What did you and your Polo do today?

[CJ-77]

Get it back to the dealers. They might admit to it or say "I don't think it's us, but we'll sort it for you." They might just send you on your way with a flea in your ear. Nothing yo lose by keeping your cool and going to ask them to sort it due to it being highly likely it's them with the place the gouge is at.

Just to update this. I did as you suggested, monkeyhanger and my dealer fixed it with no issues whatsoever. Looks like they did a nice job too. Weather is grim ATM so will have a better look/take a pic later.

Clearly a dealership that wants repeat business and to retain your servicing/warranty work. Good result.

Honestly through the buying process to fixing this issue it is by a long way the best dealer experience I've had. I'm really surprised at the number of bad dealer experiences I've read about here even allowing for the normal bias of bad stuff being posted on forums.

[peter007]

For me the ride is perfect, and with Michelin SuperSport tyres handles like a dream! Much higher corner speeds, and comfort is good as well

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Peter, can you post a picture of the wheels on the car at an angle? It's an 8" rim with 45 offset. Curious how it lines up with the bodywork.
Thanks.

As requested, just had a photo shoot






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[fazzy]

As requested, just had a photo shoot






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Peter, looks very good. Thanks for the pics.
Looking at these pictures, the 45 off-set lines the wheel almost with the fender, so I guess a 35 off-set might be too much. What do you think?

[Polovivo]

19" MB Design MB1 Wheels

[Polovivo]

For me the ride is perfect, and with Michelin SuperSport tyres handles like a dream! Much higher corner speeds, and comfort is good as well

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Peter, can you post a picture of the wheels on the car at an angle? It's an 8" rim with 45 offset. Curious how it lines up with the bodywork.
Thanks.

As requested, just had a photo shoot






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Looks great. Well done. ET 45 is perfect for these cars. I run spacers on mines getting it closer to et40

[monkeyhanger]

My Car is in at Pulmans tonight, so they can do some work on it tomorrow. My blankety blank virtual cockpit screen is due a fix under warranty and I will get the seat belt safety recall work done at last.

Good news is that the virtual cockpit screen staying blank during an ignition cycle is a known issue, with a known fix. VW recently issued a bulletin to fix - a software upgrade, meaning that they don't have to pull the dash to bits to fix it.

I have asked them to che.ck the tailgate alignment too for my tailgate paint chipping issue and adjust the bump stops if that's all it is (I can do that, if I can find my set of small allen keys).

For my driving pleasure tonight, I have had an UP! Beats 60ps 5 speed manual courtesy car. I can see what people mean about the tall gearing in the 1.0TSI Polo, this is the same - 3rd gear at 60mph is only 4000 revs. You could potentially be doing 90 in 3rd to the red line in this car - ridiculous! You also need to keep it above 2500rpm for the 1st gear bite when pulling away or it feels like it is going to stall.


It sounds amazing though, and it's not soundaktor trickery, sounds great above 4000 revs with the windows down - is the 60ps variant naturally aspirated? Maybe that makes quite a difference to the engine note.

[Dark_cze]

Yop 60ps should be NA engine

[monkeyhanger]

Driving a gutless 60ps UP! definitely makes for a more cautious driving experience. The amount of times I had to hold off performing a manoeuvre because of a lack of acceleration makes you appreciate how much you rely on poke when you have it.

Car is apparently fixed, but they found something in the shoulder of one of the tyres and it can't be repaired. Would I like to pay twice as much as Costco charge for a replacement tyre? Nope! I'd like to see the puncture first. Is the punctured tyre holding air? If not, my car got 16 miles there without any recent alerts for tyre pressures.

If it turns out to be a black torx automotive screw, I'll be saying that they must've punctured it. Could be a good way for them to drum up business.

[peter007]

ET35 would be too wide, ET45 with 8” width is perfect


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[monkeyhanger]

Big standard screw in the tyre, smack in the middle of the tread, should be repairable.

Get to Costco as I know they do £10 repairs. The get the tyre off, decide they can't repair it, but the guy there advises someone else will - Costco use a specific type of repair plug, and my puncture needs the other type.

While the tyre is off, Costco tyre fitter brings to my attention that about 1/8 of the circumference is scraped to help on the inside of the front facing rim, unseen without the tyre off. He says no tyre fitter did that, it was there from the factory. Likely a future source of white worm propagation - FFS!

Mentioned it to the Warranty guy at Pulman dealership during a phone call, suggested giving him a look while the tyre is off the rim (Costco put my space saver on for me). As I left work late and was aware that opportunities for a puncture repair today were diminishing (not wanting to be on the space saver too long), I decided to pop to Lookers as they're 1/2 a mile from work. Warranty guy in there wouldn't give me the time of day to come and look - a stark reminder of why I don't go there). Took a video and photos for Pulman's benefit and then sought out my nearest tyre place to get the tyre repaired and refitted - my local ATS. £27 for the repair, when did a new valve, balance and a repair plug get so expensive?

All refitted now.

Just wondering what colour yo have the wheels powder coated when the inevitable white worm happens.

I have a quantity of powder coat paint on standby from when the Golf R needed a refurb - I had to order a minimum quantity of the special paint that would easily do another 4 wheels. It is a silver with a very subtle blue/purple tint.

[SRGTD]

Big standard screw in the tyre, smack in the middle of the tread, should be repairable.

Get to Costco as I know they do £10 repairs. The get the tyre off, decide they can't repair it, but the guy there advises someone else will - Costco use a specific type of repair plug, and my puncture needs the other type.

While the tyre is off, Costco tyre fitter brings to my attention that about 1/8 of the circumference is scraped to help on the inside of the front facing rim, unseen without the tyre off. He says no tyre fitter did that, it was there from the factory. Likely a future source of white worm propagation - FFS!

Mentioned it to the Warranty guy at Pulman dealership during a phone call, suggested giving him a look while the tyre is off the rim (Costco put my space saver on for me). As I left work late and was aware that opportunities for a puncture repair today were diminishing (not wanting to be on the space saver too long), I decided to pop to Lookers as they're 1/2 a mile from work. Warranty guy in there wouldn't give me the time of day to come and look - a stark reminder of why I don't go there). Took a video and photos for Pulman's benefit and then sought out my nearest tyre place to get the tyre repaired and refitted - my local ATS. £27 for the repair, when did a new valve, balance and a repair plug get so expensive?

All refitted now.

Just wondering what colour yo have the wheels powder coated when the inevitable white worm happens.

I have a quantity of powder coat paint on standby from when the Golf R needed a refurb - I had to order a minimum quantity of the special paint that would easily do another 4 wheels. It is a silver with a very subtle blue/purple tint.

Diamond cut wheels are a complete pain in the butt IMO. I dislike them with a passion!

I’ve never had a set of diamond cut alloys refurbished in a powder coat finish, but I’ve replaced the diamond cut alloys with a set of anthracite grey powder coated alloys on my last two VW’s.

I think that some wheel designs are quite colour-sensitive. I’ve seen the standard VW Austin diamond cut alloys on a mk7 Golf GTI powder coated dark grey and they looked awful - I think it was because the wide spoke design in a dark colour just looked wrong and didn’t suit a powder coat finish. Someone over on golfgtiforum.co.uk had the diamond cut Santiago alloys on their GTI powder coated in a smoked chrome and they looked really good.

I think you also need to consider the paint colour of the car when considering wheel colour too as some wheel colours don’t look good with certain car body colours IMO. I think smoked chrome, anthracite or gun metal grey would look good on a Flash Red Polo GTI. Silver would also work. I’m personally not keen on black alloys as I think they tend to nearly always look dirty (brake dust) unless they’ve just been cleaned. Having said that, black wheels on a red car is a good combination, although the design detail of the wheel can get ‘lost’ on black wheels. The blue/silver colour that VW use on the Pretoria alloys you had on your Golf R would probably also look good on a red Polo GTI (OEM Pretoria’s look good on a Tornado Red Golf R / Clubsport IMO).

When I take the plunge next year and order my Pure White Polo GTI+, it won’t be wearing its diamond cut alloys for very long - they’ll very soon be replaced with a set of more durable powder coated alloys - currently favouring a set of BBS SR alloys in Himalayan Grey.

[monkeyhanger]

^ with its thinner spokes, I do think that the Brescia is probably going to be more suited to powder coating in a single colour than the wide spokes of the Parker alloy.

I think I need a photoshop expert to do some pics. I won't pick the Prets colour if it doesn't look good just before the paint is essentially paid for already. As silver paints go, I do like the tiniest hint of blue/purple in it.

Skilled chrome or something else between silver and anthracite also sound good.

I would lose the shadowing around the spoke sides and it being black around the wheel nuts - nothing you can do about that in a single colour.

[SRGTD]

^ with its thinner spokes, I do think that the Brescia is probably going to be more suited to powder coating in a single colour than the wide spokes of the Parker alloy.

I think I need a photoshop expert to do some pics. I won't pick the Prets colour if it doesn't look good just before the paint is essentially paid for already. As silver paints go, I do like the tiniest hint of blue/purple in it.

Skilled chrome or something else between silver and anthracite also sound good.

I would lose the shadowing around the spoke sides and it being black around the wheel nuts - nothing you can do about that in a single colour.

Here’s the link to the discussion thread on golfgtiforum.co.uk that shows what diamond cut Santiago alloys look like after they’ve be refurbished with a smoked chrome powder coat finish. I think they look good;

http://www.golfgtiforum.co.uk/index.php?topic=278775.0

For those who forum members and forum guests reading this who are unfamiliar with white worm corrosion that many diamond cut alloys often succumb to after 2-3 years; the first picture in the linked thread above is a good example - the cloudy, milky white patches you can see on some of the diamond cut sections. White worm corrosion can really only be removed by refurbishing the wheel, and if refurbished with a diamond cut finish again, there’s a good chance the white worm will be back.

Why do I dislike diamond cut alloys so much?;

• poor durability of finish compared to a powder coated / painted finish; susceptible to white worm corrosion, especially if subjected to winter road conditions. In fact many reputable aftermarket alloy wheel retailers state on their websites that diamond cut alloys aren’t suitable for winter use

• more expensive to refurbish than powder coated alloys and because of the refurbishment process (removing the corroded surface by re-cutting a layer of metal off the face of the wheel), they can usually only be refurbished a maximum of two times, otherwise the structural integrity of the wheel can be compromised

• easily damaged by inexperienced tyre fitters or poorly maintained tyre changing equipment. I had two diamond cut alloys replaced under warranty on my mk6 Golf and it took four trips to the dealer before I got two perfect replacement wheels I was happy with (replacements were either substandard manufacture/ damaged in transit to the dealers or damaged by the dealer when fitting the tyres

I suppose that the one downside I can think of in having the OEM diamond cut alloys powder coated is that when the time comes to sell the car, if it’s being part exchanged against another VW, then the dealer could use this as a reason to offer a lower trade in value (probably not such an issue if selling privately or part ex against a non-VW).

[S_94]

Went for a drive today (approx 25 miles) to try and get used to the car a bit. Kept the car in 'Eco' mode and I could definitely tell the difference between that and 'Normal' mode. To me the gear changes seemed a bit quicker and the car seemed a bit more laid back so to speak. A bit slower off the mark and a bit slower when putting my foot down.

Did have a play about with the ACC but I'm still wrapping my head around that and felt a bit on edge trusting the car to slow down with the cars in front on me. From what I experienced though I'm sure it will be good for any motorway driving.

One thing I found odd and I'm not sure if this is normal with a DSG box is that when I was hitting 30-35mph in Eco or Normal the car would already be in E5 / D5. To me that seems like a high gear to be in for that speed.

Also slightly confused about Mode select and Sport mode on the gear stick. For example, if I have the car in Normal mode 'D' and then switch the gear stick down slightly to 'S' the Mode selection on the centre infotainment screen stays on 'Normal' instead of switching to 'Sport'... is that supposed to happen? The infotainment screen above the steering wheel does say 'S1/2/3' etc though.

Overall I'm loving it so far, still wrapping my head around things but hopefully in the next few weeks it will all feel natural.

Roads were quiet for a Bank Holiday as well, which was nice!

[MattHGR]

In eco mode, the acc is very relaxed. So yes, it can seem like the car isn't responding to traffic as quickly as it may do in other modes.

As for the dsg sport mode, when you pull this back, the gearbox becomes more aggressive. It will hold revs for longer and the shifts will be slightly harsher.
The driving mode stays in normal because all other driving characteristics are still in normal (suspension, acc, a/c, steering, engine sound, pedal response too I think)