[AJ18]

A quick summary for people looking to buy the Polo 1.0 TSI Highline Plus MT:

Positives:

• Simple and classic design
• Rigid and safe body shell
• Sweet 1.0 TSI and MT combination
• Interior build quality
• GNCAP rating of 4 stars (on a 11 year old model)

Negatives:

• Rear seat space
• Lack of feel-good features such as keyless entry and push button start
• Clutch pedal vibrations
• Lack of reversing camera
• Underpowered headlights


Back in 2014 when I first stumbled upon Team-BHP I was hooked onto reading ownership reviews at the mere at of 15. I was always fascinated by the experience of buying and owning a car as much as I was by cars themselves.

This post is a detailed account of my personal experience with the process of buying my car, I hope it’s appropriate.

Fast forward to the weekend before Diwali - 8th of November 2020 (Sunday):

My family decided that it was time to buy me a car since my 21st Birthday was fast approaching (18th November). I had been asking for a car of my own, or a bike (which they were strictly against) for 2 years. They know and understand my obsession with all things motoring and knew how much a car would mean to me. They just said "book a car, but get delivery by your birthday" it took me a few minutes to absorb what I had just heard and I got to work. Lucky for me, I was a frequent visitor to every major car showroom and had test driven many cars in the sub 15 lakh segment. I knew I needed something fun and nimble in the city, as parking near my college is a hassle and Bangalore Traffic is a pain. Mentally I had prepared a list of cars, all manual transmission, as follows:

1. Baleno:

There is a Nexa showroom opposite my house, so pretty much 5 minutes after the decision to buy a car was taken, I was there and asking for a test drive. I was well versed with the variants and features and in a rush, so I asked for the test drive as soon as possible. The test drive was great, the engine and gearbox combination was just sublime. The car felt effortless to drive and was very comfortable. They were also offering a decent festive discount along with a few accessories of my choice. Kataria Nexa claimed that they would have been able to deliver my vehicle within 4-5 days as the colors of my choice were in stock.

2. i20:

The Turbo petrol i20 would have been absolutely ideal if they had a manual variant on offer or if the DCT variants were not priced north of 13 Lakhs OTR Bangalore. The Hyundai showrooms were extremely laid back, they didn’t seem interested in selling a car and I have received a call back from them while writing this review (16 Days later).

3. Polo:

Since the Auto Expo in February I was eagerly waiting for more information on the new TSI engine. Autocar (Shapur Kotwal), Evo (Sirish Chandaran), Faisal Khan and our very own Team-BHP review by suhaas307 really got me excited to test drive the Polo. I was reluctant to do it this far due to the fear of contacting COVID-19. The Volkswagen dealership (PPS) was extremely prompt and got a test drive vehicle to my house later that evening. I really liked the look of the car with the black diffuser and side skirts, the build quality felt great and the steering wheel felt extremely premium to hold. The Sales Executive gave me a quick overview of all the features, after which we began the test drive. I took the test drive on Hosur Road ( a wide, newly white-topped highway in the heart of Bangalore) which was empty as it was a Sunday evening. I knew that the engine would only properly perform after the 2000 RPM mark, but I didn’t expect what I felt next. I floored the accelerator, and the engine pulled hard to the 6000 RPM mark, in second gear it crossed 100 kmph, which I would not have known had my brother not pointed it out. I was absolutely blown away. I drove around the area a bit more, on bumpier roads, and I had no issues with the ride and handling. The gearbox felt nice, but not as good as the Baleno or other Hyundais that I had driven. Before the test drive had even ended I told the sales executive to check for the availability of colors and that I needed delivery within 10 days. He said that he would get back to me by the next morning. The only issue I had with the Polo was the interior space. We wanted it to be able to fit our family of 4 for shorter drives within the city so that we would not need to take out the Innova.

Considering this, I had a conversation with my father (who didn’t come for the test drive) and we decided to consider the Kia Sonet DCT as well. For 13 lakhs OTR (Before discounts) we were getting a mid-variant DCT vehicle, but this was quickly dismissed as the drive was nowhere near had fun and engaging as the Polo was. My family told me to consider an automatic, but I was absolutely adamant on a manual transmission. We finally settled on the Polo.

The Battle of the Dealerships - 9th November 2020 (Monday):

I had messaged the Sales Executive at PPS to let me know about the vehicle’s availability and call me as soon as possible. He called me up and informed me that there was no vehicle in stock at all. He requested for another few hours to reconfirm and get back to me, as my color preference was grey, silver and white in that same order. Hearing this I knew I had to take some form of action, if i wanted to book the car today. I called up VW Whitefield, VW Palace Cross and VW Bangalore (JP Nagar) and they all said that a Sales Executive would get back to me within 5 minutes. VW Bangalore was the first to respond, they said that they have a silver car in stock, which would be arriving the next day as it was still in transit and is the last vehicle they would have in stock. I told her to get back to me with a price quotation. In the meantime, I got a call back from PPS informing me that a Brown Polo was available which I declined immediately. VW Palace Cross also reached out and they too claimed that they had a silver polo, which was in the stockyard and was the last vehicle they would be receiving for nearly 2 weeks. They said they can get back to me with the pricing in a few minutes.

VW Bangalore quoted 9,50,000 all-inclusive (pre- bargaining), they had the upper hand in this negotiation, and they knew it due to my time constraint. I told them that I would get Finance and Insurance done on my own to which they said their dealership policy was that they have to do either insurance or finance in-house. I was extremely confused by this policy, and told them I would get back within the hour after seeing the offer VW Palace Cross had.

VW Palace Cross got back with an offer of 9,10,000 excluding insurance which undercut VW Bangalore’s offer by 8,000. I was very happy with the offer and asked them to expect me at their showroom by the end of the day to book the vehicle. Within 5 minutes I got a call back from VW Palace Cross and the Sales Executive said that the vehicle was absolutely brand new and wanted me to come and check it. I was quite confused about why he was telling me that, and he went on to tell me that the car due to some “internal accounting and sales target reasons” had its warranty started in July earlier this year. This set off all kinds of alarms in my head and seemed like an extremely shady vehicle that I was being sold. Furthermore, this indicated that the vehicle was produced in June if not earlier! I was absolutely not interested in this particular vehicle and to this day I’m unsure of what the story behind it was.

I called back VW Bangalore and told them to hold the vehicle, as I would come and book it in the next few hours. We decided that we would get insurance done ourselves and initiated the formalities for finance with them. The booking amount was paid, on the condition that I would receive the engine and chassis numbers by night and that they would give us delivery by the 18th, preferably the 17th. I received the chassis number and verified that it was a October manufactured car.

10th – 11th November 2020 (Tuesday to Wednesday):

Probably two of the most stressful days in the process. The finance from VW was taking extremely long, and their interest rate was 0.75% above the offer we had from Kotak. A decision was made to buy insurance from VW (at the 10,000 premium that demanded) and save a hefty amount of time and interest by going with Kotak for finance. Ideally we would have done both on our own, but the dealership was just refusing to budge.

12th November 2020 (Thursday):

I asked the Sales Executive to send me pictures of the vehicle as soon as it was unloaded off their transporter since I could not do a visit to the stockyard on the same day (festival). I was frequently following up with the bank on the status of my loan hoping they would be able to give VW a release order ASAP.

13th November 2020 (Friday):

Continuing with my hourly calls to the bank, they finally told me that the loan is sanctioned. They needed to complete the formalities with VW immediately as the next 3 days were RTO and bank holidays. Parallelly, I was informed by our RTO contact that the number of our choice was put to auction and sold to a higher bidder. It was then decided that we would pick the number after a while, and take the car on TR for now. VW again, said that they wouldn’t allow me to get the TR done on my own but get it done themselves for 3,000 (I would have got it done in 1,500) I told them about this absurd difference in pricing and they had an extremely take it or leave it attitude. Yet again, we paid them the amount and the wait began again.

Stockyard visit - 14th November 2020 (Saturday):

Since it was Diwali, the roads were relatively empty for a Saturday morning in Bangalore, I requested the Sales Executive for a stockyard visit. She arranged the same very promptly. It was a 8 km drive from my house to VW Bangalore (Hosur Road) where the stockyard was located. They didn’t allow me inside the vehicle, but showed me the ODO reading of 10 km. I did a visual inspection of the vehicle, checked the chassis number and was extremely excited to see my car in the flesh. The car was parked behind the showroom along with the other vehicles as I had seen in the pictures. What worried me was the access road to the stockyard. It had potholes nearly 6-8 inches deep and was mostly loose dirt and gravel.

15th – 16th November 2020 (Sunday to Monday):

The days passed rather uneventfully since the RTO was closed, VW did all of their internal paperwork (FasTag, Insurance etc. ) in the meantime. I was excited and was having sleepless nights in the process of waiting. I had read every article, blog post, review, comparison, and watched every delivery, or modification video available on the internet. I spent time going through websites for 3D floor mats, Ganesha idols, and cleaning supplies. I had made up my mind that I wanted delivery on the 17th so that I could drive around on my birthday. My preference was day delivery, but the chances seemed slim.

Delivery day – 17th November 2020 (Tuesday):

I called up the Sales Executive at sharp 10:00 AM, and she assured me that I can take delivery by 7 PM. I requested her to give me delivery by 3-4 PM as the sun would be out and I could take it to the temple post-delivery, but she said that due to the RTO formalities, delivery before 6-7 PM would be impossible. I felt that was fair, and continued to follow up every 2 hours. At 5 PM she confirmed that we could come by 6:15 to take delivery. I was overflowing with excitement. We all piled into the Innova and set out.

It was dark by the time we reached the showroom, and the car had not arrived just as yet. The Sales Executive said that the vehicle would arrive momentarily, and asked me to get a feature overview in their test-drive vehicle. I had no problems with that and agreed to follow along. Although I knew everything that the car had to offer, it was extremely helpful to be guided through the various operations of the stalks, and infotainment system. In the meanwhile, my car arrived and was being prepped with last minute cleaning and accessory installation. I was able to go over the car thoroughly while it was being prepared under the bright showroom lighting. We finished the pending paperwork, did the key ceremony, and officially, the car was mine. On the way home, I filled up the tank and decided to take the car to a temple the next morning instead.

Overall Volkswagen Bangalore was very cooperative (apart from their premiums charged) and they managed to give me delivery on an extremely tight schedule even though it was Diwali. I have driven a little over 100 km since I took delivery since I was a little unwell in between and intend on running in the engine as fast as possible.

Initial Ownership Experience:


Exterior:

•The simplicity and sober nature of the Polo is something I really like personally. It looks proportionate and has clean simple lines.

•It doesn’t have the modern look that the i20 has, but the side skirts, GTI-esque bumpers, grey 16 inch alloys, and LED tail lamps liven it up and prevent it from looking like a 11 year old design. Maybe VW could have added the Vento’s LED headlights on the Highline Plus and GT trims.

•The build quality is great and so is the quality of the paint.

•The panel gaps, although a bit larger than I thought they would be are consistent all around.

•The rear wheel arch looks a bit out of place, as the gap between the body and wheel is a bit much. The lack of rear disc brakes adds to this visual problem.

•I think VW should have provided some kind of under body protection below the engine and transmission, due to the lack of this, the engine bay gets quite dirty and collects water and dirt in nooks and crannies.

•The roof mounted antenna looks a bit awkward, and would have made the car look more cohesive if it was a body colored shark-fin antenna.

•The ORVMs have a small slit which allows the driver to see the indicator when switched on. This is not essential in any way but feels nice to have. They have good visibility and work well in all conditions.

•The door handles, and boot release are the most interacted with parts on the exterior. They feel absolutely solid and built to last.


Interior and Features:

•The all-black cabin feels comfortable and insulated. This is further made comfortable with the tinted windows.

•Apart from the Altroz, the Polo is the safest hatchback in India with a GNCAP rating of 4 stars.

•Door pockets are spacious enough and the bottle holders can accommodate a 1 Liter bottle. There is a cubby space in the centre console ahead of the 12V socket, this can also be used as two smaller cupholder. They work well for bottles smaller than 500 ml, and are more useful as storage for a mobile phone and wallet while driving.

•The A/C cools extremely well, even after the car is parked in the sun. The knobs are tactile and have a great feel to them. Overall the system is extremely easy to use and very effective. The A/C vents can be shut completely in required, increasing airflow and cooling to one particular are of the car

•The Polo gets the standard dual front airbags, I would have thought that maybe VW would have included curtain airbags as well, being a premium contender in the market.

•The flip key feels nice to hold, and has the VW car function which rolls down or up all the cars windows. Keyless entry and push button start would have been a nice feature to have.

•I like the dials used in the dashboard, they are simple and classic. The MID has a lot of functionality but is a bit confusing to use. VW could have added a rear parking sensor read visual to it as well.

•The plastic used for the dashboard feels like it is built to last, but it could have had a softer finish IMHO. There are also more blank switches than I would have liked.

•The driver’s seat is well cushioned and holds the driver snug in place. The side bolstering is a little uncomfortable for wider and larger people. (I’m just 5’6 so that isn’t a matter of concern)

•The fabric used on the seats is good, although I wish they had carried over the design from the GTI seats.

•The leather wrapped steering wheel is brilliant. It feels great to hold, the buttons work and are placed well.

•The infotainment system is adequately sized, and has the essential Android Auto and Apple CarPlay. The touchscreen works well and is responsive. The car could have done with a reversing camera linked to the same. I wish they had placed the USB port for the connectivity in a place where the wire would not interfere with the shifter.

•VW provides 4 speakers, one on each door. They are adequate and get the job done. They lack a bit of bass for my liking. The sound staging can be changed via the infotainment system, which allows you to concentrate sound to any one particular area of the car.

•I never knew that I needed one touch up and down windows, but they have proved to be extremely useful.

•Boot space is adequate. The carpeting and finish of the boot doesn’t seem as premium as you would expect after seeing the rest of the car.

•The positioning of the central armrest is a bit awkward while using the handbrake and shifting gears, this takes a bit of time to get used to. The storage in the armrest is very small, and might be able to store a small tissue box.

•The A/C vents in the back are useful as per my family’s response, but they cannot be shut completely. Instead of a 12V outlet at the rear, VW should have just given a USB outlet instead.

•The rear seat space, as I said earlier is the biggest issue of this car from a family perspective. The legroom isn’t very comfortable, and the cabin is not nearly wide enough for 3 occupants at the back.

•VW provided rubber floormats as a part of their accessories. These work well and button onto the floor, but some shoes tend to get stuck in their grooves at times.

•The auto dimming IRVM is nice to have. The mirror size is a bit small for my liking. This coupled with the small and raked rear window makes the mirror a bit difficult to use effectively.


Driving Experience:

•The car idles with a little vibration and the engine isn’t very audible.

•Vibrations can be felt on the clutch pedal at times. These vibrations are inconsistent, they seem to come and go and become more pronounced once the engine is warm. I almost feel like this is a mechanical issue or a problem with the way I’m driving at times due to its inconsistent nature.

•The clutch travel is unexpectedly long and has a high resting point, but its light and not very difficult to use in the city and traffic.

•The pedals are a bit too close together, taller people with larger feet and legs may have an issue with this.

•The gearbox is extremely smooth (not as good as Maruti and Hyundai) and slots confidently into gears. The push down mechanism to engage reverse works well too.

•While moving from standstill in first gear, I feel like some throttle input is essential to get off smoothly.

•The engine is very weak below 1500-1800 RPM and requires throttle input as well as downshifting to keep momentum.

•I have only taken the engine up to 3500 RPM once since I need to complete the run in, but above 2500 RPM it feels like an absolute beast. The turbo kick and the way the engine pulls is addictive. What adds on to this is the confidence the car inspires in the driver, it always feels stable. The engine sounds good as well.

•Wind noise has not been a problem yet, but I feel that above 120 kmph it could possibly be audible.

•The car came with 195/55 R16 Goodyear tires. They’re more than enough in the corners and keep the car very stable at higher speeds (100 kmph) as well. The downside of having larger tires with a relatively low profile is that road noise does tend to creep into the cabin. It isn’t very intrusive, but it does exist.

•I like the steering feel, it is easy to maneuver for parking and gives feels confident at speed as well.

•I had expected the Polo have a harsher ride than it does, but it works adequately on our sub-par roads. Smaller bumps such as inconsistencies on white-topped roads which are traversed at higher speed are felt in the cabin, higher profile tires could possibly solve this issue.

•Ground clearance on the car is good. It clears all speed bumps in the city and my apartment complex with ease. During the car puja, I had to climb a footpath as the temple used it for parking, as scared as I was, the car cleared the 3-4 inch footpath without any issue.

•Fuel efficiency in the city until now has been an average of 9 kmpl.. This is with moderate traffic. On the highway, I was getting an average of 12 kmpl.

•The headlights feel a bit underpowered at night, especially since Bangalore has extremely poor street lighting. As mentioned earlier, the Vento’s LED units may have helped with this issue.


Miscellaneous:

•VW provides a 4 year / 100,000 KM warranty, which is adequate. They didn’t try to sell me an extended warranty which I appreciated.

•My running is currently just small errands that I offer to do as an excuse to drive the car. Which is 8 km a day at most. On weekends I may clock in an additional 100 km in short drives. For the next 3 years, my running won’t cross 5000 km a year.

•I wanted to get the spoiler, metal finished pedals, black ORVM caps, and black roof wrap done before I took delivery. These were all unavailable at the time of delivery due to high demand, so I may get them done during the first service or from an outside vendor.

•Although the fabric seats are breathable and look durable, I may consider getting artificial leather seat covers for aesthetic purposes.

•The accessories I got from VW for free were :

oMud flaps
oFloor mats
oUnderbody coating
oSwagat car cleaning kit
oRear sun shades


As I drive the car more and have it serviced, I will be sharing my experiences further especially once the engine is run in and I can redline it. This is a preliminary impression that I have of the car. I will also be adding more pictures of everything discussed when the weather settles down. I will also update the fuel economy, service cost and after sales service of VW.





The car being prepped for delivery.


My brother and I with the newly delivered Polo


The polo parked in the basement for the first time.




Pictures I took during my stockyard visit.

[GTO]

Thread moved out from the Assembly Line (The "Assembly Line" Forum section) to the Reviews Section. Thanks for sharing!

Your car is going to our homepage today

[Sreesh1009]

The Polo has been my one of my dream cars ever since it was launched. Congratulations to you on your purchase of this magnificent steed, hope it doesn't bother you AT ALL!

I'm going to vicariously live my Polo dreams through your thread

[Eshan Joshi]

Hey AJ18,

That's one sick car.

I wanted to get the spoiler, metal finished pedals, black ORVM caps, and black roof wrap done before I took delivery. These were all unavailable at the time of delivery due to high demand, so I may get them done during the first service or from an outside vendor.

These mods will surely make your VW stand out.

Anyways do you have any plans of changing your stock wheels with aftermarket ones?

At the end I would like to wish you happy miles on your Polo. Enjoy!

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by Eshan Joshi

Hey AJ18,

That's on sick car.


These mods will surely make your VW stand out.

Anyways do you have any plans of changing your stock wheels with aftermarket ones?

At the end I would like to wish you happy miles on your Polo. Enjoy!

Thank you! I have my eyes on the MOMO Revenge in Anthracite, may get them put in a few months.

[KA19Rao]

Congratulation on your whip AJ18, looks classy now hope it looks Sporty soon. Best of Luck.

P.S: I share the same birth date as you and I too received a similar offer from my folks as my birthday gift, unlike you, I haven't been able to make up my mind on what to get yet

[Asish_VK]

Congratulations on your Polo. She's a beauty in that color. As you have already planned to do, black roof and spoiler will enhance the looks further.

But the image of the car parked in your basement triggered my OCD.

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by Asish_VK

Congratulations on your Polo. She's a beauty in that color. As you have already planned to do, black roof and spoiler will enhance the looks further.

But the image of the car parked in your basement triggered my OCD.

Thank you! I have to park that way, otherwise it is difficult for my neighbours to exit.

[Sen]

Nice ownership review, clean and crisp.

I got a Vento highline+ recently, and the led headlights feel weak at night too. Generally speaking the high beam performance is the letdown.

These Bangalore VW dealers are very heavy-handed in their approach. I was allowed to get my own insurance here in Hyderabad, and got the financing done via Bank of Baroda through VW as well. They even provided me with transportation to get to the dealer stockyard as well as do my banking formalities almost 10 km away! Nothing but positives for VW Secunderabad, great service.

I digress. Enjoy your new ride! PS - As per the manual, you can comfortably go till 4.2k rpm which is 2/3rds of your max RPMs. Just do so gradually and you should be able to enjoy the engine a bit more till the first 1500 Kms are up.

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by Sen

.

I digress. Enjoy your new ride! PS - As per the manual, you can comfortably go till 4.2k rpm which is 2/3rds of your max RPMs. Just do so gradually and you should be able to enjoy the engine a bit more till the first 1500 Kms are up.

Thank you. I'll keep this in mind, and get there gradually.

[Vik0728]

Originally Posted by AJ18

A quick summary for people looking to buy the Polo 1.0 TSI Highline Plus MT:

Congrats AJ18 on your latest acquisition

Being an owner of a the second Polo myself, no other car <20 lakhs gives you the deadly cocktail of quality, performance, stance and most importantly the plethora of after market add-ons. The German paint quality is just sublime, and the Silver shade on your car really looks awesome buddy.

You'd have a totally different view if you get to see Suhas's (suhaas307) GT in person...it just looks scintillating even while standing, while in motion is an altogether different topic with all the performance mods!

Wish you a fun-filled and fuss free motoring buddy

[androdev]

I never get tired of reading Polo TSI buying threads - I always look for that just one epiphanic sentence

Originally Posted by AJ18

... I floored the accelerator, and the engine pulled hard to the 6000 RPM mark, in second gear it crossed 100 kmph, which I would not have known had my brother not pointed it out...

Congratulations! Manual transmission is a great choice as well. Wish you many years of ownership filled with fun and peace of mind!

[AJ18]

Originally Posted by Vik0728

Congrats AJ18 on your latest acquisition

Being an owner of a the second Polo myself, no other car <20 lakhs gives you the deadly cocktail of quality, performance, stance and most importantly the plethora of after market add-ons. The German paint quality is just sublime, and the Silver shade on your car really looks awesome buddy.

Wish you a fun-filled and fuss free motoring buddy

Thank you! I absolutely agree, it feels like a great value product.

[TrackDay]

Congrats on the purchase. Beautiful car indeed ! Like others said a black roof, Black alloys and that thing would look so damn good !

The polo is a classic design. You can hold on to this car for so long and yet wont look outdated.

[rpunwani]

Congrats on your new car. The Polo is one great car - even though the model is 11 years old. Wish you many years of safe & enjoyable revving !

You can easily install a rear view camera since you have a RCD 340G in your car. Either an aftermarket one fitted near the license plate (cheaper option) or a flip camera inside the rear emblem (expensive but classy option).

You can also upgrade the bulbs in the headlight assy to get better illumination.

The lack of legroom at the rear is the prime reason we sold our Polo.