VW Polo Sunshade System Failure Fix Guide

I had a similar issue with my VW Golf from 1998 (diesel) last summer. Having worked on basic car maintenance tasks before, I still needed professional help with this specific problem. The car sunshade motor was completely defective and needed replacement. Initially, I thought cleaning the mechanism would help, but the workshop confirmed the motor had burned out. They also found debris in the sun blind rails which made the situation worse. The repair took about 2 hours and cost 330€ total, including parts and labor. The workshop had to remove several interior panels to access the sun protection system properly. After the fix, the sunblind worked perfectly again. To provide more specific advice about your Polo, could you share: Does the motor make any noise when trying to operate? Can you move the car blind manually? When did the problem first start? Did you notice any grinding sounds before it failed? This information would help determine if your issue matches what I experienced with my Golf.

Last service done at 117000km. Thanks for the detailed response. The sun visor motor does make a grinding noise when pressing the button. The UV protection screen barely moves manually, suggesting something might be jamming the rails. The interior accessory worked fine until last week when it suddenly got stuck mid-way. Looking at the quoted repair costs, this seems reasonable if the issue is similar. Good to know the job takes around 2 hours. The grinding started just before the car sunshade stopped working completely, which matches your experience. Going to book it in with a workshop to have it checked. For now, I stuck a temporary sunshade on the window as a workaround until it gets fixed.

Thanks for providing those details. Your symptoms sound exactly like what happened with my Golf sun blind system. The grinding noise followed by complete failure matches the pattern, and the fact you can barely move it manually really points to debris in the rails like I had. The temporary window visor is a smart solution while waiting for repairs. When the workshop fixed mine, they actually found small pieces of the original sun blind material had deteriorated and jammed the mechanism, causing the motor to work harder until it failed. My recommendation based on the identical symptoms would be to have them check both the motor and clean the entire sun blind rail system. Since your problem developed the same way, you are likely looking at a similar repair cost around 330€. The stuck UV protection mechanism typically means the rails need thorough cleaning along with the motor replacement. Just make sure they properly test the sun blind operation through its full range of motion after repairs. In my case, they had to make minor adjustments to ensure smooth movement.

The grinding noise in the sun visor mechanism definitely helps confirm the likely issue. Based on your workshop experience, I feel more confident booking the repair since the symptoms match so closely. Good point about testing the full range of motion, I will make sure they do that after fixing the car sunshade. Your cost estimate of 330€ helps with budgeting. The debris in the sun protection rails makes sense given how the system gradually failed. I noticed some small black pieces when trying to move the car blind manually, which probably came from the deteriorating material you mentioned. I will keep the temporary window visor in place until I can get it into the shop next week. Really helpful to know what to expect with the repair time and process. Will make sure they thoroughly clean those rails while replacing the motor to prevent future issues with the sun blind system. Thanks for sharing your similar experience, it helped confirm I am on the right track with diagnosing the problem.