Looking at a Polo TDI

[mr_walker]

I'm looking at a Polo oil burner to keep the Jetta company in the garage at night

I've found one that is two years old and has nearly 70,000kms on the clock, and it's mostly been highway miles. After reading all of the TDI run-in tips when I got the Jetta, I'm a bit concerned that it was "run in" on the highway doing steady revs. Not sure what that will do to it, or how to tell if it's going to have problems.

Can anybody recommend the Polo TDI? Is there anything I should be looking out for?

Cheers,

Walker

[Buller_Scott]

hey there, matey!

i have a tdi, and i gotta say- im incredibly happy with the results- they're roomy, they're zippy, they go like a bat out of hell on the way up to buller (deceptively quick), and the fuel economy is ridiculous!

i definitely recommend the tdi if you want a practical economical daily driver thats built to vw quality.

in terms of kms- you know how most people like to advertise their daily drivers as "mostly highway kms, because i drive to and from work on the eastern freeway"? maybe you should ask the owner how they drove the car, honestly, that you know diesels and you'd like to know how they REALLY drove the car- maybe they will cave and tell you the truth (wouldnt it be good if they answer with "well, i'd keep under 3k revs until it got warm, then i'd rev it to 4k, thrash it here and there, didnt use cruise control, and i used full throttle acceleration a few seconds at a time now and then"?

like this guy said: -When the engine is cold rev the engine to at least 2,500 rpms.
-When the engine is warmed up rev the engine to no less than 3,000 rpms.
The reason for this is to keep the turbo on boost, clear the VNT guide vanes and apply firm pressure to the rings for optimal sealing against blow-by gasses. The rings need the boost to seal since it’s a turbo charged engine, babying the engine is detrimental and will lead to issues with compression if done so for very long.

i know i've just re-posted a well known post, but i hope it all works out well for ya, they're a great little car.

enjoy.

[mr_walker]

hey there, matey!

maybe you should ask the owner how they drove the car...

Thanks for the info Buller_Scott. I already asked the guy, and the response was that he "ran it in as per the manual - low speeds for the first 1500km" Not what I was looking for, but I'll speak to him next week in person.

I know the diesel run in post very well, after I did the research for my Jetta TDI. Here's hoping...

Sounds like an awesome little car. I'm looking to upgrade our 1.3 auto Charade, so the difference should be slightly noticeable

[Pumpe-Düse]

If you're after a reliable, economical, safe, family/economy car that's a tad on the fun side to drive and has OK poke, the Polo 1.9 TDI is definitley a top choice.

If you're after something sporty, fast, good handling, good under brakes, good steering, invigourating to drive, look elsewhere.

I'm finding this dilemma with my TDI (it doesn't handle or brake well and its slow) and looking at upgrading it to a GTI if I can.

But then, I'm a single young male who likes sports cars and doesn't care about practicality (if I had the $ to buy one, I'd daily a Lotus Exige... hehe)

[mr_walker]

If you're after a reliable, economical, safe, family/economy car that's a tad on the fun side to drive and has OK poke, the Polo 1.9 TDI is definitley a top choice.

If you're after something sporty, fast, good handling, good under brakes, good steering, invigourating to drive, look elsewhere.

I'm finding this dilemma with my TDI (it doesn't handle or brake well and its slow) and looking at upgrading it to a GTI if I can.

But then, I'm a single young male who likes sports cars and doesn't care about practicality (if I had the $ to buy one, I'd daily a Lotus Exige... hehe)

Cheers - I'm sure that compared to the Charade it will feel like a rocket

[GoLfMan]

i drive a Chipped Polo TDI tromp it in 2nd and it'll light up the bags in a straight line!

awesome economy, comfy, ill have to dissagree there Pumpe Duse i recon they stop and handle quite well for a stock runabout

dont worry about this running in crap, they are run in from the factory, just buy it and drive it, dont get hung up on heresay. As long as its been maintaned properly it will be fine.

[Buller_Scott]

interesting- not to say anything against polo gti's because they are an awesome little rocket, but for the price of a polo gti couldnt you just get a polo tdi, chip it and put it on coils, as well as a bmc panel filter and a seat intake and better tyres, and it would be a "sportier" car than the stock gti anyway, as well as being more practical and economical?

obviously im not comparing apples with apples, as a chipped gti would floor many, many cars, but i was just saying financially, it would be more feasible to do that than to get a pog gti and keep it dead stock.

as you said, pumpe duse, practicality isnt an issue for you (bastardo!), but i was just speaking in broader, more general terms, to mostly myself.....

[mr_walker]

Oh how I wish practicality wasn't an issue

... or finances

... or time

... or my short supply of homebrew at the moment!

[Pumpe-Düse]

interesting- not to say anything against polo gti's because they are an awesome little rocket, but for the price of a polo gti couldnt you just get a polo tdi, chip it and put it on coils, as well as a bmc panel filter and a seat intake and better tyres, and it would be a "sportier" car than the stock gti anyway, as well as being more practical and economical?

obviously im not comparing apples with apples, as a chipped gti would floor many, many cars, but i was just saying financially, it would be more feasible to do that than to get a pog gti and keep it dead stock.

as you said, pumpe duse, practicality isnt an issue for you (bastardo!), but i was just speaking in broader, more general terms, to mostly myself.....

The thing is... I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on spending $25,000 on a car and then doing potentially warranty voiding modifications to make it as good as a slightly more expensive car. Plus to equal a Polo GTI would cost the difference between a Polo 1.9 TDI and Polo GTI drive-away anyway.

You'd need...

Intake (the stock one is tiny)
Exhaust & Flash
Springs & Shocks
Wheels & Tyres
Brakes

The stock 14 x 6 steelies with 185/60 R14's (cheapo Continental economy tyres at that) are bad, it doesn't stop very well compared to the hot hatches, desperately needs better suspension and yeah. Plus then you've got all the little interior toys the GTI has that the TDI doesn't... the bolstered seats, side airbags, other airbags, leather wheel, MP3 CD thingie, the screen in the dash that tells you things etc etc.

I might be able to give a small amount of cash on top of my Polo and turn it into a GTI for 29k driveaway... and I'm really thinking about doing it.

[Pumpe-Düse]

i drive a Chipped Polo TDI tromp it in 2nd and it'll light up the bags in a straight line!

awesome economy, comfy, ill have to dissagree there Pumpe Duse i recon they stop and handle quite well for a stock runabout

dont worry about this running in crap, they are run in from the factory, just buy it and drive it, dont get hung up on heresay. As long as its been maintaned properly it will be fine.

Re running in, I don't know about yours but mine said in the manual to take it easy for the first 1500km and avoid going 75% or more of the vehicle's top speed... which is 188km/h, so 75% of that is 141km/h. Other then that, no worries.

Re handling - before my old Clio 172 I had a Fiesta Zetec, a stock runabout thing... and it would hand the Polo its butt around a twisty road. So does my friend's 1.6L standard Clio. And the old man had a 1.4 16V 6N3 Polo (2001) a while ago, it also kicks the 9N's arse in the turns. Personally I feel VW cheapened up alot with the move from 6N to 9N Polo.

[GoLfMan]

i dunno, my stock 6n Polo (8v) suspension was pretty shocking, i just recon VW's stock suspension is shocking in general for the non sport models.

yeh thats just a general thing, how hard can you really drive a car around town anyway, and there is no where in Aus you can get to 141km/h without a licence loss so i dont think many cars are in danger of a poor run in process?

i agree the Fiesta has class leading handling so the car mags keeping raving on about anyway!

[Buller_Scott]

awww warranties were meant to be voided.....

good point, though- i dont think i'll be doing much more than seat intake and chip and rear sway bar until the warranty expires.......

that, with some decent rubber, should still make the car fun, especially on the road up to buller....

you know, i had my heart set on a ford xr4 after i crashed my vr6. for AGGGGEEEEEESSSSSSSS. but then i heard the turbo whooosh of a polo gti and turned around to look at it, but it was already gone, off into the distance. from that moment on, i just had to have one. long story short, the tdi won me over, but i realise that im one of very very few whom that would be the case for.

[mr_walker]

So I met the seller today, and checked out the MY07 Polo TDI. Gotta say I'm pretty disappointed with the condition of the paintwork. He described it as excellent, and it has 3-4 dents in various panels, and scratches all over the place. Pretty bad for a 2 year old car IMO ... but it could be my OCD taking over.

He mentioned that it had to go back to the dealer once with an engine fault warning that was fixed by replacing a fuse. Is this something I should be worried about? It also has a strange knocking sound somewhere in the right hand rear area, that he said needs to go back to the dealer for a look.

It's been used for long distance commuting into Canberra, which is why it has racked up nearly 70000k's in two years. That concerns me a bit as well, because he didn't seem to know much about giving the diesel a good work out to keep it going strong.

Why do people abuse their cars like this? I almost want to buy it just so he can't do any more damage to it

So ... I'm bidding low, waiting for a decent test drive and insisting on a mechanics inspection. It has about a year of new car warranty left, but you can't be too sure.

Anyway ... if I can get a good price I'll probably go with it ... maybe. Problem is that SWMBO is already getting emotionally attached to it

[pologti18t]

It's been used for long distance commuting into Canberra, which is why it has racked up nearly 70000k's in two years. That concerns me a bit as well, because he didn't seem to know much about giving the diesel a good work out to keep it going strong.

Ummm, what do you think diesels are built for? Notice all those trucks/buses cruising up/down the freeway at the speed limit?

[gerhard]

So I met the seller today, and checked out the MY07 Polo TDI. Gotta say I'm pretty disappointed with the condition of the paintwork. He described it as excellent, and it has 3-4 dents in various panels, and scratches all over the place. Pretty bad for a 2 year old car IMO ... but it could be my OCD taking over.

He mentioned that it had to go back to the dealer once with an engine fault warning that was fixed by replacing a fuse. Is this something I should be worried about? It also has a strange knocking sound somewhere in the right hand rear area, that he said needs to go back to the dealer for a look.

It's been used for long distance commuting into Canberra, which is why it has racked up nearly 70000k's in two years. That concerns me a bit as well, because he didn't seem to know much about giving the diesel a good work out to keep it going strong.

Why do people abuse their cars like this? I almost want to buy it just so he can't do any more damage to it

So ... I'm bidding low, waiting for a decent test drive and insisting on a mechanics inspection. It has about a year of new car warranty left, but you can't be too sure.

Anyway ... if I can get a good price I'll probably go with it ... maybe. Problem is that SWMBO is already getting emotionally attached to it

Mate, after a Charade 1.3 Auto, I'm not surprised your better half's getting attached to the Polo Not bagging the Daihatsu here (my wife drives a Sirion GTVi), but there IS a slight improvement to be seen in the Polo hehe.

If you're worried about the condition of the used one, why not go get a new one - that's what credit cards are for.......

70,000k on a highway commuter diesel - not even run in yet. You would still have one year warranty left.