UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Wife's 9n has been in for the usual niggles, also faulty lambda sensors (2 sensors replaced 3 times). Drivers door doesn't shut properly furst time, always needs to be opened and closed again (strange one).

Wife doesn't want to buy another VW, due to these niggles which is a shame.

In total, she has been to the garage 14 times since getting the car in Mar 04. She's only done 7k miles...

Had my car just over a month and the only problem was a faulty lamda sensor which was replaced by the dealer,

Other than that no problems!

Where do I start!
Got an excellent deal on a 1.4 16v 100PS 3 dr, 13% off list price from a dealer in Scotland. I think that is about the only thing I've been pleased about thus far!
Picked the car up end of Mar 04, seemed ok for a while, then the problems started.
Noticed a tracking problem, kept pulling to the left and the steering wheel sat slightly to the right when driving in a straight line. Hadn't knocked any kerbs to put it out either.
Other problems at the time were:
1: Creaky front suspension
2: Creaky cabin, coming from the windows
3: Glovebox rattle
4: Engine squeak. Has anyone else got this problem? It occurs after about 4-5 mins after start-up and immediately after start up. Give it a bit of throttle in gear then lift off the throttle and there is a noticeable squeak, every second or so for 3 or 4 times then you've got the give it more throttle and it appears again, eventually it disappears but its bloody annoyingf. I've suggested that it might be the rocker pot on the LHS of the Engine, as if you rock the engine, when off, it rings slightly, the other thing I thought it might be, is the flexible joint between the exhaust downpipe from the engine and the main exhaust, as it may be temperature related. Anyone got any thoughts?

The dealer claimed the glovebox rattle wasn't there and they lubed the windows with silicone on the first visit. Got them sorted properly on the 2nd visit to the dealer. With the glovebox rattle, they re-routed the cables and connectors behind the box and packed them properly. The two doors were adjusted by moving them slightly, so no more creaky windows. The tracking was also sorted out, but they couldn't find the engine squeak - deaf b*****ds.

Eventually managed to get the local dealer, won't mention which VW flagship dealer it is (Buckinghamshire), to order the modified bushes and get in in for repair. This was completed and suspension was sound as a pound, well that was until I noticed the tracking was out again!

Back to the dealer - they examined it, taking two days about it to do a 4 wheel precision wheel alignment, got it back and it was no better. Straight back to the dealer, where the car has just spent 2 weeks, in the mean time I got a Mk5 Golf to play around in, what a pile of c**p. It failed on me when the vacuum pipe came off the throttle body, I narowly avoided a serious accident!

Eventually got the car back yesterday. Was told that the numpty that fitted the new suspension bushes did so incorrectly, by fitting them 10deg out and it was this that made the tracking so bad. More new suspension bushes have been fitted alongwith new rubber mountings and some other parts.
Well they appologised and held there hands up and said it was totally their fault and it took two weeks because they had to the get the Licence Technician to determine the problem and fix. The Service Advisor assured me that the car had been throughly road tested and that it was ok!!!

Well I thought that was the end if it! Two minutes after driving the car away the car still drifted left, I tried it on different stretches of road just to make sure and yip it was still there! Went back to the dealer but by this time the service dept had closed so spoke to the Sales Manager and told him to get it sorted and give me the keys back for the Mk5 Golf loan car.
I'll await the phone call from them Monday morning!
The car has been in the garage now, more times than I've had a hot dinner!!!

Has anyone got any suggestions on what I should do?
I'll be on to VW Customer Care first thing tommorrow morning to see what they have to say, but its almost at the point I want to reject the car. Has anyone had any similar problems with useless dealers?

Unhappy Polo Owner

Make sure that you get a case number *and* the name of the case manager assigned to your problem at VW customer care. Get the direct number of the case manager and call them every day. They are not allowed to close the case until you have told them that you are satisfied with the outcome. Do not allow them to close the case until you have told them this. If you fax them anything, include a receipt with it and get them to sign that receipt and fax it back to you. Note that faxes and letters can take 1 to 2 weeks to work their way through "the system" before they make it to a case manager.

If you have finance on the car and are persuring this route, cc your finance company on all correspondence. If VW's replies aren't cc'd to your finance company, you should forward them. Also note that, in this circumstance, you need to refer to the Supply of Goods Act, not the Sale of Goods Act.

If VW offer compensation, be very careful. I had a very similar experience to what you seem to be "enjoying". For many reasons - some of them financial, some to do with maybe leaving the country, a whole pile of stuff - I've "settled" for the car. Let's put it that way. I still have the car two years on.

After the first batch of problems and after about three months down the road and formal attempts to reject the vehicle as not being of sufficient quality, I was offered a "nominal" sum of money as compensation by VW. I accepted feeling lucky to get anything. This was a mistake.

Fast forward to about ten months ago -- the car was now fourteen months old and all the old problems had come back, together with many new ones. I'd had enough and wanted out. I'd worked with my dealer to get their customer care manager on-side. I was supported by their service manager (who I'd got to know rather too well over the past year and bit) and he agreed that the experience had been unacceptable and that they'd been unable to return the car to "satisfactory quality" per sales of goods.

The franchise manager was in support of a submission to VW UK to buy the car back. In the dealer's terms, it was too late for a rejection of the goods per the sales of goods act. They refused to acknowledge the european legislation that gives you around 6 years to reject (it was so new at the time and there was certainly no uk case law support it yet). I also couldn't find a local solicitor willing to take up my case(!!!)

VW refused to replace the car or to buy it back, citing my earlier acceptence of compensation against the car's early problems as "the end of the matter". The fact that the problems continued afterwards was of no consequence to them. The mistake I had made was to say with to the case manager that I was "happy with the outcome" when I received compensation.

My dealer did step in with a very good offer, though, so at least they did "the right thing", but I chose not to accept it for several convoluted reasons.

So, be careful in accepting anything out of VW. It seems to rule out later support further down the road - if my experience is anything to go by.

Deek.

On a lighter note however:

Welcome to the board!!

IMHO, the "community" aspect of owning a VW (almost) makes up for any shortcomings of the products. It certainly has in my case, so maybe, if you feel like it sit back, settle in, and enjoy the ride!

Deek.

The best thing I did after getting my brand new 9N on March 2003 was trade it in . Kept the car 13/14 months then traded it in as it was a pile of s**t !!!!!! . My last 5 cars have been Polos but the 5th was without doubt the last VW I will ever buy . The heap of junk was never out of the garage . Got fed up writing letters of complaint , phonecalls to garage , phonecalls to Milton Keynes , meetings with various people decided to call it a day and trade it in . Attitude of Customer Care and VW dealer was shocking to say the least . My mate has a brand new golf he has had it for 2 months and its been back to garage 4 times now .... VW the new British Leyland ?????????

VW the new British Leyland ?????????

That's an interesting comment. It was before my time, but afaik British Leyland was (largely) killed off by the attitude of its multi-unionised workforce. You could argue that its issues were insurmountable from the management's point of view, particularly in the political climate of that time.

However, VW's quality problems seem - in my opinion - to be a workforce issue of much less visible form.

Apart from the cancellation of the Microbus project earlier this year -- which was cited to be due to high cost of production on the old T5/Transporter platform, which itself was said to be a decision made by VW to pacify its German unionised workforce -- this issue of workforce attitude hasn't (explicitly) raised its head. It may very well be present in implicit form, but not in visible action. Certainly, I would describe the problems with my car to be issues of assembly, rather than manufacture (i.e. the components were ok, they were just thrown together rather haphazardly).

If this is the case, then surely management practices (in the form of statistical quality control) and workforce education (in the form of total quality management / six sigma / whatever is the latest "empowerment" thinking of the day) could be introduced to address this.

Hopefully, the arrival of Audi's (effective) head of quality to VW (can't recall his name) should help to bring the company round.

That's my hope. Although it should be pointed out that Polos coming out of the Slovakian plant (Dune (or Skoda Fabia) in the UK) do seem to be better made - despite being the same product. Which, again, supports my view that it's a workforce and management issue, rather than an underlying lack of care in design. Luckily it's not of the magnitude seen with BL, but who knows...

I have to admit that VW have lost the quality differentiator, but at least they still have their overall aesthetic going for them. And that will, maybe, bring me back to VW next time.

Deek.

Getting the garage to buy mine back.

It's been in for 3 weeks now and has been damaged again by the dealer. (A customer drove into it on the car park! What was it doing on the car park?? ) They tried to repair it without telling me but I found out via VW UK and now refusing to have the car back especially after they have fillered the wing instead of a new one.

Will let you know what happens. If they don't buy it back I can sue for diminution of value which is apporx 15% of the value of the car.

i got mine nov. 2002 and since then problems iv had are...

rear window washer doesnt work...& still doesnt!
petrol cap wouldnt unlock! good job i noticed that one in time! the bolt was jammed in.
front suspession sqeeks like mad! they said they sorted it in the service...like s**t!
the coil pack went and it was ideling funny and only runnin on 2 cylenders.

bout it for now really but i love my polo

Jesus........ I think I'll rule a 9n out of my three year plan - I quite like it's cheeky looks but it appears VW customer dissatisfaction department need a big kick up the arse or a wake up call - don't they realise the importance of customer loyalty!!!!

mines 2004 model and seems better put together. only suspension bushes needed

Well VW UK have finally answered my letter and phonecalls and have booked the car in for next Fri to look at the 'drifting'

Do you guys notice a severe drift to the left in your Polo's on a straight road, no camber? When I let go the steering wheel, its straight over towards the kerb, even under braking its noticeable.
I've managed to get the garage to admit it is a trait on the 9n as they have road tested about 10 other standard polo's but apparently it shows up more on the Sport models. They even claimed I should expect some drift. Well I'm not accepting it!
Can anybody back me up here?

Anyway since I've had it back from the garage, all of 2 weeks, its developed some more faults!
Apart from the creaky window coming back (Is this common on a 3dr?), even after the dealer had moved the door to alleviate this, I've now got the following:-

1. Dashboard rattle, between the windscreen and the plastic. This only appears when I've got the heater on (its been a bit chilly recently). Probably down to the different thermal expansion rates of the materials, but its really annoying.

2. A very creaky boot area! I've tried pushing/banging the plastic surrounds arround the boot area but to no avail. Does anyone know if this is common or a fix for it?
I suppose some smart a*se will say sell it!

Maybe I'm getting picky, but hey if nobody does anything about it then surely VW will continue to pump out crap!

Well happy motoring!

Do you guys notice a severe drift to the left in your Polo's on a straight road, no camber? When I let go the steering wheel, its straight over towards the kerb, even under braking its noticeable.

i guess that behavior is standard on most cars, in case you fall asleep while driving you end up in the correct side of the road, instead of jeopardizing other people's lives on the opposite side of the road. my LHD polo noticably drifts to the right as well.

Well I think I may of located the source of my driver-side air vent area creak - the one I get when the car warms-up. It was really bad today for some reason so popped the fusebox cover off, pushed the hard plastic around the lightswitch area and could distinctly hear a creak. After some poking about I think the source is the bottom of the two hex nuts that fix the dashboard to the car - will dig-out the old trusty toolkit over the weekend and I'll see if I can get it sorted.

except from a broken headlight nothing else to complain about