Can any owner of these cars give me an insight into long term ownership. I have an aging VW Polo TDi 90 estate that I'm giving to my wife so I'm looking to replace it. My budget is limited to max 5k. A friend has the current 1.4 PD Polo which I drove 4 up at the weekend and I was impressed at how it coped on some of Norfolks back roads. A good ride and a willing torquey engine.
Better the devil etc ........
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 02/09/2008 at 14:45
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I can't comment on the specifics of the engine, but we have an owned-from-new Sept. 2003 Polo 1.4 petrol ('9N1' chassis) with 33,000 currently on the odo and a full service history.
Unfortunately I can't recommend the car. It is rare for 6 months to pass without it needing some form of repair.
Just this last month one of the rear calipers had to be replaced (the handbrake mechanism inside the caliper seized - a very common fault I'm told).
There have been faults with the power steering, instrument pack, lambda sensor. The heater has played up for the last couple of years. The little motors that move the airflaps are faulty. This is very very common and the VW dealer has quoted many hundreds of pounds to fix (the motors are over £100 each and the dashboard has to be removed - even an independent wants a good few £100's for this job). We have also recently started to get a loud clunk from the rear suspension, which sounds expensive.
Its all very disappointing. The car has been lightly used with a lot of 'steady' 1- or 2-up motorway use. The local dealer has also be dreadful. Expensive and fishing for extra work on each visit.
Years ago I had an Audi 80 which was a great car and ran to high mileage without any bother. I think VAG have gone downhill a lot since those days.
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I don't know how much it has in common with the current models, but my Polo mk4 has the dubious honour of being the most unreliable car I've ever owned, despite a genuine 40k on the clock and a full history (part VW, part VW tech working on the side).
Normally I wouldn't even mention an older model, but qxman's fault list is very familiar (didn't have the lambda sensor go, but it was a diesel!) including the heater, power steering and brake faults. Mine also started bubbling through on the rear arches before its 6th birthday.
We replaced this car with a mkIV Fiesta which was better to drive, better built, and far more reliable.
Edited by DP on 02/09/2008 at 15:23
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My brother's wife's sister(....) has just this car, which suffered total engine failure at 20 months old.
First time I have ever heard of anything like this happening.
I'm not sure of the exact reasons behind it, but I do know that they have replaced the engine under warranty so it clearly wasn't right.
I wouldn't have one.
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We have a late 04 SEAT Ibiza, which is a Polo in a different body.
We had heater faults which were fortunately fixed under warranty - took 4 days and they had the dash out twice, apparently, and I was dismayed that it failed its MOT the other day (first MOT failure I've ever had in 30 years of motoring), after 34K miles of the most gentle use and it needed suspension rubbers changing.
On the flowing A roads around here, it is a nice drive though.
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Must redress the balance, SWMBO's 06 Polo has 33k on the clock and so far -touch wood- has only neded a couple of tyres apart from routine servicing.
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Our Lupo TDI (in 2000) Driving home new, the bonnet release (or boot?) fell of onto my foot.
It went in for a new steering rack (6 months old) came out with dents in the sills and the steering wheel off centre. It went back for that and came out with the steering wheel light on. It went back for the steering wheel light and came out with the light back on again just up the road.
That characterised our ownership. In for something, out with a new fault done in the process.
That and the parts department of the main dealer telling me to use the wrong (non PD) oil. I emailed Germany about that.
It seemed to me that the dealer was starting to destroy the car and I was glad to get out of it at 18 months.
I regretted letting them touch it during the warranty period.
Edited by oilrag on 02/09/2008 at 17:38
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Bought an Ibiza 1.4 tdi 80 new in May 2007. Decent little cars, cracking engine if you can put up with the vibes and noise.
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Would agree with CD, I have a 2007 1.4TDi80 in a Fabia Estate and its a bit noisier than the 1.9 it replaced but a good willing engine, though not much more economical than the 1.9! I've now done nearly 14k in it and its been fine, running in nicely now at 21k! I also know someone who has the older 1.4TDi 75bhp and he swears by it (not at it!).
Before getting another Polo look at the Ibiza or Fabia, slightly cheaper but same engine and running gear....
Edited by b308 on 02/09/2008 at 22:30
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I can understand your sentiment of 'better the devil you know..', but there are so many good value small cars around at the moment that I wouldn't stay with a marque just because it feels familiar.
We got our brand new Hyundai i10 last night - they start at £6,800, with 5 doors, a/c, 5 year warranty, and £35 road tax. It's not as big as a Polo, it's plasticy inside, but there is loads of room. OH is thrilled to bits with his purchase. I would definitely have a good look around at the Japanese and other eastern products - they do this size of car very well. Let us know what you decide.
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I've had a eureka moment and decided. Tomorrow I'm going to look at a 56 reg Kia Rio 1.5 diesel with 10k miles being offerd for only £4995 by a local Fiat dealer and if it's as good as I expect it to be, bite his hand off!
I test drove a Kia Rio 1.4 petrol a year ago and loved the car but not THAT engine. The car suits all my needs and I have faith in the newer Kia models as indeed I did with our earlier Kia Pride, a 1995 M reg that covered over 80k trouble free miles AND wasn't going rusty. Our current Kia will be sold for buttons and SWMBO gets my old Polo - job done and thank for all you thoughts on this topic.
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Nice, honest looking locally reg X plated Subaru Impreza in a nearby garage stickered at 4995 in a local car lot....looks a bit of a bargain to me....:-(
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tintin,
You asked to be informed - I tried out the said Kia Rio today. Whilst it was a smooth quiet running engine it seemed to have not a lot of thrust from low revs. As soon as it reached 3k it wanted to take off. I prefer a more linear torque curve. I was also unimpressed with it paint quality and general overall finish. I suspect it won't be very durable. The salesman wouldn't take any offers on it despite it having been 'in stock' for 187 days!! So on instinct I walked away.
Later this afternoon at another garage I tried out a Citroen Xsara HDI 110 and loved it. It is a much better car has decent stereo and proper climate control so I've bought that instead. Much more my kind of car and it was cheaper too. It will now keep the venerable Polo TDI company.
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