Faults:

Radiator Leak.

Oil Leak.

Petrol Tank Leak (All of these 3 within first 7 months of ownership)

Rear wiper doesn't work. I've had two Polos, and have yet to see a rear wiper in action.

Worn out brake discs.

Engine overheats even on short 5 mile journeys.

General Comments:

Good runabouts, but they just leak from anywhere possible. In two years of owning Mk2 polos, I have never ever had anything, but trouble from them. Something always seems to be wrong, and I've had enough!

Decent cars, but so annoying when they go wrong, seemingly all the time. I like them, but I've been forced to put mine up for sale only 8 months after buying it cos I'm so flamin' sick of putting things right all the time! I paid £630 quid for mine, plus a further £175 on repairs in the first 3 months of owning it, and I'll be lucky to get £350 for it now!

Good first cars, but make sure you buy a good one, without any leaks or you'll be paying through your nose! Very very very annoying.

I have never known cars to leak so much - I'll not be buying any more.

I've owned two Mk2 Polos and both have had petrol/radiator/water and oil leaks sooner or later.

The brake pedals also leave a lot to be desired - they're just so 'long'!

Driving one of these cars may be a bit of an adventure. Prepare to be fed up, no matter how hard you maintain them.

Faults:

Handbrake cable snapped. Aside from replacement of the "normal" ignition parts i. e Distributor cap and rotor arm - oh and a new fuel tank which cost £100 fitted.

General Comments:

This is my third Polo, testament to their reliability and drive ability. It cost me £270 with 7 months MOT.

If your into your driving then you will find the Coupe S responds well to left foot braking, with lift off over steer available at higher speeds in the wet on fast, twisty A roads.

On the motorway the Polo feels well planted for such a small and light car. Once up to speed there is little that will come past you. In town you'll be darting in and out of every gap and pulling away snappily.

My other car is a Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo, a car capable of 155mph and 6 seconds to 60. I'm keeping my Polo simply because on twisty A roads it flies along with go-kart handling and is incredibly satisfying to drive.

All this fun and your still "relatively?!?!" legal when compared to driving to the limit in a true performance car. Thrash the hell out of it and it won't cost you anymore than 8p per mile.

Faults:

Fuel tank leaked.

Radiator leaked.

Oil leaked.

Rear wiper doesn't work.

Slow puncture on n/s front tyre.

Constant clicking sound from the same wheel when car is in motion.

Rust in the wheel arches, lower side panels and sills - inside and out. Nothing severe though.

Some parts of the engine are showing signs of corrosion - this is restricted to pipes and lines, rather than smaller components.

General Comments:

Pretty comfortable inside, if not the roomiest of interiors.

Reliable car. If you look after them, they will keep going for years.

Still one of the best small cars around. Even though Volkswagen stopped making this particular Polo more than 10 years ago, there are still loads of them on the roads.

Cheap to buy, run, insure and put right. Parts can be attained easily, whether from new, or found in scrapyards.

Nippy cars, with pretty good acceleration. Don't expect too much, but they do the job, and aren't sluggish.

Ideally suited to getting around town, rather than long-distance journeys.

Tendency for the engine to overheat, or at least feel a bit strained during/after long journeys or travelling at high speeds for a certain length of time.

Sounds pretty trivial, but it's extremely annoying to find wheel trims for these cars, as they just won't fit on. Proper VW ones are required.

The ideal car for someone who's just passed their test and wants a good runabout for a couple of years before moving onto something else.

Can frustrate now and again with niggly little problems that appear out of the blue, but likeable cars nonetheless. Just depends on how you look after them.