My parents offerred to gift me a car despite resistance from me and my wife with an approx budget of 5L OTR.
Models shortlisted were
1) Toyota liva
2) Nisaan Micra
3) Maruti Swift
Micra was ruled out due to low ground clearance. I had to convince my father away from Liva for its centre console and no tacho on mid-variants. Swift was ruled out due to waiting periods and being too common on roads.
I gave a thought to Ritz being short delivery period and value for money package. I discussed the choice with wife and she said why not Polo, I said about the price factor and she accepted. She had started accepting ritz.
Then the day came when my father asked for my choice, I said Ritz and told him of the various offers from various dealers. He said "Son, I would go for it being your choice but frankly speaking it looks to me as a goods carrier." Mom said its already there in the neighborhood so I don't personally feel ok with it. Still we started, on the way there was a VW showroom, World Class Automobiles, Pachim Vihar. Shall we visit volkswagen, I asked, they agreed.
Reception was courteous to visitors and promptly offered seating and tea/coffee. There was a silver Polo parked inside and mom asked is it a big car, i said no. Both of them had started to admire the looks. My mom was only concerned about parking space. Then the sales executive arrived and asked for model and version. He seemed confused about options in variants. There was no car available for TD at that point of time.
Parents were impressed with the car and the cost became a remote factor. We had thought of giving away our old santro 2006 model in exchange which for which we got offer of 1.20 which was later enhanced 1.35. The onroad price of 1.2p comfortline came to 5,91,000 which included free zero depreciation insurance Bajaj Allianz. We were assured of TD at our place to check its parking ease and space required.
It was only in evening that TD car arrived and that too after 4 calls. The model brought was 2010 highline. We tried to fit it into the parking space and it was a breeze. Though the TD car was old, the ride quality was excellent. I fell in love with it.
We sat over coffee and paid the booking amount, even after repeated requests for discounts, not a penny was reduced, except for zero dep insurance. Best part was that car was already shipped from the plant and was on its way. Sales guy committed to deliver the car on 14/15 Feb. Next day entire balance amount was deposited and he asked about accessories and I asked for roof rails, side beading and teflon+underbody+silencer coating.
Two days later I got a call from SE that car has arrived, I asked him to message me VIN which he didn't, but he appeared at my office with RTO papers with proper VIN and Engine no. I checked with online VIN sites and it was Jan 13 manufacture. Great.
Next day, me, my mom and my son went to take the delivery. It was a smooth process but took around 2 hours due to their lunch. A demo of features was given. We went to Hanuman Mandir at Connaught Place, got the puja done and returned back. Mom was happy and didnt mind the extra lac spent coz of premiumness and big car like features. She handed over the keys to my wife and blessed her. We partied in the evening to celebrate. Children too loved the car.
Now let's come to important part
The Car
Since I have graduated from i10 I would be writing my experience with respect to old car. The car looks sharp and stunning in silver hence I chose the name 'Silver Arrow' (though copied from some Baleno owner from tbhp itself). To complement the color I have added roof rails and door beading to give a more mature look than a virgin.
Build is solid, doors and boot close with a nice thud. Gives you a feeling of safety. This car is bigger when compared to my previous car, i10 looks tiny when parked near each other.
Getting inside the cabin, being used to dash layout of i10, I felt lack of storage spaces, though this is not the case actually. In i10 storage is available at less than arms length. I had the same feeling when switched from santro to i10 so I know, its just a matter of getting used to. Use of more beige in i10 gave it a roomy feeling, in Polo black/grey is more prominent, despite being bigger it 'feels' a little smaller. Rear view is very poor from IRVM and reversing the car is a task. Either you have reverse parking system or have somebody assist. I didnt go for it as didn't want to drill holes in new bumper.
Controls are european, indicators on left and wiper on right, and did not have problems getting used to, I have driven Optra on quite a few occasions hence was fully comfortable. Headlight controls are on dash rather than on stalk, though dipper/high beam is available on indicator stalk. Lane change triple flash on flick of stalk is good feature, you do not need to switch off indicators after overtakes. Headlamp Beam leveller is on dash and is not position 1,2,3, it smoothly scrolls, though positions are marked and you can set your beam in between them as well. MID shows Distance to Empty, Average Speed, mileage, distance covered and time since driving, outside temperature, clock. One thing good is apart from trip meters, it automatically begins a trip meter which can show distance and time from last start, and will also take into account if stopped during the journey.
The Hazard warning, AC and fresh air mode switches are not like switches that keep themselves depressed when on, they are just push to on again push to off. One weird thing noticed is AC switching on with blower, can this be disabled??
All power windows have anti-pinch feature with one touch up/down for all passengers. ORVMS fold either side and electrically adjustable.
Glove box is large. Apart from that you get two cup holders with removable ashtray in one. A cigarette lighter with red illumination. and rectangular hole ahead of cup holders. Apart from that we have shallow storage space on all four sides of hand brake. Doors get pockets with dedicated bottle holder.
Seats are comfortable and hug you. This comes with driver side height adjustment as well. Clutch position is high as stated by other members, being 5'10 my knees kept touching the steering, but thanks to tilt and telescopic adjustment it is now comfortable. Steering otherwise on larger side and CL version is soft to hold but not that good, surely needs an aftermarket leather wrap. OEM horn is loud enough and making way from those bus and autowallahs is a breeze.
Rear leg space is average but better than i10. Rear Seats are low sprung and are comfortable as well.
Boot is large and almost equal to cars with dicky/boot.
Start the car and a shudder is felt all over the body. Gears are short and slick. Reverse is push down and then all the way up on left. Pickup is good but you dont feel like that of i10 which pulls like crazy after 2200rpm. It is smooth and only from the speedo you can realize that you are nearing 100. Clutch is very light and brakes are spot on, it reacts adequately to pedal pressure. Engine, though peppy, is very noisy after 2200rpm, also after 1500rpm i hear diesel like clatter, is it normal?? Opening the bonnet I found that under bonnet insulation has been removed, can I get this aftermarket to lower the sound. I have tried redlining only once and yes it did pull on with revlimiter kicking in somewhere between 6000-6500 rpm
Suspension is good and confidence inspiring. Very comfortable to drive, feels like gliding on air. Same roads now feel different you can hear the bump but would not feel it. Driving is very comfortable, I was stuck in a jam for 1 long hour and apart from mental stress, no physical tiredness was there. Thanks to light clutch, brakes and accelerator pedal, you don't feel exerted at all.
ICE is strictly average, poor you can say. I had the Alpine ida-X100, Polk 200.4 amp, Hertz on rear, polk components on front and Pioneer W206 woofer in i10(
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/sound-...pioneered.html). Current setup on VW is RCD220 with SD/front aux and usb and it sounds horrible. On googling didn't find much except that same HU is being shipped on russian Polo and Vento comfortlines. Would request fellow BHPians to suggest an ICE set up which is as per ridiculous guidelines of VW warranty. Would only changing speakers have some effect on quality of sound?
I have clocked only 300kms as of now and started feeling the joy of VW.
Pending things on list are seat covers rexine 4200/- velvet fabric type (elegance) 6200/-. Have not been able to get them installed due to bad weather here. Speaker upgrade if suggested by tBHP, steering leather wraps. And if possible under bonnet insulation.
Does volkswagen changes features without any notice: I have got no 60:40 split seat though it is there in its ebrochure.
Likes
1. Excellent ride comfort.
2. Light pedals
3. Superb handling and brakes
4. Large Glove Box and Boot
5. Anti Pinch and one touch up/down on all four windows
6. Electrically adjustable ORVM
7. Electric boot opener on central lock remote
8. MID with DTE, Average Speed, mileage, distance covered and time since driving, outside temperature, clock.
9. Loud horn
Dislikes
1. Noisy engine
2. Small IRVM
3. High mounted pedals
4. Horn controls not on third spoke of steering wheel
5. Horn sounding on lock unlock
6. Pathetic Audio System
Few queries for fellow BHPians
Pressing any button on remote sounds horn as indication, is there a silent mode??
what all tweaks (VAS enables) can be done by a technical user using CANBUS?
Sorry for the long story but could not stop expressing from my fellow bhpians.
I would like to thank our admin
vid6639 who has extended his support in finishing and presentation of this post.
Congratulations on your new car. Any particular reason for the roof-rails? Takes a bit out of the gentlemanly looks of the Polo.
Regarding the HU, I would suggest you first upgrade to better speakers and amp. Many times the HUs are decent but the speakers are crappy. After this, if you are still not satisfied with the sound quality, you can upgrade the HU.
Congrats mishraak on your new car. Your Polo is the first one I have seen with roof-rails. The Polo's petrol engine is a tad noisier than its Jap/Korean competitors, but it compensates this by providing more usable torque at the lower end of the RPM band. You can almost drive it like a diesel in heavy traffic:) I am certain you will enjoy your Polo much more than the i10.
Congrats mishraak ! It is a wonderful car and it will grow on you as get used to it ! Once you get used to the comfort and ride of polo, I am sure you will never look back :) wishing you many happy miles.
Congratulations!!! I do like the Polo a lot but I somehow do not think the roof rails go well with a silver Polo. It is just my opinion. Can you please give the differences between the HL and CL?
I notice that the Comfortline trim now has all 4 power windows, rear wiper with defogger and RCD320 audio system. What I cannot understand is why VW did not give ABS and airbags with this model. At the least ABS should have been there. The difference between CL and HL is big so CL will be the popular model.
Congrats Mishraak on your new ride.
No doubt Polo is an excellent choice and more so with recent updates it has received & you will love German engineering all through its life.
Just one question, why i20 did not figure in your shortlist. Is it expensive than Polo.
Excellent choice. I find the 3 pot engine on the Polo to be the most tractable engine and with the best response when compared to the low powered 1.2l units offered on the Figo and Punto.
Congrats mate. The Polo is a well-built car, literally! A friend who owns one had a bad experience of a stray cow hitting its horns on the side while the car was in motion. He got down only to find out the cow's horns were shaved a bit, but the car had not taken any structural damage, per se. That day he went home a happy man!
I've always liked white and silver on all cars. Your's is no different. Drive safe.
