VW Polo GTI - Known Exhaust problems

[morrismen]

Found out that the exhaust on the 1.6 GTI Polo 2000 onwards has a nasty habit of dropping in the centre.

This is due to a centre bracket rusting prematurely and breaking off the exhaust, either both sides or just one side of the centre section where it attaches to body in the 'caged' section (dead centre under the car).

I checked mine and sure enough, one side of the bracket after the CAT and centre silencer was rusted through and the exhaust had dropped.

VW have seen it many times and they fix it by putting large jubilee clips around the exhaust and bracket so it holds the exhaust up again.

Apparently, VW Golf's also suffer from this and jubilee clips are used the same way.

Anyway, it's fixed for now and MOT'd anyway.

[marc]

I'm going through the exact same problem myself. I just had it serviced when the garage noticed it. They said the braket holding up the cat is broken and is a manufacturers fault so will replace it underwarranty. Thats the complete catalic converter as the brackets part of it. Out of intrest where abouts in hertfordshire are you from Morrisman. I'm from stevenage.

[Josh_PoloGTi]

Mine was the same, I got a bit Jubilee Clip and it's been fine for 2 years!

[DMWRIGHT]

Funny you should bring this up, I took mine in for some warranty work (didn't get the wheels done buggers!!! ) but they told me about this, said mine was gone, and guess what, got the whole lot, manifold to back box replaced under warranty!! Result

Would of rather had the wheels but hey its better than a kick in the teeth

Dave

[jon_poloV]

im from hertfordshire too,at some point over the summer i wanted to hold a meet in herts!
jon

[morrismen]

We can then compare notes

[morrismen]

Yippee! After speaking to my VW dealer and advising them that this was a Manufacturers fault with faulty brackets on the exhaust system, they've agreed to replace the failed section under my 3 month warranty too. Very decent of them. It's going in Friday to have it replaced. Nice

Just goes to show, that if we all get our problems with VW GTI discussed in an open forum, then we can use our collective knowledge to get VW dealers to appreciate that we really do have 'known' manufacturers issues that need resolving.

Thanks to all.

[SilvaGTI]

I had the exact same problem with the exhaust bracket on my car. Said they welded the join as the only other way to fix it was to replace the exhaust. Just put it in for a service this week and to get my speedo fixed. Looking like it's going to be a very expensive repair even though it's only a small part to replace

[andyd]

Also happened to me last summer - started to hear a knocking sound from under the car, which I sorted out using a couple of jubilee clips to secure the pipe back in place.

Took it for its service today and the VW dealers highlighted it as something that will need replacing (along with the cat, and they gave me a very pricey quote) - although they did do a temporary repair for me with....you guessed it ... another jubilee clip.

What a marvellous invention jubilee clips are - they are basically holding my car together at the moment!!

[cyhliu]

Yep, me too, it was about the time when I had my MOT and it was going to fail but they passed it luckily but it did need fixing...the dealership quoted me a silly price but I took it to my local VW specialist...and got it fixed for £30...they welded the bracket back...bargain!

[Dangerous Dave]

Same happened to mine about 3 years ago, just stuck a clamp over each bracket myself. Think the exhaust is going to need replaced this year though as the centre section is badly rusted however it still pasted its MOT last month, no shame to the exhaust though as its 5 years old.

My speedo also went it cost me £198 to get new clocks, on the upside the new speedo was only 1mph out all the way round compared to GPS the previous one was about 5mph out.

[Si_GTi]

How much would VW charge to replace the entire exhaust system from the cat back? I'm reasonably sure that the £200 I'll be paying for my Powerflow replacement is going to be pretty cost effective - it has a lifetime gaurantee as long as I have it checked over once a year, and if any of the brackets fail it will be repaired at no cost

[jimmadee]

B*****ds , I paid for a new centre section , and my car is under warantee. They said it was not covered!

[Del_GTi]

Mine was spotted at my last service. Luckily the garage were able weld it.

[benny oopz]

Had the same problem, but the bracket hadn't rusted, the weld just failed.

It was rubbing on the exhaust when going over bumps and made a really nasty squeek. Took a while to figure out what it was too. I was releaved when I found it tho as I thought it was my suspension.

Got it re-welded and is good as new now (hopefully better!).