Volkswagen Polo Highline (Refresh) - Ownership Review


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How the search began

I had my Hyundai I10 Sportz model (2009 Make) which i purchased in second's in 2010. At time of purchase, it had completed 22,500 kms with no scratches/dents and looked clean to me. I started using it for my daily commute to work and my outings. Within 2 years i completed 45,000 kms (Apr 2012) and this is when the car started showing problems. Firstly it was the Fan Motor which didn't work. Then the battery died. Altogether there were various problems which costed me to the tune of 30k in one go. Also the car was returning me an FE of around 10-12 and considering my daily ride was around 40-60 kms, i found it insufficient. That is when i decided (Apr 2012) we need to sell this and get a diesel for the family.

The vehicles in my mind
I always wanted to upgrade to a Sedan since i already had a Hatch. The vehicles i had on mind was the New Swift Dzire (VDI), Honda City (Only Petrol Considered), Hyundai Fluidic Verna. Sadly though, my dad did not approve any of the above except the Swift Dzire since it was stretching our budget a bit [cry]. So Swift Dzire it was on my mind. Then days passed by and months passed by and this thought slowly died down.

The Change
Then one day i witnessed the Swift Dzire on the road and found it had good looks, but its boot looked somewhat funny and looked more of a bit stretched out Hatch to me. So i started having double thoughts on it (which i shouldn't without a TD). Still i started thinking if the Dzire is what i want. Then i went back to my family and spoke them out of the Dzire and new search started for a diesel Hatch, as there were not much options within the 8L budget for a Diesel Sedan.

So i started considering all the Diesel Hatches in the city and was doing my own bit of reviews and analysis. Below are my own findings, but kindly excuse since i never did a TD on any of them,

Maruti Swift - One of the oldest workhorses in the country. Almost every family has this in their household. Though it has a very good engine, i was against the Waiting Period. And this was the time there was this strike at their Manesar plant. So it was a strong NO for this.

Chevrolet Beat - Somehow, always never wanted a Chevvy in the house and also the Beat looked similar to my I10 in height and width IMO. Also i wanted a Hatch which looked big. So this was rejected too.

Ford Figo - One of the choices which i had in mind but the low height and ground clearance and also the Comfort levels in seating had to make me change my mind.

Tata Indica - NO since it was a cab IMO

Toyota Liva - Somehow did not consider this and hence didn't include it in my analysis

Hyundai I20 - Already had a Hyundai previously and hence wanted to move out to a different family.

Fiat Punto - The ASS of Fiat was a main concern for me, even though i considered it. It didn't last the race.

Volkswagen Polo - Only car of the lot which i did a TD on. Loved its looks and loved the TD i had. The TD car i got had done 8k and the car was running smoothly

After all this, i was again pondering on which one to go for.

The Decision

One fine day, about 20 odd days after me doing all my analysis part, i was getting impatient of the car changing plan not going as i had wanted. This was around the time Volkswagen starting giving promotions for the New Refresh Polo and that caught my attention since the TD vehicle was not the refresh model and i was impressed by it. So i was wondering what would be new in it and hence myself and my dad went to the Volkswagen Mount Road showroom on a Sunday afternoon.

There we were greeted by the SE with a smile and he was more than happy to help us and also we had on sight the New Refresh Polo. It had few upgrades in terms of accessories and some additions. Also the engine was fine tuned to not give out more sound on the drive. My dad had an instant liking for the car on sight since he felt it was pretty wide and had the big car feel and so we decided we will take this home.

So we came back home with the quote and did our own calculations of the repayment since i was taking up the finance option. I striked out the Trendline model since it had nothing and was eyeing either the CL or the HL models. When i did my calculations, found the difference between CL & HL was only some 80k or so and so decided will buy the HL model. Now comes the confusion as to what color. Dad wanted White. I rejected it since it is difficult to maintain and also Highline does not come in White as it is a non metallic model. I didn't want red since it was pretty common on the road and also not Grey since i already had one. So, it had to be blue or black and i decided for Black.

Two days later i went back to the showroom with my parents and paid an advance to book the car. Told the SE that i needed atleast a weeks time to sell my other car before this one can come home. So, had to wait for 10 days to sell my I10 and then asked the SE to bill my Polo. The billing process and the finance part was a breeze since my SE took care of it and there were no hassles. This was done within 24 hrs and delivery was promised in a week's time from booking (6th Oct). I was eagerly awaiting the delivery but it didn't happen in a week since the plant a Chakan didn't bill my car and was delivering batches of white's and blue's. 1 week went by, 10 days went by. Then my SE tells me the Chakan plant has billed my car on (16th Oct) and it will reach Chennai in 4 days (20th Oct) and i can have delivery by 22nd Oct. True to his words, the car reached Chennai on the specified date but due to incessant weather in the city, car couldn't be transported from their Poonamallee stockyard to the showroom on the same day or the next day. Now comes the accessories selection part. I wanted Beige Seats, Mud Flaps, Floor Mats (took a pair, one beige & one black) & car covers. Then the SE told me (Sunday 21st) since the weather is very bad at the moment they wont be able to transport it to their showroom and so, they will complete registration on Monday 22nd and then bring it to the showroom. I trusted him and gave him the green signal and also the week (22nd - 26th) being festival week, the RTO's were working only half day on 22nd and so SE informed me, regardless of registration completed or not, i can have delivery Monday evening.

Monday arrived and the car was sent for Registration and it was completed by around 2 pm. The SE informed me around 3 pm that they are setting up the accessories into the car and i can have delivery around 6 - 6.30. By 6 pm i was ready to head to the showroom with my dad and upon reaching the showroom, i was open mouthed staring at the beauty. The car gleamed in the dark night, street lights and looked every bit eye catching material. The customary pooja was done, and their engineer explained the features and then i was given the keys to go. It was a great feeling driving my new car home and once we reached home, i called upon my family for their first ride and it was fun. The excitement was very much visible.

Now, after completing 800 kms on the ODO, i am very much happy with my decision to go for the Polo. There was a short trip for an afternoon to Pondicherry last Sunday (28th) and i touched around 135 kms and then maintained 100 kms. The handling was awesome and i had 5 people in the car. Three of us were 6'1 in height (Me, My Dad, My Bro), and my mom and grandmom. Though me and my dad were in front, my mom felt a bit cramped in the rear with my bro and grandmom. That was about the only negative i could find in the car. The FE for the trip was an amazing 20 - 21 kmpl with AC full time. The stiffness in the Steering during high speeds was very relaxing. Also the turbo and the torque was very much visible after 1800 rpm. The AC is a chiller at 1. The brakes are a boon with ABS especially during high speeds. On my return from Pondicherry, it was raining heavily for the first 50 kms, but i had a cool drive with my ABS. Another Glitch i found or something i don't understand clearly is the mileage indicator in the MFD. At times, it shows 19 and at times it shows 10. Don't know which one is accurate since it keeps fluctuating. The bluetooth installed has been decent and also the reverse parking sensors have been good. Only thing which i sorely missed is, there is no Aux-in input. We have only USB in the glove box. I missed it severely though since i couldn't connect my MapMyIndia device to it. But overall, i am very happy with my buy and enjoying it every day [:D]. Also planned a trip to Pondicherry next weekend with my colleagues and to Bangalore next month with my family. There are a few photos here which i have in my mobile but please excuse me as my laptop is still not up and it has most of the pics.

The vehicle in Red was the TD car and the Black is Mine.
 

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Joined
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Congrats on your ride buddy. It looks great!
Even I own a Polo but it is the Polo TL Diesel. Its a great car indeed!
The new refreshed polo in black is looking awesome. [evil]
And 20-21 is an excellent mileage. Even I'm not getting that figures! [surprise]

Another Glitch i found or something i don't understand clearly is the mileage indicator in the MFD. At times, it shows 19 and at times it shows 10. Don't know which one is accurate since it keeps fluctuating.
It fluctuates based on the driving style every 100m I guess. Even while going uphill, it fluctuates due to the movement of diesel in the tank!
Its actually not a glitch, all the cars with MFD have the same thing. While checking mileage, it is recommended to do tankful-to-tankful method since MFD is not 100% accurate.
 
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Congratulation vasanthkumars. You made the right choice, Volkswagen Polo is the most stunning hatch in India, none can match its rock solid build, solid mature suspension setup, sedan like ride and feel. Your car looks great in black and stock alloy wheels also look great.
 
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Congratulations Vasanthkumar ! Nicely written review. :)

I agree its the best looking hatchback in India as of today. For me too, it was a tough call to choose between Petrol Liva and Petrol Polo last month. After doing a lot of thinking, analysis etc etc, finally decided on the Petrol Liva. Again, it was my personal choice considering my parameters like Comfort and Space (am 6'3 inches), hassle free maintenance and to an extend cost too (if you consider inclusion of ABS with EBD and Airbags within 6.25 lakhs in Bangalore)

But yes, Polo is a great car indeed. Enjoy your ownership experience to the fullest and have a safe ride with the beauty !
 
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Congratulations on your new Polo buddy. [clap]

And it's looking great in black.

Post more pictures of the interiors and the boot space as well.

Also i have a quick question. Does the new Polo highline come with a AUX option and rear view camera?
 
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Congratulations on your new Polo buddy. [clap]

And it's looking great in black.

Post more pictures of the interiors and the boot space as well.

Also i have a quick question. Does the new Polo highline come with a AUX option and rear view camera?
Yes, they do come with the USB, AUX and Rear camera options for the high end version.
 
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Many congratulations for your Polo buddy. The refreshed version looks killer with those alloys. Post some more pics of exteriors.
 
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Congratulation for your black German beauty.Happy driving [drive]

Did you purchase additional 2 year warranty or AMC also?
 
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Now, after completing 800 kms on the ODO, i am very much happy with my decision to go for the Polo.
The brakes are a boon with ABS especially during high speeds. On my return from Pondicherry, it was raining heavily for the first 50 kms, but i had a cool drive with my ABS.

Another Glitch i found or something i don't understand clearly is the mileage indicator in the MFD. At times, it shows 19 and at times it shows 10. Don't know which one is accurate since it keeps fluctuating.
Only thing which i sorely missed is, there is no Aux-in input.
Congrats for Polo Vasanthkumar
ABS: The brakes of polo are excellent. The braking you are experiencing is just the normal mechanism that exists in all versions of polo. The ABS comes into action only while panic braking at high speeds.

MID: It will show around 10kmpl only at the start of your journey for about 1-3 kms, after that the FE would go up and depending on the traffic ahead it will hover around +2 or -2. If you are observing 10 kmpl and 20 kmpl frequently within minutes, then there is definitely an issue with MID. So, please observe the FE display behavior closely.

Aux: I guess the Aux in is on adjacent left to the 12v slot (or cigarette lighter slot), in front of the gear knob, adjacent to bottle holder space. Check it. It was there in earlier highline diesel.

Post some more pictures of the beauty and some interior pics too.
Congrats again and wish you fun times with polo.
 
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Guyz,
I am planning to buy a Vw Polo comfortline 1.2 petrol, any suggestions.
Also, they are providing 15 inch tyres with an additional spare tyrre which is of 14 inch which continues to become an issue for me. Further, if travelling a long journey and you need to replace a single tyre your car will be now a car with three tyres of 15 inch wheel and one of 14 inch.
but because the diameter has changed in a big way, the entire tyre circumference has also been changed, rendering the speedometer inaccurate. In serious circumstances, it will cause uneven wear and tear for the tyre.
 
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Guyz,
I am planning to buy a Vw Polo comfortline 1.2 petrol, any suggestions.
Also, they are providing 15 inch tyres with an additional spare tyrre which is of 14 inch which continues to become an issue for me. Further, if travelling a long journey and you need to replace a single tyre your car will be now a car with three tyres of 15 inch wheel and one of 14 inch.
but because the diameter has changed in a big way, the entire tyre circumference has also been changed, rendering the speedometer inaccurate. In serious circumstances, it will cause uneven wear and tear for the tyre.
Its been a year with my polo and I have not used the spare tyre for even once, I have not even seen it how does it look. Don't worry, the tubeless tyres handle the punctures very well. You can cover sufficient distance with punctured tyre without damaging them and get it repaired at nearest shop.

I drove around 70 kms with severely punctured front tyre(four punctures by the way) once, and no harm to the tyres. I am sure that you will never have to use the spare tyre at all unless a tyre gets damaged completely. The spare wheel if used will not harm other tyres while driving short distances, there will not be significant drop in ride too. Just taht you have to get the flat tyre repaired as early as possible and keep the spare tyre back into boot.

About suggestions on buying polo, it would be more appropriate if you tell us your requirements and preferences. Our fellow members will be happy to help you. Nevertheless, polo is a great car, I own one.
 
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There won't be much of a issue. Just make sure you change it back to the original tyre as soon as possible.
If you are again concerned about it, after getting your car, go to the nearest tyre shop & exchange your tyre for a 15 inch one. I am sure you will get a good price since it is brand new!
 

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