Comments: 1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60, 61-75, 76
I bought a 2000 polo 1.4, because my wife's P reg polo has been the most reliable car I've ever known. Five months of okay commuting with a few judders and the occasional slip into limp home mode. Finally the EPC light came on and stuck on with the car barely able to breath, thankfully I was just round the corner from home so crawled back.
So far first round of diagnostics has lead to a crank shaft locator being replaced. That plus a quick service will easily clear £200. I expect it will not be the last. Very tempted to cut my losses and trade it in for some japanese efficiency.
As with many of you, never buying another vw.
Please could anyone tell me why my engine fan stays on for around 15 minutes after use even when its not hot. I also only have to turn ignition on, but not fire it up and the fan will come on. Oh and it's a polo 1.4 2001 Thanks.
Polo 1.4 R reg 1998. The dash gauges are not working after the gearbox was changed and a new clutch. Everything checked OK, but still not working; speedo, temp gauge, rev counter and digital mileage and fuel gauge all still u/s. Anyone know how I get it fixed? Before this gearbox problem the car was great.
I have a 55 reg, 3 door Polo and I've noticed a patch of rust appearing on my drivers side door sill at the back and on the door in the same corner (it's also started to scuff in the same place on the passenger side).
When I took it to the dealership, they told me I must have trapped my seatbelt in the door and that had caused the damage, I didn't agree so they took it to the body shop who said the doors had moved, but that I must have let them catch in the wind so the problem won't be covered by my warranty.
I have taken it to another garage to get a second opinion, and they have said that the doors have dropped and are catching the sill when they shut. There is no evidence of driver misuse as was stated by the dealer.
Has anybody else had this problem or advice on the best way to put my case to Volkswagen, as they don't want to accept responsibility?
I have a 52 reg 1.2 petrol Polo and it has been nothing, but trouble from new.
3 weeks ago the engine started cutting out when I was doing 60-70mph- very scary!!
VW ran a diagnostic and said it was the cam chain tensioner had failed and damamged some of the pistons and valves the total cost for the repair £1000, however I was pleased when VW agreed to pay half of the cost as a goodwill gesture excellent I thought, however they wanted to charge me £25 per day for a courtesy car as I had been having mine serviced at my local garage rather than at VW, I decided not to have the courtesy car!! The car was 'mended' and I went to pick it up and paid my half of the bill, however there was still the same fault even on my drive home!!
Took it back to VW who said they would need to keep it a week, cost of courtesy car £25 per day, I kicked up a stink and they agreed to let me have a car for nothing!! over a week later car still at garage, I have to keep phoning them to ask what is happening and just get answers such as 'well its complicated!'
Anyway finally today they have told me the cylinder head has gone and they are trying to persuade VW to pay the full cost.
I am so cross as this appears to be a commen fault why has it taken them so long to find it and mend it.
I would be wary of buying a VW again.
Hello.
To cut a VERY long story short, I have bought a (2nd hand) Polo 16V 2000, in July '01. At the time, the car was only 8 months old, with 5k Miles on the clock.
Unfortunately, the car has had all sort of problems. From a gear box replaced to brand new Valves (few months back), from main cables (that is, the clutch pedal cable -2 needed) to two ECU (Electronic Control Unit) failures, VW says, due to "being clogged up with carbon... And again (!!) long time ago, also an AIRBAG failure... VW confirmed, that was due to a cable (AIRBAG control cable) failure. You, unlucky people, would think, and you still own the car?..My answer is: YES, even though, I bought a second car, which is more reliable (TOYOTA branded). The Polo, after almost 8 full years, is still ONLY 50000 MILES old... But to tell you the truth, its time to retire, has arrived.
Good Luck to You All.
My name is David and I have a 2002 Polo 1.4SE Spanish build bought new in Australia. My EPC light used to flicker on and off occasionally, a problem dismissed by the VW dealer because they never saw it. Eventually it stayed on and car started running rich with a strong fuel smell in the exhaust. The Polo was under warranty then and after a week in the workshop, the dealer returned it with a new exhaust sensor. That was about 3 years ago.
The car now has 97,000km on the clock and is used to commute 150km at highway speed. Last Friday it started losing power and finally ended up running on three cylinders. The VW dealer said bring it back on Tuesday and they would have a look. Dissatisfied, I drove home and took it to a mechanic in the village. He diagnosed a dud injector coil pack in just 5 minutes armed only with a pair of pliers and the tool used to remove injectors. However it is still off the road due to the inability of VW to supply the part.
But interestingly, after reading the posts here, during the whole decline in the engine and the 75km trip home on three-cylinders, the EPC remained off!
Buy another VW? Not in rural Australia, I wouldn't. The quality of dealer support is poor. They couldn't even replace a headlight bulb without breaking the headlight, which cost me $350 to replace when the village mechanic noticed the bulb was melting the reflector. VW windscreens are also too expensive in an environment where stone damage is an ever present risk.
Somehow my problem with the EPC light has something to do with the lambda probe located in the catalyst. After taking it out of there, all warning lights are off but the noise is too loud. My catalyst is fine, but I still get a warning on the dashboard (the sign that looks like an engine). I also have all the symptoms mentioned above (power loss, higher fuel consumption) and the engine actually stops while driving.. that is not breaking or anything, and because I'm in motion it starts again.
I still have my faith in VW because they are reliable cars, but somehow the ones made for the UK market are s**t. Some of my previous cars were VW (Golf and Passat) and they were purchased from Germany... very big difference. Didn't had a major problem even after 250000 km.
Chris, London.
I have a Polo 1.4 se 02 that I bought new.
The first problem was the indicators stopped clicking. Took it back to the dealer and was told they would have to replace all of the dashboard, after complaining they contacted customer services and they paid half-plus the labour.
Then having an MOT told the rear suspension on the n/s was leaking, car only 4 years old and with just 20k on the clock. Then the EPC light comes on, I am told it's the alternator putting in too much, and it will cost £375.Found a guy whose the dogs, who put in a new regulator for £75,EPC gone but now have new problem, the reversing lights don't work, and VW want £104 just to diagnose the fault. I am taking it to an electrical engineers on the 12th June so will post result later. This is my 5th VW all previous completely reliable but if problems continue will change to Japanese next time.
Two weeks ago I bought a Y reg Polo 1.4SE. After a week the Exhaust emission warning lamp flashed and I had a sudden brief loss of power (like I had braked suddenly). The next day the same light came back on and stayed on, this time with no loss of power but the Engine Management System light also came on. I called the garage from where I purchased the car and they said I had to take it to one of their approved garages so that any work carried out can be done under the warranty... None of their garages are VW specialists...
I take it to one of the garages, they do a diagnostic check, and it comes up with no codes - no errors!?! So they tell me they're going to reset it and it should be fine.
The next day, the ABS light comes on! I call the garage and they tell me to bring it back straight away. On the way there the Exhaust emission warning lamp flashed and I had the sudden brief loss of power again... When I get there they run another diagnostic check, there are no error codes for the engine management, but it has this time got an error code for one of the ABS sensors... so they are replacing that today.. The mechanic was baffled and says he has never seen anything like this before. He did mention that his diagnostic check doesn't run as deeply as a VW specialist would, but I can't get the checks done under my warranty at a VW specialist, and I haven't got much cash left after purchasing the car! I am wondering if I have a leg to stand on to take it back to where I bought it from and get a full refund after reading all your comments!
Any suggestions/ help is much appreciated...
Thanks.
I have a 2002 1.4 Polo in United Kingdom. EPC and brake warning lights came on about a year ago without any obvious impairment of performance. My local VW specialist (not dealer) attributed this to a short in the brake light switch, fixed this and warning lights went out - cost £40.00. Car has now done 40,000 mles.
This is my ninth Polo in thirty-two years.
It is extremely fascinating to read all of the above problems about VW Polo and now, somehow I do not feel alone.
I bought a Sep 2005 VW Polo 3 wks ago and within 3 days, I noticed both the brake system warning light and exhaust emission warning lights stayed on while driving. Thankfully, these have been fixed by my mechanic using an electronic diagnostic tool.
My major worry is that, there is a second fan closer to the right headlamp that doesn't come on. My mechanic said it is faulty and has to be replaced, but the advice from another garage was that the second fan only comes on when the engine is overheating. The other problem is that the air-conditioner sometimes blows hot air instead of cold air. When this happens, it occurs for only a few seconds.
Has anyone encountered these problems?
I have a polo s 2002 with under 20000 on the clock and the gearbox needs replacing has anybody else had this problem.
I bought a polo 1.2 made in 2002. The problem I have is it will be running fine, and then suddenly jerks as if miss-firing; this clears itself and it returns to normal...until the next time. Also, the emmisions warning light comes on and off for no apparent reason. The latest problem is sometimes it won't start, it turns over but won't roar into life, but when I try again its fine. With all the other negative comments I have read, I feel its totally pointless taking it to a garage and paying loads of money only to have to return it time after time with the problem still there (as this seems to be what is happening to most people).
Have a 2002 polo 1.4tdi and passat 1.9 tdi 2004, both good runners only problem is the heating won't switch off somtimes in the polo, have fiddled with the switch, any ideas.