Meet My Pal - Volkswagen Polo 1.2 Petrol Highline


Thread Starter #1
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
1,436
Likes
100
Location
Ghaziabad
Volkswagen Polo 1.2 Petrol Highline

Humble submission first: In the field of motoring, I am not an enthusiast, but I wish of becoming so. I have tried to explain my ownership in simple, non-technical words. All I can say is that I love driving and every part of it.

Background: I had been driving dad's Wagon-R for 4 years satisfactorily. Though a few issues of alignment and balancing used to pop up now and then, for which I blame the roads of my city. Everything was fine till October 2011 when I got a big reason for getting a new car- Marriage!
I wanted something that would upgrade me from the current vehicle within budget of 6 lakhs, suitable for a small family that I was about to start and of course appear brand new for a brand new life.

From the starting itself, I was not inclined towards a diesel vehicle. I expected running to be too low to draw advantages of diesel engine; and high maintenance, the diesel odor, noise etc. did belong to my perception about diesel ones.

So petrol hatches that were on my mind (at the start) in order of preference:
Honda Jazz -> Hyundai i20 -> Maruti Swift -> Ford Figo -> Fiat Punto -> VOlkswagen POLO

Test Drives:

Jazz: Straight away I was denied of any expected delivery of Jazz by March 2012. I Tried Brio but didn’t like it coz of less pick up, less space and flat rear appearance.

Figo: I had a TD of Figo earlier while deciding for my friend’s car. I knew I wanted something better than Figo’s interiors and better acceleration. Figo's low pick-up and bland interiors made me pass it.

Swift: I had already driven a friend’s swift, and I quite liked it. But too many of them on road. Why not try others?

Polo: I took slots for test drive of i20 and Polo in Noida, as both the showrooms were nearby.
I went to Volkswagen Showroom Viraj Automobiles for test drive. Three POLOs- red, white and silver of different variants were available for demo. Bowled over by the looks, I wondered why I don’t see many them on roads. I mean one would grab it just on basis of looks. Simple, classic, straight-linish, 'car-like' design, different from the mutant versions of a car other manufacturers are offering. I might be one of the few ones who noticed the tilted dashboard towards driver side, which further made me curious to know what else 'different' has this car to offer.

Test drive was arranged shortly and a sales guy accompanied me. I was surprised to see so much space inside a car that felt rather smaller from outside. Neat interiors, perfect dash board finish with matching stereo design, firm yet comfortable seats, adjustable seats horizontally and vertically, and impressive steering adjustment provision.

About the ride: My first observation was that peculiar forward motion (or I may call it momentum), which I never observed in any other car I had driven. As soon as I drove it, there was a pit which was negotiated very well by the car with that forward motion. Pick-up was decent enough, enjoyed the way car responded to steering commands, gears were amazing to operate. Mighty impressed with the car, I proceeded to i20 test drive.

i20: A white i20 (don’t remember the version, but was fully loaded) was arranged for test drive. I drove in huge rush of Noida's sec-18 market. The interiors of the car felt like a gaming console with blue lights, clustered dashboard, and that beautifully placed LED display on dash. The sales guy accompanying me explained all features while I continued maneuvering on the busy road. As usual SA didn’t have much time and we proceeded back to showroom to put the car back.

I was disappointed with i20. Not that I didn’t like it, but I just expected much more. The drive was good enough for me to decide upon it as final. But I felt that it was quite boring in front of Polo. Sorry i20 but direct comparison with Polo was unavoidable.

Too bad for Punto that I couldn’t arrange for her TD before Polo.

When I tried to summarize all the TDs I had done, I couldn’t get over Polo. There was a joy and feeling of being involved with the drive all the time. I didn’t feel any need for further hunt. I spent good time reading ownership reviews on net and few real world personal opinions.
Done, decided, ready to own a new manufacturer’s car, I proceeded to book a RED VOLKSWAGEN POLO 1.2 PETROL HIGHLINE.

Dealership Experience: It was great. I was delivered the vehicle a week late than promised, which is much better than any buyer would expect from a car dealer. The SA was always supportive and made a few back-date papers too on my request to let me deal with Company Loan issues. All in all, no hassles, smooth work and delivery explaining all details. And not to forget- coffee on every visit.

Factual Details:
Dealer: Viraj Automobiles, Noida Sector-6.
Booking Date & amount: Around second week of Oct ’11 & 50k
Estimated date of Delivery: Second Week of November
Actual Date when Car arrived at showroom: 20 Nov ‘11
Final Price: Rs. 653000
Freebies: Around 40k- Bajaj Allianz Insurance + 3yrs AMC. Options were to choose between Breeze edition worth 40k or a combination of few components worth 40k. I went with choosing the two components insurance and AMC. Mud flaps, textile door mats, car body cover free as accessories.

I am in love with this machine, and there’s a lot to share with you about my experiences with her as we move along this thread.

I would be coming up with driving experiences, likes & dislikes, accessories etc. soon.

Please go through first service update at 15000 kms here: http://www.theautomotiveindia.com/f...en-polo-1-2-petrol-highline-8.html#post210946


Few Pictures:
 

Attachments

Last edited:
Joined
Oct 30, 2011
Messages
745
Likes
41
Location
DOHA
Re: Meet My Pal- Volkswagen Polo 1.2 Petrol Highline

Congrats Rightnow.Another sturdy car in hatchback segment.Agree the car looks is the best to look from any angle. Do add some more initial experience of the car.
Wish you a happy and safe drive.[:)]
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
1,080
Likes
194
Location
Delhi
Congrats for such a beautiful car, so finally your thread is up and running this surely will help all Polo lovers, keep sharing your experience with Polo will be hooked to this thread for updates.
 
Joined
Jan 31, 2012
Messages
1,080
Likes
194
Location
Delhi
@Poloman why don't you start your ownership review of your Polo to make everyone more aware of your car, hope this time you consider my request, by the way i am more than happy to see your 90% post on my thread.
 
Joined
Sep 22, 2009
Messages
6,377
Likes
489
Location
NYC
Hi Rightnow,

Welcome to The Automotive India.

Many congratulations for your Red German and belated wishes for your marriage. Post some bigger pictures of your car especially the under hood pics.
 
Thread Starter #10
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
1,436
Likes
100
Location
Ghaziabad
Hi Rightnow,

Welcome to The Automotive India.

Many congratulations for your Red German and belated wishes for your marriage. Post some bigger pictures of your car especially the under hood pics.
Thanks Akash for your wishes.

Yes, next time I will try to upload HQ and bigger images. I know the current pics don't reflect the real beauty of my car.

..
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
554
Likes
9
Location
Kannur,Kerala
Congratulations on your Red VW Polo Highline.

When we were buying Beat me and my brother suggested VW polo tredline petrol but was rejected as the service station is 100kms.

How did you find the low end torque,the throttle response below 2000 rpm?
 
Thread Starter #12
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
1,436
Likes
100
Location
Ghaziabad
Congratulations on your Red VW Polo Highline.

When we were buying Beat me and my brother suggested VW polo tredline petrol but was rejected as the service station is 100kms.

How did you find the low end torque,the throttle response below 2000 rpm?
100 kms is too much. You did the right thing by not going for Polo. Though the service interval is 15k/One year, it doesn't warranty that no issues would pop up in car. Good you avoided the hassle of visiting workshop often.

I will try to explain torque thing best I can. In bumper to bumper traffic I have never faced any issue. First gear is not very smooth though. I find the torque pretty decent to maintain a low speed right behind other cars.

Throttle response- I am sorry, I don't know clearly what that is. If you may ask like a lay man, I would certainly let you know. Sorry again, I am still learning the terminologies of motoring[confused].

And btw, I will update about my driving experiences soon in this thread. You can always check it out then.

..
 
Joined
Jan 27, 2011
Messages
554
Likes
9
Location
Kannur,Kerala
100 kms is too much. You did the right thing by not going for Polo. Though the service interval is 15k/One year, it doesn't warranty that no issues would pop up in car. Good you avoided the hassle of visiting workshop often.
You are right.When we bought our ford ikon almost 11.5 years ago,the service station was 100 kms away and we suffered for a long time.


Throttle response- I am sorry, I don't know clearly what that is. If you may ask like a lay man, I would certainly let you know. Sorry again, I am still learning the terminologies of motoring[confused].

And btw, I will update about my driving experiences soon in this thread. You can always check it out then.

..
This is the definition for throttle response from wikipedia,

"Throttle response or vehicle responsiveness is a measure of how quickly a vehicle's prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine, can increase its power output in response to a driver's request for acceleration, such as a pedal being pressed. Throttles are not used in diesel engines, but the term throttle is often used to refer to any input that modulates the power output of a vehicle's prime mover. Throttle response is often confused with better power, but throttle response is rather related to time taken for change in power level."

I try to find this by pushing the pedal to the floor/push the gas pedal more and see the response.(time taken)
 
Last edited:
Thread Starter #15
Joined
Feb 3, 2012
Messages
1,436
Likes
100
Location
Ghaziabad
You are right.When we bought our ford ikon almost 11.5 years ago,the service station was 100 kms away and we suffered for a long time.




This is the definition for throttle response from wikipedia,

"Throttle response or vehicle responsiveness is a measure of how quickly a vehicle's prime mover, such as an internal combustion engine, can increase its power output in response to a driver's request for acceleration, such as a pedal being pressed. Throttles are not used in diesel engines, but the term throttle is often used to refer to any input that modulates the power output of a vehicle's prime mover. Throttle response is often confused with better power, but throttle response is rather related to time taken for change in power level."

I try to find this by pushing the pedal to the floor/push the gas pedal more and see the response.(time taken)
Okk. I would say that the throttle response is quite linear. You won't get the sudden acceleration from a slow speed to excite you, but if already at speed, the acceleration is quite good.

Overall the throttle response can be said 'average'.

..
 

Top Bottom