UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

My desicion to buy another new Polo has taken a nose dive thanks to dubious quality concerns. We are all aware of the odd rattle, (some more than others) poor quality of VW workshop repair, and ambiguous responses to questions from VW across the world.

What can be done?

Can my concerns be alleviated by purchasing another car in the VAG range? I doubt it they all have the same quality control procedures, so is the solution to look elsewhere, Honda, BMW or can we find the solution here?

Could we all consolidate our concerns drafting an letter mailed to VW Group UK, then see what can be done. The irony is that VW have a list of all the known issues with the 9n model, could we possibly get our hands on it!!!

Great that you are going to write the letter!

Minor issues with my car:

- The handle to tilt the seat forward snapped
- When tilting the seat forward, it does not stay in position and falls back hitting the person
- Door creaking.

What about if we each submitt a list of problems to this board, then we can aggregrate everything into a list to go with des' letter.

I think what we'd need is, as well as collecting information on problems, to also carefully collect information about VIN numbers, estimated date of manufcatuer and so forth, so thet we can (hopefully!!) observe VW acting to remove early somecomings from later cars. This would require a survey independent of the board, as how in their right mind would post their VIN number in a public forum.


However, I would have two concerns with this approach:

1)
Libel - we're OK so long as we state facts only, the moment we express opinions about quality (and of dealers in particular as I guess they'd be more able to act) then we're in really dodgy ground, legally. Also, I think the final letter would have to be anonymous, submitted under cover of this forum. Do we really want to draw attention to ourselves in that way? Also, think of Josh's legal liability. He's been kind enough to setthis ting up for us - the least we can do is to get his permission to do something that could put him in a tricky situation. If he asks us not to, then we should all respect his judgement. I know you don't get cease and decist(sp?) letters in the country, but I'm pretty sure a good lawyer will now how to make that happen (injunction, anyone?)

2)
Do we really want to sully the name of the Polo in such a public manner as this? After all, from a purely selfish point of view, I have my resale value to think about!! (Not to mention my standing among my friends - although that's taken a fair hit from my personal experiences with this car so far).

Generally, I would suggest that if we do do this, we correspond through PM's or email and just use this thread to co-ordinate the effort. Then publish the results once we're absolutely sure of our facts.


I'd be willing to put the time into doing this, if you like. I'm used to compiling surveys for my job. (Usual disclaimers apply -- i.e. data analysis has never been my strong point and my statistics is shakey to say the least, but I'll give it a go!!)

Anyway - thats for the survey.

~~~~~~~~~

What would you do if you were in this position:

I've settled into my car now, and have come to accept it for what it is - and that's not what I thought it would be, given my brand aspirations.
Despite the car being "not all it could be" , my dealer is incredably good!! Fair enough, they haven't managed to fix the rattles, but they have done everything they could to try to. Just today, I stopped in because I was passing to get a price for fixing stone chips. I spotted the bodyshop guy. He was obviosuly in a rush, but stopped what he was doing, came out to the car looked at the chips and offered to fix them for free (if I bought the paint)!! He then proceeded to spend a good ten minutes chatting about the joys of owning a black car and recalling some of his personal experiences. This is a really friendly approach to customer care. And I'm loving it!!! (Shame about the car itself, really).


Sorry for the long post guys - basically, the car's not what it should be, but the dealer's is increadiably good - so how do I rationalise buying another car from them in the future? I know I'll get support from them if if I have problems, but then I shouldn't expect to.

Do I buy a Polo GTI next spring (expecting a few problems), do I wait for the Sportster in 05, or do I go somewhere else?

I'm looking at posting common problems we all experience and I'm not gunning for any dealers, that just wouldn't be fair, after all it's not the dealers fault, they merely sell and service the cars we drive.

As I said in my first post 'consolidate our concerns' no name dropping or tarnishing dealers good names here, I’m not even looking at mentioning this forum, a well structured genuine letter with valid facts should get the ball rolling.

Does anyone have any questions they need answering?

hello my dealer is great they are taking my car in soon to have all the problems i have found sorted with no trouble!

Des, hope this helps.


1-Actautor on the petrol cap failed after 2 days old
2-CD player failed after 2 weeks
3-1st Gear hard to selct a low speeds
4-Reverse is difficult to selct sometimes
5-The handle to tilt the seat forward-mine is loose
6-After front fogs being fitted- my steering collum now rattles (annoyingly)

Rest of the car is ok
1 and 2
were sorted and compensation was given to me by VW-so top marks for apologising but I'd prefer nothing to have happend in the 1st place.

At least i still have my polo!

Mikeyw wrote:Great that you are going to write the letter!

Minor issues with my car:

- The handle to tilt the seat forward snapped
- When tilting the seat forward, it does not stay in position and falls back hitting the person
- Door creaking.

1) Ditto.
2) Ditto. Though a design fault rather than manufacturing.
3) Ditto.

Right, heres my list of problems...

1) Crankshaft seal replaced twice (Cambelt once) *
2) Dashboard rattles/creaks (which I've now resorted to fixing myself)
3) Rattle from Instrument cluster, dealer refuses to replace so I'm left with £100 bill (though I suppose the chrome dials made up for it )
4) Creaks/rattles from o/s door and n/s/r 1/4 panel
5) Creak from o/s seat base (replaced but then plastic started creaking, dealer also scrathed centre console repairing this)
6) New o/s regulator (on order)
7) Reverse difficult to select (common VW problem)
Whistling noises from vents on any speed above 1 (there is a workshop campaign in Germany for this I believe)
9) n/s window seal 'shrunk' (not fitting properly above window)
10) o/s door seal rusting
11) Seat release lever comes off in hand
12) Car overfilled with oil on first service
13) Exhaust clamp worked its way loose (new clamp required)

Theres a few more but I'll edit the post as I remember

* I thought this was three times but they actually never bothered to repair it once before.

I'd really like to get this going with my recent problems with VW service (rather than the car this time). Shall we go ahead?

No worries

I'd be interested in asking VW:

1) What are the VW brand values?

2) Are these consistently applied across the range? That is, are they embedded to the same extent in the design of a Phateon and a Lupo?

3) How are the VW brand values reflected in aftersale dealer support?

4) Can VW cite examples of the translation of their values into product features?

5) Can VW cite examples of the translation of their values into dealer support?

6) Can VW summarise their intended ownership experience?


Deek

I was just thinking - if you wanted to gather quantitative evidence of the problems, what about reusing that "quality questionnaire" thing that came from an independent company (with red ink) around the same time as the standard VW questionnnaire (with blue ink)?

I should have a photocopy of mine filed away somewhere. I could dig it out, but I'd have to delete my responses off it, of course!!

Let me know who wants a copy of the letter for proof reading, just PM me your email address and I'll forward it on, I don't bother logging on at the weekend so if you do PM me, I'll mail it on Monday morning.

Des

Are these new polos this bad? seriously.
All vws since they were made in spain have never been as good as the old vw we all know and love
You try driving round a mk4 thats lowered and uprated and running 17s everyday of the week, then you'll know what a rattle is
the mk6s i have drove seemed like i was def when compaired to the mk4!
Mark

They are not all that bad, it seems Des has been extremely unlucky(some of us have had probs but they've been fixed well in my case) I take it the Mk4 rattles a lot then?? If your getting a second hand TDISport then just makes ure it doesn't rattles plus it should still have the remainder of the warrenty.

Good luck and get it bought!! What colour are you looking for?

well with 17" wheels, lowered, and uprated antiroll bars it likes to bang, and things are always rattling loose, just a price to pay for a lowered car with oversized wheels i suppose!
At first i fell in love with the mercito (sp??) blue, and reflex silver, but now im falling for a black one, they look really cool, and with the porka wheels im after, will look really smart.
Just need to find one first......