Faults:

Brake system rusted to bits.

Handbrake cable snapped.

Gearbox broken; jumps a gear or two.

Backfires.

Window wipers not working.

Lights gone.

Door locks by itself when you just open the door.

Rear axle damaged.

Hole in the exhaust.

Radio not working all the time.

Front brake and springs; the whole lot rusted and jammed.

General Comments:

The 1982 model is a very good car, when it works.

I bought the car for 40 pounds, and to get a second hand one here costs 200 pounds.

I have fixed most of the problem, but it comes to about 400 pounds to get all the parts.

If you are looking for a VW Polo 82, get an 85 instead; the exhaust was made of some metal that does not rust, and so was the axle. The VW Polo 82, the metal is thinner and less protected against rust. My car is an 82, but I have all the parts in it that are from a VW Polo 85.

Faults:

Break cable snapped after 91,000 miles.

Clutch plate snapped after 100,000 miles.

Front bumper fell off after 115,000 miles.

Sunroof broke after 124,000 miles.

Started to develop rust in late 1990's.

General Comments:

Bought a 12-year-old Volkswagen Polo 1.1 C Formel E for £600 in early 1994, off a street corner.

Had a few problems with brake cable, clutch plate, bumpers, sunroof and rust in later years.

But the car's engine was rock solid and never went wrong.

By the time I finished with the car it was 21 years old and had clocked up 152,000 miles.

I sold it on a street corner for £50.

Faults:

Head Gasket blew a fortnight after buying.

Engine Petrol Leak.

New Clutch needed.

Electrical Fault meant that every time the brake was applied, the back windscreen wiper started.

Left Back Light unit kept on snapping and falling out, no matter how many times it was fixed. In the end, it was held in with tape until the next service when it was completely replaced.

Wiper and Headlights switch started to act very temperamental.

General Comments:

This was my first car. At first, the varied problems were an extreme annoyance. However, I have since come to look at them as characteristics of an old car, and some of the problems have been quite entertaining.

Certainly the back windscreen wiper bursting into life every time the brake pedal was pushed was rather unique.

There isn't a lot of power, and whilst starting from a standstill is not slow, acceleration to normal road speeds normally causes a line of traffic behind you.

The whole dashboard rattles wildly, and with 4 gears, going above 70mph is something of a no-no.

60mph is a comfortable speed for the car, and seems to provide best fuel economy.

The car is unstylish, and with me living in a part of the country where no car is older then 4 years, the design sticks out with its almost fluorescent orange colour.

This said, I would not change it until it really falls apart on me. The last few months have gone without a problem, and we are now in the middle of winter.

Rust seems to be staying oddly dormant.

Water does leak into the drivers foot well, and drips down the gas pedal meaning a wet foot at the end of a motorway rainy day drive.

Steering is surprisingly easy, and perhaps the car's best asset is being an absolute doddle to park.

Perhaps the car is now a little too old to recommend, but if later years have seen little changes, I woudl recommend the model as a good cheap car that will give you an entertaining drive.

Faults:

Original seat covers in poor state.

Rust on the sides and undercarriage.

Oil leak.

Petrol tank leak.

High emissions.

Extremely unreliable (a poor starter even though it was garaged, as well as habit of engine cutting out when approaching junctions and traffic lights!) This was mainly in the winter months, though.

Water pump leak.

Radiator leak.

'Long' brake pedal.

Had to be scrapped after failing MOT test Dec 2001. Repairs would have cost too much, and car would still have been as unreliable as ever despite them.

Engine felt fragile, as though it was just ready to cut out at any given minute.

General Comments:

With it being my first car, this was not a good introduction to car ownership!

It stood out from the modern 'crowd'

Fun and simple to run and pretty nippy.

Actually drove very well in summer months.

Repairs were pretty cheap, but it gets to a point where you're fed up with constantly putting things right, only for something else to crop up weeks later.

Hard-working car, despite the problems.

Would have been good in its day.

The problems with it still didn't stop me from buying another, better model of the car.