Volkswagen Polo Reliability & Common Problems

Is the Volkswagen Polo reliable?

Overall, the Volkswagen Polo is a reasonably reliable car, but it did have a number of recalls throughout it's lifetime – and didn't fair particularly well in What Car?'s reliabilty survery.

In a class of 28 cars, the Polo finished in 18th place, with many owners experiencing issues with the air-con, engine start-stop system and infotainment screen. Rivals like the Ford Fiesta, Skoda Fabia and Honda Jazz were all judged to be more reliable.

As a brand, Volkswagen finished in 22nd place out of 32 manufacturers, although an overall score of 90.2% isn’t bad.

Ultimately, the Polo is still a solid used buy, and as a second car for short trips, or for your eldest sprog to learn to drive in, it should serve you well. Volkswagen is also an established brand in the UK, which means parts are readily available from both main dealers and independent specialists.

Engine: A blocked diesel particulate filter can affect all TDI models because it doesn’t clear itself on short journeys around town.

Be sure to take any prospective purchase on a long test drive and up to motorway speeds and to check it doesn’t go into limp mode. The same goes for the exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) valve, which is also prone to clogging up.

The 1.2 TSI has a timing chain instead of a belt and it needs to be changed every four years or 40,000 miles. If the typically smooth-running TSI sounds rough at idle, this could be an early sign of coil pack failure – and replacements are the only fix.

An owner’s view

Chloe Aitchison: “I bought my 2015 Polo 1.2 TSI back in 2017 and have loved owning it ever since. I like how easy it is to drive and it makes the perfect runaround, especially in town. It’s comfortable too, so I’m happy driving it on long journeys. I’ve had to pay for a few expensive repairs, including new condensers for the air-con and new suspension arms. While it has at times been costly to maintain, I don’t think I’ll be swapping into anything else any time soon. I love it as it’s small, economical and fun to drive.”

Also worth knowing

The 1.2-litre TDI and later 1.4-litre TDI BlueMotion are ultra-frugal and come with free road tax. And it’s only £20 a year if you go for a car with the 1.0-litre triple.

The Polo excels for safety provision and the 2009 car achieved a five-star Euro NCAP rating. The post-2014 model gained even more safety kit, including emergency braking, post-collision braking and a driver fatigue monitor.

The Polo GTI was powered by a 177bhp 1.4-litre turbocharged and supercharged four-pot. This was swapped for a more robust 189bhp 1.8-litre TSI unit that could be had with a manual gearbox, unlike the DSG-only earlier car.

Sam Phillips

Title: Staff Writer

Sam joined the Autocar team in summer 2024 and has been a contributor since 2021. He is tasked with writing used reviews and first drives as well as updating top 10s and evergreen content on the Autocar website.

He previously led sister-title Move Electric, which covers the entire spectrum of electric vehicles, from cars to boats – and even trucks. He is an expert in new car news, used cars, electric cars, microbility, classic cars and motorsport.

Sam graduated from Nottingham Trent University in 2021 with a BA in Journalism. In his final year he produced an in-depth feature on the automotive industry’s transition to electric cars and interviewed a number of leading experts to assess our readiness for the impending ban on the sale of petrol and diesel cars.

Matt Saunders

Title: Road test editor

As Autocar’s chief car tester and reviewer, it’s Matt’s job to ensure the quality, objectivity, relevance and rigour of the entirety of Autocar’s reviews output, as well contributing a great many detailed road tests, group tests and drive reviews himself.

Matt has been an Autocar staffer since the autumn of 2003, and has been lucky enough to work alongside some of the magazine’s best-known writers and contributors over that time. He served as staff writer, features editor, assistant editor and digital editor, before joining the road test desk in 2011.

Since then he’s driven, measured, lap-timed, figured, and reported on cars as varied as the Bugatti Veyron, Rolls-Royce Phantom, Tesla Roadster, Ariel Hipercar, Tata Nano, McLaren Senna, Renault Twizy and Toyota Mirai. Among his wider personal highlights of the job have been covering Sebastien Loeb’s record-breaking run at Pikes Peak in 2013; doing 190mph on derestricted German autobahn in a Brabus Rocket; and driving McLaren’s legendary ‘XP5’ F1 prototype. His own car is a trusty Mazda CX-5.