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We have just traded in our 1998 Polo for a Mark V SE DSG with just 14,000m on the clock after 4 years. So all good so far . . .

When the Mark III rear seat squabs were folded up vertically, they were protected on the underside by a metal plate. This Mark V has no such plate - just the seat foam held behind metal struts. My question is: Is this normal? And, if so, is there a protective sheet available to prevent pointy objects damaging the foam?

Welcome

Can you post a photo?

For reference your car is a mk8 for enthusiast/forum purposes

iainc wrote:We have just traded in our 1998 Polo for a Mark V SE DSG with just 14,000m on the clock after 4 years. So all good so far . . .
My question is: Is this normal? And, if so, is there a protective sheet available to prevent pointy objects damaging the foam?

Yes it's normal. I suspect it's down to VW pencil pushers looking for cost/weight savings in their design. VW quality is not what it once was, just wait until you find the rubbish, foam filled plastic bags behind the headlamps!

On the upside, the squabs can be easily removed altogether by simply un-latching the clips. I tend to keep an old blanket in the little storage area under the boot floor and cover the fragile bits with that when loading up the car.

Hummm, I spotted one of these plastic bags with foam in it stuffed down where the carbon filter pipe goes on my daughter's 2009 Ibiza - so that explains that!

Cutting costs, the same as other OEMs. I work in automotive engineering, that's normal and sometimes a shame to see how ridiculous are some savings.
Remember the little sun visor behind the rear mirror in the Golf IV/Audi A3 8L? And the elegant auto-rolling system to hold the rear shelf? They're lost since them. Same kind of things with BMW, MB, etc.

98octaneblood wrote:Cutting costs, the same as other OEMs. I work in automotive engineering, that's normal and sometimes a shame to see how ridiculous are some savings.
Remember the little sun visor behind the rear mirror in the Golf IV/Audi A3 8L? And the elegant auto-rolling system to hold the rear shelf? They're lost since them. Same kind of things with BMW, MB, etc.

I think you're right, in that it's a common strategy that's been adopted by all manufacturers. It does niggle me in the Polo though, I've run Vdubs for almost 25 years and it's the first one I've run where they've obviously cheapened things to save money. The little sun visor you mentioned and the pneumatic bonnet strut for another. Not sure about the foam filled plastic bags behind the headlamps, that could be a cheapo fix to a design oversight. It's the sort of thing you would maybe expect to see at the bottom end of the market. However the Polo, is far from a cheap car, the 1.2TSi SEL 5Dr is £16,890 as standard, that's far from cheap and the profit margins must be very good. Don't get me wrong I like the car and it still feels well screwed together but the competition is not as far behind as it was and does it cheaper. Skoda are now as close as makes no difference, the equivalent New Fabia (1.2SEL) is £3k cheaper, same platform, components form same factories. (I doubt VAG are bothered, it's all money in the bank)

If they were metal they would only dent, there is something to be said for the foam in that respect.

I remember using one from a spare MK2 Escort estate as a "wet weather" top cover for the BBQ - just the job! (weighed as much as the BBQ though!)

Thanks for the confirmation, Wolfie. I didn't know about the unlatching.

I'll have a closer look later and see if I can find some thin barrier that I could slid between the foam and the struts. It's not a major issue - we hardly used the old Polo for major load carrying anyway.

Re Version Number

Alex: Thanks for pushing me to the correct version of 8. Honest John (and elsewhere) describes the 2009> Polo as Mark V; which is why I quoted that at the start of the Post. So, puzzled . . .

iainc wrote:Re Version Number

Alex: Thanks for pushing me to the correct version of 8. Honest John (and elsewhere) describes the 2009> Polo as Mark V; which is why I quoted that at the start of the Post. So, puzzled . . .

As such, it is a Mk5 as officially its this:

Mk3 - 6n
Mk3f - 6n2
Mk4 - 9n
Mk4f - 9n3
Mk5 - 6R

But the terminology with the f (for facelift) makes it awfully confusing hence Mk8

The problem with these 'omissions' which only cost a couple of quid is that they do add up when you're producing so many vehicles. My Up!, for example, has electric front windows, but no driver's-side switch for the passenger side, meaning I have to lean across to the passenger door to open the window. Mad!

It would only cost £1 to add the switch, but VW don't do it for two reasons:

1. £1 x 1,000,000 cars = £1m saved

2. Customers are 'forced' to move up to the Polo

...and that's exactly what I have had to do

TheFrog wrote:The problem with these 'omissions' which only cost a couple of quid is that they do add up when you're producing so many vehicles. My Up!, for example, has electric front windows, but no driver's-side switch for the passenger side, meaning I have to lean across to the passenger door to open the window. Mad!

It would only cost £1 to add the switch, but VW don't do it for two reasons:

1. £1 x 1,000,000 cars = £1m saved

2. Customers are 'forced' to move up to the Polo

...and that's exactly what I have had to do

The Up window switch is an odd one, I was chatting with my mate who has one. VW already have a parts bin full of window switches that are set-up for both doors. It's more likely that the single switch cost them money to deign rather than pick one off the shelf. Granted across a 1,000,000 cars it's a theoretical saving but that £1 add on normally costs the customer £100's worth of option packs. I think it has more to do with how they bracket different vehicles into different segments. As you say if you made the Up too nice they'd sell less Polo's and the same up the range. That said the Up is expensive for what it is when compared to the equivalent CitiGo or Mii. VW have become very adept at milking the perceived quality difference, even if in real world use it doesn't exist.

I don't want to sound like I'm bashing VW, I've had nothing but for years. But 20 years back the quality differential between a VW and say a Ford was pretty big. I don't think you could say that today. I don't know if it's VW have become worse or the competition have become better. Just look at Kia, 20 years ago people would laugh at them, now they're selling em by the bucket full.

With the Up windows, they should have done what Fiat did with the Panda and 500- put the switches in the centre console. No extra switches, but the driver can reach both. Weirdly, the Ups built in Brasil have regular window switches, with controls for the passenger side window in the driver's door as well!

Also- a lot of the removal of things has been to reduce weight. New cars are being put on serious diets, in order to improve fuel consumption, and so the removal of a fairly unimportant piece of sheet steel from the seat squab is a no-brainer.