Polo Front anti-roll bar!!

[d1esel]

Hi, mine is a 1.4tdi 02reg polo with 30k on the clock. The front roll bar bushes have collapsed and the dealers say it needs a new bar and updated bushes. £260 all in sounds a bit steep to me. Anybody know of a way to get vw to help out?:mad:

[Pozzer6]

Hi

I have a 3 year old 1.4 SE with 40k miles which developed squeaking then knocking from front end. My local independent garage has told me its the anti roll bar which has moved and is rubbing on the suspension mount. It also looks like the bushes are coming adrift. I'm taking the car to the VW garage on wednesday so we'll see what they say ! Seems to me to be a fault but I can't find anything on the VW site.

Pozzer

[cyelland]

Hello, I have a Polo 1.4 SE FSI, 2003, with 42k on the clock. Took it in for MOT today and they tell me an anti-roll bar needs replacing,costing £170. Sounds like other people had this problem too, so I don't feel *quite* as angry as I did about 1/2 hr ago. I have to say that my Polo has been extremely expensive since the warranty expired, the heater went wrong £600, the inlet manifold went wrong, another £600, endless problems. Also I am very unhappy about the VW servicing, i.e. extremely expensive, and when told to fix a problem they do half a job, and create another 4 or 5 problems. Here's another problem: the door mirror adjustment. When set to 'R' the joystick adjusts BOTH mirrors at the same time. I told my local dealer this and they told me "oh it's meant to do that" ha ha yeah right! So why didn't it do this when new? "No idea sir!" Rubbish. I must look like a moron or something. I am driving my Polo for another year and getting rid of it. Needless to say I am never going buy another VW either new or used. It's back to Japanese for me. My previous car was a second hand Micra and it never went wrong in 10 years.

[Clem]

Hello all,

I had this problem on my previous POLO a 2003 1.4 FSI Sport. It had done less than 20k miles when it developed a knocking sound from the front.

Dealer told me it needed a new roll bar because the bushes were worn.
In the past these bushes could be replaced seperately, now they are bonded to the roll bar.

When I took the car along to have the work done they took the roll bar off
then realised the did'nt have a new one in stock ! They refitted the old one and I had to go back 2 days later to have it done.

These bushes seem to be a problem on the newer models. I wonder if any other moderls in the VW range have the same trouble.

[cyelland]

hmmm..well my car wasn't making any funny noises. Maybe the VW garage justs thought "ahh, here's another mug - let come out with anti-roll bar story". VW = rip off.

[g40jon]

try powerflex! they sell retro-fit poly bushes. all you have to do is remove the old ones and refit the new ones. they will last much longer and you wont have to replace the ARB. if you dont want to diy it, most ecent independant will fit them for you and it will still work out cheaper, plus your car will handle better too.

[NeilMorey]

My Wife's Polo had exactly same problem, the plastic bushes deteriorate with age and then the bar is free to move about and hits the underbody making the knocking noise.

The bushes aren't designed to be replaced but a decent garage wil be able to repair rather than replace by using a slightly smaller bush to make up for the wear that has occurred.

I got told all this by Bellingham Motors in Edinburgh who successfully fixed it on our car.

[BODGE]

Hi, mine is a 1.4tdi 02reg polo with 30k on the clock. The front roll bar bushes have collapsed and the dealers say it needs a new bar and updated bushes. £260 all in sounds a bit steep to me. Anybody know of a way to get vw to help out?:mad:


02 models had a weak anti roll bar according to a friend of mine who also had and 02 plate (like myself). When it failed after a measily 20,000 low miles he complained to VW UK who acknowledged it wasn't upto the job but refused to reimburse him for either the new uprated part or the labour costs involved in having it changed.

Mine failed at 57,000 miles - not cheap to get it repaired.

[BODGE]

Hello, I have a Polo 1.4 SE FSI, 2003, with 42k on the clock. Took it in for MOT today and they tell me an anti-roll bar needs replacing,costing £170. Sounds like other people had this problem too, so I don't feel *quite* as angry as I did about 1/2 hr ago. I have to say that my Polo has been extremely expensive since the warranty expired, the heater went wrong £600, the inlet manifold went wrong, another £600, endless problems. Also I am very unhappy about the VW servicing, i.e. extremely expensive, and when told to fix a problem they do half a job, and create another 4 or 5 problems. Here's another problem: the door mirror adjustment. When set to 'R' the joystick adjusts BOTH mirrors at the same time. I told my local dealer this and they told me "oh it's meant to do that" ha ha yeah right! So why didn't it do this when new? "No idea sir!" Rubbish. I must look like a moron or something. I am driving my Polo for another year and getting rid of it. Needless to say I am never going buy another VW either new or used. It's back to Japanese for me. My previous car was a second hand Micra and it never went wrong in 10 years.

i've had a lot of suspension problems with mine, plus the fact that both motors for both rear windows are faulty. Also found out today that the A/C compressor has failed.

I agree - I'll not be buying VW again. Had a Ford previously - much cheaper to run and it was more reliable.

[NeilMorey]

I think people are a bit optimistic expecting a dealer to pay out on a 6-7 year old car after 30,000 miles. You might claim it's a low mileage but unless it's been main dealer serviced all it's life I can't see a good will payment be offered. Maintenance is part and parcel of owning an older car.

[psmith98752]

My anti roll bar has gone too but the dealer advised its a common thing to go and does not have to be sorted. They said it just won't handle as good. To be honest, I would never have known, drives fine. They are wanting £200 to sort it. I don't see the point in paying money to sort something that doesnt make a difference to the car.

[BrickMan]

When set to 'R' the joystick adjusts BOTH mirrors at the same time. I told my local dealer this and they told me "oh it's meant to do that" ha ha yeah right! So why didn't it do this when new? "No idea sir!" Rubbish.


Funny you should mention that, my 2005 model just started doing this!
For the last few months both mirrors work as you'd expect on their own, then yesterday, both now move when set to the right, the vw manual says this is mean't to happen, but why did it not happen before, and now suddenly, it does!
On older audi's if you left the knob set to the L mirror position when you reverse it used to tilt the mirror down a preset amount so you could see the rear wheel & kerb, a very useful feature.
Would prefer something like that rather than the synched mirror feature which is just frustrating (especially because they are not moving in sync :(

[02Polo]

add me to the list. Dealer replaced it for about £300. Polo 02 reg 1.2

[ptolemy]

Hello, I have a Polo 1.4 SE FSI, 2003, with 42k on the clock. Took it in for MOT today and they tell me an anti-roll bar needs replacing,costing £170. Sounds like other people had this problem too, so I don't feel *quite* as angry as I did about 1/2 hr ago. I have to say that my Polo has been extremely expensive since the warranty expired, the heater went wrong £600, the inlet manifold went wrong, another £600, endless problems. Also I am very unhappy about the VW servicing, i.e. extremely expensive, and when told to fix a problem they do half a job, and create another 4 or 5 problems. Here's another problem: the door mirror adjustment. When set to 'R' the joystick adjusts BOTH mirrors at the same time. I told my local dealer this and they told me "oh it's meant to do that" ha ha yeah right! So why didn't it do this when new? "No idea sir!" Rubbish. I must look like a moron or something. I am driving my Polo for another year and getting rid of it. Needless to say I am never going buy another VW either new or used. It's back to Japanese for me. My previous car was a second hand Micra and it never went wrong in 10 years.
The dealer is correct regarding the mirrors. They were designed to move in conjunction with each other so that the angle remains true on both sides when you adjust the drivers side. Honest....(just noticed someone else has said that, sorry). As for the Micra, make sure that you are still buying the pre 2003 model because the latest shape has helped Nissan to dip in reliability ratings. Volkswagen used to be incredibly robust and reliable, then they took a dive and have been on the up again for the last few years. Nissan has been going in the wrong direction for the last few years with reliability and are letting the Japanese side down a bit. But then Toyota have dipped too. If you want a more reliable VW, buy a Skoda...

[jimcornwall]

My wife's car had the same problem on her Polo 2003 1.4 FSI. The bushes were worn but my local garage (not a VW agent) said that the roll bar needed replacing as ell as the bushes as VW had brought out a modified version. the old type had plastic sleeves that wear out and allow the roll bar to move sideways. It was a common problem with them!
The symptoms were apart the knocking, there was wheeel judder under gentle braking, if you applied harder braking the judder stopped. I had already replaced the brake pads in an attempt to cure it. Now all OK:beerchug:

[JUV]

Our wing mirrors only recently started to move in sync - and no, I don't believe the "they're meant to do that" explanation either, or at least, that can only be part of the story. It seems to me to be a bug - a half implemented feature that most would prefer to be optional at best, and was probably orginally designed to be just that, only nobody told the dealers (or the author of the manual) exactly how you activate or deactivate it - it just happens randomnly.

We've owned our 1.2 Polo (2002 model) for a year now, and I have to say, we absolutely hate the wretched thing. It's swallowed an obscene amount of our cash repairing things that simply should not have gone wrong on any car of its age and mileage, let alone a supposedly reliable Volkswagen - and I don't believe we've just been unlucky as such, from what I read here and elsewhere it's just the product of a LOT of bad design and engineering in this model that's likely to affect most owners, not just an unlucky few. We're now getting shot of it before any of the various other rattles, knocks, creaks and wheezes turn into another breakdown and/or warning light on the dash.

I know I'll be told that VW have improved since, and every other make has had similar problems, but I honestly believe we'd be fools to go near another VAG car for the forseeable future.