Exhaust pipe & muffler fell some 4 times to the ground supposedly due to misalignment of the whole setup that caused extra load on the holding rubbers.
Stop brake light never worked.
Electric system failed twice. Had to be towed to repair. Pricey repair.
Cooling system failed once while on vacations in the middle of a trip... Fortunately I got to a mechanic in time...
Seat retraction to allow passengers on the back failed on both front seats once.
Had a big, growing, rust spot under the front window - some rusty points on the water channel above the rear window on both sides.
My fist car - it was either this or a Fiat Uno.
Awfully underpowered vehicle.
It needed some time to heat properly before usage, otherwise the engine wouldn't build up.
Had a tendency to heat up too much - especially on long voyages with moderate load.
Keep your eyes on the water level!
It didn't have a sealed glove compartment - so I couldn't keep anything of importance there (radio, etc).
It doesn't have a low gas warning light which is terribly important when you are young (and I was).
The car is a gas guzzler considering the engine power - 1000 cc - 45 HP... Mine did 8-9 lts at 100 km in city drive...
The muffler is set very low and it hits high obstacles easily.
The exhaust pipe protrudes too much from the rear - be careful not to fold the whole exhaust pipe against an obstacle when your going backwards!
Of course - no power steering - but it wasn't too heavy thank god!
This is a definitely a city car - forget it when your going on vacations and need to take some luggage.
I did get mine doing 150 km/h (on a descent OK) with 3 passengers and fully loaded - and when I say fully - I took luggage underneath my legs in the driver seat!
The polo being thirsty is a known fault with a small, inexpensive and easily replaced/fixed part malfunctioning - either the exhaust gas sensor failing (on injection / catalyser models) or the automatic choke being sticky (carburettor). It can really wreck the economy, bringing what might normally be a 40mpg car (and I can get more than 60mpg out of my 1-litre!) down below 20... It also affects the performance too, as a car that isn't completely burning the fuel loses power into the bargain.
A couple of hours being checked over by a mechanic who knew what he was doing and was familiar with old polos would have shown up the fault and probably seen it repaired and you happily and more thriftily on your way!
They're good, solid, reliable cars, but what people tend to forget (like myself, for a while), is that to stay in good condition ANY car needs a lot of careful maintenance!
(same guy, second thought)
Actually considering some of the other things you said in your review - such as it needing to be warm before it would run properly, only reaching 150kmh with a hill and a load... It sounds as if the motor really wasnt running right. At the first signs of these troubles after mine being great for two years - fine economy, able to shoot along at 150 or more in almost any condition - I sought professional advice. It was doing all that, sucking fuel, running very badly when cold, losing power...
A couple of parts replaced later - the engine gas (lambda) sensor, and the coolant temperature sensor - plus a new air filter to replace the very dirty one, and it was right back on track, as it was before. All of the above each costing the price of three or four beers! (plus the garage work, but I later found out I could have done it myself in about 10 minutes for the lot without "special" tools!) Hardly a big outlay!
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