Faults:

ABS pump died at 87000.

Window clips broke at 89000.

Door barrel lock broke at 89000.

General Comments:

Very squeaky brakes.

It's quite quick if you need it.

Faults:

5th gear slips and doesn't engage, unable to go on the highway.

General Comments:

Bought this car as a get around car, had it for a little bit over a month now, decided to sell and get another car.

It's just so cheaply built, about the same as a Hyundai. My previous car was a 97 Honda Accord base model, and it's a hundred times better in drivability and comfort.

Interior is ugly and cheap.

Handling of the car is absolute crap; it's not difficult to roll the car or spin it out of control.

Loud noise from engine, and there is no fault with it, sounds like it is constantly in reverse gear, feels more like being in a cheap bus.

Spend the same money on a Japanese car, and you'll get much a better quality product.

Faults:

Repairs:

- Gearbox bearings replaced - gearbox rebuild.

- Right hand window lifting small plastic holder broke.

- Indicator switch was broken when we bought the car.

- Fan heating illuminating lights sometimes; off-bad connection or switch fault.

General Comments:

Fantastic little car, still firm, good handling, zippy and fun to drive. It's been 200000 km's, and feels like it would easily reach 300000 km's.

I hear people talking about Polo's as bad cars, and I don't agree. Polo's do require a little tender care, more than a Golf, and if you don't have a man at home interested in providing that car care (cleaning the carbie, recrimping ignition leads if resistance is not equal, running to wreckers to replace faulty parts etc.) then you might end up dependent on mechanics, and it might became expansive.

And don't be fooled by other car brand's reliability stories. All cars do wear out too. For some reason everyone expects that VW should go for a life time of man with no problems. I have friend with Toyota Starlet who also had a gearbox rebuild, and that is normal for small car gearboxes.

Faults on our Polo are fixed, and they did not come back; luckily there were just a few of them. With our other car, it's not the same story, we have a Toyota Camry, and I haven't seen such a bad interior and exterior ever before; even my Holden Camira was better. A friend at work had the same car (Camry), and talked all the best about it, but was an absolute wreck to look at.

Faults:

For those of you contemplating buying a Polo, let me give you the benefit of my experience I bought this car with 40,000 km on the clock in 2000. It ran okay for the first few months, but around the six month mark things started going wrong.

First the clutch cable snapped. I managed to soyrce a second hand cable from a Volks wrecker and fitted it myself.

Then the hall sender went out (the car would cut off suddenly while approaching intersections, in the middle of the highway etc.). This was a particularly annoying and frustrating fault to diagnose apart from being bloody dangerous. It finally took a VW specialist to suggest that the hall sender in the distributor does go off in these cars. I took his advice and changed it myself and it ran well since.

Soon after, the thermostat housing cracked (a known fault in Polos) and the car overheated. Three months later the thermostat itself went kaput and had to be replaced.

The ignition components are a nightmare on these cars. The leads cost an arm and a leg and have to be replaced every year.

Other problems included needing new locks for the driver's door and a new throttle body as well.

When I finally sold the car, the gears were starting to play up.

General Comments:

I thought buying German cars meant the all renown Gereman reliability, especially after my bitter experience with a Daewoo Tico. I really couldn't have been more wrong.

I need to add that I am a careful driver and am fastidious with the maintenance. I will never buy a Volkswagen ever again in my life. I spent half my graduate scholarship money miantaining this European junk. I finally sold it in 2003 and bought a Mitsubishi Lancer. It might not have the same great looks as the Polo, but its reliability is unsurpassed.

Stay away from this car folks unless you have recently won the lotto or you feel particularly inclined towards putting your mechanic's children through school.

VW's dealers have perfected the art of daylight robbery in Australia.

Faults:

I bought the car in December 2001. While it was manufactured in 1998 it wasn't registered or on the road until Feb 1999. So when I got it it was only effectively three years old. And the guy I bought it from had it in absolutely immaculate condition. It's warranty expired in Feb 2002. Six weeks after that the exhaust system clapped out. Thankfully the dealer agreed to fix it under warranty. Four months later the thermostat broke, but the dealer wouldn't cover that and it cost a fortune. Two months after that the timing belt went, this also cost a motza. Then the car got recalled because of a problem with the brakes Just before I sold in May 2003 it started falling out of gear as I accelerated in second of fourth gear.

General Comments:

For so many things to go wrong with a car that had been well looked after is wrong. Sure, I just got a lemon. But the problems, combined with the incredibly rude service by every Volkswagen dealer and service representative I dealt with, means I'll never buy another one.