UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

Hi all,

Newbie here. I currently have a 2023 Polo R-Line 95hp which I bought from new last year. Yesterday I just ordered the R-Line 115hp version which was a great offer from Drive the Deal, so will be selling the 95hp.

I'm from the UK and have been quoted 26 weeks for delivery so around Feb-March 2025. Seems excessive. Has anyone ordered an R-Line recently? If so, how long have you been quoted?

Also, if anyone has moved from the 95hp to the 115hp, was there a big difference in the drive? I would have gone for the Polo GTI which isn't much extra cost but as the car is shared with my mum, she wanted something simple, quiet and comfortable. I had just found the 95hp under powered.

Hi all,
I am having some second thoughts and kind of regretting not ordering the GTI. It is only £2,600 more than the 115ps R-Line I have ordered and comes with way more equipment as standard, for example the Matrix headlamps. It will hold it's value better too.

My question is, how firm is the suspension? My mum who is coming to 75 will be driving the car a couple of times per week too. We currently have a R-line 95ps and she finds that easy and comfortable to drive. I just find it underpowered. I also have a Golf GTI PP 7.5 and that's one of the reasons I find the 95ps so underpowered as I drive both cars.

There are no test drives available near me for the Polo GTI. How firm is the suspension in normal mode and on 17" wheels? If anyone can provide a comparison between the R-Line or even the Golf GTI PP that would be great. I only have until tomorrow to change my order as the VW Summer discount of £750 will end after that. If it was £4-5k difference then I wouldn't even consider the GTI but £2,600 is a small difference when spread out over 4 years.

Ride comfort / suspension firmness is quite a subjective topic; what one person finds to be OK, another person may not.

I have a 2020 pre-facelift Polo GTI+ on 18” wheels. I use the Individual drive mode and have the suspension set to ‘Normal’ and for me it’s fine. I’ve pretty much had performance model cars with firm-ish suspension for over 40 years, so I’m used to a firm suspension set up it. However, for a mature driver used to driving cars with ‘normal’ softer suspension coming to a performance hatch with firm suspension then it might be a bit much and IMHO a test drive by your mother on different types and condition of road surface is really the only way to know if she’d find it OK.

Sorry, I can’t compare the suspension firmness of a GTI to an R Line or to a Golf GTI I’ve not driven one. I’ve also not driven a Polo GTI on 17” alloys.

Please update this discussion topic once you’ve made your decision.

sunny87 wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:19 am I'm from the UK and have been quoted 26 weeks for delivery so around Feb-March 2025. Seems excessive. Has anyone ordered an R-Line recently? If so, how long have you been quoted?

Definitely excessive. When I ordered my GTI at the beginning of June, I was told delivery around October. I was notified last week that the car is in production, so it's been only 10 weeks and looking good for October. Not sure though, how much difference left vs right hand drive and normal Polo vs GTI make in delivery times.

With price difference being so small, getting a GTI is a no brainer for me. One of the last chances to get a proper engine in a small car. Polo GTI can be driven like a normal Polo, it's very much on the "dull" side when it comes to hothatches and it's definitely not as stiif as let's say Hyundai i20n. Don't get me wrong, it's stiffer than normal Polo on 15/16" wheels, but overall I would call it a "firm" car, definitely not "stiff. I have a 2019 Polo on 15" wheels and when I test drove the GTI I could still describe it as a comfy car with suspension set to "normal".

sunny87 wrote: Wed Aug 28, 2024 10:19 am Hi all,

Newbie here. I currently have a 2023 Polo R-Line 95hp which I bought from new last year. Yesterday I just ordered the R-Line 115hp version which was a great offer from Drive the Deal, so will be selling the 95hp.

I'm from the UK and have been quoted 26 weeks for delivery so around Feb-March 2025. Seems excessive. Has anyone ordered an R-Line recently? If so, how long have you been quoted?

For certain trim levels of car, delivery times can be influenced by the number of build slots a dealer is allocated by VW in any given period (I think build slots are allocated on a calendar quarter basis). If a dealer accepts more customer orders than they have allocated build slots for in a given period, then any excess orders are carried over to the next - or subsequent - build allocation period(s).

I think that Drive the Deal (DtD) only use a couple of dealers for the entire UK, and because of the generous discounts they offer, they will be receiving significantly more orders than a typical dealer. So while the dealers used by DtD are likely to have a relatively large allocation of build slots compared to a typical dealer, the number of excess orders that need to be carried over to the next - and subsequent - build quarters may also be higher than for a typical dealer. The 26 week lead time you’ve been quoted could reflect this.

When I ordered my Polo GTI+ back in 2020, it took just over seven months from time of placing the order to taking delivery; admittedly that won’t necessarily be representative of current lead times though.

Thanks both.

I am leaning more towards the GTI. It just seems better value and a car I would be more willing to keep longer term. I'm hoping my mum can get used to it. She is a pretty slow driver but if she can just use it as a normal Polo then I'm sure she will. Worst case scenario, I suppose I can just sell it if she doesn't get on with it as will be getting £5k off so I can't imagine I would lose much.

I will make a proper decision this afternoon and contact the dealer by the end of the day if I do decide to change.

Just an update, I have just come back from my local dealer. Whilst the nearest available facelifted Polo GTI at a VW dealer to test drive was almost an hour away from me, I decided to test drive the 115ps R-Line instead which was a lot closer to me.

The extra 20 bhp felt like a substantial amount when accelerating, it pulled much better than the 95 and felt pretty rapid in comparison. Even though it's a £1200 increase over the 95bhp version, I had some doubts before as 20ps doesn't sound like a lot on paper but when you drive it straight after the 95 version you really do feel the difference, more so as it's a small car.

I have decided to keep my order as it is. I would still love to get a Polo GTI in the future (just not yet anymore) whilst my mum can carry on driving this 115 version when it does arrive.

Just spoke to my dealer, he said the car is estimated to be built w/c 4th November. That is a nice surprise as I only placed my order last week and was told at the time it will be 26 weeks for delivery which would have been Feb-March. Now he reckons there is a good chance I could have it delivered by Christmas.

Hi,I'm in Ireland and ordered my 95hp R Line on 7th February this year and collected it on 7th July if that's any help to you

sunny87 wrote: Thu Sep 05, 2024 5:34 pm the car is estimated to be built w/c 4th November

Feb-March estimation looked too cautious from the start. That would've been longer than early production years of this generation Polo. I remember that I had to wait over 6 months for my 95hp highline back in 2018/2019 and honestly, I don't think that order queue is this long these days. Polo is the oldest VW model in producton, still on the MQB A0 platform and it got a little pricey over the years. Moreover trends shifted towards crossovers/SUVs. I'd expect shorter lead times.

Dreamscape wrote: Tue Sep 24, 2024 11:30 pm

sunny87 wrote: Thu Sep 05, 2024 5:34 pm the car is estimated to be built w/c 4th November

Feb-March estimation looked too cautious from the start. That would've been longer than early production years of this generation Polo. I remember that I had to wait over 6 months for my 95hp highline back in 2018/2019 and honestly, I don't think that order queue is this long these days. Polo is the oldest VW model in producton, still on the MQB A0 platform and it got a little pricey over the years. Moreover trends shifted towards crossovers/SUVs. I'd expect shorter lead times.

I think VW will be cautious when providing estimated build dates; probably better - and less frustrating - from the customer’s perspective to have a cautious build date brought forward than to to have an overly optimistic build date moved back - maybe more than once.

An estimated build date is just that - an estimate. Until the build week becomes a confirmed build week there’ll always be a degree of uncertainty over when a car will be built, and VW won’t confirm the build week until they’ve had confirmation from all their suppliers of delivery dates for the necessary parts / components required for a specific car’s build.

Historically, build weeks have moved from ‘estimated’ to ‘confirmed’ around four weeks before a car is scheduled to be built. Also, bear in mind that the more highly spec’d a car is (e.g. lots of extra cost options), the more parts / components manufacturers and suppliers there are in the supply chain, so there’s potentially a greater risk of disruption if one or more of those suppliers fails to deliver on time.

Once a car’s built, there’s then an approximately six week journey from VW’s Kariega factory in South Africa via Emden in Germany before a car reaches the UK. Key dependencies will be availability of ocean going car transporter vessels and - once a car’s in the UK - availability of car transporter HGV’s to transport the cars to dealerships. Last year there was a shortage of ocean going transporter vessels, so even if cars are built on time, it can take longer than normal for those cars to get to their destination.

So lots of dependencies (supply chain and transportation services) impacting the build dates and transportation of vehicles.

It's official, all Polo's to be assembled in South Africa since the plant in Spain has changed focus to EVs.
https://topauto.co.za/news/116092/all-v ... ican-made/

OomStu_ZA wrote: Wed Sep 25, 2024 9:06 am It's official, all Polo's to be assembled in South Africa since the plant in Spain has changed focus to EVs.
https://topauto.co.za/news/116092/all-v ... ican-made/

I remember reading a while back that Pamplona was to be a production facility for EV’s, so moving Polo production elsewhere was going to happen at some point in the not too distant future. The Kariega plant in South Africa is a logical - probably the obvious - choice, bearing in mind Polos are already assembled there.

The extra power made overtaking smoother and the car felt more responsive, especially on motorways. I imagine the move from 95hp to 115hp in the Polo R-Line will be similar—still simple and comfortable for your mum, but with just enough of a boost to make it more enjoyable for you.

Ordered my Polo R line back in middle of August, was wondering when would be the quickest i would get it? Apparently build date will be around 10th December. Any help would be much appreciated