Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Chat about your 2018+ AW/BZ model Polos here!
SRGTD
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by SRGTD »

Mike_ wrote: Tue Aug 01, 2023 6:22 pm Ah ... a bit an unknown then. As I said I'm not so much bothered about the long wait. It's more the chance it's going to turn up unexpectedly either early or late.
Although you’re not bothered about a long wait, for anyone wanting a new Polo GTI (or any new car for that matter) and doesn’t fancy a long wait, it’s always worth having a look on the Autotrader website. There are currently 18 brand new Polo GTI’s being advertised as in stock, currently in transit from the factory or available for September delivery. White, Black, Grey and Red colours available, various specs and twelve of the eighteen are advertised with a discount off list price.

IMHO the (only?) potential downsides of buying one of these cars;
  • it’s not possible to personalise the spec to a buyer’s individual requirements. However, the standard spec is pretty good.
  • unless a prospective buyer lives close to a dealership with an in-stock car, it would be necessary to travel to view, test drive and collect the car. However, anyone buying through a broker such as Drive the Deal would have to travel to collect their car anyway, unless they arranged for a home delivery (a trailered delivery would cost extra).
Worth consideration by any prospective buyer if immediate or quick delivery is more important than a long wait for a factory ordered car to be built.
lancslad1985
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by lancslad1985 »

The new limited edition is also in the VW uk website now. Not for me, £31k for a polo gti is excessive even if it does come with leather seats. It’s the only polo I’ve seen that doesn’t look bad in ascot grey either (sorry if anyone has an ascot grey polo!).

For me the gti is on borrowed time. I enjoy it but I’m missing my Tiguan and the space and super comfort. We will probably keep my wife’s r line polo though.
RealMarshy
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by RealMarshy »

Hi All,

Hope everyone is well

New to the forum and have just ordered my first ever VW Polo GTI. Haven't test driven one but I currently drive an Audi A3, and used to drive a VW UP. Loved the small size of the UP and the power of the A3, so the Polo GTI hopefully fits into that sweet spot between the two for me. The spec I've gone for is:

1. White with black roof pack (black roof and black wing mirrors)
2. Panoramic Sunroof
3. Mobile phone preparation with inductive charging function
4. Heated seats
5. Rear view Camera
6. Driver assistance pack
7. I've kept the 17" Parker wheels to have a bit more of a comfortable ride
8. Sticking with the traditional Jacara cloth upholstery and then having the Kings red glossy decorative inserts
9. Added the spare wheel option too

I made the order on the 29th July and have been given an estimated handover date of 29/02/2024, which would be a 7 month lead time. My fingers, toes and eyes are crossed that it comes earlier :D
RealMarshy
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by RealMarshy »

lancslad1985 wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2023 12:04 pm The new limited edition is also in the VW uk website now. Not for me, £31k for a polo gti is excessive even if it does come with leather seats. It’s the only polo I’ve seen that doesn’t look bad in ascot grey either (sorry if anyone has an ascot grey polo!).

For me the gti is on borrowed time. I enjoy it but I’m missing my Tiguan and the space and super comfort. We will probably keep my wife’s r line polo though.
This is sort of what we have done. I just ordered a VW Polo GTI, but we have a VW Touran already. So the GTI is just a second car. Can't beat the comfort of the Touran, but we only needed one 'big' car for the family and then a second car for me just to do a school run and go to the office. Has your wife not eyed up your GTI if you are thinking of going back to a Tiguan?

And yep, Edition 25 Polo GTI is a rip off...just ordered mine and pretty much fully kitted it out and managed to get a deal for £28.5k...so if I went for the Edition 25 I'd be paying £2.5k just to effectively have black wheels and leather seats and I wouldn't get half the things I've added to mine!
Mike_
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by Mike_ »

The 25th anniversary edition is disappointing, especially considering some of the special edition golfs in the past.

Don't like the seats or the wheels (in my personal opinion) ... It's a hell of a premium for some badges.

Having said that I'm glad, as I might otherwise have felt like I was missing out
lancslad1985
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by lancslad1985 »

RealMarshy wrote: Tue Aug 08, 2023 12:28 pm
lancslad1985 wrote: Sat Aug 05, 2023 12:04 pm The new limited edition is also in the VW uk website now. Not for me, £31k for a polo gti is excessive even if it does come with leather seats. It’s the only polo I’ve seen that doesn’t look bad in ascot grey either (sorry if anyone has an ascot grey polo!).

For me the gti is on borrowed time. I enjoy it but I’m missing my Tiguan and the space and super comfort. We will probably keep my wife’s r line polo though.
This is sort of what we have done. I just ordered a VW Polo GTI, but we have a VW Touran already. So the GTI is just a second car. Can't beat the comfort of the Touran, but we only needed one 'big' car for the family and then a second car for me just to do a school run and go to the office. Has your wife not eyed up your GTI if you are thinking of going back to a Tiguan?

And yep, Edition 25 Polo GTI is a rip off...just ordered mine and pretty much fully kitted it out and managed to get a deal for £28.5k...so if I went for the Edition 25 I'd be paying £2.5k just to effectively have black wheels and leather seats and I wouldn't get half the things I've added to mine!
Shes told me she doesn’t want my cast off plus she has an r line she’s very happy with - looks nice, is more comfortable, economical, etc. I’d happily keep the gti for a weekend car but she really doesn’t want it.

Ultimately I’ve always had the family car and whilst I like my gti, for myself, my wife, 11 year old daughter and labrador it’s a bit of a squeeze in the gti for long journeys. True I’m on my own in the car 90% of the time, but it’s just not suitable for that 10% as much as I wish it was. And I can’t afford a golf gti haha.
aKRZ
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by aKRZ »

Hello,
I'm from France and I just ordered a polo gti edition 25 last week.
The polo edition 25 is priced at 38,380€ including all the options of a standard polo gti except the beats audio sound pack. A standard polo gti with full options in France costs 41,255€.
So it's a "good deal" here in France, despite the price being ridiculously high in my opinion...
I'm very happy with my 2019 polo gti, so I'm renewing the experience.
Mike_
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by Mike_ »

Car arrived at the end of September and I'm very happy thus far.

A few teething problems.

The boot latch was poorly adjusted from factory and I broke the clips on the trim taking it out (carefully, having looked up where they were in the manual) with proper trim tools, It looks like the mounting for the metal christmas tree type clip was poorly filled when it was moulded and was paper thin. I've sucked it up and ordered a new trim (~ £60) just because I know it's broken, despite it being perfectly fine with 3 clips out of 4.

I also took delivery without the car being valeted and with the protective wrap still on the bonnet etc. so that swirls etc. were not polished into the paint before I gave it to the local chap to be ceramic coated etc. When he removed the wrap from the bonnet he found some strange artifacts in the clear coat that were internal/under the top layers of clear. They were fairly noticeable in one area on the drivers side but were all over the bonnet to a lesser extent. I was pretty gutted and booked the car in at a VW bodyshop to have a look under warranty. The supplying dealer mentioned something about the wrap leaving marks and them disappearing in the hot sun. I somewhat dismissed this, but after driving the car the heat from the engine seems to have cleared the marks, which is a big relief. Car is back to the detailers for a check of the coating after a 2 week curing period so that will be the acid test if they've totally gone.

Still running the car in (even though the dealer didn't mention this) so not driven it properly but I like it so far, being able to rev it out will just make driving a bit more fluid and natural. It's perfectly adequate keeping it below 4ish to be fair.
Mike_
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by Mike_ »

oh yes ... it's got the fake sound rattle at about 4K in sport mode too. I am tempted to unplug it, some people say it has disappeared with time?

Any ideas what causes the rattle? it sounds like something close to the speaker resonating? or is it the gadget under the bonnet?
SRGTD
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by SRGTD »

@Mike_. I’ve owned five VW’s from new and they all had build quality teething troubles - none were in perfect condition on collection / delivery day as they should have been with a new car; I’ve had uneven panel gaps / misaligned body panels, scratches, a small dent, dirt in the paintwork, scuffed sill plate, a poorly fitted wheel arch liner, a greasy mark on the interior A pillar trim and on a mk4 Golf the wrong colour bumper inserts! I’ve also had one of the tyres left at the transit pressure (50psi) when the other three tyres were at the correct pressure. So from personal experience, it was poor show by both VW and the dealership’s PDI work over the years.

I think I’d always get the dealer to remove the protective wrap off the car even if they weren’t going to valet it, so it’s possible to carefully inspect the wrapped paintwork and bodywork panels for damage. That way, if there was any damage under the wrap that might have happened in transit from the factory (it does happen), there’d be no dispute over whether it’d happened before or after the car left the dealership.

The rattle at 4K rpm is likely to be the soundaktor. Rather than unplug it, you could always reduce the volume by using ‘Individual’ mode and set the engine sound to ‘Eco’; if you like Sport mode, you can have all the other settings set to ‘Sport’. With the soundaktor set ‘Eco’, if the rattling / buzzing sound stops then you’ll know it’s that that’s causing the unwanted noise.
lancslad1985
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by lancslad1985 »

I always collect my car with the wrap on but remove it at the dealership with the salesman so I can inspect it. No way I’d trust that bunch of morons they use as “car valeters”. Even the salesman said they use the same water for multiple cars….

Like SRGTD I’ve never had a perfect car but it’s usually something only I ever notice with my detailers eye so I usually accept unless there’s something really obvious. Contaminants in the clear coat would be an instant rejection but a mini swirl or scratch I can polish out myself.

I left the soundaktor attached in my car and just recreated sport mode with eco noise on the individual setting. Worked so far!
lancslad1985
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by lancslad1985 »

I have to say, the quality of certain items has decreased. My wife and I have had numerous VWs since before 2013 with all of hers being the various generations on polos. I’ve never had it before where the wipers are completely shot after 12 months with terrible judder and my drivers mat has worn through round the plastic connector despite regular cleaning. Highly disappointed to say this gti is the most expensive polo ever.

Now I know I’ll have to replace these but this is likely my last VW after ten years of various models. Having trialled the new system in the golf (coming to the new Tiguan in a similar form) I’m not a fan. My dads getting a xc40 and I did the test drives with him - Volvo have a minimal button approach through their tablet touchscreen but it works much smoother, is laid out better and has google voice control which is far superior to anything VW have done. So we shall see how long the polo lasts now before she gets replaced, as I’ve always found the build quality on the polos I’ve had to be inferior to the Tiguan, troc and golfs with numerous little rattles appearing as they age.
SRGTD
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by SRGTD »

lancslad1985 wrote: Thu Oct 19, 2023 9:27 pm I have to say, the quality of certain items has decreased. My wife and I have had numerous VWs since before 2013 with all of hers being the various generations on polos. I’ve never had it before where the wipers are completely shot after 12 months with terrible judder and my drivers mat has worn through round the plastic connector despite regular cleaning. Highly disappointed to say this gti is the most expensive polo ever.
I’ve never found VW’s carpet mats to be particularly good quality or hard wearing and I always take the front ones out and replace them with a set of VW rubber mats. I quite like the slightly utilitarian look of the rubber mats, and they’re highly durable and hard wearing. Mine have been in the car from day one of ownership so are just over three years old now and a quick wipe over restores them back to looking like new.

The quality of my current Polo GTI+ is certainly not as good as the car it replaced - a 2016 previous generation Polo GTI. Maybe no major issues, but little things and the general overall fit and finish of the car. Of the five VW’s I’ve owned, I’d say the 2011 mk6 Golf GTD was the best in terms of build quality (I really liked that car), followed by the 2016 Polo GTI and then a 2002 GTI-badged diesel mk4 Golf. That leaves my current car and a mk5 Golf GT in the bottom two places.

I too feel that I may be ready to switch brands with my next car after 21 years or VW ownership 🤔.
Andy838
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by Andy838 »

Took delivery of my 73 plate polo GTI (standard, not 25th edition) this week, thought it might be of interest that it came fitted with the physical buttons steering wheel not the haptic version. Build week around mid August.
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ad_182_uk
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Re: Any one ordered the new facelift GTI?

Post by ad_182_uk »

That is interesting. Did not take them long to sack those haptic buttons off then. Shame the extreme left and right buttons are just blank though. If they are buttons that is.
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