FYI: https://mouthshut.com/review/Volkswagen-Polo-review-ortoumpmpr
I bought VW POLO TDI Trend Line on 12.06.2012. I’ve driven it 3000 KMs. I bought it from VW Whitefield, Bangalore. Buying experience was decent. I bought Diesel Polo. I do not drive beyond 60 KMs a day. I was aware that diesel cars are worth the extra costs if driven at least 100 KMs a day. Spending RS 45/L sounds less challenging psychologically than logically to me. Few days back, petrol cost was RS 81/L; disturbing!
I test drove Honda Brio, Swift Diesel 2011, Swift Dzire Diesel 2012. I also considered i20. My review is not a sheer comparison between these cars.
The things I like about POLO are:
1.Build Quality. It is heavy and sturdy car weighing 1150 KGs. All doors close with a thud. The bonnet lid is heavy, comparable to the good and old Ambassador. The ends of bumpers bend inwards towards the chassis. The ceiling is shielded from water as there aren’t any plastic strips running through the length of the top of the car on either side.
2.Paint Quality: It does show off depth of gloss; mine white.
3.Dimensions. This is not a small car. It has an imposing broad front. Length is hardly 2 inches lesser than Ford Ikon (neighbour‘s).
4.Aerodynamic design. Flair mingled with simplicity imparts striking looks.
5.Stability, Handling: Have driven it up to 120 KMs/Hr. I never felt that I drove it at a potentially risky speed. The handling is one of the best and is responsive to manoeuvres. The steering tightens up at high speed and lightens during city rides.
6.Safety: The well-engineered body assures safety to the passengers. Besides, if I’m trapped inside the car, there is a provision to exit through the luggage area by swiping car’s key in a slot available in the hatch door.
7.Superb Ride: Neither tough, nor soft. Good on highways and in cities. Absorbs shocks from potholes without much discomfort to passengers. I’ve hit potholes at high speeds
8.Wiper System: 4 intermittent speeds + 2 continuous speeds. Windscreen washer sprays mists on the windscreen and not forceful jets of streams.
9.Plush dual tone interiors. Beige & Black
10.Thoughtful niches for knick – knacks. An illuminated one in front of the gear; can keep 1.5 litres of bottles on either front door.
11.Audible alarms -If I accidentlaly drive the car with parking breaks on -If I get out of the car with parking lights on -If the fuel level drops to threshold of 80KMs, I get a beep alarm every time I start the car.
12.Lock: You might read complains of lock system - no auto lock, missing door lock levers on passenger doors. The better part is I would never happen to lock my car’s keys inside the car.
13.Luggage room: Load two 29” luggage in it.
14.Comfort: Good thigh support in front; less on the rear; no complain of leg-space. Comfortable rear head-rests; ergonomically designed: adjustable steering, arm-support mouldings on doors, music system slot, switches, front & rear seats.
15.AC: - Chilling -Individual air flow control for all 4 vents -Turn on the AIRCON, the AC button auto-switches on. Consider another situation: Turn the temperature knob from cool to warm. Turn on the AIRCON. Turn back temperature knob to cool. The AC switches on!
16.Pick up: Turbo boosts at 2000 RPM; appreciating and produces torque of 180Nm. I20 is superior to Polo here -224Nm.
17.Under the bonnet: A compact & neat design. Every part is secured and has a place of its own, be it cables.
18.Engine’s design: Many complain of its 3-cylinder engine. I never felt it is a 3-cylinder car. It is equally refined as 4-cylinder engine, not as noisy as complained of, and decently powered; engine and transmission imported from Germany; other parts are ‘Made in India’, and of premium quality.
19.Long service periods: 15000 KMs or 1 year.
20.Fair city mileage: 15.2 KMs a litre; expect better after 1st service.
21.Excellent highway mileage: 21 KMs/L to 24 KMs/L.
22.Optimum features in base: Front power windows, audio wirings, front two speakers, rear-head rests, adjustable steering, integrated rear fog lamp, alarms, coloured bumpers, chrome plated grill and power steering.
23.Turn off the ignition, it turns off the headlights. Turn on, turns on the headlights. Convenient at traffic signals at nights!
24.Sound of its horn.
25.Virtual Cooled glove box: ‘Cooled Glove Box’ is present in i20 and in European Polo model; not in Indian Polo.
One day, I put my hands inside the glove box. The AC had been running for 45 minutes. I was shocked. All the contents had cooled down slightly. While driving to Coorg from Bangalore, I kept a 250 ml water bottle in it. After an hour and half, it was pleasantly cool. I guess the AC condenser coils run somewhere near the box. VW India has not carved out this feature from the design to reduce cost. I advise you, do not consider this ‘virtual feature’.
The things I do not like about the car are:
1.Headlights: weak; may deceive on rainy nights.
2.Ground clearance: It gets hit underneath – chassis, front bumpers. Be careful. Lower ground clearance imparts good stability. All variants have same ground clearance since their tyres’ diameters are same!
3.Lock system: I wish it had speed-based auto lock doors.
4.Ventilation: Turn off the AIRCON, the airflow settings auto-switches to outside air intake mode. In India, a car inhales the fumes of a car ahead of it; frustrating idea. It is annoying to manually set to inside air circulation mode every time AIRCON is turned off.
5.Costly accessories: E.g., front fog-lamps costs INR 18000.
6.Missing parcel tray: I wish I did not have to spend another INR1350 on a parcel tray; should be a standard fitment in cars above 5 lakhs.
7.All European brands like Fiat and VW group have single reversing light on the left tail-end. Their standard is to provide a rear fog lamp at the same level on right tail-end.
8.IRVM: Problematic.On many nights, when I want to reduce the glare, it wouldn’t work. I took it to VW. Unfortunately, it worked there. The IRVM is from TATA. I’m continuing to use a defective IRVM.
9.Rear View is obstructed by two rear head restraints. This is not a big concern if there isn’t a middle passenger on the rear-seat. Let an average height guy sit in the middle; obstructs 100% rear view.
10.Breathlessness of engine on steep slopes: I experience this problem every day. The engine runs out of breath driving up my office’s basement. Diesel engine is the reason.
11.AIRCON Filter Noise: Turn on the AIRCON at speed position one. Close all windows and doors. The air-filters for AIRCON are located underneath the left side of the dash board. There comes a whinny sound. Let me know if you are faced this problem.
12.Costly service: The first service would cost me around 8000 INR as per Polo owners.
13.Costly maintenance: I’m not sure. I heard the clutch costs 45000INR. Anyway, I never burnt the clutch of my 5 years old ALTO.
14.Unfriendly Owner’s Manual: VW has not trimmed it; it contains 50% crap inapplicable to Indian Polo, but to European models!
I’m neutral to POLO’s lock feature wherein after switching on the central lock, the doors get locked from outside only. There had been accidents where the occupants failed to exit from cars on fire. On the other, is a concern if children accidentally open a door while the car is moving. Child-locks exist on both rear doors of POLO. What if, with the child-locks on, car meets a fatal accident and children cannot rescue themselves? Worse if accompanied with central lock on!
