1999 Volkswagen Polo GL from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing has gone wrong so far.

The performance of the engine is not quite as good as the 1.4 (16v) of my previous car, but it is fairly quiet there is bags of torque at low revs and the ride is excellent. The car feels secure in most driving conditions, but driving too fast around bends is not advisable as there is some body roll.

The dark interior trim is not as cheerful as in my last car, but everything seems to be in the right place and it has a quality feel about it.

This is an update from the original entry made. The car has now covered over 33,000 miles and the problems encountered along the way have been as follows:

Faulty ABS sensor, ignition problems (car would not start and left me stranded on one occasion, I was informed that this was due to a faulty distributor). These faults were rectified under the terms of the warranty. Unlike the negative comments made previously about VW dealers, The dealer whom I bought car from have been very helpful in every way whenever I have had to take the car back to have any work done. The paintwork is still excellent for a car which is nearly 5 years old and the interior is still immaculate.

The engine is superb an still feels tight and the outright lack of real power is compensated by the torquey performance. I remain very impressed with this car which I intend to keep for another few years.

This is another update a year approximately after my last comments on how reliable the car has been since I originally purchased same. Over the past 12 months nothing has gone wrong, but I had to have new front brake discs fitted. I suppose that this is due to normal wear and tear expected for a car which is nearly 6 years old. The only curious thing I have noticed over the past year is that on two or three occasions the ABS warning lights stayed on after ignition, but the problem disappeared after the engine is switched off and restarted. The idling is rather fast now when starting the car from cold, but this problem again disappears after driving for half a mile or so. The car is soon due for a service soon and I am sure that the idling problem will be addressed. I still love driving the car after 3 years, but will probably change it next spring, probably with another Polo (The Sport model for added performance).