I owned it from new (March 2016) and it’s been a really good car - only going back to the dealers for routine servicing and MOT’s, it’s been utterly reliable and has never let me down. In a way I’m sad to see it go
I opted for Deep Iron dashpads as I’m not too keen on the standard Velvet Red ones. Apart from that, the only option I went for was the reversing camera - not necessary on a small car I hear some of you say. However, I have a long standing back problem that means I sometimes find it a little difficult to twist and turn to look out of the rear screen when reversing, so the camera helps.
It’s the first non-manual car I’ve owned in over 40 years of driving. However, even if there was a manual option I still think I’d probably have gone for DSG this time on ‘medical grounds’ as using the clutch - especially in stop start traffic - can be painful at times with my back problem.
In terms of lead times for my car;
- ordered 13/02/2020.
text and email updates;
- 31/03/2020 build confirmed. Dealer advised provisional build date was end of April, but Covid-19 changed all that and pushed the build week back around 10 weeks.
- 10/07/2020 stage 5a (car built and left the factory). My car was on Glovis Century along with some other forum members’ cars.
- 20/08/2020 stage 5b (at Emden).
- 20/08/2020 stage 5c (en route from Emden to UK).
- 21/08/2020 stage 6 (in the UK).
- 04/09/2020 stage 7 (at dealers).
Collection day; today (09/09/2020), so just shy of 7 months from order to collection.
My dealer has been pretty good and updated me at each stage of the journey of my car - and sometimes just to tell me there was no progress, although I’d been getting the texts and emails, so I usually knew the progress before the dealer contact.
Initial impressions - it seems quite large compared to the previous generation Polo, it’s quieter and more refined and the ride is less firm and more compliant than my previous GTI, even on larger 18” wheels and Bridgestone tyres. I need to spend some time to get used to the DSG. I don’t like the way it seems to change up gears too soon (in my opinion). On the 30 mile journey back from the dealers, I kept it in manual mode most of the time, so I could have control over gear changes.
I’m not planning on modding it - I’m far too old for that sort of thing