[Clayton Crasto]

Our Polo 1.2 MPI is nearly 3 years old, done just short of 7,000 kms (we don't drive much) and already showing ABS fault. Haven't got the time to drive all the way to the workshop to get it replaced though. I have a friend who owns a GT TSI and he had the same problem at 13,000 kms. I've seen several Polos/Ventos/Fabias/Rapids on the road with their ABS warning light flashing. It's a very common problem that we have to live with. For some reason VAG cars have always had this issue and they aren't doing anything about it.
I worked for a company in Abu Dhabi that had company Corollas which had clocked over 2 lakh kms. Not a single ABS fault!

Another common failure with VAG cars would be the steering rack, or even the EPC sensor.

[rkv_2401]

It's so strange that there's been no bigger fallout to VW created by such a widespread issue impacting a critical system of the car. I read an article the other day wherein 34000 Hyundai Elantras were recalled in 2017 because of 5 or so complaints to the NHTSA about failing brake boosters. (If anyone can find the one saying that the investigation was launched because of just 5 or so complaints, please do let me know)

I then found this website : https://www.kbb.com/hyundai/elantra/2017/recall/ listing a large number of recalls by Hyundai in the year 2017, which I'd like to quote :

"In June 2017, Hyundai recalled 161,074 model year 2015-2016 Hyundai Sonata and Genesis sedans for a faulty parking brake Indicator light that may not illuminate, causing the driver to move with the parking brake partially engaged."

"Hyundai also recalled 67,744 model year 2015-2016 Hyundai Sonata sedans for faulty Antilock Braking System (ABS) warning lamps that may not Illuminate."

Seriously?! Over 2 lakh cars recalled in a developed country because of INDICATOR LAMPS that didn't light up, and we have to settle out-of-pocket for failing ABS sensors(VW/SKODA), failing brakes altogether(Hyundai/Kia), and dual-clutch transmissions that may or may not catastrophically fail at any moment? Despite paying, in some cases, nearly 50% more for a car that may be technologically/physically inferior(Kia Seltos sold to the Australian market gets a 5-star rating vs. the one here that barely scrapes through to get 3-stars) to the ones shipped abroad?

And now the automakers say doing business in India is not viable? LOL. Is that why the ABS sensor part that costs 1800Rs. elsewhere is sold by VW for 4500Rs, without even a guarantee that the system will work after the change? I feel there are so many very reasonable questions that we don't ask, leading to historical sagas like this - a car that's been sold here for 10 years with a known issue that VAG STILL doesn't know how to rectify!

[himanshumor]

Originally Posted by DeKay

My Vento has just over 32,000 clicks on the odo and my car is at the shop after its 4th sensor failure in 4 months. As luck would have it, all of them failed one by one right after its extended warranty expired.


And once you’ve replaced all 4, I don’t think they’ll keep going very often.

After looking at this post and many others on Facebook where Polo ABS sensors failure is a routine affair, I planned to go for an Extended warranty of my Polo (Review: My 2020 Flash Red VW Polo Trendline 1.0 MPi comes home - Initial Ownership Experience)

Surprisingly in their EW T&C, there is no mention of ABS sensors or any kind of braking sensors.
Has anyone noticed this? or can anyone confirm if ABS sensors are covered in VW EW.



It is clearly mentioned that EW is not a mirror image of a new car warranty.
I am really not sure what goes missing in EW that was covered in the new car warranty.



Here is the Official EW brochure from VW
[ATTACH=-EW Terms & Conditions_.pdf]2188688[/ATTACH]

[DeKay]

Originally Posted by himanshumor

After looking at this post and many others on Facebook where Polo ABS sensors failure is a routine affair, I planned to go for an Extended warranty of my Polo.

Surprisingly in their EW T&C, there is no mention of ABS sensors or any kind of braking sensors.
Has anyone noticed this? or can anyone confirm if ABS sensors are covered in VW EW.

Yup, they're covered.

[anb]

VW/Skoda has updated abs sensor for Polo/Vento/Rapid. Price remains same but part number is changed and it is slightly different. These are made in Belgium. Hopefully sensor issue is sorted now.

* Message received from WhatsAPP

[rkattar]

Hello all,

This is my first post. Glad to be a part of TeamBHP. My membership was finally approved recently after a few misses

Now coming to the story. I own an Ameo 1.5 TDI DSG bought in 2018 and it has been a horror ever since the beginning. In Dec '21 I had my first ABS failure (rear left wheel) while on the highway with a sudden ABS light and chime (No other symptoms). Next within a month the front left one failed. This time the symptoms were more severe (speedometer needle jumping, loss of power, etc.).
In April '22, again got the ABS light indication. This time it was quite different. The light used to start glowing only after a short distance of cold starting and then remains constant. Then a few days back also noticed the speedometer needle jumping. So I am guessing the right ones are now conking off.

The last two times I replaced the ABS sensor (in Dec and Jan), the ASS charged me labour despite the vehicle under extended warranty. The labour came to nearly 2K per wheel. Had raised a concern with the advisors there and they stated that only ABS replacement doesn't come under complete warranty and we need to foot the labour charges. Need to know if this is the norm at Volkswagen (or any other brands) for replacing ABS under warranty? Thanks.

[logicalidiot]

Originally Posted by rkattar

Had raised a concern with the advisors there and they stated that only ABS replacement doesn't come under complete warranty and we need to foot the labour charges. Need to know if this is the norm at Volkswagen (or any other brands) for replacing ABS under warranty? Thanks.

Sorry to say but sounds like the dealer has conned you. The ABS sensors are very much covered under Volkswagen warranty program and no labour is payable on it. In other words, it should be free of charge if under warranty.

Since you have already paid it in the past, I don't know if you can recover the amount paid but try to raise this to higher authorities and the next time maybe try asking them to give it in writing that the ABS sensors are not covered under the warranty and they can charge additional labour on it.

[rkattar]

Originally Posted by logicalidiot

Sorry to say but sounds like the dealer has conned you. The ABS sensors are very much covered under Volkswagen warranty program and no labour is payable on it. In other words, it should be free of charge if under warranty.

Since you have already paid it in the past, I don't know if you can recover the amount paid but try to raise this to higher authorities and the next time maybe try asking them to give it in writing that the ABS sensors are not covered under the warranty and they can charge additional labour on it.

Thanks for the eye opener @logicalidiot. Will definitely raise a concern with VW India on this. The dealer had provided me the invoices for the labour amount paid for the ABS repairs. BTW it is none other than Sundaram VW.

[rkattar]

Update: Had put a firm mail to VW India. As usual, the mail was just forwarded to the dealer without any action whatsoever by VW India. The CRM from VW Mount Road (Sundaram) called me up and tried to clarify the issue.

The explanation from the dealer is that extended warranty is handled by Bajaj Allianz and labour charges are not borne by them. Hence passed on to customer. She also sent me the screenshot of the warranty claim for the ABS sensor. In addition she stated that ABS is completely covered only by original and add-on warranties (not extended warranty) which I feel is ridiculous.






Please let me know if anyone faced similar issues during extended warranty claims. Thanks.

[rkattar]

Hello all,

I have an Ameo TDi DSG which has clocked roughly 20.5K kms. This thread is to bring to light the ever decreasing abysmal quality of VW parts. Faced the first ABS failure in Dec '21 (rear left). Was driving on the GST road at normal city speeds near Vandalur when suddenly got the ABS and ESP lights. This was fixed under partial warranty despite being in extended warranty (had to shell out for the labour as the dealer stated that due to Bajaj 3rd party warranty, labour for sensors is not covered). The next ABS failure occurred in Jan '22 merely 2 weeks after fixing the first one. This time in front left. Sent to the service center and was fixed in a few days.

Car was running fine till about April '22 when the dreaded ABS and ESP lights again showed up. The failure was now in rear right. Was fixed again. Finally, the remaining one (front right) conked off in the first week of May '22. Got it fixed in about a week's time. Totally had to spend around 7K just for the labour despite having warranty.

It is strange that the dealer (VW mount road) refused to honour the extended warranty fully and even more strange is that it is under Bajaj.

Please let me know your thoughts on similar issues with the dealer over partial warranty claims and especially with the notorious VW ABS failures within such a short span.

[adv]

Yesterday in the morning a minute after I turned my Vento TSI’s ignition on, the ABS light came on. It went off on its own after about 3-4 minutes of driving. I thought it was a one-off, though I have had to replace (under warranty) two ABS sensors in quick succession a couple of years ago into the 3rd year and around 30k km of ownership.

Thereafter in the evening as I was driving back home, the ABS light came one once again and stayed on for the entire duration of my 30 minute drive. There was no perceptible change in the drive, braking or the car’s feel, unlike what the earlier posts have described.
This morning too, the ABS light came on a minute into the drive and stayed lit through the drive.

Is this an issue I need to get sorted immediately or, if it doesn’t impact the drive, can I get it sorted during my next service which would be in December?

Mods: I've posted this at another, relatively older thread as well; please delete the other one if required.
https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techn...ml#post5395173 (Neverending sensor failures in my VW Vento | 6 workshop visits in a year)

[logicalidiot]

Originally Posted by adv

Is this an issue I need to get sorted immediately or, if it doesn’t impact the drive, can I get it sorted during my next service which would be in December?

Ideally advisable to change as the ABS probably wouldn't work when the sensors go kaput. Other than that, the car should just run fine. If you're not going to drive on highways and feel like you can manage without an ABS, then you can continue to change in Dec. However, it's a quick work and won't take much time to get it changed.

[crdi]

Originally Posted by adv

Is this an issue I need to get sorted immediately or, if it doesn’t impact the drive, can I get it sorted during my next service

Since the last sensor replacement was a couple of years back, the replaced sensors would be out of warranty. I guess it is either 1.5 years or 2 years warranty for a replaced sensor. If the same side sensor goes bad again, you could get it replaced under warranty even if the car as such is out of warranty. So, it depends on that time frame & also the service center being honest about it.

Get it replaced anyhow, as a faulty sensor could lead to erratic idling or jerkiness while driving, which you don't want during an overtaking manoeuvre.

P.S. FNGs do it at a third of the cost of the ASS. Not sure about the parts warranty though!

[adv]

Thanks you @logicalidiot and @crdi for your inputs!

An update - This morning as I gingerly turned the ignition on, the ABS warning light didn’t come on, did a short grocery run and then again another short drive a few hours later. The ABS light didn’t come on then either. No change in drive or braking feel etc.

Is it possible the problem sorted itself out?
Or could it have been just a minor dust/ moisture issue from the rains?
Anyway, I will take it to my FNG to have it checked regardless.

[amitmk]

I just got all 4 ABS sensors changed from a local garage on my VW Polo TSi.

Post this the car appears to have become a bit heavier (sluggish) while driving. Previously if i'd move my foot away from the accelerator the car would continue without any jerks or a braking feel whereas now it gets slower sooner and it feels like the brake is getting applied to slow it down even more.

Brake pads of front wheels and disc skimming was also done when sensors were changed.

Could there be something wrong or this is how it should be with working ABS sensors? The engine scanning was done near me post all the changes and everything showed as OK (with green tick) on the machine.