Dashboard rattles all the time - dealers cannot provide a permanent fix.
Oil leak from cylinder head gasket from new - fixed under warranty.
Fuel low warning buzzer 'pinging' randomly - fixed under warranty.
Brake squeal from both front (fixed by dealer, but introduced similar squeal from front during the 1st annual service!)
Engine management problems - dealer blamed it on the brake light sensor (???!!!)
Condensation problems from new.
Cabin heating randomly blowing extremely hot air despite position of temperature control dial. Heater control unit replaced - no effect. Currently waiting for replacement parts for dealer to attempt 2nd fix.
CD stuck in dash mounted 6-CD changer.
Top of the range Polo (1.9 TDi PD Sport 3-door) :bottom of thr range for relaibility.
Both the girlfriend and I order this car from new, based on previous 'build quality' and overall good-standing of VW cars. What a disappointment to have so many problems with it since.
What is most annoying is that VW reduced the price of the Polo just 3 months after launching the car, and added the 6-CD changer as standard to our model (we bought it as an option). Result: poor reliability car, and annoyed owners!
Performance-wise it is another matter! This 1.9 TDi engine makes the Polo go like stink - I didn't think I'd have so much fun in a diesel. Handling is also pretty impressive.
It is also surprisingly frugal, returning 55+ miles to the gallon even when driven hard (be me) - topping 60+ mpg for a lighter-footed driver!
Regarding the brake light and engine management problems - I discovered an odd thing last night with my 2003 Polo: If you put the brakes on whilst accelerating quickly, this seems to result in the (electronic) throttle being cut back until the brake pedal was released. Perhaps there is a link between the braking circuit and the throttle?
I doubt if the throttle is electronically controlled as such. There will be a brake sensor that limits the fuel intake when the brake pedal is operated - this sensor may be at fault, or more likely a bad electrical connection.
As for rattles, break problems etc this is all to common with recent VWs - they did make good cars in the past. I got rid of my 3 year old Golf before the warranty expired. Sorry to hear that the new Polo is no better.
I've got the same model 2003 Polo 1.9 TDI PD, it's done about 4,000 miles and drives great, but my fuel economy never gets up to 50mpg, even when I drive it really carefully. You say you get 55+ mpg when you drive it hard and 60+ driven carefully - after how many miles did it get this high? Can anyone else back up these figures? At the moment Volkswagen are refusing to look into it, saying I shouldn't expect anything higher than mid 40's.
Many thanks.
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Just bought a Polo 1.9 TDI sport, already when I'm driving it carefully it normally (with a bit of harsh acceleration when I want to put a smile on my face!) it will easily do 52 MPG. When I am being very careful I average about 63 MPG, but pull away too harsh or get caught up in traffic and that will plunge back down to the mid 50's. I have found that by not using the throttle when cruising, the engine will use hardly any fuel than compared to putting the clutch in and going in to neutral. Modern diesels are very good at this, so when your going down a steep hill, don't coast the car, just take your foot of the accelerator and watch your MPG increase. Anyways you have to make a trade off with these kind of things, its almost a "hot" diesel so if you do let the engine go above 3000 RPM you will drink fuel quite heavily. Hope this helps!
If VW somehow manage to fix your heater problem could you post back on here what the fix was?!
I've got a late 2002 petrol model that's doing exactly the same thing, though fortunately not too often at the moment...
Cheers.
The engine management system on VW diesels cannot deal with throttle and brake inputs at the same time. My Fabia vRS "dies" if I do this, as does my brothers Golf and my father's Passat. It recovers after a few seconds.
Makes heel and toe downchanges impossible! :- (
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