Likes
- Great little pocket rocket of a car
- Decent pricing for what you get
- Fun driving experience
- Nice Euro interior
Used Volkswagen Polo GTI review
2010 - 2017
Dislikes
- The 1.4-litre turbo petrol should be avoided
- Some owners might fix it on the cheap
- A growing list of niggling issues
- Don’t buy a DSG if you can avoid it
Stuff you should know
The Volkswagen Polo, an iconic name in the compact car segment, underwent various changes between 2010 and 2017, refining its offering for the Australian market.
Launched in 2010, the Polo came in multiple variants including the Trendline, Comfortline, and the high-end GTi. The initial models were equipped with standard features like ABS, ESP, front airbags, and air conditioning. The Comfortline variant provided added features like alloy wheels and an improved infotainment system. The engines ranged from a 1.2L TSI petrol to a 1.6L TDI diesel, with the GTi model boasting a 1.4L twin-charged (turbo and supercharged) TSI engine producing 132kW, coupled with a 7-speed DSG transmission.
Between 2014 and 2017, the Polo received significant updates. A face-lifted model was introduced in 2014, with redesigned front and rear bumpers, new headlights, and an updated infotainment system. Engine offerings expanded, including the introduction of a more economical BlueMotion variant. The car’s safety was also enhanced, incorporating a multi-collision brake system and fatigue detection.
Throughout its evolution, the Polo GTi remained the enthusiast’s choice, the sporty top-tier variant of the Polo lineup. Initially powered by the 1.4L twin-charged TSI engine, the GTi received an update in late 2014. It transitioned to a 1.8L TSI engine, which not only improved its power output to 141kW but also added more torque. This was paired with either a 6-speed manual or a 7-speed DSG transmission. The GTi also stood out with its unique sporty design elements, such as the signature red stripe on the grille, larger alloy wheels, and a twin-exhaust system. The interior too received upgrades with sport seats, a flat-bottom steering wheel, and red stitching details, underscoring its performance-oriented lineage.
By the end of 2017, the Polo continued to uphold its reputation as a reliable, stylish, and efficient compact car. The GTi, with its performance tweaks and sporty aesthetics, ensured that enthusiasts had a potent pocket rocket to satiate their performance cravings.
What goes wrong
Exterior:
The diamond-cut alloy wheels often suffer from ‘whiteworm’ corrosion. Refurbs can cost upwards of $200 per wheel.
If the Polo you own or are looking at is fitted with a sunroof, it is critical that all the drainage lines are cleared out regularly, if not water will go exploring, often into the internals of the bodywork, eventually finding electronic components and destroying them.
A few owners have issues with the rearview camera which oddly, like so many other Volkswagens, isn’t integrated into the boot handle, rather they’re stuck on in the bumper and the camera can play up and come loose.
There are a few reports of various electronic gremlins like door lock actuators playing up, power windows and mirrors being weird, lights flickering, and headlights burning through bulbs really quickly.
Also, this is an affordable performance car and that often means inexperienced drivers pilot them far beyond their and the car’s limits, which can result in accidents, many owners are on the tightest of budgets which means corners are cut when repairs or even maintenance
Interior:
Firstly loads of owners have complained about infotainment problems. Bluetooth connections are terrible, screens blacking out, entire systems just failing or completely resetting, all very annoying.
We’re seeing more and more reports of air conditioning systems failing. Sometimes the evaporator needs replacing and that will cost you thousands of dollars.
The interior lighting can pulse or flicker or just completely fail, and not just the interior lights, but the lights behind the controls and instruments.
The seat belt clip rubs against the seat and squeaks.
The little clip that holds the armrest cover on breaks and is stupidly expensive for a genuine part. But be careful because a few of the aftermarket ones are very poor quality.
Finally for interior issues, rattles and squeaks and creaks, especially with the pillars but every owner seems to have a different rattle experience.
Mechanically:
Let’s start with the 1.4-litre twin-charged 4-cyl petrol engine. These things are not good. They’re really not.
Aside from all the usual relatively common issues like leaking thermostat housings & water pumps, engine breather (or PCV) complications & oil consumption issues that most Volkswagen petrol engines of this age have.
Intake bypass flap (or air regulating flap) failure.
The timing chains on these get very rattly & then skip teeth or can fail altogether.
They also have a bad habit of cracking pistons. Now, if you’re lucky and this gets picked up early, it can actually be repaired with an upgraded set of pistons. But if one really lets go, which can also just happen spontaneously, it usually destroys the bore and the engine is a write-off.
The later versions
Exterior:
The diamond-cut alloy wheels often suffer from ‘whiteworm’ corrosion. Refurbs can cost upwards of $200 per wheel.
If the Polo you own or are looking at is fitted with a sunroof, it is critical that all the drainage lines are cleared out regularly, if not water will go exploring, often into the internals of the bodywork, eventually finding electronic components and destroying them.
A few owners have issues with the rearview camera which oddly, like so many other Volkswagens, isn’t integrated into the boot handle, rather they’re stuck on in the bumper and the camera can play up and come loose.
There are a few reports of various electronic gremlins like door lock actuators playing up, power windows and mirrors being weird, lights flickering, and headlights burning through bulbs really quickly.
Also, this is an affordable performance car and that often means inexperienced drivers pilot them far beyond their and the car’s limits, which can result in accidents, many owners are on the tightest of budgets which means corners are cut when repairs or even maintenance
Interior:
Firstly loads of owners have complained about infotainment problems. Bluetooth connections are terrible, screens blacking out, entire systems just failing or completely resetting, all very annoying.
We’re seeing more and more reports of air conditioning systems failing. Sometimes the evaporator needs replacing and that will cost you thousands of dollars.
The interior lighting can pulse or flicker or just completely fail, and not just the interior lights, but the lights behind the controls and instruments.
The seat belt clip rubs against the seat and squeaks.
The little clip that holds the armrest cover on breaks and is stupidly expensive for a genuine part. But be careful because a few of the aftermarket ones are very poor quality.
Finally for interior issues, rattles and squeaks and creaks, especially with the pillars but every owner seems to have a different rattle experience.
Mechanically:
Let’s start with the 1.4-litre twin-charged 4-cyl petrol engine. These things are not good. They’re really not.
Aside from all the usual relatively common issues like leaking thermostat housings & water pumps, engine breather (or PCV) complications & oil consumption issues that most Volkswagen petrol engines of this age have.
Intake bypass flap (or air regulating flap) failure.
The timing chains on these get very rattly & then skip teeth or can fail altogether.
They also have a bad habit of cracking pistons. Now, if you’re lucky and this gets picked up early, it can actually be repaired with an upgraded set of pistons. But if one really lets go, which can also just happen spontaneously, it usually destroys the bore and the engine is a write-off.
The later versions with the 1.8-litre turbo are by far the better engine. They’re far from perfect though. They too suffer from all the usual Volkswagen issues, fragile cooling systems, most notably the water pump. They often fail with as little as 40k. We tend not to fit genuine replacements, not only are they cheaper, they last longer.
Oil consumption is a big one, which is okay if you’re happy topping it up every few weeks, but a lot of people aren’t. Low oil and lack of lubrication is bad for any engine, and with these, it can cause terrible damage to an already very fragile timing chain setup.
With transmissions, there are DSG accumulator and mechatronics issues and the manuals can have some dual mass flywheel issues.
Exterior:
The diamond-cut alloy wheels often suffer from ‘whiteworm’ corrosion. Refurbs can cost upwards of $200 per wheel.
If the Polo you own or are looking at is fitted with a sunroof, it is critical that all the drainage lines are cleared out regularly, if not water will go exploring, often into the internals of the bodywork, eventually finding electronic components and destroying them.
A few owners have issues with the rearview camera which oddly, like so many other Volkswagens, isn’t integrated into the boot handle, rather they’re stuck on in the bumper and the camera can play up and come loose.
There are a few reports of various electronic gremlins like door lock actuators playing up, power windows and mirrors being weird, lights flickering, and headlights burning through bulbs really quickly.
Also, this is an affordable performance car and that often means inexperienced drivers pilot them far beyond their and the car’s limits, which can result in accidents, many owners are on the tightest of budgets which means corners are cut when repairs or even maintenance
Interior:
Firstly loads of owners have complained about infotainment problems. Bluetooth connections are terrible, screens blacking out, entire systems just failing or completely resetting, all very annoying.
We’re seeing more and more reports of air conditioning systems failing. Sometimes the evaporator needs replacing and that will cost you thousands of dollars.
The interior lighting can pulse or flicker or just completely fail, and not just the interior lights, but the lights behind the controls and instruments.
The seat belt clip rubs against the seat and squeaks.
The little clip that holds the armrest cover on breaks and is stupidly expensive for a genuine part. But be careful because a few of the aftermarket ones are very poor quality.
Finally for interior issues, rattles and squeaks and creaks, especially with the pillars but every owner seems to have a different rattle experience.
Mechanically:
Let’s start with the 1.4-litre twin-charged 4-cyl petrol engine. These things are not good. They’re really not.
Aside from all the usual relatively common issues like leaking thermostat housings & water pumps, engine breather (or PCV) complications & oil consumption issues that most Volkswagen petrol engines of this age have.
Intake bypass flap (or air regulating flap) failure.
The timing chains on these get very rattly & then skip teeth or can fail altogether.
They also have a bad habit of cracking pistons. Now, if you’re lucky and this gets picked up early, it can actually be repaired with an upgraded set of pistons. But if one really lets go, which can also just happen spontaneously, it usually destroys the bore and the engine is a write-off.
The later versions with the 1.8-litre turbo are by far the better engine. They’re far from perfect though. They too suffer from all the usual Volkswagen issues, fragile cooling systems, most notably the water pump. They often fail with as little as 40k. We tend not to fit genuine replacements, not only are they cheaper, they last longer.
Oil consumption is a big one, which is okay if you’re happy topping it up every few weeks, but a lot of people aren’t. Low oil and lack of lubrication is bad for any engine, and with these, it can cause terrible damage to an already very fragile timing chain setup.
With transmissions, there are DSG accumulator and mechatronics issues and the manuals can have some dual mass flywheel issues.
Should you buy it?
Well it depends which one…
Let’s start with the pre-facelift, 2010 to 2014 6R, that’s the one with the 1.4-litre twin-charge engine, should you buy one of those? My god, no.
The 6R is a great little car let down by a shit show of an engine and an underwhelming gearbox and even if you derive huge enjoyment from spending hours fixing stupid faults or spending every dollar you earn on spare parts, at least do that with an engine worthy of your commitment.
But what about the later generation? If it has a manual transmission and you promise me that you’re going to maintain and care for it like your firstborn, and doing that won’t ruin you financially, it’s a cautious ‘ok, buy one’.
But what about if it has the DSG transmission? Hmm, ok plenty of owners have never, and probably will never have an issue, but we read a terrifying amount of reports from mechanics and owners, that even Polo GTIs maintained to the highest level, can still have catastrophic DSG dramas, generally costing many thousands of dollars to fix.
Personally, we don’t think it’s worth the risk, if you really want a Polo GTI, get a manual, because learning how to shift gears yourself will be far less painful than dealing with a DSG problem.
Well it depends which one…
Let’s start with the pre-facelift, 2010 to 2014 6R, that’s the one with the 1.4-litre twin-charge engine, should you buy one of those? My god, no.
The 6R is a great little car let down by a shit show of an engine and an underwhelming gearbox and even if you derive huge enjoyment from spending hours fixing stupid faults or spending every dollar you earn on spare parts, at least do that with an engine worthy of your commitment.
But what about the later generation? If it has a manual transmission and you promise me that you’re going to maintain and care for it like your firstborn, and doing that won’t ruin you financially, it’s a cautious ‘ok, buy one’.
But what about if it has the DSG transmission? Hmm, ok plenty of owners have never, and probably will never have an issue, but we read a terrifying amount of reports from mechanics and owners, that even Polo GTIs maintained to the highest level, can still have catastrophic DSG dramas, generally costing many thousands of dollars to fix.
Personally, we don’t think it’s worth the risk, if you really want a Polo GTI, get a manual, because learning how to shift gears yourself will be far less painful than dealing with a DSG problem.
Should you buy it?
Well it depends which one…
Let’s start with the pre-facelift, 2010 to 2014 6R, that’s the one with the 1.4-litre twin-charge engine, should you buy one of those? My god, no.
The 6R is a great little car let down by a shit show of an engine and an underwhelming gearbox and even if you derive huge enjoyment from spending hours fixing stupid faults or spending every dollar you earn on spare parts, at least do that with an engine worthy of your commitment.
But what about the later generation? If it has a manual transmission and you promise me that you’re going to maintain and care for it like your firstborn, and doing that won’t ruin you financially, it’s a cautious ‘ok, buy one’.
But what about if it has the DSG transmission? Hmm, ok plenty of owners have never, and probably will never have an issue, but we read a terrifying amount of reports from mechanics and owners, that even Polo GTIs maintained to the highest level, can still have catastrophic DSG dramas, generally costing many thousands of dollars to fix.
Personally, we don’t think it’s worth the risk, if you really want a Polo GTI, get a manual, because learning how to shift gears yourself will be far less painful than dealing with a DSG problem.
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Models, pricing & features
Tech specs
Body Styles
5 door Hatchback
3 door Hatchback
Engines
1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder aspirated petrol (Trendline)
1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged-petrol (GTI)
1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
Power
66kW – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
63kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
77kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline)
132kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
141kW – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
66kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
81kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Torque
230Nm – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
132Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
175Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
250Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
320Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
250Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
160Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
Transmissions
5-speed Manual (66TDI Comfortline, Trendline, 66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
7-speed Sports Automatic Dual Clutch
6-speed Manual (77TSI Comfortline, GTI, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Fuel Consumption
4.6 – 6.1L / 100km
Length
3972 – 4064mm (5 door Hatchback)
4064mm (3 door Hatchback)
Width
1682mm (5 door Hatchback)
1682mm (3 door Hatchback)
Height
1443 – 1500mm (5 door Hatchback)
1500mm (3 door Hatchback)
Wheelbase
2456 – 2470mm (5 door Hatchback)
2456mm (3 door Hatchback)
Tare Mass
Body Styles
5 door Hatchback
3 door Hatchback
Engines
1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder aspirated petrol (Trendline)
1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged-petrol (GTI)
1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
Power
66kW – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
63kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
77kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline)
132kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
141kW – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
66kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
81kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Torque
230Nm – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
132Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
175Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
250Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
320Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
250Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
160Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
Transmissions
5-speed Manual (66TDI Comfortline, Trendline, 66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
7-speed Sports Automatic Dual Clutch
6-speed Manual (77TSI Comfortline, GTI, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Fuel Consumption
4.6 – 6.1L / 100km
Length
3972 – 4064mm (5 door Hatchback)
4064mm (3 door Hatchback)
Width
1682mm (5 door Hatchback)
1682mm (3 door Hatchback)
Height
1443 – 1500mm (5 door Hatchback)
1500mm (3 door Hatchback)
Wheelbase
2456 – 2470mm (5 door Hatchback)
2456mm (3 door Hatchback)
Tare Mass
1033 – 1242kg (5 door Hatchback)
1033 – 1189kg (3 door Hatchback)
Kerb Weight
1033 – 1189kg (5 door Hatchback)
1033 – 1189kg (3 door Hatchback)
Towing
530kg – 650kg (unbraked), 1000kg – 1100kg (braked) – depending on variant
ANCAP Ratings
5 stars tested 2010 (66TDI Comfortline, 77TSI Comfortline, GTI, Trendline)
5 stars tested 2011 (GTI, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
Body Styles
5 door Hatchback
3 door Hatchback
Engines
1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder aspirated petrol (Trendline)
1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged-petrol (GTI)
1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
Power
66kW – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
63kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
77kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline)
132kW – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
141kW – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
66kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
81kW – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Torque
230Nm – 1.6 litre 4-cylinder turbo-diesel (66TDI Comfortline)
132Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder petrol (Trendline)
175Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (77TSI Comfortline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
250Nm – 1.4 litre 4-cylinder turbo supercharged petrol (GTI)
320Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
250Nm – 1.8 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (GTI)
160Nm – 1.2 litre 4-cylinder turbo-petrol (66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
Transmissions
5-speed Manual (66TDI Comfortline, Trendline, 66TSI Trendline, 66TSI Urban)
7-speed Sports Automatic Dual Clutch
6-speed Manual (77TSI Comfortline, GTI, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 81TSI Urban+)
Fuel Consumption
4.6 – 6.1L / 100km
Length
3972 – 4064mm (5 door Hatchback)
4064mm (3 door Hatchback)
Width
1682mm (5 door Hatchback)
1682mm (3 door Hatchback)
Height
1443 – 1500mm (5 door Hatchback)
1500mm (3 door Hatchback)
Wheelbase
2456 – 2470mm (5 door Hatchback)
2456mm (3 door Hatchback)
Tare Mass
1033 – 1242kg (5 door Hatchback)
1033 – 1189kg (3 door Hatchback)
Kerb Weight
1033 – 1189kg (5 door Hatchback)
1033 – 1189kg (3 door Hatchback)
Towing
530kg – 650kg (unbraked), 1000kg – 1100kg (braked) – depending on variant
ANCAP Ratings
5 stars tested 2010 (66TDI Comfortline, 77TSI Comfortline, GTI, Trendline)
5 stars tested 2011 (GTI, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
Warranty & servicing
Warranty
- 3 years / 100,000 km (Trendline, 77TSI Comfortline, 66TDI Comfortline)
- 3 years / unlimited km (Trendline, 77TSI Comfortline, 66TDI Comfortline, GTI, 66TSI Trendline, 81TSI Comfortline, 81TSI beats, 66TSI Urban, 81TSI Urban+)
Servicing
- 15,000 km / 12 months (All Models)
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Disclaimer
Please note that pricing information is subject to fluctuations in the automotive market.
Information correct as of Sep 07, 2023.
The advice provided on this website is general advice only. It has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on this advice, you should consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to your own objectives, financial situation and needs.
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