1986 Volkswagen Polo CL review from UK and Ireland

Rust.

Wear and tear items.

Occasionaly mixture adjustment on the carb.

This was my first car, picked up for next to nothing and kept long after it had been replaced by much more sophisticated cars simply because it was such a good workhorse.

In the time I have had it the car has received what can generously be described as sporadic servicing and brutal treatment. It was often loaned out to friends for extended periods and has not once failed to start or stranded anyone, apart from a bout of overheating during a 100 mile flat out run down the autobahn. It was off the end of the speedo at this point, so I think we'll let that one slide.

I had the use of a 1.0 L car at one stage, which had only 4 gears and obviously a bit less power. Still a great car, but I missed the extra gear on the motorway. Also, the higher spec cars come with a 4 headlamp arrangement which is less like a match in a hurricane and more like a damp candle in a jar.

Any criticism? Well, it was a tad thirstier than I was expecting, but with the poor servicing and the way it was driven that is to be expected. It did develop odd patches of rust in the middle of panels, but compared to a Fiesta or Metro of the same age it couldn't be faulted for rust. I did have some concerns about it's crashworthyness, but that's going to be an issue in any old, small car.

I cannot recommend these cars highly enough as a cheap and cheerful runaround or first car. The handling was secure, it had enough power not to be a liability, the heater worked well and it was easy to drive. Everyone who borrowed it commented on what a superb (if ugly) little car it was. In the end it needed a couple of hundred quids worth of work to get it through the MOT, and I didn't really have enough use for it to justify it. A sad day.