Polo reliability and the latest What Car report

[Alboyuk]

I have just read the latest What Car reliability report and the Polo does not do very well it states that 30% plus people have had a problem with their Polo in the first 2 yrs , any comments on reliability would be welcome , what are your experiences with Polo reliability , I have one on order and am thinking of cancelling the order.

[S_94]

Polo GTI+ 2019 (May).

The only 'issue' I had was the brakes making a 'squeaking' noise when reversing. Many people on the forum had the same issue. This was fixed by VW... eventually.

It wasn't dangerous, just mildly annoying. Apart from that, the car has been very reliable for me.

[lancslad1985]

I had a polo gti+ with mooing brakes. Wasn’t dangerous just a pain. Currently have the facelift gti and the WeConnect (and therefore server updates) don’t work but again it isn’t dangerous. My wife’s on her third polo of this gen (pre and post facelift) and only one minor issue with the lining on the rear wheel arch of one and was fixed in an hour.

I don’t trust most of these warranty surveys. Most of the cheaper brands are near the top when I’ve looked as people expect them to have issues and don’t complain.

[Noonoo632]

Only one small problem here, the warning on passenger seat belt being fastened stopped working, fixed while in for its first service, otherwise hasn't missed a beat

[SRGTD]

No relatability issues with my GTI+. I get the mooing brake noise - only happens after I’ve washed the car and the discs get wet; doesn’t happen any other time when reversing, so I can live with the occasional mooing.

IMHO build quality isn’t the best though - the build quality of my previous generation Spanish built GTI was much better.

[OomStu_ZA]

My vehicle is the same as S-94 - May 2019. Also had brake noises but have since been resolved by VW. Another issue I had was something called "Fish hooking" by the mechanics at VW. One of the injectors appeared faulty but turned out it somehow resolved itself. Lastly, on 2 or 3 occasions the DSG seemed to stick in 2nd gear. I'm not too worried because my motor plan is up to 150 000KM so any issues it goes straight back to VW.

[Flashredpolo]

I have the mooing brakes (yet to be booked in). I've also experienced my DSG gear selector unit failing. The car would demand to be left in P but error would go after the shifted in to second or third gear. Thankfully this was fixed by VW on my extended warranty. Would have been a £900 job!

[Ping]

Well my Polo -18 that I bought used had issue with the gearbox (reverse synchron ring worn). Got it swapped on warranty to a used one.I feel like the swapped gearbox is having the tendancy to the same issue sometimes. So now I just wait like 1-2 extra second before putting gear in reverse. Will check with the mechanic next time it's in for service.

Other than Gearbox. I've had no issues so far, more than normal maintanance stuff like changing brake discs and pads. So I feel like the Gearbox is the only major weakness sofar, from my perspective.

[VWPolo1_0]

Well my Polo -18 that I bought used had issue with the gearbox (reverse synchron ring worn). Got it swapped on warranty to a used one.I feel like the swapped gearbox is having the tendancy to the same issue sometimes. So now I just wait like 1-2 extra second before putting gear in reverse. Will check with the mechanic next time it's in for service.

Other than Gearbox. I've had no issues so far, more than normal maintanance stuff like changing brake discs and pads. So I feel like the Gearbox is the only major weakness sofar, from my perspective.

Sounds like a familiar issue. Sometimes it won't go into reverse. Will have to put it into 2nd gear, then put it into reverse. Bit weird, but it works

Oh and my sisters facelift AW polo sometimes gives an error of right rear signal not working and it will start hyperflashing. When she gets out to check it though, it just works. Still under warranty, but no time to take it to the dealer yet.

[Harrihealey02]

My Polo SEL 2019 has had a lot of problems. Some minor and some serious but I’m still happy with VW, always have a courtesy car each time I have had work done.

Problems (all fixed under warranty)
-Front USB ports not working from first day (something was not plugged in behind dash)
-Small wires appearing from side of rear USB port fixture cover
- AC hose pipe not connected from first day (noticed after a year as always had wet carpets - interior carpet replacement
- air vent driver side was not working from day 1 - replaced
- hand brake button made rattling noise - replaced
- rear window wiper mechanism became loud - replaced
- DPF filter became faulty (black smoke from exhaust) - replaced
- EGR valve blocked (caused by faulty DPF) - replaced
- rear interior roof light button stopped working passenger side spotlight - replaced
- heatshield became loose under car, tightened and altered
- lose knocking sound from passenger side wheel - dock absorber replaced - still occurring soo taking in on November 4th (think it is the shock absorber top bearing)
- whirring noise from gearbox when turning sharp left or right (have not found cause but is a known issue with the gearbox from the past needing updated oil)

It’s been a very good car and other than the problem which have been fixed under warranty every time it hasn’t been unpleasant - and I get a nice shiny new car when it was bright in.

My mate has a polo from 2018 beats version and he’s only had one problem with the mechanism in the passenger side mirror which was replaced under warranty. He’s had no issues apart from that.

[Leif]

I think my 18 plate Polo is great.

In the first year the front wipers failed in torrential rain just after exiting the M3. Had they failed on the M3, I would have caused a nasty crash, as I literally had zero visibility. It was fixed under warranty with a courtesy car. I had issues with the CarPlay, tried several cables, same issues, eventually it worked and the issue was the cables, not the car. Any fault in the cable, or a mediocre quality cable, and it crashes. So, not VWs fault.

The wiper failure was serious, but fortunately no harm done. The car is otherwise reliable, quiet, smooth and comfortable.

These days cars are reliable, so even though thr Polo did not do so well in the survey, it’s still good. You might want to ask how reliable a car is once out of warranty. The impression I had from my Up, and now my Polo, is that although they might have assembly faults, the build and design quality are very good.

Note also that very complex cars, ie high end, often do badly in surveys because they have a lot that can go wrong. Thus Range Rovers have complex electronics and suspensions. They can and do go wrong and repairs are expensive. A Polo is not a status car, repairs are reasonable.

[MikeDO]

Only had my Polo GTI a few weeks so far. But everything seems to work and zero issue so far.

Basically, any make/model of car can have faults / problems. It's luck of the draw to a certain extent.
A friend of mine bought a Porsche cayenne last year and that's been back to the dealers the best part of a dozen times in just under 12 months . And some of the issues have not exactly been minor! And that cost John the thick end of £70k!!

I personally would not consider canceling a new car order because of a magazine reliability report.

[Mike222]

Everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago ! Coolant light came on . I checked the level and it was down a little, so I topped it up and thought no more of it , the following day the light came on again, checked level and it was down again . I must have a leak !!! The car has done 12000 miles and was TEN days ! Out of warranty! My dealer said to bring it over and they will have a look , so that’s what I did . I was contacted later and told the water pump was leaking . Obviously it had to be replaced so gave them the go ahead . They had water pump in stock ( very telling!)
On collection I was presented with an invoice for £642 which I had to pay . I had expressed my opinion that for a vehicle of this age there should be some sort of goodwill reimbursement, but this was denied, We have had 3 cars from this dealer and always go there for service.
This has a left a very sour taste and will probably be instrumental in me buying my next car , definitely from a different retail group , and maybe even a different manufacturer
Apart from the mooing brakes which was sorted during the three year warranty period my car behaved faultlessly .
( my mpg computer resets to zero vey randomly , my dealer denies any knowledge of this )

[SRGTD]

Everything was fine until a couple of weeks ago ! Coolant light came on . I checked the level and it was down a little, so I topped it up and thought no more of it , the following day the light came on again, checked level and it was down again . I must have a leak !!! The car has done 12000 miles and was TEN days ! Out of warranty! My dealer said to bring it over and they will have a look , so that’s what I did . I was contacted later and told the water pump was leaking . Obviously it had to be replaced so gave them the go ahead . They had water pump in stock ( very telling!)
On collection I was presented with an invoice for £642 which I had to pay . I had expressed my opinion that for a vehicle of this age there should be some sort of goodwill reimbursement, but this was denied, We have had 3 cars from this dealer and always go there for service.
This has a left a very sour taste and will probably be instrumental in me buying my next car , definitely from a different retail group , and maybe even a different manufacturer
Apart from the mooing brakes which was sorted during the three year warranty period my car behaved faultlessly .
( my mpg computer resets to zero vey randomly , my dealer denies any knowledge of this )

The water pump (and thermostat housing) is one of the few - maybe only - weak point of VW’s 2.0 litre EA888 petrol engine. I think yours is the first failure I’ve heard of in the Polo GTI, but there are quite a few failures in mk7 / mk7.5 Golf GTI’s and R’s reported on various Golf forums.

It’s very disappointing no goodwill contribution was offered towards the cost of repairs, bearing in mind your long term dealings with this dealer and the car only just being out of warranty. Unfortunately since Dieselgate, VW seem to have adopted a much firmer / harsher approach to both goodwill payments and warranty issues; money saved on goodwill and warranty claims helps to offset the cost of Dieselgate.

If you’re planning on keeping your car for another couple of years or longer, it might be worth considering getting an aftermarket warranty or VW’s All-In warranty product (2 year’s warranty, 2 services, 2 years roadside assistance and 2 MOT’s).

[Mike222]

Thanks for your response (SRGTD).
it’s ironic that as the three year warranty period end was approaching I was offered a extended warranty as you might expect!
I declined, basically because of the reliability of all the Volkswagen vehicles I have owned and driven before and never had a problem! ( hindsight is a wonderful thing isn’t it ? )
I remember many years ago (35 ) !! I got a job at a VW dealership as parts manager. The first training event I was sent on was called “the customer comes first “ and we were told that dissatisfied customers may not complain, they don’t come back !
It’s sad that this ethos isn’t around today .