Yesterday

Volkswagen Up GTI | Spotted

The city car we all assumed would be cheap by now stubbornly isn't

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If you need to see a windsock to know which way the gale is blowing, it’s worth considering the punchiness of VW Up GTI prices. Yes, if you squint a bit and don’t mind high miles, you might find one for under £10k. But most decent examples are hovering around the £11.5k mark - and you can pay up to £15k. The most expensive on PH, late registered and with just 14k on the clock, is up for a fiver short of £17k. Which is bonkers when you consider that it cost from £16,540 when new. 

Perhaps we wouldn’t recommend you pay that much for VW’s bright idea - but the GTI’s resistance to cliff-edge depreciation is a reminder of just how good an idea it really was. One the company has ignominiously failed to follow up since it spiked the model back in 2023. Only now, with very small electric cars pending, has the concept again found legs. Nevertheless, try as it might, any future GTI-badged iteration of a battery-powered city car is not going to beat the Up at its own game. 

We know this for three reasons. Firstly, the three-door version weighed less than a tonne. Or with you and your mobile phone in it, 1,070kg. No EV is getting near that number. And because it won’t (secondly), you won’t get the boisterous, easygoing handling the GTI specialised in. Oh, an electric car of equivalent proportion will absolutely go around corners well - but not in such a way that will make you want to do it again and again and again like a toddler smashing grapes with a toy hammer. 

And that’s because, thirdly, the battery-powered junior GTI will not sound like the Up, which soundtracked every journey with the happy thrum of a three-pot motor at or very near the end of its tether. Or it did whenever someone wearing a PH t-shirt got behind the wheel. Sub 9-seconds-to-62mph was nothing to write home about when the Up was new (even less so now) yet it was made to seem quicker by its driver’s efforts to keep the thing permanently on the boil. Try doing that in an EV. 

Its neatest trick - the one that people often overlooked when criticising its lack of genuine talent - was its canny positioning in the sweet spot between outright fun and liveable civility. The same area that all hot hatches target, you might say - but few nail the bullseye like the Up did, and none of those that do were nearly so cheap or small. You can enjoy a B road in one; you can commute somewhere without questioning your life choices; you can even put passengers in the back, if they acquiesce to the idea of folding in half. 

A fault-finder would note at this stage that the smallest GTI has defied further price drops only because they are comparatively uncommon. But that’s only because VW did an oddly impressive job of throttling supply when everyone suddenly became intrigued with the idea of buying a brand new, VW-badged hot hatch for less than £14k. This one, in white and with 36k miles behind it, is £11,950. You can have an Audi S6 with a V10 for less, of course. But you will categorically not have more fun. 

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SPECIFICATION | VOLKSWAGEN UP GTI

Engine: 999cc, three-cyl turbo
Transmission: Six-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 115@5000-5500rpm
Torque (lb ft): 148@2000-3500rpm
MPG: 53
CO2: 121g/km
Year registered: 2019
Recorded mileage: 37k
Price new: £16,540
Yours for: £11,950

See the original advert

[Konan]

Here's the thing. They weren't that fun.

The press so desperately willed it to be a return to the MK1 Golf because of the on paper similarities, that it became almost impossible to accept that it was actually somewhat bland.

I might, categorically, have less fun in a V10 engine Audi for less money, but I'm pretty sure I could pick up a Fiesta or a Swift.

[Lefty]

I tried to persuade my mrs to get one of these, she test drove one and just didn’t like it at all, coming from a string of various Fiat 500’s she ended up with an Abarth and reckoned the Up was just a bit dull and short on character.

The Fiat is flawed in many ways but it’s not boring or lacking character.

Shame, this was maybe VW’s chance to make a really fun little hatch, reinvent themselves.

[WonkeyDonkey]

Paying anywhere near £10k for one of these, let alone well over £10k is comical.

[The_Doc]

Konan said:

Here's the thing. They weren't that fun.

The press so desperately willed it to be a return to the MK1 Golf because of the on paper similarities, that it became almost impossible to accept that it was actually somewhat bland.

I might, categorically, have less fun in a V10 engine Audi for less money, but I'm pretty sure I could pick up a Fiesta or a Swift.

85,000 miles in mine and it's of the most fun cars I've ever had. I was going to keep it for a year only

Light and fast and cheap. Stylish interior, well made.

I paid £13.5k for it brand new and could perhaps sell it for £8k now.
Incredible.

[Tickle]

WonkeyDonkey said:

Paying anywhere near £10k for one of these, let alone well over £10k is comical.

They don't seem to depreciate much, all in it's a cheap warm'ish hatch as an overall ownership cost.

[Tickle]

I looked at these when looking for a small daily, just a little too impractical for what I wanted. Still makes me smile when I see them occasionally, they do look great.

[Portofino]

Overrated & overpriced.

[Trevor555]

Recently had to decide what daily car to buy to see me out.

New Renault 5 came close.

Thought about a new Clio for a few minutes.

The Up Gti won.

Happy to pay the premium.

[soad]

Needs a Stage 1 ECU Remap imho. Seems perfect sized for those narrow country lanes?

[The_Doc]

soad said:

Needs a Stage 1 ECU Remap imho. Seems perfect sized for those narrow country lanes?

Indeed, I moved to 149hp for £350, 60,000 miles ago.

It does 55mpg most of the time and 35mpg if I drive it at the rev limit for a journey

Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 21st April 07:37

[kcalculates]

Great little car. Kept mine longer than anything else.
I ve had more powerful and focused cars but this little thing just makes all journeys a bit more fun.
I ve added a map, intake and smaller wheels and it s just made it better. It’s very basic, firm, creaky and noisy but all the better for it.

[The_Doc]

kcalculates said:

Great little car. Kept mine longer than anything else.
I ve had more powerful and focused cars but this little thing just makes all journeys a bit more fun.
I ve added a map, intake and smaller wheels and it s just made it better. It s very basic, firm, creaky and noisy but all the better for it.

Red GTI badge at the front. Great, me too. Did you do the one at the back too ?

[cerb4.5lee]

These aren't my thing(I don't like VW for a start), but my goodness they've held onto their value well though for sure. I do love how light they are though.

[the-norseman]

I thought about one of these as a cheapish fun run around but couldn't help but think that an Abarth was better all round and ended up looking at 595 Competiziones, needing to fit a child seat in the back though ruined that idea as well and ended up with a Giulietta.

If I had got one, it would have been straight down to Racingline for more power.

[rossub]

The_Doc said:

soad said:

Needs a Stage 1 ECU Remap imho. Seems perfect sized for those narrow country lanes?

Indeed, I moved to 149hp for £350, 60,000 miles ago.

It does 55mpg most of the time and 35mpg if I drive it at the rev limit for a journey

Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 21st April 07:37

That makes them an awful lot more appealing - bit too slow as standard really.

[HTP99]

One of these cars that I get the appeal, I get the appeal of similar cars of that ilk, however I just don't get the ridiculous residuals.

[WTDMM]

Portofino said:

Overrated & overpriced.

neither, because the market sets the price, and the price reflects how they are rated. its ok not to like them though.

[ChevronB19]

rossub said:

The_Doc said:

soad said:

Needs a Stage 1 ECU Remap imho. Seems perfect sized for those narrow country lanes?

Indeed, I moved to 149hp for £350, 60,000 miles ago.

It does 55mpg most of the time and 35mpg if I drive it at the rev limit for a journey

Edited by The_Doc on Tuesday 21st April 07:37

That makes them an awful lot more appealing - bit too slow as standard really.

Even as standard, they feel quicker than they actually are (part of the joy of them), and in-gear acceleration is really good.

In a lot of ways I prefer it for B-road driving to my old Elise.

I bought mine in mid 2021 for 10.5k with 7k miles on, mid 2026 with 32k miles WBAC still offer me about 10k!

[Konan]

rossub said:

That makes them an awful lot more appealing - bit too slow as standard really.

It wasn't the overall speed that bothered me. It was the way the engine fell off with revs, it got less exciting the harder you pushed it, not more. Remaps on turbos often to cling onto boost higher up the revs (I've not looked at the graphs for this one) so maybe it does perk it up in just the right way.

[MisanoPayments]

As the former owner of a Lupo GTI, I can certainly see the appeal of these, but as this is PH, it would need to be a third car for me, in that King's Red!