me avoid one.

My 2016 Polo TSI went for the third service the other day. Even though the general service has been done, there are two more issues to sort out. One is to replace the passenger side power window Motor (which apparently is not working) and the other is a faulty O2 sensor. Both have to be ordered and will take a couple of weeks to come ( what the service advisor told) . They were telling me that I have to pay an advance of 50% of the part value but then I thought I will take a second opinion from outside before giving the Advance. So took the delivery of the car after the general service. Can anybody throw some light on this and about what I should do?:unhappy

The quote I Got for the Parts is around 8k for the power window motor and around16k for the O2 sensor (It's different from the normal polo and hence the higher cost) plus Labour Charges.
Driving with a faulty O2 sensor is not a problem is what I have been told, so I'm still driving the car now. Though I have a feeling that mileage has dropped down and also the mileage showing in the meter is not accurate. It shows some 25 km/litre and all but in reality, I'm getting around only 10 which is quite less than the 13 to 15 km/litre I was getting before.:Frustrati

Please correct me if I am wrong.

I believe O2 sensor is a critical component. ECU monitors the exhaust with the help of the O2 sensor and adjust the fuel and air mixture. If O2 sensor does not work, then engine will either get rich or lean fuel and air mixture. Which is not good.

A lean fuel mixture can burn the valves and a rich one will waste the fuel and create smoke.

A quick update on the suspension. My stock suspension was totally shot - the car felt really unstable on the highways above 80 and every small road imperfection was felt inside the cabin. The ride was extremely crashy even in the smallest of potholes and was really uncomfortable.

While I did consider upgrading to Bilstein's briefly, the high cost coupled with the additional stiffness that I'd heard about quickly put that plan to rest. After all, my daily usage is going to be on the wonderful, post monsoon Mumbai roads.

Aniruddh from The Mechanix at Pune was able to source Sachs dampers and they went on the car yesterday. First impressions are really positive! Now remember, my immediate source of reference is the destroyed stock suspension, but, what a difference it has made! The ride is so much more absorbent and comfortable. Body control seems much better as well. NVH levels have gone down as well. Will allow sometime for the suspension to bed in and hopefully it will get even better with time.

Surprisingly my stock brake pads and discs are in still in good nick, 34k kms in!

Total damage to the wallet including the dampers, strut mounts, strut bearings and link rods was in the Rs.40k range including labour.

If someone is looking to buy a used Polo 1.2 TSI DSG, should he prefer/avoid any model years - specifically keeping the DSG updates in mind? Which year did they discontinue 1.2 DSG and switch to 1.0 TC?

The 1.0 L TSI was introduced in early 2020, starting with manual and the torque converter was added in the middle of the year.

A used Polo 1.2L should preferably be bought in warranty, with the option to extend it to the maximum of 7 years available. The later the better - I would suggest a 2018 or 2019 model. Have heard that they keep making minor continuous improvements to the DQ200.

The prices are quite high though. You can add a lac or so and get a new Polo with the more reliable torque converter, unless you're sure that you want the DSG only. The TC gearbox is also quick and fun to drive, I would say it's 80-85% as fun to drive as the DSG

Your best option would be the late 2019 models that have the same GTI bodykit style. If you don't like that appearance then maybe the models that started in late 2018(actually badged as MY19) that have the gunmetal wheels and nicer upholstery for the seats.

Another advantage is that all cars sold starting 2019 calendar year had 4 year warranty as a minimum. So all those should be under warranty (if all is well and good) and you can very well purchase 2 year further extended warranty and an option of an add on warranty on top of it.

And as a minimum try post 2017 cars as they got the RCD340(with carplay and Android auto), 16 inch wheels, auto dimming IRVM, cruise control and folding ORVMs. Pretty useful features that are nice to have

And as a general rule, the likelihood of clutch pack failing also increases with age. But what i have observed is that post 2015/16 cars very rarely have issues with mechatronics so fixes are not astronomical. Only clutch pack replacement is more affordable at around 60-70k at most FNGs.

Hope this helps.

P.S. The fun that the DSG brings with it, is still unmatched by any other AT or even MT in this segment.

1) With the known failures of the DSG box, how common or uncommon it the issue in the Polo TSI DSG?

2) Does it makes sense picking up a pre-owned DSG TSI of 2013 vintage? Done 28000 kms.

I find the car interesting, but the DSG issue seems far to common not to bring up.

One can not really tell, to be honest. If the issue is likely to crop up, you can expect it to happen anywhere from 40k kilometers. However, rather than the DSG issue, sensor and bettery related issues are more likely to crop up, especially ABS sensor related issues. The car being out of warranty does not give much relief on that front either. Mind you, an ABS sensor error or a low battery can simulate DSG failure, such as gear not shifting or failure to engage a reverse gear. Over all it would depend on how far are you willing to go. The service cost is not cheap and a large chunk of it goes to labour charges. If you are deciding on picking up the car have atleast 3 lakhs deposited somewhere secure.
Also, if you are living in a flood prone or water logging area, have the engine protection cover added to the insurance. This is a must!

I have 2 cars with the same DQ200 DSG gearbox. My Polo is 2015 model and done about 70k kms, the DSG hasn't given any trouble so far.

I would categorize issues in 2 buckets, 'known' and 'common'. Known is something that is known to happen with this car, while common is something that happens with a major part of population (say 25% or so).

To me, the DSG issue is a known issue and you need to be aware of the risk of it failing, more so if you are an jack-rabbit type aggressive driver or your car is driven by desi parking waallas, valets and jerky drivers.

It is not a common issue at least to me based on my own experience and also that from all the Polo TSIs I know in real life, none have had a DSG failure.

One thing that everyone recommends here - buy a car in warranty and extend it to the maximum, for peace of mind if nothing else.

Thanks, this is helpful. I am asking on behalf of a friend. Main criteria is to buy the car with the most recently updated DSG, ignoring cosmetic updates. 2019 model warranty aspect is great but it is in really short supply - and most guys are selling pre-GTI-kit model as 2019 which is making the search harder.

Few more follow up questions:

1. 2019 (GTI bodykit): Do you think DSG received any updates compared to 2018 model? I understand the warranty advantage, but these cars are in very limited supply.

2. 2018 (Gunmetal wheels): What is the best possible warranty scenario if I go for this model. I saw one being sold as May-2019 reg but it doesn't have GTI kit.

3. Can the 2nd owner buy an extended warranty from VW?

4. What to look for when the car sent to VW for pre-purchase checkup - especially how to identify if the seller is not hiding any known DSG issues?

My friend is aware of the risks with DSG not worried about future bills - just wants to make sure he picks up a clean used car as this is no longer on sale.

Thanks!

When people say warranty when it comes to DSG, please keep in mind that for the clutch pack you will need to pay the price of the clutch pack since it is a wear and tear part. They will also change the flywheel along with it. Clutch pack is 75k, flywheel 25k, labour 5k and taxes.

I am not sure if the second owner can get the extended warranty. If the car had shown any niggles before they would deny the warranty for the first owner himself.

See if the creep mode is still working. Have the car bring to a halt throttle up suddenly and see if there are any vibrations or jerks. Do the same thing again from almost stopping speeds. The jerks that occur at shifting from 2nd to 3rd can be a sign but it does happen in healthier cars aswell, so can be misleading.

Also, even if the clutch pack is changed there is no guarantee that the car will serve you trouble free for a greater mileage. I have read somewhere in this forum that a car fried its second clutch pack at 500kms and VW denied warranty!

No, there are absolutely no mechanical updates to my knowledge or made clear. The changes are only cosmetic and limited to new bumpers and tail lights basically. This came near August -Sep 2019. So you should keep in mind that 2019 cars without this "facelift" are also available.
All VWs sold from Jan 1, 2019 had 4 year warranty (even if you didn't buy extended warranty). So there is nothing to worry about if the car was sold in 2019.I have a Dec 18 manufactured (but MY 19) car myself that was bought in Feb 19, and 4 year warranty was standard. There was option to extend it beyond 4 years. So I would suggest if you can't get a 2018 car with warranty, better to stretch to 2019 for having the warranty coverage.
Yes, not an issue. You can also buy add on warranty on an yearly basis

1. Check that regular service has been done at a VW A.S.S.

2. Nothing has been skipped or delayed in the schedule. Eg : GT TSI has a ridiculous 2 year interval for spark plug replacement which is obviously not necessary. one of my friend's were told in a service that his plugs are fine and thus he agreed not to change them. The same service center 2 years later deny him add on warranty because the plugs weren't changed as per schedule.

3. No advisories were mentioned in any service or complaints of jerky shifts by the owner.

4. Drive it a bit yourself and then get it scanned at a dealer or a place with VCDS/ODIS . Any issues will definitely throw up an error code

In this case, I would advise you to check the cars thoroughly by test driving. And see the cars that have been looked after. And the newer, the better. Infact I would say do not bother with trying to keep up with VW and their warranty shenanigans. When it comes to the goodwill/ warranty support on the clutch pack replacement (the only part that does give up after a few years), the situation is clearly YMMV. I have seen people getting a healthy goodwill discount out of warranty and I have also seen cars with warranty coverage denied Clutch pack coverage citing it as "wear and tear".

Clutch pack and flywheel replacement is roughly a 70k job outside A.S.S and this is also the minimum that you'll end up paying at A.S.S. even if VW does offer some goodwill discount. Seeing all this, I have genuinely stopped going to stupid lengths to maintain my warranty and perfect records for this sake. I have done some nice mods that have made the car much more fun keeping warranty worries aside. What's the point of this car if you're not having fun:D #YOLO