Volkswagen Polo (1994 – 1999) Review
.jpg?width=640&height=426&rmode=crop)
.jpg?width=640&height=426&rmode=crop)
Volkswagen Polo (1994 – 1999) At A Glance
Competent hatchback with a comfortable ride and a classier image than it deserves.
Dated-looking dashboard. Patchy build quality. Heavy on front tyres and front brakes. Rusts badly in doors.
Completely new, bigger, more substantial Polo available as a 3 or 5 door hatch.
Reviews for Volkswagen Polo (1994 – 1999)'s top 3 rivals
.jpg?width=240&height=160&rmode=crop)
.jpg?width=240&height=160&rmode=crop)
.jpg?width=240&height=160&rmode=crop)
Model History
June 1994
12' 2" long by 5' 5" wide and weighing from 955kg to 1,080kg. All have good, fairly upright driving position, second only to the Fiat Punto. Big car ride (much better than Punto).Three-year dealer warranty, necessitating VW franchise servicing.
March 1998
Cordoba Vario-based estate launched spring '98.
March 2000
Facelifted inside and out for 2000.
What to watch out for
Paying too much; particularly paying too much for a used Polo saloon, which is really nothing more than a Seat Cordoba.
Very variable gearshift quality. Faulty self-adjusting clutch cables may cause premature clutch failure. Transmission failures common.
Electric window failures may also be due to winding cable cutting free from its guides and jamming; not always a motor failure.
Check front discs and pads as tend to need replacing every 30,000 miles. If buying a 1994 - 1999 Polo, check the doors and door frames carefully for rust, especially under the window rubber and at the bottoms of the doors. Also look for rust spots on the front valence where they could have been caused by stone chips. Pedal box prone to failure.
Below minus 8 degrees centigrade, condensation in sumps of 1.0 and 1.4 engines emulsifies and blocks crankcase breather pipe leading to lack of engine lubrication and engine failure.
Report of MoT failure of 92k mile 1997 VW Polo 1.4 due to suspension arm pin bush likely to become detached on front arms. Also exhaust leak from rear box.
