[#ABTorquey]

Hello Everyone,

We all love cars and we all take good care of our cars. That is the sole reason we all are present in this forum. But what if the same car is giving you headaches all the time? What if it takes away your peace of mind? I am in this exact same situation. We own a Polo Diesel 2016 model and it's been almost 4 years of ownership and it was not a pleasant experience. I know many of you who owns a Volkswagen might be happy with the experience.

From my past years with the polo what I have to say is that the Polo is a great car to drive. The engine, build quality, ride and dynamics are all great. But when coming to the mechanics and niggles it seriously takes away that 'peace of mind'. It scores an absolute 0 in the reliability department.

Now coming to the present scenario, I encountered the first ABS failure shortly after 2 years of owning the car. The car started to act weirdly and I had no idea what happened to the car. It started stalling and the speedometer started going up and down it was all chaos. I had no idea what to do. I pulled aside, turned off the ignition and turned back on. Then the ABS warning light came up. I called the showroom immediately and the SA responded normally (I didn't know back then it was a common issue with VW). It got changed under warranty.

The second failure happened last year December or January I think. That too got changed but that time I went to the showroom and there I met a guy with his Vento. Had a chat with him and what he told just blew me away. His Vento had ABS failures 5 times. So this was a very common issue with VW cars but still it was not resolved completely. What was VW thinking, I seriously didn't understand.
After that 3rd ABS failure happened last month changed it as usual and 4th one happened this month. So a total of four ABS Failures in 4 years of ownership. My Warranty is about to expire on November 28 and the showroom guys has promised to change it before it. But what if it happens again after warranty is over then I will have to change it on my money. Also there were other guys who paid for the ABS just because they didn't have the extended warranty.

Now what I have decided is to sell off this car and buy something that gives some peace of mind than holding to a car which cannot be trusted. I have also had issues with the OE battery as well. The battery failed after 2 years without any prior sign. Replaced it with the dealer itslef. Again failed after 6 months. It replaced under warranty but for that the car was kept in the showroom for 2 weeks.

Also guys I need your comments on which car should I go for as a replacement. I am considering a pre-owned car for exchange with the polo.
So my options are: Hyundai i20 petrol, Swift Diesel, etc.
Please post your replies

What made me post it here is because today while starting the car this came up. So I fixed my decision to sell it off for good.

[Kosfactor]

Remember Warranty is not equal to reliability.

Some observations from my side. Your odometer reading is fairly low for a 4 year old car that too a diesel, your battery replacements as well tells me that the vehicle was either used for short trips or left idle most of the time. Your ABS failures and erratic instrument cluster , acceleration etc may be attributed to a faulty battery or electrical system etc.

I suggest getting a petrol car if at all you have decided to give this one up.

[anb]

Faulty abs sensor is a common issue in Polo. I have a 2015 GT TSI & 2016 GT TDI. Replaced 4 abs sensors each for these cars. I have also replaced oem batteries within 2 years to Amaron and amaron batteries don’t have any issues. There is no real replacement for Polo Diesel now, except for Figo diesel. In my opinion, you should stick with Polo diesel, both Swift and i20 are not as good as Polo in terms of safety and performance.

[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.

It’s not a big deal, man. The driving experience and build quality more than makes up for these little annoyances as far as I’m concerned. There’s nothing wrong with the car fundamentally, sensors are electronic parts which are bound to conk off sooner rather than later. My advice would be to find a good independent garage that you can trust, get your work done through them so that you don’t have to pay 5k to VW every time a sensor goes.

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

As far as your erratic speedometer and acceleration is concerned, this is just a symptom of a faulty sensor and nothing else. I’ve experienced this first hand. Your car is fine, there’s no problem with the battery, just faulty sensor(s). I think just take a deep breath, replacing the VW for an i20 or a Swift will be a huge disservice to yourself.

[boniver]

Originally Posted by #ABTorquey

But what if the same car is giving you headaches all the time? What if it takes away your peace of mind?...But when coming to the mechanics and niggles it seriously takes away that 'peace of mind'. It scores an absolute 0 in the reliability department.

With no disrespect meant to VW owners, I think your peace of mind scores higher than any "performance", "driving feel" or "safety" VW cars have to offer. The fact that most other owners tend to justify this unreliable behaviour of their cars emboldens VW and prevents them from improving their sensors (and other parts).

Anyway, you've made the right decision by wanting to switch to another brand if reliability is of utmost importance to you (like it is to me). However, I'd go for the exact opposite of your choices i.e. either a Swift Petrol or an i20 Diesel. All the best!

[logicalidiot]

Sorry for going OT here, the first thing that caught my eye is your location. Nice to meet someone from Kannur!

Coming back to your post, I've heard Vento/Polo models having failed ABS sensors but 4 failed sensors in 4 years? I can't imagine the plight of the customers who are going through this. We have a 2011 Polo Diesel but never faced this issue since it is a Trendline variant with no ABS. Jokes apart, we do have a almost 3 year old 1.5 TDI in the family as well, fortunately no issues with the ABS on that till now.

I seriously don't think ABS sensor should conk off this soon. There must be some electrical issue going on but identifying one would be a real pain. I would be really sad to part with Polo considering the build and drive quality it offers. But if you're going for a pre-owned car, I'd advice you to go for a petrol swift/i20 if your running is not gonna be much. It doesn't make much sense to get a diesel vehicle anymore in the country.

[vishy76]

As a fellow VW owner, one thing I will say is, peace of mind is different for everyone. Some want monetary peace of mind while others want it for the sake of convenience. You clearly want both and for that reason alone, I would say a VW isn't the car even I would personally recommend to anyone. My own Jetta has had 3 sensors go bad in a period of 2 years so I can relate with the frustration.

I would advise you go to a competent FNG once and get the car diagnosed again. Get all the wheel speed sensors along with the hubs cleaned and check the wiring thoroughly. These typically go bad after monsoons due to the muck which has entered the hub.

As for the choice of cars you listed, please beware that both of these will be a considerable downgrade in terms of safety. If you don't mind this, the Swift 1.2 VVT is the best option of the lot and the most reliable as well

[AYP]

We have a Jetta at home and we have replaced 2 of the 4 ABS sensors, costing 8.5k each (along with labour cost). The 1st one became kaput 2 years after purchase, the second one was replaced about an year ago.

The OEM battery has been replaced twice. Both gave up in just about 24 months.

This a fairly common problem for VAG cars. You can expect an entire lot of ABS sensor to go kaput within 4-6 years of ownership. So what you have experienced is fairly normal for a VAG car though yes, the rate at which these replacements have come for your is slightly more than the average.

I would suggest accepting this con of your car and continue to enjoy the torque monster.

If you are really keen on replacement, the i20 diesel is perhaps the pick of the segment. However if you are looking at the lower variants, the Sonet actually offers more. If you are eyeing the top Asta(o) trim, as long as you don't need the extra ground clearance(or you don't mind loosing out on the opportunity to own an SUV for the price of a hatch), the i20 is the one to go for.

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by #ABTorquey

So my options are: Hyundai i20 petrol, Swift Diesel, etc.
Please post your replies

Switching to Hyundai for the fear of ABS sensor failures is a big no no!

I actually opened this thread thinking it should be a Hyundai - this is a common 'feature' in my Xcent as well as many other Hyundai cars.

I had 3 sensor failures on my Xcent and the car has just run 25k kms, whereas my Punto is on the stock sensors after 195k kms.

[srini1785]

Just a noob question: Are there any reliable after market ABS that fit on a Polo GT?.

PS : Was there any analysis done on these failures by Volkswagen?.

[AnniHilat0R]

Vento owner here and this the forth year in a row my Front Right Sensor has faulted out. Seems like a common issue with the Vento/Polo.

Originally Posted by srini1785

Just a noob question: Are there any reliable after market ABS that fit on a Polo GT?.

PS : Was there any analysis done on these failures by Volkswagen?.

Twice I replaced the faulty Sensor with OEM - both of them lasted a year. Post that switched to what I assume were Chinese/Indian manufactured sensors which my local workshop had. This time around I have ordered a Meyle Sensor from Boodmo. My friend has it on his Vento and so far has outlasted the usual failure period of previous sensors which he had. So lets see - Fingers Crossed !

[starter]

We had a polo 1.2 TDI which went through 2 ABS sensor replacements in 2 years and 20K kms.
I was told that its due to the tyre upsize to 205s in our case.
@OP: Have you upsized your tyres by any chance?

[Gannu_1]

ABS sensors on the VW cars seem to be a hit or miss. 7 years and 165k km on, I’ve never had one sensor fail on me to this day.

*touchwood*

I haven’t done any specific maintenance for this part either like cleaning the sensors. The surface I understand is magnetic in nature and attracts a lot of dirt and grime. Some suggest cleaning it periodically.

[Turbohead]

Vento owner for the past 6.5 years and 1.05 lakh kms. Thankfully, the ABS sensors haven't failed yet.

I understand your frustration but I want to ask all those who had ABS failures thus far: Do you guys allow underbody cleaning with pressure hose while giving the car outside for washing?

One advise that was present in the forums in the initial years of the Vento was to avoid underbody and engine bay pressure wash cleaning. I remember it was something to do with some sensor and all SC were advising customers to avoid it. My dad always ensures that they don't touch the underbody when giving outside for washing. Lately, I haven't come across such posts at all.

Was wondering if that has any relation to ABS sensor failures.

[anb]

Originally Posted by Turbohead

Was wondering if that has any relation to ABS sensor failures.

Water and dust are the two reasons. The sensors of my Polo TDI was working fine till 70000 km. Then I’d to drive through some water logged areas. ABS sensors have been started failing one by one after that.