1987 Volkswagen Polo C from UK and Ireland - Comments

I had many problems with the carburettor of the car, I'm afraid I cannot remember specifically which parts of it, but a total cost of £300.

I've also had to have the carburettor flushed through a couple of times.

The earth wire of the carburettor had come lose, which resulted in the car not being able to run unless you constantly had your foot on the gas pedal! This took me and my Dad a couple of hours to realize it was the earth lead - think of how much a garage would have charged!!

I had this car given to me by my Nan - it was my Granddad's car before mine and he was the only previous owner. He hardly used it hence the incredibly low 8500 miles!

To be honest there were some good points about the car, but they certainly don't outweigh the bad!

Good:

Rear view vision - excellent for reversing.

Very cheap insurance, it's either group 2 or 3.

Bad:

Very poorly designed brakes - I almost had a fatal crash into the back of someone thanks to them instantly skidding under a slight pressure on damp road!

Road handling is very dangerous - I don't know how this car was let on the road!! You literally have to crawl round some corners to keep it on your side of the road!

Very sluggish - fair enough not much power being a 1.05 but still could be a little nippier for such a light car!

Overall I would have to recommend not to get this car - for the general safety of yourself on the road and it's awful reliability - only 8500 miles and that much work in 6 months!

I now have a 1995 Renault Clio 1.4 RT and lets just say I notice the difference!

I've been driving a 1.05 polo for a while now, and after 140,000 miles it drives a treat still. By no means is it a comfy car or TVR, but it does its job. The car is solid and as for the engine, it car handle a lot of right foot abuse. I can get 20 in 1st, 42 in 2nd, 70 in 3rd and just over 90 in 4th. For the age of the car, it can beat 1 litre corsa and also 1 litre fiesta's. They are the most reliable bangers on the planet as long as its serviced! Handling sucks and brakes are poor, but it has better build quality than a £400 fiesta popular.

My Polo had just completed 131,000 miles and although its had a few things go wrong it is 16 years old and these problems haven't been major, the bodywork has been knocked about by previous owners, but the engine has never let me down and it handles like a dream, cornering like its on rails!! I can get 30mph in 1st 55-60mph in 2nd and up to 85-90mph in 3rd and off the clock in 4th, this is with a 1.05ltr engine. It seems strange you found that yours didn't like a bit of lead boot.