Im just about to buy a polo for my mrs, a 1.9D or a 1.0. 1998 model. Where do these babys rust??? What faults do they have? Most importantly, where do they rust....... Oh and, rust? Just got rid of the ford Ka for her. What an awful car. Going to TRY and get the polo for around a grand, maybe a bit more.
Rust just inside the rear wheel arch nearest the door and also bottoms of drivers doors suffer on early cars. I'm on my second one of these, good cars.
No, mines a 1.4! Look out also for the brake servo pipe, they perish although there is a VW recall on them, wishbone bushes go after lots of miles and the only other thing I can think of are the door lock excentrics are weak but these are only a few quid to repair. Should get one for a grand.
the difference between a 1.0 and a 1.4 8v performance is soooo marginal as is the insurance its all of a couple of groups. a 1.4 is slightly nicer on the motorway, the extra top end is noticable but in a straight line drag my old 1.0 was barely half a car length off a friends 1.4cl 8v model, though the 1.4CL is MUCH better speced than a 1.0L Have you considered a 1.4 16v those are good. 100BHP and insurance gr 10 and it comes with all the electrics and other toys. as for rust, on a 98R there was a miniture amount of rust on the back arch after the 16s scrubbed the arch a bit. NO signs of rust anywhere else. generally the paintwork on them should still be SPOT ON, although as with other VWs Red does tend to fade worse than any other colour. Other things to check- The CAT- getting a bit old and can be expensive to replace
Mine's a 1.4 (was the lowest milage Polo I could find the weekend I needed to buy one with the money I had). Done roughly 17,000miles in the past 11 months. [:^(] mostly on the motorway. I bought it because of the low milage so I could bang some on it and it not affect it too much until I move house and buy a TDI Golf. The only thing I've modified is to fit some G60 BBS alloys as the standard steels were too wobbly for my liking at motorway speeds (ie. as fast as the traffic will let me drive).
I've had a 1.0 and 1.4 8v currently, difference on paper is 10bhp, but in my opinion my 1.4 is miles faster!!
yer i can appreciate your point, you would expect a 1.4 to have plenty more grunt, if anything makes you think VW designed it to be a bit lame! to some extent it must also be luck of the draw with them, suppose my mate was at a slight disadvantage having 17s on his car compared to the 14s i was running, but there really wasnt a massive amount in it.
Watch out for the diff bearings, very common on these, just changed the gearbox on one today. Also, with the diesel it can end up shaking everything apart, friend of mine has one and has no end of problems. I used to think the 6N was a good car, bought and sold about 6 now, and i personally wont be buying another. Just my 2 pence.
As per other comments check the bottoms of the doors for rust, also check the front inside edge of the door as these also rust badly....experience has tought me this. Front suspension bushes also go quickly, but not an expensive job. Also if you look at one in "memory red" pinky metalic red, I would walk away. Ours had big problems with the cohesion of the laquer to the paint, it kept peeling off. Volkswagen admitted it was a production problem. Fortunatley for us it was VW who jet washed the car when they serviced it and had to pay for repairs!!! 1.9d strong engine, could do with a turb though
