UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

My GTI has just been in for its DSG service and the dealer called me to ask about additional works.

He described my handbrake as "notchy" and suggested a cable replacement at £293. Is this the only fix or would an adjustment solve this issue? Or perhaps I'd be better off going to a VW specialist?

Thanks

There were a number of forum members that had their handbrake cables replaced under warranty a few years back; some due to the handbrake having a notchy feeling action like yours, and others because the handbrake wouldn’t hold the car when parked on an incline. From memory, the latter issue was on smaller engines Polos with rear drum brakes. If you use the forum’s advanced search function and restrict your search to this forum board, you should find a number of posts relating to both issues.

It’s a shame your car’s not still under warranty as you could also have had it rectified under warranty.

I think I’d at least get some alternative quotes from reputable independent VW specialists to see if they quote a more competitive price. You could also ask them whether any form of adjustment would cure it.

yes (small engine/rear drums) I had a replacement suggested and the VW franchise applied for permission to do the work under the two year warranty of my used Polo.. about a week left on it

it was as the OP mentioned.. notchy. The car was approx four yrs old at the time of replacing but it was like that when buying it two years ago. Yes I should have gone back with it but I had to travel a distance to get this model with the features I wanted - so not down the road local

Now it is smooth as silk.. why they chased this was debatable? However I suggest that they messed up the car last time it was in and among other things 'updated the software' on the car when i took it in for an unusually high idle RPM (1400!)

I'm guessing the charge is about what I'd expect of this work given the charges for everything lese they do. I'd go independent when out of warranty personally (or even before for certain maintenance things)

I think for some cars, built round about 1st quarter of 2019 - and maybe starting a bit earlier, all VW Group marques did recognise that there was an issue with the handbrakes of any/all models from this size of car, my daughter's early May 2019 re'd SEAT Arona 1.0TSI 115PS Lux Xcel had the workshop action carried out twice, hard to see that SEAT would have paid for this "fix" twice - unless they knew that carrying it out did not fully address this issue. Certainly when I first drove this car maybe 2 weeks ago, the handbrake action could be best described as "horrible", I'm used to the feel of the handbrake on my wife's 2015 VW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS SEL, and it is a lot less "pleasing" that the feel of the handbrake on her 2002 VW Polo 1.4 75PS SE - and all of them had/have rear disc brakes, so I'm making a reasonable comparison. VW Group have not positioned the operating handle in the best position in these newer cars, okay it needed moving to satisfy the "need" for a cup holder - but surely their plan should have been to satisfy both requirements.

Edit:- I wonder if the aftermarket is the place to look for replacement and maybe even better handbrake cables, as I would not think that VW Group will be losing much sleep over this seeing as the way forward is electric handbrake operation so that proper "hill hold" can be implemented in the next version of this market sector offering.

Definitely the worst handbrake in my 60 years of VW motoring, as mentioned above, its angle is wrong and there is no springy feeling in it, I just use the hill assist or whatever its called on any steep hill, if you stamp on the brake pedal before pulling the handbrake it will just about hold. The performance numbers below are interesting though, even though the 2005 has slightly less performance it feels and works fine with the original rear drum brake linings, I renewd the front pads a few monthe before its last NCT recently.
The service brake performance on the 2005 is way better than the 2019 Polo but the 2019 seems to brake very well!!.

It was back once for "fixing".

2005 Polo Parking Brake Performance: 26%. 2019: 29%
2005 Polo Service Brake Performance: 83%. 2019: 66%

From what has been said I'm beginning to wonder whether my handbrake was some kind of recall...

It definitely has proper feel to it now.