UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

I purchased a W reg Polo GTI in Febuary of this year, after 2 days the gearbox exploded, it was then repaired under warranty and delivered back to me within 2 weeks.
During this two week period I decided to do some research on Polo GTI reliability, and I found out that Gearboxes and Clutches on Polo GTI's tend to 'fail' extremely early e.g. 20K - 40K, and that the GTI suffers from other reliabilty issues.
Upon hearing this I promptly sold the vehicle and have now decided to purchase a much more reliable car. I beleive that modern VW's e.g 1999 - onwards, are not as 'well made' as older VW's.

Bit of an over-reaction there in my opinion.

Yes the GTi does suffer from a weak gearbox, but every car has it's fair share of reliabilty issues.

I'm fairly sure there is not a car on the market today which doesn't have a fault or issue of some kind.

You also omitted to say what your 'much more reliable' car is?

Not had any probs with my gearbox, Done 44000 and stills feels smooth when changing .

No worries with my gearbox either, now on very nearly 70k miles. Yes its a bit notchy sometimes (when cold, usually) but that is true of all Polo GTi 'boxes. Once the car is fully warmed up everything is fine.

Would be interested to know what your more reliable replacement is!

My car had only done 44K, and the gearbox failed, gearboxes should not fail at low mileage such as this.

my cars done just over 60k and my box is absolutley fine!

Mines done 53000 and it's fine, sounds to me like the one you bought wasn't looked after very well.

How long did you own it then before selling it, I've had mine for 8 months now and it's only had a new brake light switch and new fuse for the wipers after I turned them on while they were frozen to the screen

I kept the car for a week and then sold it.....but i actually made a £600 profit....so I am quite happy.

My box failed and i'v only done 31k miles.
It's something that could happen to any car, my dad has had a few cars one being a jag that gave major hassels with only 20k on the clock so it's not just us that have problems.
Every manufacturer has a few bad eggs IMHO!

But VW Polo GTI Gearboxes tend to fail at a much higher rate than other cars, it is a major design fault.

samuel090180 wrote:But VW Polo GTI Gearboxes tend to fail at a much higher rate than other cars, it is a major design fault.

not having a go mate, but wouldnt it have made more sense to look that up before you bought it lol

I did 'look it up' before I purchased the car, but the only sources I could find were 'Whatcar' and the 'Autotrader website' and neither of these sources reported on the reliability of this paticular model.
It was only after my car had broken down, that I carried out 'in-depth' research.

samuel090180 wrote:I did 'look it up' before I purchased the car, but the only sources I could find were 'Whatcar' and the 'Autotrader website' and neither of these sources reported on the reliability of this paticular model.
It was only after my car had broken down, that I carried out 'in-depth' research.

...........such as searching on this forum!!!

My gearbox went about 2 months after i bought the car. It's just one of those things, such is life!

Apart from that in the year ive had the car its been perfect!