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When my daughter was 17, after careful consideration, she acquired a '99 1.0 Lupo. If you look at the NCAP crash tests they have the best results of a small car of that era (2 airbags as std helps).
The 1.0E is very basic, with no pas and skinny 155 tyres (cheap to replace!) - (later models have pas and the 175 tyres standard on the 1.4 litre) - but was group 2 (on the 21 scale) to insure.
After a couple of years, she replaced it with a 1.4SE Lupo (and I kept the 1.0). The SE improvements were more soundproofing, electric windows, opening rear vents, memory slide and tip passenger seat.
The 1.4 was quicker and quieter than the 1.0, but didn't have so much "character".
I fitted the underbonnet soundproofing to the 1.0 which helped a bit; I have used it for 160 mile round trip commuting at times, but predictabily that's not it's forte; the 1.4 would be much better at that.
The 1.0 returned 45 mpg when my daughter was doing a 15-20 mile round trip commute, I get 50 mpg, but lots of short journeys when my son now uses it drops it to 40mpg (brim to brim calcs).
The 1.0 at 80k is going strong; in the 8years/50k miles we've had it, besides brakes, wipers, belts, battery, etc it has needed, from memory, a fuel line canister filter, wiper mechanism, radiator, an ht lead and an oil pressure sensor.
The 1.4 turned out to be a disaster - the head had to be replaced, then repeated engine management light and gearchange problems eventually made my daughter replace it with a low mileage 2002 Fiesta (which then itself soon required a new cat, unfortunately, and has just needed 2 wheel bearings at 50k).
Both Lupos suffered from heavy clutches; this is due to cable and/or clutch wear, I believe. If you ignore the problem, then the strain can cause the pedal bracket to fail - not an expensive part, but it requires a fair bit of labour to replace it (had to have this done on both cars!). The other thing to be aware of (as mentioned by HJ in car-by-car review for the Polo) is the engine breather can get blocked in freezing weather; if the oil pressure light comes on, stop immediately and get the breather cleared!
OE/Quality parts can be obtained from GSF; I suggest you find a VW specialist near you - I use an excellent one in Bradford on Avon.
Hth, John
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