Undiagnosable problem with VW Polo 2005?

Question 1
Undiagnosable problem with VW Polo 2005?...  My automatic 1.4 VW Polo (2005 model) starting losing it's power (umph) a few months ago and now it cannot accelerate at any speed (to a now dangerous level on the road). The problem got worse over a period of time. It now struggles to go up the slightest of hills. I took it to a VW garage over a week ago and they do not know what is wrong with it. They have tried everything (with a donor car) and are "baffled". At £100 per hour, I cannot afford for them to continue their search for the problem. I am now left with a £6k car that doesn't drive. Is there any comeback on VW itself in terms of selling me a car that less than two years later, I cannot drive, and which problem they cannot seemingly resolve? Should I be responsible for their "investigation" charges when a VW garage should, in reality, surely be able to diagnose and fix your VW car at reasonable cost? It's a car, after all, not a rocket going to the moon (although it may as well be). Help!
Many thanks for your help guys. It is in a main dealership, not a local garage. They have referred to the problem to VW Head Office in Milton Keynes, who also cannot offer an explanation.
LG - of course I do not expect VW or anyone else to continue to pay for the upkeep of my car, as you suggest. I do expect them, however, to be able to diagnose and fix a problem. So far, I am liable for eight days' worth of work - so no, I am not shying away from the cost. I will put all your helpful suggestions to the dealership to find out whether they have tried all the ideas given. Thank you.
Yes, it has been regularly serviced by a VW dealership and only has 45,000 miles on the clock.

Answers
1)   I don't believe you took the car to the dealer, I've never seen any dealership say they can't fix one of their cars. You're paying an hourly charge that is near what a dealer gets for their mechanics so you might as well quit messing around with the high school drop outs that have been wasting your money and go get the car fixed by factory trained mechanics that have a clue WTF they are doing! - thebax2006

2)   Sounds to me like water in the fuel filter. Particularly if it gets worse going up or down hills. Try removing fuel filter and tipping it into a glass jar. If there are 2 distinct liquids the bottom one is water. Replace with new should then be ok. If new ones very expensive swill the old one out with clean petrol and replace keep doing this until all water gone. then replace with new - getting water in new one will spoil it. Some types are clear plastic and you can see if there's water in it. I had a similar problem a few years ago local garages were unable to find anything wrong with car I only changed the filter in desperation as i had stripped down everything else it was full of water. Now i change fuel filters when i get the oil changed. When you think about it its obvious you use more fuel than anything else but rarely think about fuel filters probably the most vital bit on your car! Sorry got no idea where it will be on your car but they are normally quite easy to find and even easier to replace- good luck - hope this information helpful - Ricardo

3)   I assume after a "few months" of poor performance you havent had to refill the gas tank.

Try emptying the tank, maybe w/ a siphon, and getting gas from a station maybe 25 miles away so if the local fuel supplier is delivering bad gas you'l be in a different area hopefully.

We had a case here where a station was selling regular gas out of its premium, hi octane pumps causing poor performance, but not on the level that ur having.

I've seen gas samples that look like onion soup.

In the time u'v owned it, who's done the maintenence on it, and what was done? Look back over your records. Hopefully the engine wasnt "cleaned" w/ hi pressure spray which often causes probs similar to urs.

Unfortunately I'm not that surprised they can't diagnose it: lookit Toyota, as far back as the late 90's Toyota dealers couldnt diagnose the cause of hesitating & surging it its new, flagship Avalon models.

In the future, get the longest, most comprehensive [not power-train, but rather bumper-to-bumper] factory [not third party] warranty you can.

Duno wat u can do now, other than try nuther dealer. Maybe call the zone office or regional office of VW and see if you can get some of their diagnostians to look at it.

Of course, keep researching on the net. Look for any service bulletins & recalls on it, the exact model, including where it was manufactured and what month it was, and details like transmission speeds, 4, 5, or six, etc.

I assume there's a Vehicle ID Nummber [VIN] on it. Google it along w/ ur make & model.

Maybe the seller knew it was defective and withheld that from you. That'd be fraud in the US.

In the future, dont buy anything w/o researching it w/ Consumer Reports mag, hardcopy in bookstores & libraries or online.

If you find the cause, pls post it.

Cheers. - Minister of Truth

4)   The VW dealership offer a 3 years warranty on a new car and will offer a warranty (at a price) on a used car. The car is 5 years old so I would imagine all warranties have now expired. Quite why you think VW or anyone else should "keep on" repairing your car as it gets older is beyond me. You seem like another "compensation culture" person who does not wish to take responsibility. If you have had the car going on for two years, who last serviced it ? You ought to be speaking to them . If it was not serviced then you are the author of your own misfortune. That said, you have an excellent answer in relation to the fuel filter issue. - L G

5)   Hi there i take it they have checked the gear box for fluid. an automatic with low fluid will not have any power. also if the bands inside the gearbox are slack then the same problem could occur.
when idling and not in gear does your car rev up ok if so then it will not do any harm in checking your auto gearbox oil level. it will tell you in your manual how to do it.. it does seem strange that the mechanics cannot diagnose the problem. they should have all the electronic gear to test the car and also to get the fault codes from your car computer. Jock - jock

6)   Its a car and nothing on a car is undiagnosable,its just the monkeys youve had trying to diagnose it take it to a real mechanic and not some main agent plant pot - chewbaka87


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Question 2
What colour is my 1985 VW golf MK1?...  The colour code label is too old to read. It's red, maybe mars red, but I looked in the shop and there is more than one mars red (I'm not exactly sure it's mars red. Can't remember where I got that info from.)

I saw a guy in Brecon has the same car and year - if you're reading, what's your colour code? If anyone knows him, can you ask him? It's a pretty old car, guess not many people have one.

Answers
1)   maroon - Tylor

2)   It's blue. The color is just faded. - Andrew W

3)   proberly tornado red - Jack Kenyon

4)   No such car as an '85 Golf Mk I. This is a Mark II. As for color- it is screaming yellow zonker. - djaca70

5)   You need the colour code. Do you have the service document as it is on that. I had a MK 2 GTI which was Tornado red, your 85 model will in all probability be Mars red.You do not state whether you are just wanting to buy a touch up or buy paint for a respray. Whichever, the red cars from all makers faded badly over the years so an accurate match is impossible. Another thing, try your local VW dealer, provided they have not deleted a car that old from the computer system , they would normally have that info on file against your chassis number. - L G


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Question 3
are VW Passat's good cars?...  

Answers
1)   ahuh - Lenny

2)   You also should compare car insurance quotes for cars before buying one, for example here - carquotes.fateback.com - Jimmy

3)   NO, No VW or Audi are "good cars" Not reliable cost too much to maintaining , parts are expensive shops charge more for service. Notorious for electrical problems i.e sensors,window motors/regulators,relays,fuses,bad grounds. Go with something manufactured from Japan Toyota,Honda,Acura,Lexus,etc... they seem to run longer way more dependable cost less to maintain good luck - Victor

4)   I'll go with Victor.
I've spent over three grand on my passat and it still isn't up to par. - ric m


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Question 4
Any one know if cars can have similar owners manuel?...  Im trying to figure out how to position a power steering belt on a 1988 nissan sentra but owners manuel missing and i can't look how the old belt was positioned because it was missing already . i cant find any on the web does any one know if owner manuels from from other years be the same as the 1988 or does any one know how the belt goes or know some where on the web i can find the info

Answers
1)   usually there is a diagram under the hood. you can also go to an auto zone store and they can look it up for you on their store computer - smjohnson55

2)   Call Nissan Dealer's service dept. - Minister of Truth

3)   Hmmm...manuel is a name. Second, the owner's manual will not have a belt diagram, and third, a Nissan is not a VW. - djaca70


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Question 5
will a tdi vw run on off road diesel?...  

Answers
1)   Same stuff, off road fuel just has no road tax. - pbleek

2)   yes it will but it is illegal, it has no tax due to farming machine that dont use public roads. - Kim Jones

3)   Sure can.

Of course, there's also giganto penalties if you're ever found using the stuff. I know here in WV it's $1,000 per gallon of tank capacity. So on my '01 or 2010 it'd be a $14,500 fine if I were caught using it, my dad would be looking at $18,500 in his '97 TDI.

Takes a hell of a lot of $3 and $4 savings to make up that kind of cash. - Richard R


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