Faults:

Very little has gone wrong with the car. One problem which was easily dealt with was one of the engine mounting nuts coming undone. This was easily rectified, otherwise nothing. My only other gripe is the quality of the paintwork. There is some surface rust and areas where rust is bubbling through from under the paintwork. At present this is limited. Older models e.g. A,B,& C reg. appear to have had a higher standard of paintwork.

General Comments:

The car is enjoyable to drive and runs very smoothly, although performance is not its strongpoint. I will probably keep it until I or it expires. My previous Polo(A reg.) had a higher standard of paintwork, but the mechanical reliabilty was not as good. It needed a replacement engine at around 84,000 miles. Finally, I would never dream of taking the car to a franchised dealer. Either service it yourself using a Haynes manual or take it to someone who works independently.

Faults:

The only fault was a leaking carb-manifold gasket causing slightly hot running and intermittent conk out at idle after a long run. Not a single 'expert' I asked suggested this. The problem was no more than a mild annoyance, but the solution didn't get the better of me. It must happen to a lot of VWs with carbs on rubber gaskets, at about 100k.

Rust is beginning around the edges.

General Comments:

What other car could you buy for a few hundred quid and do almost 20k in a year with nothing going wrong?

40 mpg, and will do 90mph all day.

Genuine parts from a specialist are incredibly cheap - it's not worth using pattern parts. DIY service, changing oil twice a year. Should last forever.

Running the tyres at 28psi (full load pressure) improves the handling no end.

As a machine for getting around roads with, it's perfect. The 'image' of an '87 Polo doesn't create any fireworks. But people who can't wind their own windows down do make me laugh.

Faults:

Nothing.

General Comments:

This is a good car. Quite quick for a 1 litre. Engine seems to be bombproof. No breakdowns in 2 years and 22,000 miles of hard driving.

Faults:

Cables for lights etc. severed at connection from body to rear hatch, from opening and closing the hatch.

Uprated to Halogen bulbs.

General Comments:

Excellent cheap car.

Faults:

Which things have not gone wrong?!

General Comments:

This car at times seems to have a mind of it's own, so when it does behave it is great. On the whole it is unreliable, more often than not it stalls when you really don't need it to! Can be a nice little run around town car... but wouldn't buy one again!