Imagine for me, if you will. The year is 2014, and you're looking to upgrade from your locally-built A-segment city runabout for something larger. You're armed with a budget of roughly RM80,000 and you're looking for a larger saloon. Not too large, but larger than your current runabout which, at best, can either fill your friends or your luggage - not both.
Your quest to finding a suitable replacement based on your criteria above lands you in the B-segment range. Here, you find yourself looking at a Toyota Vios, a Honda City and a Nissan Almera. However, none of them seem to strike your fancy, and the larger C-segment Proton Preve and Inspira is too large for you.
You then stumble upon the Volkswagen Polo Sedan - a German alternative to the other B-segment cars of the same price range. With a starting price of RM85,000, it proved to be a tempting proposition that is simply too difficult to ignore. You fell in love with its solid build quality that the other B-segment cars lack, and a spin around the block proves enough to have you sold.
The badge may be German, but the Polo Sedan was first sold in Malaysia in 2012 as a Complete Built-Up (CBU) unit imported from Pune, India, before being locally assembled in Malaysia for the 2014 Model Year.
While Volkswagen is literally German for "people's car", it's safe to say that a Volkswagen car holds a certain upmarket status here in Malaysia, with the Ford Fiesta Sedan being the only other European marque in its class, although I will not be talking about that for now.
With that said, how does the Polo Sedan actually fare, a decade on since it was first released into our market?
This particular unit here belongs to my sister-in-law, who bought one as a replacement to her ageing ride a while back. I have been provided with the opportunity to drive it on certain occasions. However, many years on, I simply fail to understand a few things about the car.
It was arguably better-equipped than the Vios of the time, and by some accounts, I personally think that it possesses a more solid build quality compared to the Vios and City, having driven these cars. For the most part, highway driving is simply a breeze thanks to its heavy body.
However, while the Polo drives well, I do not see myself justifying having it over anything else within the segment. It may feel more solid than the Toyota Vios and the Honda City, but it's not that the two cars are absolute tin cans either. Perhaps my biggest gripe of all was that the Polo feels "inconsistent" compared to a lot of other cars I've driven in the last ten years.
It is quite difficult to explain this feeling, but I will try by starting with the throttle pedal. There was a noticeable delay between my right foot stepping on the throttle pedal and and throttle body opening. I thought that the drive-by-wire delay in Proton's CamPro-powered models are bad, but this is worse in my opinion. A quick chat with my mechanic friend explained that pretty much most modern Continental cars have this feel.
The 1.6-litre naturally-aspirated MPI engine in the Polo provides adequate amount of pulling power for daily use, but because of the Polo's heavier body, it doesn't feel powerful. In contrary, my aunt's Vios of the same year felt more sprightly despite having less power, and it was a lot more responsive. The six-speed automatic is also sluggish to respond to inputs
This inconsistent feeling was further exacerbated with the steering. It is direct and precise, but devoid of feel. It's also rather sensitive, which is in complete juxtaposition with the throttle response. Getting past that, the Polo Sedan proves to be a capable highway cruiser, but having to make adjustments to the steering can get exhausting at times when going through uneven parts of the highway.
It's not to say that the Polo Sedan is a terrible car - far from it. It's comfortable, practical and as far as I'm concerned, reasonably priced for what you're getting. Although, I am of opinion that the Toyota Vios, Honda City and even the Proton Preve and Proton Inspira of the same year, but in a completely different segment altogether, was more than good enough for daily use.
However, that opinion is simply ignoring the fact from my earlier statement about the Volkswagen brand here. It is also possible that there are people who buy Polo Sedan because they've had a long history of brand allegiance with the V-Dub. It goes without saying, "to each of their own".
Besides, the used car market value for the Polo Sedan is lower than its Japanese rivals of the same year today, so I suppose it is a good entry into the world of Continental cars. You can also get the Polo with a turbocharged 1.2-litre TSI, which apparently is one hell of punchy engine. Otherwise, the 1.6 gets you by just fine.
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