Polo Sedan excels in filling the void left by VW Jetta

Long ago, Volkswagen recognised that cars are more than mere engineering executions or even mobile art. They can be the makers of memories, especially for young families.

As I sat behind the wheel of the new VW Polo Sedan, I was overwhelmed by a sense of déjà vu. Because I had been there before, years ago in my VW Jetta.

Unbidden came a memory of our first long trip as a family in that Jetta. It was September and the start of what would be an 8 000 km trip from Namibia to Cape Town. Up the Garden Route, through the then Transkei to Durban, up to Joburg and back to Windhoek.

We had just crossed the border into the northern Cape and my son, then less than a year old, was getting restless in his kiddie seat in the back. I switched on the factory-fitted Blaupunkt radio and tape player (remember those?) and manually found a radio station which was playing the Beatles‘ Rocky Racoon with Paul McCartney on vocals.

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Walk down memory lane

Something about the song’s beat got my son bouncing along in time and it didn’t hurt of course, that dad was singing to the music, too. Next week, I doubt they will be playing Rocky Racoon at Oxford University when he gets his MBA but I’m sure he will have a similar grin on his face.

Over the years, that Jetta took us all over South Africa. And to Zimbabwe (where I showed my son how to catch a camel worm – but that’s another story). And on to Swaziland. It was there when my daughter, who arrived three years after we got the car, got her first glimpse of African wildlife. A massive porcupine sidled up to the fence near our campsite at Berg-en-Dal camp in Kruger National Park.

It took us all over KwaZulu-Natal – from the North Coast to the Berg and to the South Coast. That was when the province was the place to go for an affordable family holiday. With or without free accommodation at granny and grandpa’s place.

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Reliability key

It was utterly reliable in the process. More so than the Mercedes 200 which went shooting past us one time at about 150 km/h in the blazing Karoo summer heat, only to be forced to pull over 15 km down the road when its engine quit because of a common fuel starvation problem. I couldn’t help but gloat – Jetta, half the price, twice the reliability.

The reliability of the car meant we didn’t feel the need to move it on until it was 25 years old. And even then because our driveway was getting a bit crowded. This meant that the money we didn’t have to spend on car repayments helped keep the Seery household afloat in those dark days when the bond rate hit 24% (it happened in the late 1990s – true story).

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Even as the memories came flooding back, I tried to be objective as I compared that old Jetta with the new Polo Sedan. The latter which, in this country at least, is its spiritual successor. The Citizen will be driving the R380 300 1.6 Life derivative over the next few months.

Polo Sedan takes baton from Jetta

Jettas are no longer sold here and this Polo is the only sedan VW sells here. It’s a sad testimony to the fact that everybody these days seems to want an SUV.

Like my Jetta, the Polo Sedan has that most important of virtues when it comes to family travel – space. Its boot is even bigger than the old Jetta’s. And for its time the old Jetta was second only to the Toyota Camry in terms of luggage carrying capacity.

The new Polo Sedan also has improved leg room in the back – and that was already marvelous on the old Jetta. Don’t laugh at that attribute. If you’ve had kids and know the propensity to kick you in the back to punctuate their “are we there yet?” whining, you’ll know exactly what I mean.

The old Jetta boot could swallow the family’s requirements for a holiday away. Including the pram for my daughter. The only reason we relocated the coolbox to the back seat as the kids got older was because its served as a Berlin Wall. To prevent the Cold War between them becoming hot…

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Polo Sedan easy on the juice

The Polo Sedan is similar mechanically to the old Jetta. It has a 1.6-litre engine, as opposed to the original’s 1.8 litre. But the modern mill is fuel-injected, meaning it puts out 81 kW as opposed to the puny 70-odd kW of the Jetta.

Both cars would not qualify as hot rods, although both are able to cruise comfortably with a full load at highway speeds. It is in the area of fuel consumption that the newer VW shines.

On my regular highway test route, I averaged 110 km/h (which means travelling at an indicated 130 km/h) and still the car gave 5.6 litres per 100 km. The Jetta would have used two litres per 100 km more than that in the same situation.

One surprise with the new car is that it had a smaller fuel tank – 45 litres as opposed to the Jetta’s 50-litre one. However, given the better fuel consumption, it should easily do 600 km before the first necessary fuel stop on a coastal trip.

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Comfortable and safe

Another area where the automotive game has moved on is in the features, both comfort and safety. The Polo Sedan has driver and passenger airbags, whereas my Jetta had none. It also has electronic stability control and tyre pressure warning system. Plus a parking radar at the rear and a rear-view camera.

Creature comforts have improved from the Jetta days when, apart from the Blaupunkt, I had optional air con. But it was an after-market system which was not nearly as good as one installed at the factory. And a remote which opened the driver’s door. Only.

The Polo Sedan has keyless entry, adjustable headlamps, factory-fitted aircon (which seems well up to the task – although the real heat is still some weeks away). It also has a centrally controlled touchscreen infotainment system, which is bang up to date and allows you to wirelessly connect with Apple Car Play or Android Auto.

We are going to be driving the new Volkswagen Polo Sedan over the next few months and will be bringing you regular updates on what it is like to live with. But especially for a family. And perhaps we’ll get to make some unforgettable memories along the way…