A recent TV commercial for the Volkswagen Polo featured a singing terrier dog that was strutting around full of self-confidence whilst it was a passenger in the Polo but as soon as it left the car for different surroundings it became a nervous wreck. The closing caption of the commercial read “Polo Confidence.”
I guess they were conveying the fact that the dog was unhappy when removed from its comfort zone. The same could be said for people too although maybe not to the same degree as the poor dog. Cars mean a lot to some people and they often feel immersed in their own little world listening to their favourite song and safe from harm.
This feeling can be hard to achieve in a small car but thanks to its solid build quality and good insulation VW appear to have managed it with the Polo.
For many years the Volkswagen Polo was the benchmark by which all small hatchbacks were measured. Today the competition has just about managed to catch up and if you are buying a new car the Polo doesn’t quite have it all its own way. On the other hand though, with an illustrious 23 years of production behind it and more than 500,000 Polos sold in the UK, the choice of used examples is huge, with prices starting at just a few hundred pounds.
These days a budget of £1,500 will get you an early “mid-life model” Polo. Introduced in September 1994, its looks were changed very little until February 2002 when the new “round-eyed” Polo hit the showrooms. These early cars do have some downsides. VW equipment levels were particularly sparse in the mid-1990s and only top spec CL models came with power-assisted steering as standard.
It’s also best to avoid the rather under powered 1 litre examples. They may be cheap to insure but in every other way they are well off the pace. The performance from the engine is not good and the nsie inside the cabin is always bad due to the engine working overtime.
A better bet is the 1.4 or 1.6 with 60bhp and 75bhp respectively, both of which also gained power-assisted steering as standard from October 1998.
The reliability of VW cars is legendary, but like a lot of legends sometimes the truth is quiet diffrent. The Polo scored badly in the J D Power customer satisfaction surveys of the late 1990s, being less highly ranked than the Ford Fiesta and even the Rover 600. Owners complained of problems with gearboxes, early failure of front discs and pads and even rust spots on door frames. These problems are not on every car but they should be checked for closely when buying a used example.
On the plus side the little Volkswagen does drive well. It has a more solid feel than many of its competitors and interior space is good. Minor switchgear has a reassuring quality feel about it, and if serviced correctly the engines rarely cause problems.
Buyers looking for the small car/ auto gearbox/ power steering combination will also find the Polo appealing. Both the 1.4 and 1.6 litre cars are available with a four-speed automatic box. It’s worth paying extra for the 1.6 as the 1.4’s lack of power can cause upshift problems from first to second gear.
In 2000 the VW Polo was given a facelift. While external changes were minor, larger clear-glass headlamps and deeper front spoiler, there were bigger changes under the skin. Effectively a completely new model, these cars have a wider front track, giving improved handling, a fully galvanised body and antilock braking and power-assisted steering as standard.
At the same time the engine line up was changed and the 1.4 litre unit was boosted to 75bhp. Volkswagen introduced a new diesel three-cylinder engine as well.4 TDI, also found in the Audi A2 meaning the Polo at last had a diesel engine to rival the offerings from French rivals Peugeot and Renault. With 75bhp and bundles of torque, it runs a 1.4 petrol engine Polo close on acceleration and is still capable of more than 60mpg.
Whilst other manufacturers such as BMW with the Mini have come close, the Polo still sets the standards for small cars.
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