Spending £1,650 on a 13 year old VW Polo

[polo54]

I've been without a car for about 6 months now, in a few weeks I will have a budget of around £1,500 to buy one.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/2012...

I saw this on Autotrader, there are a few other Polo GTIs all around the same price with similar mileage. Are these cars still reliable after 13 years? Last thing I want to do is to buy one and have to spend more money on it. If they are likely to be unreliable, are there any other alternatives I should consider?

[Pints]

I'd be looking at the PH classifieds. Several for under £2k which look in better nick and with lower mileage than that one.

Also, that'll be considered modified and you'll be stung by your insurance.

[polo54]

Pints said:

I'd be looking at the PH classifieds. Several for under £2k which look in better nick and with lower mileage than that one.

Cheers, will have a look now.

[hardcastlephil]

Be very careful! I bought one this time last year, 2001 Polo GTI with 90k. Was an absolute dog of a car. Switchgear poor, worn really bad inside, engine ran well but used a ton of oil, which i would guess is due to it leading a hard life!
They also have a well documented problem with the gearbox. Something to do with the rivets used failing and that knackers them completely. Ours also developed a problem with staying in reverse so you had to hold it in there! I've seen some nice examples with about 50k on the clock, but be careful what you buy and keep in mind that these are common 'boy racer' fodder so will have been driven hard. Also i seem to remember that they were built in spain, but not 100% on this.

[MondeoMan1981]

Are these the ones I've seen with gearbox issues mentioned on here before, that and the Lupo GTi?

[MattyB_]

LupoGTi doesn't suffer the gearbox problem, only the Lupo Sport.

But yes, be aware of that, replacements aren't particularly cheap...

[davepoth]

VWs command a premium on account of being VWs, for some reason. Skoda Fabias of the same vintage will be cheaper for a better spec and are pretty much the same car, if the classified ads are to be believed.

[Steffan]

I bought my three kids (17+) good secondhand Polo's as a first car after passing their tests. All went to Uni all kept the Polo's all struggled for a few years after as you do all kept them for seven years on the end.

Not one failed ever, except once when a cambelt broke in No 1 daughters car, but as this was a run free engine only cost £200 odd.

They were serviced because I paid. All sold on and were certainly still going strong.

Marvelous workhorses and exceptionally reliable cars. Not one had a really serious problem in a combined mileage of pushing 200,000 miles.

Says it all really. Never had a gearbox, engine diff or similar failure.

Only better car I had was an Audi diesel which did 550,000 miles still on the original engine and box, and its still going with the new owners.

Worth a try? I think so.

[dev635]

I had one, lasted a month, after which it had a fault that could not be found, 3 breakdowns before that. Got rid of the dog and had a Ford puma, absolutely brilliant thing that frankly would run rings round the polo. The polo had a very classy feel but was a turd

[Deluded]

Consider an Ibiza of the same vintage. Much better value for money and underneath the body, they are the exact same car.

I found a very tidy mk3 Ibiza for my partner recently. FSH, really tidy in and out, 80k mileage, only a 1.4 8v but at £999, couldnt complain. Got it for £900 as it needed a new rear wheel bearing (£35 for the part).

A similar priced Polo would be the 6n model and probably not a nice one either.

[Welshbeef]

Go for a Seat Leon Curpa 1.8 T Mk1.

We did rock solid a great car and was under your budget. Next size up sure but who cares 180bhp same block that Audi used for years to win Le Mans..

[anonymous-user]

GTI only in name.. get a proper GTI car not a marketing's wet dream.

Edited by billybob69 on Sunday 24th June 23:17

[polo54]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3972900.htm

I have fallen in love with this car! I reckon it offers much better value for money than the Polo, it may not be as quick but it's a lot better looking! Unfortunately I don't think the guy will wait a few weeks to sell it to me but will be keeping my eye out for similar examples

[HeatonNorris]

So much wrongness in one thread!

The 1.8T block wasn't used to win Le Mans - the Le Mans cars were V8 and V10.

The Ibiza of this era was a hybrid Polo / Golf setup.

It is a real GTI, given that it has a fair bit of power and not a lot of weight.

And you couldn't get a sporty Fabia with a petrol lump.

[Marf]

polo54 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/3972900.htm

I have fallen in love with this car! I reckon it offers much better value for money than the Polo, it may not be as quick but it's a lot better looking! Unfortunately I don't think the guy will wait a few weeks to sell it to me but will be keeping my eye out for similar examples

You don't mind that it's been written off previously?

[HeatonNorris]

Marf said:

You don't mind that it's been written off previously?

And also 'stanced', so it'll ride and handle like st.

[polo54]

Marf said:

You don't mind that it's been written off previously?

To be honest, it doesn't really bother me. The car is 14 years old, wouldn't expect it to be in pristine condition (the seller mentioned it's got a couple of car park dings) but overall it looks nice from the pictures. Wouldn't be able to say for sure until I had actually seen it.

[va1o]

Aren't the big problems with the pedal box on these and gearboxes consuming themselves? That would certainly be enough to put me off. They are better value than the overpriced and mechanically identical Lupo GTI though.

[va1o]

davepoth said:

VWs command a premium on account of being VWs, for some reason. Skoda Fabias of the same vintage will be cheaper for a better spec and are pretty much the same car, if the classified ads are to be believed.

Not really true in this case because you won't get a Fabia with the same engine, just boring underpowered 1.4s etc with basic spec.

The only thing they managed in that era vaguely similar to the GTI would be the VRS, but they are still pretty sought after so are quite expensive.

[SirSamuelOfBuca]

that got a spunk stain on the drivers seat? no thanks!