Sporty Yet Elegant: My Volkswagen Polo TDI (2 Years & 20,000 Kms Completed)

[VipinLJ]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Here you go Vipin. All the red backdrop lights on the various button of the unit are not working.


I had taken the car to VW wokshop today, even they could not do anything and said that this unit has complete different set of connectors and bla bla. Very incompetent I must say from them. Had put up the same issue on VW Polo India facebook page and found someone who got it fitted from BU Bhandari VW workshop in Pune. Even he initially faced this similar problem. They apparently changed a few sockets for him and now the unit is working absolutely fine for him.

Would love to hear from the ICE tech gurus on TAI, if I should go ahead and get these so called sockets changed from local shops. But even they seem to be having no clue on this.

This definitely looks like a connector issue to me. I mean. All the buttons work fine right? And so does the head unit. So this has got something to do with the connector which lights up the backlight when the headlight is switched on.
Take it to some other competent installer or you can check around for mechanics who are known to do a good job on Skoda/VW cars and ask them if they know how to get it to work.

Regards,
Vipin

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Yes all the buttons are working fine. Even the head unit is playing from every type of media i.e - USB, Aux-In, CD and memory card. Its just that the backlight which is not glowing. Another issue is, the player keeps playing even if I take out the key from ignition. I have to manually press and shut it off everytime I get out of the car. A connector issue for sure, but I have taken it to 2 local ICE guys too. Even they tried their hands with some extra wires and couplers but to no benefit. Have to search for somebody with good technical knowledge on this stuff.

 

[poloman]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Yes all the buttons are working fine. Even the head unit is playing from every type of media i.e - USB, Aux-In, CD and memory card. Its just that the backlight which is not glowing. Another issue is, the player keeps playing even if I take out the key from ignition. I have to manually press and shut it off everytime I get out of the car. A connector issue for sure, but I have taken it to 2 local ICE guys too. Even they tried their hands with some extra wires and couplers but to no benefit. Have to search for somebody with good technical knowledge on this stuff.

Well the connector compatibility should have been done before procuring the unit.
Even these couplers are not safe and sometimes you end up loosing some IC inside making the whole HU go
Now you have got it installed, I would suggest you not to get it uninstalled/installed several times as fascia fitment for HU would become loose and you end up spoiling the dashboard also.
These WITSON comes with same sockets and great wire compatibility. I would say try living without the background lights for some time before you get workaround. I hope no wires has been cut.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Nopes, no wires have been cut till now. I am planning to sell this new one off as its pretty difficult to operate at night without those background lights. Will search for those Witson one or maybe a RCD510 which I have been told is compatible with the older Polo's too sometime in the future. As of now, this venture seems to be a complete failure and maybe because of lack of time at my end too, I simply had no time to get it checked with more local ICE guys. I am sure it would have worked perfectly had I had done some more haggling and ground work in the local auto shops. But I guess its not meant to be.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Had got a call from VW call center a few days back to get my feedback on the work done from the service workshop earlier regarding the Music system work. I gave them a below par level of satisfaction as they were highly incompetent in doing the job. I had sent a link to my executive also to show him that Volkswagen's Pune dealership BU Bhandari had done a similar job for a Polo owner and his RCD 320 head unit is working all fine. Didn't get a reply back from him.

Now today, the dealership people called to ask for the poor feedback given this time as every time earlier I had given them an Excellent feedback. Explained to them again what all has been done and how I never got a response from their executive. The guy on phone said he will check and revert back and will try his best if they could come up with some solution for this problem. Good to know that dealerships are actually taking a pain to get things right from their end. Waiting to see if they do come up with some sort of a solution for this.

Another query, I had gone to the local market looking out for an RCD 510, as I'm bugged with the RCD 320 unit's backlights not glowing in my Polo, but to my dismay couldn't find one. Saw an OEM looking touch unit with 7 inch screen and specific for Polo/Vento/Jetta only with GPS and provision for reverse camera also costing around 18.5k. Brand was Parasound.(Heard about it for the very first time). Now I want to know if anyone has heard about this particular brand and if yes, any feedbacks?
Caska unit with a similar look and features costs around 33k.

 

[hobeezz]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

I have RCD 020(the most basic CD/ Radio) on my polo. Its button backlights get lit along with the park lights. I am not an expert of these VW OE HUs, but here is what I think should be done. Identify the connector point which detects the park light on/off state on the new HU and the connector point from your car wiring. Make sure that these are connected properly, if not, get it corrected. I am not sure if you need any change in VAGCOM as your old HU was already having the lights workign properly. However you can check with your local VW if there is any need in the CANBUS settings when the HU is changed.

These are just my guess, just trying to explore any options. Not sure if it may help you . But you can give a try.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Thanks Hobeezz for your suggestion. I had got it checked with the VW workshop here and even they couldn't find a solution. Had taken it to the Local ICE guys too and one of them said that the whole circuit in the new one is different and they tried their best with some connectors and extra wires and everything but to no success. I was told, there is no code or VAGCOM issue, else it wouldn't be working in the first place. I am not a techy myself, but what I think is it needs to be opened and some changes have to be made in the circuit but I seriously don't have time for all this hassle as of now, that's why more keen on getting the RCD510 instead or maybe an after market OEM looking Head Unit.

Though waiting to get a call from the VW workshop here if they do find a solution for this. If this one starts working, I'll be more than happy as it looks really good with the whole panel.

 

[hobeezz]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Oh that is sad to hear.

Regarding Caska/ Witson or other Chinese brands, please do check the sound quality before deciding to buy them. I am not so convinced about their sound/ overall quality. One of my fiend had installed once of these things in his swift - jusy by seeing all those features they offer. He ended up with several issues with its GPS, dvd playback and at last he got rid of it.

VW OE units, even though not feature rich, provides good audio quality, at least for me. That is the only reason why I still burn CDs for my car.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

Oh that is sad to hear.

Regarding Caska/ Witson or other Chinese brands, please do check the sound quality before deciding to buy them. I am not so convinced about their sound/ overall quality. One of my fiend had installed once of these things in his swift - jusy by seeing all those features they offer. He ended up with several issues with its GPS, dvd playback and at last he got rid of it.

VW OE units, even though not feature rich, provides good audio quality, at least for me. That is the only reason why I still burn CDs for my car.

Alright will do that. I was not aware about this, thanks for letting me know. Yes I agree sound quality even in the previous one installed in my car was brilliant, even I was or say still I am in your category of burning CD's. They give the best audio quality and even USB or Aux-In don't match the output quality that from a CD. I guess it would be better to get hold of RCD 510 or else will try sorting the light issue in the RCD320 only next month when I am a little free.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

A different sort of headache for me from now on regarding the car. I think I have mentioned it earlier also that I park my Polo on a plot adjacent to my house where few other cars are also parked. I happen to have a very friendly and helpful neighbourhood. One of my neighbour met me outside and said to me that a few guys have been coming at night and have been checking out the car for past 2-3 days when its parked there in the dark around 1AM past midnight. There has been a lot of tire and alloy wheels theft here recently. Since none of the other cars standing there have after market alloy wheels, I can only think of one reason for them to be spying on my Polo. What should I do? Do I inform the Police about this happening of which I'm not very sure as I'm one of those who believe that these people are equally involved with these thieves or should I just be alert myself and keep a check for the next week or so. I am planning to park my Polo and Verna in front of my house gate and will park the Fiesta on the plot for a few days. I already have CCTV cameras put outside my house around 3-4 months back but in night they don't tend to read the number plate of the car passing by clearly. Although identification of the person would be quite easy if someone even comes close to the car parked in front of the house.

What other measures can be taken? Are there any Anti-theft nuts available which I can put so that they can't open the tires and alloy wheels so easily?

Or as my Dad is suggesting, keeping a security guard at night seems to be the best bet.

 

[Rightnow]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

One of my neighbour met me outside and said to me that a few guys have been coming at night and have been checking out the car for past 2-3 days when its parked there in the dark around 1AM past midnight. There has been a lot of tire and alloy wheels theft here recently.
Or as my Dad is suggesting, keeping a security guard at night seems to be the best bet.

I think security guard would be best option. If you reside in a colony then a common security guard would be enough.
Or stick a note on windshield saying "CCTV camera is watching"!!

 

[vamsuduk]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

What other measures can be taken? Are there any Anti-theft nuts available which I can put so that they can't open the tires and alloy wheels so easily?

this might help: VW Polo Alloy Wheel Bolts | eBay
Maybe even available in local markets.
U can buy a set of 4 and have one secure nut per wheel.

or else, Go the James Bond way - Rig the car security alarm to spew gas and make these guy faint when they touch ur car.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

I think security guard would be best option. If you reside in a colony then a common security guard would be enough.
Or stick a note on windshield saying "CCTV camera is watching"!!

Thanks for suggestions Rightnow. I have been parking the Polo in front of my house gate and Fiesta on that plot. CCTV's are doing fine job and I've got it angled more towards both the cars parked in front of the gate. Till date luckily nothing has happened and I hope it remains the same in the future too.

this might help: VW Polo Alloy Wheel Bolts | eBay
Maybe even available in local markets.
U can buy a set of 4 and have one secure nut per wheel.

Thanks for the link vamsuduk. But are these anti-theft ones? I mean looking at them, they are supposed to be bolt covers and seem to be made of rubber. I guess I'll look into the local market here for some solution, will post if I do find any anti-theft bolts for my ride.

or else, Go the James Bond way - Rig the car security alarm to spew gas and make these guy faint when they touch ur car.

How I wish I could do this.

 

[vtkd]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

hey i have a rcd510 (asian make). it will be a straight swap from your rcd310.
pm me if you interested.

 

[GM88]

Re: Sporty Yet Elegant: My Candy White Volkswagen Polo TDI

hey i have a rcd510 (asian make). it will be a straight swap from your rcd310.
pm me if you interested.

Surely I am. But I think I can't PM you till you have posted sufficient number of posts here on the forum. I guess minimum is 10 posts to start your PM functioning as it changes the status from rookie to amateur. Or else send me your e-mail id here. Will revert back to you on that.