1996 Volkswagen Polo i 1.6 from South Africa

Summary:

You make no mistake with this car

Faults:

I have not yet opened up the engine.

I had to start replacing water pipes at 400000km.

My heater radiator packed up at about 400000km.

My A/C is not working, and that's about it.

General Comments:

What a CAR to have. My next car would be the new Polo Classic.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st April, 2010

29th Jan 2021, 17:05

Hi, I'm was wondering if you had the same problem with the center console of the dashboard.

I'm looking to replace mine (Right hand drive car); even willing to to ship or courier it, but only get results of left hand drive consoles.

If you would be able to guide me in the right direction, it would be much appreciated. Phone number is 0845880254.

1996 Volkswagen Polo CL 1.4 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

A little beast

Faults:

Distributor gap.

Rough, overly high tickover (about 1500 revs).

Unresolved rattle at around 2000 revs any speed / gear.

General Comments:

I bought the Polo as my first car in 2007 for £750. This in my opinion was an excellent deal as the car was low mileage (65k) and came with a full service history.

The build quality of these cars is fantastic. Interior is solidly put together, and the whole car in general feels built like a tank. My car (the CL model) also came with electric windows, central locking and power steering, which made life a whole lot easier. There is reasonable space for 4 people, although the boot is a bit small.

Performance wise, this is a very nippy little car. Faster than the book figures suggest. I managed to squeeze 112mph out of her, although the poor thing objected to this a bit! The engine sounds great and emits a really throaty growl when pushed hard, although it sounds a bit whiny at low revs. The power delivery is also a bit uneven, 0-50 in 2nd and third is great, but 50-70 has a big flat spot, and then it suddenly picks up again at 70.

Fuel economy is reasonable when driven carefully, about 350 miles from a full tank of unleaded, and around 35mpg. This improves on longer trips. Fuel economy is awful however, if this car is driven with a heavy right foot.

Maintenance and reliability wise, this car was excellent. Only one breakdown in 16000 miles of regular use, and this was due to a crack in the distributor cap, causing the engine to keep cutting out whenever I touched the accelerator. This was an easy and cheap fix by my dad's mechanic friend (around 20 quid). Other than this incident, the Polo was 100% reliable, started first time every day regardless of the weather, and always delivered what I wanted of it, from blasting round the Norfolk countryside, to carting 5 lads and our luggage up to the Reading Festival. Insurance costs were reasonable, even with a previous claim.

Sadly, I had to let the Polo go to raise some money to come to uni. I miss her a lot, but would not hesitate to get another one, perhaps a 1.9 diesel next time, as my mate owns one and it does 60mpg. All in all, in my opinion, anyone wanting cheap, reliable and fun first time motoring should seriously consider a Polo. Brilliant little cars.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 21st March, 2009

1996 Volkswagen Polo Clim 1.4 from France

Summary:

Quite expensive to maintain, but I loved it

Faults:

The car has been extremely reliable.

General Comments:

This car was seriously built, fast (compared to the Renault 5) stable, silent...

The incredible fact is that this seriously built car was quite difficult to drive. Until I understood how to drive it.

Then, I couldn't drive it another way but sliding it.

I had much fun with it.

This car was fun to drive, fun to look at (nice flash green color).

Was lovely, indeed.

Maintenance was quite expensive though.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 6th November, 2007