Comments: 1-15, 16-17
The first time in her life my mother bought a car. (which we both use) It's an expensive car, but we thought VW is reliable, we can drive 15 years with this.
Oh God...We've owned it for 4 years now and have been to the garage about 14 times. They had to come and pick us up about 6 times. (not talking about the times we tried to get home in very dangerous circumstances. (engine falling out, restarting at stop light, just stopping in the middle of a highway)
-first we went on a 3 hour driving trip from Holland to Belgium... after 2 hours at 120 km/h we couldn't take any gear anymore. Nearly crushed by a truck while trying to get aside. gear pump broken. (3 months old)
- A couple of weeks later we had trouble to put the car in third gear.. sometimes it was impossible. It happened about once a week... garage owner drove with it... no problem...it still happened several times. Result: they put a new gearbox in. (after going to the garage about 3 times) problem solved.
-then the car was leaking oil... VW knew about, but didn't tell their costumers.. we had to find out ourselves.
-then the well known exhaust emissions warning light problem. No problem they said your car is not going to break down. (up till now it broke down about 7 times.) Our car sounded like a tractor which was about to fall apart any minute. Most of the times we couldn't start the car... The garage replaced the Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve about 4 times. Still every 3 months we had the same problem. Every time we drove more than 2 hours we could hardly drive, hardly start the car and he to risk our lives to get home. The light was on for a week, then went out, then again on and of. Last time no light at all, but we broke down again and the same problem. maybe they turned it off?
-the all 3 ignition plugs had to be replaced... after breaking down 3 times..
-then our drink holder got stuck.
And on and on and on...
4 years later, and after reading everything on this website (we thought we were the only ones, the garage always said we were the only ones... but now we heard different things) there is no other option than selling our car with a huge amount of cash loss. My mum is a single mum and money doesn't grow on trees as we all know. She's having health problems because of the whole situation.
Because in those 4 years our car broke down every three months (at least). Whenever we have to drive a long distance we are very scared of breaking down...
I can't understand that VW isn't doing anything about this situation..We've been ripped of... we will NEVER EVER buy another VW!
Does Belgium have some sort of equivalent to a Lemon Law? If that car was here in the states, especially in car crazy California, you would have had a case and gotten your money back.
And for your mother's sake, try to trade this thing in before it causes her more grief.
Yes we are going to sell it... in the beginning you think: we just have a bit of bad luck... everything will be fine now... It can't keep on breaking down... but apparently it does.
Now we're going to look out for another car... the problem is we paid about 14 000 euro's for it... and normally it's worth maybe 5 000 euro's. As said before financially it's very difficult... my mum saved 10 years for that car, that was one of the reasons why we didn't sell it 2 years ago. Hey if we were rich we would have sold it after a year.
And no... no case I guess... maybe the garage will take it over for a generous price, but still...we're gonna lose at least 7 000 euro's...the garage owner can't help it... they just don't know what to do with it, they placed this Exhaust Gas Recirculation valve thing in it which causes all the problems. The valve gets stuck or something. They can't remove the whole thing because they would have to remove the function out of the electronic software. The polo version before and after 2002 doesn't have that thing in it. So they must be aware of the problem. But they can't fix it. (well they can, but 2 or 3 months later you have it again)
So we are thinking what to buy... secondhand maybe? We can't afford another new car.
One sort of option if you want to buy new again (or even used) is to look for a quality car that is NOT in demand. Cars that are sitting on a dealer's lot are costing the dealer money, so they are more willing to not only deal on them, but give you more money for your trade in.
You would be surprised how much your trade in will bounce around in value depending on the dealer and what car you are trying to buy.
I'm not saying you're going to recoup costs, but you might be able to mitigate some losses that way.
Well, if you don't mind a little general financial advice, I would suggest keeping the car. Although it gives you some trouble, you are sure to take a huge loss by trading it off, and of course there is no guarantee that the used replacement car will be better. If the car still moves under its own power, it can at least serve its basic function. If you have to take it in to get the EGR valve replaced every 3 months, surely that is cheaper than buying another car. Also, perhaps you could learn how to replace the EGR valve yourself, at only the cost of the part. Another possibility is that you might try a new mechanic. Frankly, if your current mechanic simply replaces the same thing over and over, and the problem never goes away, he either may not know what he's doing, or is just counting on your cash to keep coming back. If you struggle along with it for another few years, it will let you save up some money again. Financially, you're almost always better off to keep the car you have rather than buying a new one. Also be careful about future financial decisions. The fact that you paid 14,000 Euros for a 5,000 Euro car means that your mother should have consulted a friend or gotten some advice before buying. Good luck.
Perhaps a new/used Toyota or Honda? I wouldn't buy ANYthing from VW Group. Sorry to hear of your troubles. VW should know how important these purchases are and that people drive their families around in them. It's a shame.
We bought the polo brand new with airco so that's why we paid 14 000 euro's. which is the normal price. But as you know a 4 year old polo is not worth that much anymore. We've been thinking for 3 years to keep it... but we've risked our lives several times driving it. Whenever we have to make a 1hour and a half trip we are extremely scared and in most cases we broke down. So we can't keep driving with it... we could as well buy a bike then.
We could have been dead in several occasions. The dealer repaired the valve thing several times without costs... so he's not trying to take our money. They admit VW know about the problem and the only thing they can do is replace the valve. My mothers boyfriend is mechanic with BMW, but he can't even replace the thing... they need all the electronic stuff to fix it... I guess.
It is just extremely frustrating and scary to drive with so keeping it is out of the question.
Last time we had to drive through the red traffic light because the engine went out every time we slowed down. When we stood still or were making a turn we constantly had to push on the gas pedal otherwise we would instantly stop in the middle of the road. We were taking a turn on an extremely busy highway with six lanes and we just stopped. If a truck or car drove behind I wouldn't be writing this.
I'm fascinated by this and welcome your help, please.
2 months ago I bought a 2002 Polo 1.4 TDI Sport for my daughter. Only 1 owner from new.
A few problems though:
1. Instrument console loses power once per day. All warning lights go out, speedo and tach needles zero, instrument lighting goes out. Less that 1 second later, all is OK again except trip and clock are reset to zero.
2. Inside boot lid (hatch) the washer pipe fell off and sprayed the boot lock. Now the central locking won't open it. I've replaced the positioning motor solenoid, the microswitch assembly and wonder what next to replace.
3. Not being able to open the boot via the central locking has made me realise I never actually tried the radio-remote keys in the door locks. They don't fit. The previous owner says he lost his keys 2 years ago and was charged about £450 by the VW dealer, but doesn't know what they did. They may have changed the locks in boot and driver door. I ordered a new key, a basic one, without remote. £48 later, I find that fits ignition, but not external locks. Very odd. I need the right key to actually remove the lock barrel from the locks. I may have to drill them out.
4. Just after I bought it, the brakelight switch failed. I wasted £12 buying a new switch and broke it on fitting it. After much reading I now know how to fit one, but I had to succumb to the VW dealer who charged me £58 to fit one. Theirs must be gold-plated!
Any advice is welcome, please.
Both my daughter and I love the car, but it's just these few faults left.
I have bought a brand new 2002 Polo 1.2 AC, thought the car was reliable and cheap to run because of VW strong name.
The car has now 78000 Km, it still handles very well.
It also has had mainly all problems I’ve read in this forum, EPC light coming on, Power loss, Engine failure, suspension noise, climate uncontrolled heat bursts, brake noise when weather changes from dry to wet.
In all malfunctions, there is a special one I’ve had 4 times that allowed me to find an antidote to the EPC problem.
There is a part related to the exhaust recirculation that breaks leaving the engine making a loud noise like it had no exhaust. This happens mainly in Highway, climbing near 120 Km/h or right after the climbing ends. Surprisingly the car keeps working well, same power, same driving, ignoring the loud noise. Looking at the engine, there is all in place.
It seems that this part is used in several different engines, with different configurations, in one engine the part comes with some holes covered and in other uncovered, some holes can’t stay covered a long time in my engine, hope this time I’ve got a stronger part.
The dealer replaced this part in warranty 3 times, the last time by courtesy, next time won’t be the same. This malfunction happens every 25000 Km or 6 month and 5000 Km (worst case), last one happened at 68000 Km, 11 months after the last one.
The best part: Since I’m having this malfunction the EPC light never have complained again, the car has now more than 50000 Km, about 2 years without this malfunction.
The conclusion I make:
Since I’m using BP Ultimate 100 (most expensive gasoline) the engine never had EPC issues again and is working like a clock.
Anyway I am really disappointed with VW and would not buy another Polo!!
Thanks for the opportunity to share the comment.
Considering that VW Group vehicles are so expensive to build, you'd think they'd be a little more reliable. Guess not.
My daughter has a 2002 1.2 3 cylinder polo which is suffering from intermittent starting problems and has been in the garage for almost a month. They claim to have replaced the timing chain, tensioner, crankshaft and camshaft sensors. The starting is still unpredictable. The exhaust light also shows ocasionally. We would appreciate any advice.
This is a reply to the comment above - I presume you're in the UK.
Your best bet, now that the car is out of warranty, is to head for a VW specialist with the necessary diagnostic kit. This will then interrogate the car's computer and bring up fault codes. Unfortunately this will probably then necessitate a trip (for you or the specialist) to the VW dealer to find out what the code is referring to and you can then buy the part from them. I wouldn't buy factored parts - VW original are best. The reason I suggest going to the specialist is because he will charge you much less for labour - something like £50 per hour compared to VW dealers who charge at least £100, more in cities. Remember, they will charge you for having the problem diagnosed!
Your alternative - and I strongly recommend this - is to sell it. These niggly problems never seem to go away on the Polo. Someone commented on here that if you buy another car there may be something wrong with it. Well if we all had that attitude we'd never sell our cars! If you want something of a similar size try a Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris. They are much more reliable and the dealers are generally very good. These cars always come out near the top of reliability surveys and JD Power customer satisfaction surveys. If you want to go a little bigger try one of the last last-shape Ford Focuses. The 1.6 petrol or 1.8 TDCi are very good to drive, very reliable and cheap to fix if they do go wrong. Also, there's a Ford dealer on just about every street corner.
Good luck - to all Polo owners!
I Drive a 2003 Polo 1.6i with all the extra's - and in 80900km I have only experienced a slight squeak noise on the right hand side when driving over a bump or curb, but NOTHING else. the car is economical, nippy, always starts, nothing is rattling, cheap to service, dealers are everywhere, resale value is still acceptable.
I understand that some people have problems with their cars, but it should never suggest that the VW brand is bad.
I love my POLO.
I have a 1.2 3 cylinder 55ps owned it from new. Problems we've had and its only done 26000 miles timing chain tensioner, and VW are not interested in the problem. All sorts of stupid warning lights coming on and off. Suspension bushes worn out tick over idle speed erratic. Hard to start at times I have had VW for years, and it seems reliability and getting something that was built to last is no longer possible. Dealer labour prices extortionate, £88.00 for diagnostics for a little engine. Service prices well over the top. I had a 2003 passat brand new, also 4 years later fish pond in the passengers foot well there again VW no callbacks, not interested found out they leak in through the pollen filter housing. Buy yourself an older VW, these new ones are rubbish and so is their customer service. VW used to hold their money quite well, they don't no more. They are like bic razors, use them a couple of times and throw them away. Good luck to all you VW folks.
Polo 1.4 52 plate bought new, and only 13k miles, and has been regularly dealership serviced. Now (black) oil needs topping up a lot; recent noticeable increase in petrol consumption, and E.P.C. light (most common fault of this rogue 52 model) comes on almost every trip.
I'll check with Volkswagen, and expect to have to pay to correct their software fault etc.
Judging by other comments, the software fault is built into this model.
Why doesn't the manufacturer do the decent thing and recall them to fix the E.P.C.? Its because of this attitude, rather than the fault, that I won't buy or recommend Volkswagen again.