[fluidicjoy]

After a long waiting period of about 3 months, we finally brought home our MY 2021 Sunset Red Polo Highline+ Automatic.


This Polo is the third Volkswagen in our Volkswagen family which has a reliable 2009 DSG Jetta and a 2019 Tiguan and so there wasn't a tremendous buzz at home about the arrival of a Polo. That being said, I was super pumped at the thought of driving a Polo home and my mind can't stop thinking about the tremendous mod potential that it has!

However, my excitement about this car has been a roller-coaster and we nearly ended up cancelling this vehicle at one point of time, but the rest they say is history as we drove home our Polo on the 17th of October, from BU Bhandari Pune Wakad.

Likes

• Dated yet sturdy PQ25 Platform car.
• Good quality interiors.
• Downsized yet powerful engine 1.0L TSI.
• More affordable due to the Highline+ Variant.
• Packs most essential features (Rain Sensing Wipers, Rear Wipers, Cruise Control etc.)
• Highly retrofit friendly (Many parts on the way!)
• Possibly a more reliable Automatic Polo thanks to the Torque Converter
• Localisation has reduced cost of maintenance parts over the years.

Dislikes

• Starting to show its exterior age.
• Headlights inadequate for safe highway driving. An upgrade is a MUST!
• Minimal space at the rear for most passengers.
• Quite a lot of modern day features missing :- Keyless Entry, Automatic Headlights etc
• No Reverse Camera in a car crossing 10L OTR.
• 3 Cylinder vibrations are annoying driving in town.
• AISIN 09G Gearbox has felt jerky and is no match for the DSG at performance and shift quality.
• Localised components are taking away the good handling tag from this car.
• Torque Convertor has not drastically reduced the On-Road Price.

Safety
Even though it is an older car, it is still very relevant in today's space since the PQ platform has its fundamentals right. Here is a small Safety Specific feature list :-

• Seat Belt Warning : Driver and Passenger
• Driver and Passenger Airbags
• ABS and ESP (Automatic Only)
• Cornering Foglight (Automatic Only)
• Emergency Warning Light Flashing (On Sudden Braking) : VCDS Tweak
• Hill Hold (Automatic Only)
• Anti-pinch Windows

Engine and Variant Selection
The Automatic is only offered on the 1.0 TSI Turbo Petrol engine but can be availed in two trims. The GT TSI and the Highline+AT. The GT is considerably more expensive and lacks a few essential bits compared to the Highline+ and so we gave the GT TSI variant a miss. The notable bits missing on the GT TSI are :- 2 Remote Keys, Front Centre Armrest with Rear AC Vent. What the GT TSI did have extra were a pair of Black Mirrors, Black Roof, a Spoiler and the GT badging of course! However, as of writing this thread, VW has a new Red and White edition, which seems to overcome all of these exterior bits at the price of the Highline+, but sadly, our allotted vehicle missed out on these goodies, but I'm a fan of single colour schemes, and so this was hardly a dealbreaker.

1.0 TSI Engine : Engine Code : DSHA
Highline+ Automatic : 6 Speed AISIN Torque Converter Gearbox codenamed AQ250
Colour : Sunset Red

Choosing the Colour

My mother has liked white colour vehicles but surprisingly, this time she refused to go with White! Nobody in the family liked the popular and hot Flash Red nor the Lapiz Blue colour and the Carbon Steel Grey was a hybrid between the i10's Star Dust and the Tiguan's Indium Grey, and so we went ahead with the unique Sunset Red which we first saw last year. We were told that the Brown would be unavailable in the Automatic trim and that was quite unique too.

Standard Warranties, RSA and Service Value Packages
Since the drivetrain has been changed, the service centres were not sure about all of the Extended Warranty packages for this Automatic variant. The standard warranty is of 4 Years or 100000kms whichever is earlier and we had that extended to the 5th Year as of now. As was the case with Polo, Vento and Ameo, we get a 3 Year Paint Warranty and a 6 Year Anti-perforation Warranty. Road Side Assistance(RSA) for 4 Years is included in the pricing.

Service Intervals
For namesake, Volkswagen has offered 3 Free Services. I frankly feel this is a waste of a customers time and my experience during the Tiguan Swaagat Service is that the only thing that was done was a round around the dealership test lap, but all of this still took about 2-3 hours of my time and I must add that they gifted me with Broken back seat roof Grab handles.

• 1 Month or 1000kms (10 Point Inspection)
• 6 Months or 7500kms - 40 Point Inspection
• 1 Year or 15000kms (Oil Change Service, Labour Free)

I like doing maintenance service on most cars myself and so with this in mind, we opted to not go for any Service Value Packages, but it should be noted that the Service Value Pack schemes just seem to be getting more affordable by the day.

PDI at the Stockyard
The TeamBHP PDI checklist was of tremendous help during my visit to the stockyard where I saw our allocated vehicle for the first time. In fact, I got to witness the coding of all the modules present in my vehicle using ODIS and the suggested test sequences.



I collected the VIN number and went home to check all the VW Option Codes in my ETKA Subscription to see everything that was present and absent in my vehicle. The ETKA mentions the Date of Manufacture of my vehicle, the 8th of October, 2020:-

Initial Engine Gearbox Impressions

The engine is still running in (another topic for debate) and I have been taking care to not abuse it till I'm mentally ready to push this car hard. So far in the 80km odd city commute that I've driven this car, I'm not a fan of the vibrations of this 3 cylinder engine. I drive with a very light foot in town and have a habit of letting the car coast when I have to brake a while later and during this RPM descent from 3000 to 1200RPM, the vibration and harshness is even more pronounced.

Coming from a creamy smooth 1.2L Hyundai Petrol Engine, this engine does noticeably vibrate a lot in the lower part of the rev band and this is especially more pronounced if you drive with a light foot. Where it does start shining is when you drive it with hard and the TSI revs and defies the absence of the cylinder. I have had a few highway runs on this car, and it is a delight to be behind the wheel when the turbo kicks in!



The gearbox still seems to be coping with the newness of the vehicle. The initial shifts seem fairly rough and this is more pronounced with downshifts. The gearbox is fairly quick in the D1-D4 range but in the city, the gearbox juggles between D2 and D3. Most shifts with a light foot seemed to be taking place at the 3000-3200RPM mark. The creep is exceptionally high, and on a few 30-40 second signals, I even experienced discomfort due to the excess pressure I had to apply to the brakes to keep this beast tamed.

Even before I drove this vehicle for the first time, a paddle shift wheel retrofit was on the cards for this car, but I think I will give it a miss. The gearbox is not super quick in the manual mode and overall I believe I shouldn't keep too many expectations about the shift quality on this gearbox. It is no DSG, contrary to what the sales people want us to believe. In fact, before finalising this car, I drove a preowned well 2018 DSG Polo with 23000kms on the clock and it was so much more seamless with its shifts. The D3-D2 on this unit is horribly clunky and jerky and this starts to get annoying after aggressive driving. The overall gearbox feels quick and the 6 Ratios should translate to good fuel efficiency on long trips, but the gearbox intrinsically does not seem to be tuned for efficiency. My i10 is on the its highest cog (D4) past 60km/h while this AISIN unit seems to be stuck at D3/D4 at the same speed at about 2900-3100RPM. I'm really curious to learn more about what has really changed in this supposedly new version of the 09G (AQ250) AISIN unit offered by the Volkswagen Group.

However, the gearbox is fairly quick with light to moderate throttle, and a few quick kick downs and the subsequent quick upshifts I have had have been fulfilling, but the gearbox just cannot mask the fact that it is is slow and harsh with downshifts. For first time automatic users, it might just delight considering how quick the overall vehicle gains speed. Seasoned users of better gearboxes will definitely realise the head nods that do seem to be a characteristic of this unit, and this is something very rarely experienced on Hyundai's smooth 4 Speed Torque converters. Here's hoping the experience gets a lot smoother with time, but the real reason I was okay to go ahead with this gearbox was the fact that this will primarily be used by my parents and the prospect of added reliability seemed attractive.

Initial Fuel Efficiency Figures
As of today, with 150kms under its belt, the fuel efficiency figures reported on my usual 36km spirited highway run are about 13-14km/l and the city driving figures are about 10km/l as per the MID. I will update my experience after I get to drive the vehicle a little more, but I'm skeptical whether a Turbo-Petrol and a Torque Converter (common guzzlers in my experiences with an i10, Dzire Petrol with 4 Speed AT) will do any better, considering the power and weight of the vehicle.

Braking
The braking hardware is unchanged from the GT TSI and we still have Brake Pads made by TVS Girling (which many users have had mixed opinions about). Since this is a new car, the brakes are still a tad soft and I'm eagerly waiting to experience the best brake bite that these can produce.

The rear axle gets drum brakes. Thankfully, the Automatic variant has not missed out on the ESP Module. In the first few kilometres that I've driven this car, I have felt the need to apply the brakes a lot more than I have had to on any other automatic gearbox, because of the sheer aggressive nature of this torque converter lower down. This makes me slightly worried about the brake pad life on this car.

Tyres and Rims
The stockyard cars had tyres from MRF, Apollo and Goodyear, and someone I have never been a fan of Apollo, but have had decent experiences with Goodyear Assurance. Luckily, my vehicle comes with Goodyear Triple Assurance 195/55/R16 tyres with 16 inch Portago Alloys which I'm a huge fan of.

Recommended Tyre Pressures are listed on the Lid and I went to my trusted tyre shop and got these filled with Nitrogen at 33psi. The showroom had maintained a ghastly 45psi which should not come off as a shock.

The spare wheel is a 175/70 R14

Ride and Handling
The Polo is a very stable car and holds the road very confidently.
The steering on my car so far seems to be a little too hard at low speeds, and the test drive units were definitely a lot lighter. The ride has gotten a lot more comfy after maintaining 33psi.

I feel I need to get the tyre alignment inspected since I feel there is a minor pull to the left and I hope to evaluate this at the Swaagat Service. The overall ride of the Polo has changed over the last few years and this one seems a lot more compliant for city driving. It seems to have diluted from the tight handling we were used to from Volkswagen cars, but the feedback from the unit is still quite assuring.

Booking Experience
Since the vehicle was booked during the peak of the pandemic and since we were regular customers to BU Bhandari, the booking took place without any physical documentation by paying a booking amount of Rs. 25000 online.



The Polo Automatic in the last many years was only offered in the GT guise and so I was amused to find both a Highline+ AT and a Polo GT TSI in the price-lists that were released on the web and by dealerships. However, the dealership was not ready to comment on the feature distribution of these variants and were also scaring us about the incredibly high wait times, but even then, we chose to keep our faith in the Highline+ AT.

Test Drive Experience
Then Volkswagen started advertising "GT is Back!" on multiple social handles and the dealerships were extremely pumped about the GT and started test drives in September for all booking customers. This was when I drove the new Automatic variant for the first time, and it disappointed me a lot.

On the highway, it seemed fairly quick at making silly speeds, but the shifts were very perceptible since I had driven to the dealership in a DSG gearbox. Then, I tried driving the car in manual mode and the gearbox was just not as responsive as I'd hoped it would be. In fact, I was redlining the delightful 1.0 TSI and was left wanting for a quick shifting gearbox even in Manual Mode. After about 30kms of spirited driving, the gearbox started feeling clunky and excessively jerky and there was a definitive head bob during shifts and this made me lose confidence in the product we had booked. I had made up my opinion that the new AISIN sourced box was barely as competent as the DSG and I left the dealership unhappily.

Other Vehicles Considered
We wanted to get a safe small car since it had to be mom compliant. Another factor which helped us fixate on a smaller size was the pain of finding a parking spot for our Jetta and Tiguan in town.

We drove quite a number of cars from varying segments like the Ecosport, Toyota Yaris, Honda City (plenty of discounts before the 2020 variant started showing up), the Skoda Karoq, Nexon EV and even a T-Roc before decided upon the Polo.

Karoq and T-Roc

Dad driving the Karoq on the Mumbai-Pune highway.

The Karoq was beautiful and we thoroughly loved it but it was a petrol and 5L pricier than the T-Roc which had the same drivetrain and so we wanted to wait for the T-Roc. The T-Roc had quite a few things missing (No Powered Seats, Headunit where VW skimped on Navigation, No Cruise Control, but frankly the real turn off were the average plastics) despite having the same fabulous 1.5 TSI DSG combo, and frankly we felt it was n overkill and overpriced at 25L rupees considering we were only looking for a small car for limited driving around town. The T-Roc did not feel that much more special to consider it.

The price filter was the simplest deciding factor to rule out the desire of considering the Karoq or T-Roc.

Ford Ecosport
Next up, was the Ford Ecosport, another vehicle with a few good discounts at Dhone Ford, Pune. I had driven the Ecosport automatic a while ago, and during that test drive, I found the brake pedal excessively spongy, but I thought it was perhaps a one off case. However, there were a couple of reasons why I was still interested in the Ford Ecosport.

• Ground clearance
• Larger 1.5L 3 Cylinder Engine
• Ford's Affordable Service

I was initially excited because the Ecosport would have been the largest displacement engine of the lot. But I didn't find the drivability and punch of the engine paired to the 6 Speed Torque converter to be super impressive. To make matters worse, the brakes on the test drive unit were still pretty spongy, just like last time. The A pillars are super thick and I didn't appreciate the blind spot they were creating. The car also had lost Android Auto and CarPlay, two features which I really use a lot in all of my cars. So the only advantage left in favour of the EcoSport was the ground clearance. My father argued that we wouldn't be taking the EcoSport on long outings and excursions and so the extra ground clearance was overkill for our simple city commute and I had to agree with him.

Nexon EV

I personally loved the Tata Nexon EV a lot. It is spacious, was very quick typical of what one would expect from an EV. I also particularly liked the feel of the brakes on this eV. The steering was also comfortably light and overall, I was excited to consider this product. However, my mother did not like the rear looks and my parents were concerned about the long term reliability of the Nexon EV and subsequent support from Tata Motors, which is undoubtedly unknown as of now.

Doing the Math!
Polo Highline+ AT : 10.7L OTR
Highest Service Cost Estimation for 5 Years :- Rs. 60000
Petrol Costs :- Rs. 4,50,000/- (assuming 10 km/l and 50000km running)
2. Ecosport : 13.2L OTR (with discounts)
Highest Service Cost Estimation for 5 Years :- Rs. 30000
Petrol Costs :- Rs. 4,50,000/- (assuming 10 km/l and 50000km running)
3. Nexon EV : 16.5L OTR
Electricity Cost : Rs. 50000 (rate and costs could be higher or lower, depending on household consumption as the electrical rate varies after a certain cap. I stay in a family of 6.)
Predicting a 5 Year Service Cost (Coolant, Brake Pads, Lube) : Rs. 20000 (but again, unknown)

Please don't get me on record for these calculations, but I think for the most part I have gotten it right. Quite a lot of figures are most expensive case scenarios to gauge the upper limits. So most of our cars are driven mainly around town and hence our running pattern would not justify an added 6-7L which we would need to spend to get the Mid specced variant of the Nexon EV. Retrospectively, I do feel we had a really funny set of requirements and considerations, but having two other Volkswagen cars in the house seemed to be a comforting factor to go ahead with the Polo.

Discounts
I believe this is one aspect where I have seen Volkswagen India being real cheeky and unpredictable. All of these years, they have maintained that the GT TSI was never offered any discounts and they wanted to assert the same for the Polo Highline+ Automatic. Even after haggling quite a lot, we were only offered a Corporate and a meagre Loyalty Discount amounting to about Rs. 15000. When all of the payment was made, the very next day, I witnessed the dealership and Volkswagen started sending out flyers for the Red and White Edition with a minimum of 50-60k discounts on the Polo, and upto 1.5L on the Vento, but as always, terms and conditions applied. I believe the real discount we offered ourselves was not letting the executive sell us a GT TSI when we had opted for the Highline+ AT.

Volkswagen Genuine Rubber Mats 6RG 061 500 A and Mudflaps (6RG 075 110 B) were the only promised freebies.

Taking Delivery and the First Drive Home
We took delivery at about 5:30PM and the paperwork was swiftly completed. This was perhaps the first time we did not opt for an explanation of the features of the car. Everything felt right at home; a typical VW parts bin.

Driving out of the dealership was a scary experience starting from the dealership itself. The 1.0 TSI has a scary creep and a new car with new tyres and brakes only made matters worse. I have to reiterate, that the creep is a nightmare. I am traumatised by how out of place the creep makes me feel to the extent my mother has not even driven this vehicle since we got it home (twist in the tale lies somewhere ahead).

The slip-roads on the highways were battered by the cyclonic rains we faced in the previous week and there were huge potholes which made my heart sink as I very slowly manoeuvred around them. To make everything worse, it started pouring and it got dark pretty quickly and it was already time to test the headlights (Dual Barrel H7 Halogen) and I hate to admit, they were hardly comforting to get home and something will have to be done soon!

Here is a snap of the MFD after our very first drive; dealership to our home, about 18kms; after a slow traffic jam!




Exterior
Coming to the exteriors, frankly not much has visibly changed from the facelift we saw last year. The windscreen glass has changed with respect to last year and my neighbours October 2019 GT TSI has 6RG 845 011 AA which is listed as a Green Glass without Tinted Sunstrip while the present car comes with 6RG 845 011 AD/AL (AL is 05.10.2020 onwards) which is a Green Grey Glass as per ETKA and has a tinted Sunstrip. This glass has a different part number compared to the 2017-2018 Polo and Vento which also had a Green Grey Glass, but the ETKA descriptions are almost neck to neck.

The car is undoubtedly simple and still looks elegant without too many fancy things on the rear. My favourite change to the exterior has to be the Glossy Honey Comb Grill. The Portago alloy wheels are also stunning, but sadly I don't have a great angled shot of the Goodyears with the alloy.

This might just be one of the last PQ platform Polo that Volkswagen will sell in India, but we still have have no changes to the stock Dual Barrel Halogen Headlights. The Fog-lights resemble the Euro Spec Fog-lights which feature DRLs and I almost thought the car them, but a closer inspection revealed a blank.

The Highline+ does not come with a Black or White painted roof(this is not the special edition).

Here's a closeup of the water beading on the roof with the Long antenna blurred out. An OEM shark fin antenna would have been nice, but its absence takes it to my Retrofit List.

Simple yet elegant taillights.

Yup. The TSI badging will be more ubiquitous than ever since our beloved TDIs are gone.


An awkward shot which gives a hint of the green tint and also sharp eyes will spot the uneven panel gap near the rear left tail-light. Notice the black plastic moulding which runs along the periphery of the car.

[fluidicjoy]

Interiors
The interiors remain the same on the Polo and other than limited rear space and an older design, there's not much to complain about. The quality and fit and finish is excellent and should be rattle free for many years to come. The centre console does have a slight inclination towards the driver side. For the first time, will an Automatic Polo/Vento have a Moonstone Centre Console trim as opposed to Glossy Black trims we have seen on the GT TSI.

Interior Spaces
All black cabin with plenty of spaces for cups and bottle holders in the door. We also get a glovebox with a moulded compartment and a very welcome Glovebox Light.

Grab Handles do not have a dampening action and close with a thud.

Auto Air-Conditioning
So far been a chiller, but I would love to comment more in the summer! Fairly simple to use.

AC Vents have a satisfying click and CLOSE completely.
Rear AC Vent cannot be closed but thankfully, the entire assembly does not feel too much of an intrusion for the occasional third passenger.

Switchgear

Operating the Mirror Control Switch seemed quite counterintuitive to me since other Volkswagen cars like the Jetta and Tiguan have a more predictable placement and the Joystick direction was a lot more intuitive on those.

The Headlight Switch comes with a Silver finish on the Highline variant but Auto-headlight functionality is sorely missed. I especially miss the brilliant Coming Home and Leaving Home function and I know it is a just a simple Chinese Auto-Headlight switch away, but I'm trying to explore how I can achieve it using the OE way by going for a BCM Max in the near future.

The ORVMs themselves seem to be on the smaller side and I'm already looking for a Eurospec Mirror (one with dotted lines and an extended view) to reduce blindspots from this assembly. The ORVMs do have a Turn Indicator The Autodimming IRVM is not Frameless, but the bezels are not too intrusive but I have to say, it does feel a tad small when the rear headrests are up.

Switches for ESP, Rear Defogger and the Hazard again all having an excellent feel and quality.


Seats

The fabric seats have a decent side bolster but the seats themselves do lack under thigh support. I also found the lumbar support lacking. We were considering the Volkswagen Honeycomb Seat Covers which look fabulous on this car, but the dealership would not budge and give us a good deal on them, and so we gave them a miss.


The Company Seat covers cost about Rs. 10,000/- and if you're curious this is what the two offerings look like.

What is lovely on the Highline+ AT is the Armrest with Rear AC Vent and again this is something the GT TSI does not get. The armrest can be comfortably adjusted to several angles and did not obstruct the operation of the handbrake for me, but maybe I was pulling the handbrake across the armrest.

The handbrake tip is also finished in chrome and there is a shallow storage space just behind the gear lever. The armrest inside has a very welcome Storage Space with a Rubberised Mat. A Wireless Charger inside would have been fun and I have seen a few BHPians trying to install this.

That being sad, the armrest list fabric does not seem to be as good as the seats.


The rear seats are just fine for short rides and the rear headrests have a fair adjustment range. I really would have loved to see a 60:40 Split Rear Seat and it would have greatly amplified the utility of this hatch to help carry a cycle maybe!

The boot space is fairly generous at 280L. However, the boot sorely misses a Boot Lamp.

[fluidicjoy]

Interior Equipment
Hits

• RCD 340
• Steering Mounted Controls for Audio, MFD
• Rain Sensing Wipers
• Rear Wiper (Sorely missed in our i10)
• Auto-dimming IRVM
• Cruise Control

Misses (Will be overcome slowly through Retrofits)

• No Auto-headlights and Coming Home and Leaving Home Absent
• No Pushbutton Start
• No Intrinsic Telematic and Smart Connected Car Features. - Not a dealbreaker for me.
• No MAXIDOT Cluster
• No Sunroof (I'm not a fan of sunroofs)
• 4 Parking Sensors but it is not OPS (No Visual Display through CAN on the Headunit)
• No Paddle Shifters
• Auto-Folding ORVMs do not fold on locking. Fold only via the Mirror Stalk. Additionally is a very rare OEM retrofit since only select modules support the Auto-Fold.

RCD 340 Radio

No surprises here as we have the RCD 340 Headunit having a part number 6RF 035 187 C and has the following attributes :-

• Reverse Camera Compatible (OEM or AV Camera with Delay Timer)
• 4K or 8K Parking Sensor Support
• Android Auto, CarPlay and MirrorLink (frankly useless)
• Bluetooth, AUX, USB-in

The audio output is about 15% better on this original unit compared to the RCDs sold on Aliexpress and I have tested this claim with several other Polos by swapping the original Headunit with the Chinese OEM RCDs. My 2009 Jetta has been using an Aliexpress RCD for about 3 years now, and the sound quality on that also dictates the same conclusion.

Steering Wheel (MFSW)
The leather wrapped flat-bottom steering wheel is a nice touch but what would have been brilliant even from a marketing front would have been Paddle Shifters which enthusiasts go for anyway!

The audio controls are on the left and have an excellent feel on press. The backlighting of the buttons is RED!

The MFD is controlled by the buttons on the right.

Instrument Cluster
The Polo Highline+ AT comes with a White Backlit Cluster with part number 6RF 920 861 E. It did not come pre-enabled with the Needle Sweep.

It relays the following information through the small yet legible White Font display :-

• Fuel Efficiency (instantaenous and For Trips)
• Digital Speed
• Coolant Temperature
• Outside Temperature
• Refuel Quantity
• Fuel Indicator

Really would have loved to see more graphics like which door is open, but all of those things are again a MAXIDOT Cluster retrofit away! Speed Alarm of 80km/h is enabled from the factory, but has been disarmed using ODIS.

[fluidicjoy]

Freebies Offered On Delivery Day

• Volkswagen WeConnect App Dongle (Not SIM Based)
• Polo Scuff Plates
• Volkswagen Anti-theft Wheel Bolts
• 10L Petrol Coupon :- Thankfully a generous amount.

Still have not installed the Scuff Plates as the dealership staff have procrastinated it for the first service. Will share photos when I install them.

WeConnect

I believe VW gave this to me for free since they were launching the new SIM based dongle, the My Volkswagen Connect, which seems a lot more useful than this WeConnect which so far has been buggy and unhelpful. It connects to the OBD-2 port and is made by TEXA and retails for Rs. 5500. Seems way overpriced for a dongle that does not tell you much.


Slightly skeptical about the antitheft wheel bolts as well since these are not spline safety bolts which have a higher tolerance to impacts.


The heads on these bolts will break when tyre shops use an impact driver and might get me stranded somewhere. Not sure what would break first, the bit or the bolt head. So I'm still contemplating the use of these safety bolts. They come with 22 unique patterns!

Some Other Observations

I think I have witnessed my first niggle with this new to-be reliable gearbox and it was on our very first drive. In the parking lot, when I was preparing to exit the vehicle, I noticed the gearbox on D2 even when the brake was firmly pressed and the car was idle. I thought this was a glitch and so shifted to Park (P) and then to Drive (D) and noticed the same thing. After switching the car ON and OFF, did not notice this again and it has not shown up till date. VCDS Scan next day was clean!

I'm missing the Dual Tone Horn as the High Tone horn sound seems to be quite the cacophony to me. I believe Volkswagen has provided the wiring harness in the Bumper and this is something I'm really looking forward to install!


Just like the 1.2 TSI, the 1.0 TSI does not come with a Eurospec Intake but the good news is that these two parts are perfectly interchangeable and I could verify this using the parts catalogue! Will consider doing it in the future, but the opinion about a Euro-Spec Cold Air Intake for regular driving conditions seems to be fairly mixed.


Coolant seems to be bubbling after a moderately long drive. I saw the same thing on the test drive vehicles but this was a first for me on any vehicle. Would love to hear what the experts have to saw about this, but the gurgling is very much audible even with the bonnet closed. The coolant level has been beyond the MAX mark from the factory itself.


The Highline+ Automatic comes with two remote keys instead of just one on the GT TSI. The key seems to be one of the newer part numbers with the newer Volkswagen Logo. Runs on 434MHz.


Just like the 1.0 MPI, the 1.0 TSI ECU is also made in Romania.

The Battery is made in India. Comes with part number 000 915 105 DA and rated at 36Ah.

Retrofits Planned (Will Keep On Updating)

• Original Flip Badge Rear View Camera
• 4K PDC to 8K OPS Retrofit
• OEM LED License Plate Lights
• Aluminium/Steel Pedal Caps

[fluidicjoy]

An Unfortunate Update : Volkswagen After Sales Saga Continues
I would have loved to share my driving experience in my subsequent posts but currently, I'm plagued with a sad problem. On the 4th day of owning this vehicle, the windscreen started cracking from the edge. Without wasting any time on speculating why and how this happened, I contacted my dealership on the 20th of October and told them to order a new windshield for me.

Long story short, as of writing this thread, Volkswagen has been unable to procure the correct windshield for me and as a result, my new car is lying idle in the dealership without any support or feedback from Volkswagen on improving this issue.

This is what the crack started off as when I submitted the vehicle to the dealership for the repair. When I checked it a week later, it has creeped past the midpoint of the windshield.

Here is what has happened. Volkswagen are seemingly used a new variation of Windshield Glass on the 1.0 TSI Polo variants which come with the following part numbers and PR Codes for the Auto-dimming IRVM (4L6) and 4GS (Heat Insulating).

The part number 6RG 845 011 AL is what is listed on my car and there is no information about the availability or pricing at the dealership. They have just been unable to find any information about pricing or availability on it.

I requested them to procure the older part ending in AD but they still have no word on that older part either. The glass that the dealership has is a 6RG 845 011 T which was used in 2017-18 on Polo and Vento and it has a slight tint variation at the Sunstrip. Initially the dealership did not offer me this older part citing possible trouble from Volkswagen if it was incorrect for whatever reason and then later, when they had no answer about the availability of the correct part, they asked me to sign an undertaking stating my permission to "Go Ahead with Unapproved Part for Swift Repair."

The dealership personnel is divided about the opinion of using the older glass on a MY 2021 vehicle because some advisors believe the newer glass changed the heat insulation layers to maximise the cooling on the newer 1.0 TSI Engines, but as of now there is no information which has been relayed to me.

Numerous emails to Volkswagen have rendered no fruit and I'm still not being given any answers at the dealership. To make matters worse, the dealership filed and approved the insurance survey without checking the Glass Availability and as a result I have found myself in a Check-Mate position with respect to my new purchase, since I cannot move the vehicle to another garage or repair place without the risk of having something else go wrong. Meanwhile, Windshield Experts also do not have the exact new specification IR+CUT+GREY glass made by ASAHI that my vehicle shipped with.

The dealership quoted, "Since this part has not been ordered anywhere in India, we are unable to place an order for it." and I was wondering if it literally translated to "You shall be kept waiting till someone else needs another windshield and we procure it for them first."

Insurance Aspect
The Insurer was Bajaj Allianz and since it is a 0 Depreciation Insurance, we shall only be paying the claim charges of Rs. 1500. The approximate Part cost for the Windshield is about Rs. 5500/- but the entire Windshield Replacement bill at VW ASS was quoted to me to be at a tune of about Rs. 14500 with labour and the sealant, cleaners etc. and the pasting adhesives are the most expensive bit. Windshield Experts perform the same repair under Rs. 7000, and to the best of my knowledge, the work is completed on the same day. Ironically, this is the first car insurance claim we have made in 18 years, and so the entire process was quite new to me.



My beast is idling at the dealership and there seems to be nothing I can do than to wait.


Many apologies for a few rough photos since I have not been able to drive my car for about 10 days now, else a proper shoot was on the cards.
That's all for now from my side. I eager wait till Volkswagen deems it is right to hand me my new vehicle, again.

[Aditya]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line. Thanks for sharing!

[lionell]

Congratulations on the new Polo. It’s heartbreaking to see your new steed back at the workshop in such a short time. I’ve had a bitter sweet relationship with my Polo GT as well.

Hoping you get it back on the road soon.

[Altocumulus]

Congratulations on the new car

Co-incidentally I brought home my new Rapid Tsi AT on the same day, i.e. 17 October and just crossed 1000 kms on the odo yesterday, 1001 kms at the moment to be precise. Was considering the Polo initially, but lack of space in the rear, high OTR price and significant discounts in the Rapid made me choose the same. I miss the Cruise Control though. But paying near 2 Lakhs for it in the Style variant didn't seem worth it. Most of my long drives will be in the Duster AWD anyways.

When I read through your observations, there seems to be few differences between the the 2 cars in terms of the engine and gearbox. A couple of them are,

1. With a light foot in D, my upshifts happen at around 2200 rpm, and only with a heavy foot does it go past 3k rpm for upshifts, happened only once for me. The shifts are very seamless and unless you are really focusing on it, or looking at the MID you dont get to realize. Same for downshifts when you are slowing down. If its a aggressive downshift, or especially you are S mode it is pretty pronounced, head nods, like it would be in a manual if you you downshift without a revv match. Also another situation the gearshift gets a little jerky, is when my throttle input is at a borderline area for shifting. Seems it gets a little confused if it will upshift or not and then finally does and it is a little jerky there.

2. The NVH level is better than Polo in the Rapid. Saying this after driving my friend's Polo 1.0 Tsi MT. On the move vibrations are as good as not there. In idle the car is super silent, passengers dont realize that the car is on, however vibrations are evident specially with the AC on.

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

I think I have witnessed my first niggle with this new to-be reliable gearbox and it was on our very first drive. In the parking lot, when I was preparing to exit the vehicle, I noticed the gearbox on D2 even when the brake was firmly pressed and the car was idle. I thought this was a glitch and so shifted to Park (P) and then to Drive (D) and noticed the same thing. After switching the car ON and OFF, did not notice this again and it has not shown up till date. VCDS Scan next day was clean!
[/list]

I was in the same boat when I first noticed it whn in Bumper to bumper traffic. Was very disappointed. There was no lugging though, and as soon as you release the brake, revvs automatically go upto 1100 rpm, creep speed upto near 20kmp/hr. However as it turns out, it's not a niggle/ glitch, but a feature. It's based on the inclination of the road. A slight inclination if detected, even in bumper to bumper traffic the car will not go to D1 but stay in D2 maybe to prevent unnecessary D1 D2 D1 shifts or for FE. I have tested it on flyovers, basement ramps, etc. If the nose is higher, it will go to D1, if nose is lower it will stay in D2. If you floor the accelerator then it will not downshift but picks up speed very fast. I even went back to the same road and place in traffic to check if it works the same again and it did. Check yours in such situations, specially in a warmed up engine.

I did a Delhi Jaipur Delhi trip this weekend and car was fantastic. The car doesn't feel that it has a 1.0 Tsi engine but something more bigger and powerful. Kickdown in D mode takes a second to react but after that oodles of power to overtake. S mode it is much faster, though I have used it only once for few seconds to ensure it's working. The creep function is 'CREEPY' and for a first time user of this engine gearbox combo, it is pretty unnerving. More so after a cold start, car just lurches forward. Tight parking's are a little scary specially while reversing. A reverse camera is imperative, and it was a good investment for me to retrofit the one from Style variant into mine.

The one thing I didnot like about the RCD340 is that it doesnt let you connect via bluetooth to another phone if you are already connected to Apple Car Play with another phone. I generally have an old iphone in the car always which is used solely for maps and and music apart from my regular One Plus 7 Pro. I would have liked it, if the OP could be connected via bluetooth for calls only but it doesn't allow that. So I have to connect the Oneplus via Android Auto, and I miss the split screen feature of Apple Car Play.

[Utham123]

Congratulations on your New Polo! The car looks very elegant in that colour.

I hope you get your car back with the necessary replacement. I am just puzzled if the car is just 4 days old then shouldn't this windshield crack be considered a manufactured defect? I am asking this assuming there was no damage that you have inflicted on it while driving.

Can anybody else better informed than me clarify if damages such as these are covered under warranty?

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by lionell

Congratulations on the new Polo. It’s heartbreaking to see your new steed back at the workshop in such a short time. I’ve had a bitter sweet relationship with my Polo GT as well.

Hoping you get it back on the road soon.

Thank you! Yes it is quite heartbreaking and I'm eagerly waiting for an update on the matter.

Originally Posted by Altocumulus

Congratulations on the new car
1. With a light foot in D, my upshifts happen at around 2200 rpm, and only with a heavy foot does it go past 3k rpm for upshifts, happened only once for me. The shifts are very seamless and unless you are really focusing on it, or looking at the MID you dont get to realize. Same for downshifts when you are slowing down. If its a aggressive downshift, or especially you are S mode it is pretty pronounced, head nods, like it would be in a manual if you you downshift without a revv match. Also another situation the gearshift gets a little jerky, is when my throttle input is at a borderline area for shifting. Seems it gets a little confused it it will upshift or not and then finally does and it is a little jerky there.

2. The NVH level is better than Polo in the Rapid. Saying this after driving my friend's Polo 1.0 Tsi MT. On the move vibrations are as good as not there. In idle the car is super silent, passengers dont realize that the car is on, however vibrations are evident specially with the AC on.

I was in the same boat when I first noticed it whn in Bumper to bumper traffic. Was very disappointed. There was no lugging though, and as soon as you release the brake, revvs automatically go upto 1100 rpm, creep speed upto near 20kmp/hr. However as it turns out, it's not a niggle/ glitch, but a feature. It's based on the inclination of the road. A slight inclination if detected, even in bumper to bumper traffic the car will not go to D1 but stay in D2 maybe to prevent unnecessary D1 D2 D1 shifts or for FE. I have tested it on flyovers, basement ramps, etc. If the nose is higher, it will go to D1, if nose is lower. I even went back to the same road and place in traffic to check if it works the same again and it did.

I did a Delhi Jaipur Delhi trip this weekend and car was fantastic. The car doesn't feel that it has a 1.0 Tsi engine but something more bigger and powerful. Kickdown in D mode takes a second to react but after that oodles of power to overtake. The creep function is 'CREEPY' and for a first time user it is pretty unnerving. Tight parking's are a little scary.

I believe the experience and shift quality could improve after a few weeks provided I get to drive it (subject to repair). Good to know that I'm not the only one who noticed it! I would love to try this out in similar road conditions as you mentioned and will write back here.

However, the D2 niggle happened to me in a flat parking lot. Even the Grand i10 can be slotted in D2 when stationary and can pull off from standstill in 2nd gear and the surge is a lot more tamed. If this is an intentional feature, then city driving would be a lot more relaxed if the AISIN 09G took off from D2 which is a tad more controlled for bumper to bumper traffic.

[fluidicjoy]

Originally Posted by Utham123

Congratulations on your New Polo! The car looks very elegant in that colour.

I hope you get your car back with the necessary replacement. I am just puzzled if the car is just 4 days old then shouldn't this windshield crack be considered a manufactured defect? I am asking this assuming there was no damage that you have inflicted on it while driving.

Can anybody else better informed than me clarify if damages such as these are covered under warranty?

I would love to believe that the windscreen had a manufacturing defect, but there is no mechanism in place to prove our innocence. The vehicle was driven by my father in town, and he did not have any weird instance to report about any impact or projectile flying onto the windshield glass. The car was driven and parked under a cover parking lot and the crack was visible the very next day.

So even if it was a manufacturing defect in either the glass itself or the way the glass was mounted and adhered, there is just no way Volkswagen would accept or rectify the issue on their own accord. In my present case, I decided to proceed with the repair without making any fuss, but they still have not reached out to me to solve the issue and get the vehicle on the road.

[Utham123]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

In my present case, I decided to proceed with the repair without making any fuss, but they still have not reached out to me to solve the issue and get the vehicle on the road.

I can understand how frustrating this could be. I can only wish you good luck.

It just feels odd that replacement of windshield can be made so complicated by Volkswagen dealers.

[nagarjun]

Congratulations on the new car!

On the windshield aspect, its a bit surprising that they took so much time and also the quote seems to be quite high.

I got my Vento's windshield replaced couple of times in the last 3 months after two stone pellet hits on the highway. It came around 9k and it was replaced in half a day both the times in Bangalore.

[SS8939]

Congrats on the Polo! There's absolutely no reason to get a GT now. The black interior makes it look slightly less dated, but that doesn't justify the premium+missing features.

I'm also curious about how you disabled the warning at 80 km/hr. Could you please elaborate, I'm sure there are other Polo owners who would find this very helpful.

[ArunRam]

Originally Posted by fluidicjoy

Insurance Aspect
The Insurer was Bajaj Allianz and since it is a 0 Depreciation Insurance, we shall only be paying the claim charges of Rs. 1500. The approximate Part cost for the Windshield is about Rs. 5500/- but the entire Windshield Replacement bill at VW ASS was quoted to me to be at a tune of about Rs. 14500 with labour and the sealant, cleaners etc. and the pasting adhesives are the most expensive bit. Windshield Experts perform the same repair under Rs. 7000, and to the best of my knowledge, the work is completed on the same day. Ironically, this is the first car insurance claim we have made in 18 years, and so the entire process was quite new to me.

Congratulations on your new Polo. But its also sad that you had to experience this inconvenience.

In my opinion, the crack of you windshield should be covered by warranty. I am not sure, if it should come under the purview of insurance.
I feel the stresses on the windshield caused by faulty installation at the factory is the likely cause of the issue. The vibrations of the driving has exuberated it to the breaking point. The progression of the crack also indicates the same.

Hope you get it fixed soon.