Knocking from rear driver side

[Andy Beats]

You show people a VW, they still assume it's going to be better built - they've believed the hype/advertising/reputation/rumours.
If you were to lead people blindfold to a completely debadged car, put them in it and ask them to guess the make - they wouldn't be able to these days.
They're all much the same, there's little or no difference in interior quality.
Even if you let them drive the car, they still wouldn't know.
A Vauxhall isn't any noisier than a Polo, or a Ford, or a Kia etc.etc.
It's a lucky situation for VW to be in, that perceived quality is still in their sales armory.

[OomStu_ZA]

Yes, significant reduction in manufacturing costs, still if costs to VW Group have kept lower until their cars are out of warranty, then they will see this as a win win situation, their saving grace being that all the other German premium brands have also managed similar cost savings! Maybe this is why some people from 6R > Polo have been reporting horrid noises from their clutch/gearboxes area?

I'm convinced the build quality of the new Polo isn't the same when compared to the likes of its EU counterparts. As stated elsewhere on this forum I've owned a number of SA built Polo's in the last 10/12 years and they all had manufacturer issues from day 1. The only Polo (6c)I found a real pleasure to own was the one built in Spain during 2017, what a little gem that was.

Just got back from the dealership now with a Comfortline loaner while they attempt to sort out the annoying dash vibration in my GTI.
My observation thus far is that these two cars are like chalk and cheese in the power dept Oh, and its MANUAL! Yes, stalled a few times today at the traffic lights haha.

[RUM4MO]

Well, on paper at least, the plan is to declare that it makes no difference where a product is built, if the design has been proven, the source materials similarly spec'd, the factory processes rigorously vetted and the QA is the same, nothing can change!

But, when VW Group or one of its suppliers moved the COP coils manufacture to Turkey - the newer version of coils were turkeys - and that caused VW Group a lot of money, but what did they care, the cheaper parts saved them more money than they lost in customer annoyance.

I have just bought a pair of new drive belts for my Audi S4, and one belt is manufactured in Thailand and the other in Indonesia, I'm not too happy about that, maybe I should have just bought belts branded by known and trusted EU based manufacturers!

So, the location of the final assembly is only part of this problem, we are already being sold cars with lots of critical parts being manufactured in not where you might have chosen to think that they were.

May daughter's late 2009 Ibiza was obviously built in Spain using as many locally sourced parts as possible, which is okay, its alternator failed at a very early age, it was the voltage regulator assembly that had failed, that Bosch alternator was labelled up as being manufactured in Spain - when I removed the voltage regulator assembly, it was labelled as being manufactured in UK very annoying!

Edit:- I once bought a new Ford Escort 1.6Ghia FWD, it was built in Germany, when you lifted the rear seats, the area under there was smooth, all spot welds looked good, a neighbour bought a Ford Escort 1.3L it was built in UK, when you tilted the rear seat and lifted the covering, it was like a man trap - I needed to fit a child seat belts bar across the back of that car, and I ended up with small cuts on my hands and knees - I did not expect that, that was just down to someone not bothering to set up the body fabricating spot welding kit correctly, lazy nasty buggars!

[monkeyhanger]

Yes, significant reduction in manufacturing costs, still if costs to VW Group have kept lower until their cars are out of warranty, then they will see this as a win win situation, their saving grace being that all the other German premium brands have also managed similar cost savings! Maybe this is why some people from 6R > Polo have been reporting horrid noises from their clutch/gearboxes area?

I'm convinced the build quality of the new Polo isn't the same when compared to the likes of its EU counterparts. As stated elsewhere on this forum I've owned a number of SA built Polo's in the last 10/12 years and they all had manufacturer issues from day 1. The only Polo (6c)I found a real pleasure to own was the one built in Spain during 2017, what a little gem that was.

Just got back from the dealership now with a Comfortline loaner while they attempt to sort out the annoying dash vibration in my GTI.
My observation thus far is that these two cars are like chalk and cheese in the power dept Oh, and its MANUAL! Yes, stalled a few times today at the traffic lights haha.

The EU built counterparts are no better built (same parts, same standards of construction, same level of training for staff - if you think that Germans are craftsmen and highest level of worker then you're very wrong).

The older VWs fell infinitely more solid and robust than the new ones. My 2 MK7 Golfs (GTD and R) felt very much flimsier than the Sciroccs and MK5 Golfs I had before them. The bodywork is so much thinner now - saving about 30kg on a MK7 Golf body shell vs MK6.

VW dazzle you with tech rather than honest, solid build, and a better than normal level of dash/interior trim materials but behind the thin veneer of perceived superior quality, standards have actually dropped. That's ok though, everyone else's standards have dropped too in terms of build quality and reliability.

The cars are still ergonomically well designed and drive well, but modern day VWx aren't built to last 15-20 years.

[monkeyhanger]

You show people a VW, they still assume it's going to be better built - they've believed the hype/advertising/reputation/rumours.
If you were to lead people blindfold to a completely debadged car, put them in it and ask them to guess the make - they wouldn't be able to these days.
They're all much the same, there's little or no difference in interior quality.
Even if you let them drive the car, they still wouldn't know.
A Vauxhall isn't any noisier than a Polo, or a Ford, or a Kia etc.etc.
It's a lucky situation for VW to be in, that perceived quality is still in their sales armory.

I could tell a VW from a Ford, on the inside at least - Ford instrumentation and ergonomics is way behind VW's functional and minimalist/unfussy designs. Ford love to stick 100 buttons on a dash when 12 will do.

Vauxhall interiors for some of their models are impressively plush recently - but not all of them, and not necessarily getting better higher up the range.

I was unfortunate enough to get a Peugeot 2008 hire car to go do an audit at the start of the year, and the gaps between bits of trim on the dash was truly awful - it creaked like a Spanish Galleon too.

I do tend to find, for the performance models at least, VAG fuel economy is pretty good, relative to the output.

My mate has a new Honda Covic R type - looks like it was designed by a 17 year old Halfords enthusiast on the outside and is 20% thirstier in real life driving than my old Golf R despite being roughly the same output, the Golf being heavier and having 4WD.

I do like the aggressive yet understated looks, the tech and the driving feel of a performance VW. If they felt decidedly average, I would not be buying them because their after sales support is completely sh!te, and has been for a long time.

[MilgeS]

Garage just called, they have ordered new brake pads as the old ones were rattling in their carriers and there is a TPI about that.

[MilgeS]

New pads made no difference, although doesn't seem to "clunk" in reverse now, maybe once they bed in it will return. I noticed this "groan/creek" goes away after a couple hours driving, so I reckon it's maybe a joint dried out or a hinge that once it's moved enough it loosens up, any other thoughts? I'm going back one morning while it's still making the noise, by the time I went back today it has stopped!

[chris.tayler]

New pads made no difference, although doesn't seem to "clunk" in reverse now, maybe once they bed in it will return. I noticed this "groan/creek" goes away after a couple hours driving, so I reckon it's maybe a joint dried out or a hinge that once it's moved enough it loosens up, any other thoughts? I'm going back one morning while it's still making the noise, by the time I went back today it has stopped!

My creaking/groaning went after they took all the suspension apart and greased everything. Reckon its something like that.

[MilgeS]

New pads made no difference, although doesn't seem to "clunk" in reverse now, maybe once they bed in it will return. I noticed this "groan/creek" goes away after a couple hours driving, so I reckon it's maybe a joint dried out or a hinge that once it's moved enough it loosens up, any other thoughts? I'm going back one morning while it's still making the noise, by the time I went back today it has stopped!

My creaking/groaning went after they took all the suspension apart and greased everything. Reckon its something like that.

I'll suggest that to them, I reckon you're spot on as it's worst when moving off and stopping.