Newbie needs advice!

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 6:55 pm

Hi,
I'm after a tidy (cheap to insure for an 18 year old) dub shaped daily driver and a MK3 Polo Coupe fits the bill, Anything to be wary of? What are they like to live with?

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 10:30 pm

All I can think of that has been mentioned quite frequently is the fuel filler pipe. Something about it corroding, but best let someone who knows more tell you. You could get 1 litre (about group 4 insurance), 1.3 CL (group 7) or 1.3 GT (group 8 ). Or if you're lucky enough to afford it 1.3 G40 (group 14)

Karl.

mk3_beast · Post by **mk3_beast** » Sun Jun 06, 2004 11:43 pm

yes the filler nack corrodes at the bottom, it's a common problem,
my new tank is non genuine and it cost 80 squid, so thats the main thing to check for,

the engines on polo's are pretty indestructable so any hammer it's had or anything, as long as it's been serviced well it'll be ok and should never let you down.

rust at the bottom of the wings, doors.

thats all i can think of at the mo.

robz · Post by **robz** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 12:01 am

yeh the fuel neck prob is common, happened on 2 of my polos (thankfully not on the GT tho

)

Id recomend a Mk3 polo as an ideal 1st car 2 any1 tho m8!

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 1:18 am

Yeah I'll just be after a 1 litre to hammer about in. I don't want to put a Classic dub through everyday driving and I want to avoid the usual s***ty Fiesta's, Nova's etc.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 2:12 pm

At 18 the 1-L is probably your best bet as it's got the cheapest insurance of the lot, and you're not going to fall victim to inexperience wiping you out at 115mph

If you can stretch to it though, the vanilla 1.3 (not GT) is more like group 6..... for me, doing the check-outs with my insurance companys online quote system, that only upped the premium from like Â£550 to Â£650 in the first year. (But, I was strapped at the time, and got the 1.0

)

Plus it's lighter on the fuel... but dont expect it to be quick now! You will occasionally get frustrated at how long it takes to wind up to speed, and how early it runs out of puff, but for every-day type driving it's easily powerful enough and you can happily cruise along with everyone else.

(and with a lot of practice, you can overtake ok enough with it - requires mucho thrashage!

)

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 5:05 pm

Yeah, the 1 litre's are fine for general driving.. they do suffer a bit if you have a car full of friends, you have to drive up a steep hill or you're stuck behind someone going slowly but not quite slowly enough to overtake (hint - I can just about get past JCB's, milk floats and the odd horse box in mine

)

I can't really say anything about mk3 specific faults, but they're practically the same as mk2's anyway and since I've had mine all I've really had to do is change the ignition coil, and I'm going to be doing the piston rings and gaskets in the summer as they're getting a bit worn.. so basically just the normal things that wear out in old cars. I would suggest that you look at a couple of mk2's as well.. they're practically the same car, and there seem to be a lot more cheap, low mileage mk2's than mk3's from what I can see

Anyway, good luck, welcome to the world of polos

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 5:26 pm

I'm not worried about speed, my main line are Aircooled VW's and they are pretty slow.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 10:18 pm

They're a fair bit quicker than campers or anything less than a 40hp beetle, thats a certain thing.
A fully loaded up 1L hatchback (like, to the roof) with a roofrack on is still relatively capable of holding its own, even if you have to use full throttle to do so

Though you really can't overtake anyone on a single carriageway road unless it's the wide bits of the A5.... (and beleive me.. in a bit more of a crazy mood.. i've tried it

and had to give up, embarrassed, as it slowly got to the mid 70s.. and stayed there)
:p

GroovyCarrot · Post by **GroovyCarrot** » Mon Jun 07, 2004 11:05 pm

Ah, never mind. A while back I had two of my friends in the car and tried to overtake a scooter, failing dismally to my embarrassment and their amusement

In my defence, it was a delimited scooter.. but that doesn't really say much

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 1:29 am

I'm a little worried that I won't be able to find a good one.

Tahrey1043 · Post by **Tahrey1043** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 11:28 am

LOL at carrot

You should have changed down

(125's..... damn those speedy bastards! or was it a 180 vespa?)

Dont worry Ross - they're almost all good. I only looked at two when I was first-car hunting, one mk2 (c-reg but still sound) and one mk3 (h-reg) and both were good.... well... unless you count the seized rear brakes on this Mk3 which had to be replaced within a week! To be fair I really should have spotted that, and would have, if i hadn't been in such a fever to get mobile before the end of that month..

Take your time, look a few over, and (i know i'm going to get pelted with over-ripe fruit for this) unless you're really committed always keep half an eye on alternatives by other makes in case something more suitable comes up. Even if you don't call the AA in, give everything a THOROUGH check-over, go for one or two test drives in each and compare them. EG in my case, i should have done that and tried some brake tests... the mk3 would naturally have had an easier pedal to push, but the fronts locking up more easy would have raised some alarm.
(as might parking on a hill and the handbrake doing next to nothing)

Hm, I could almost have ended up in the mk2 forum... or perhaps on a Skoda site (sweet Favorit Estate for the same price as the polo - i was sorely tempted

)

Karl_CLCoupe · Post by **Karl_CLCoupe** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 12:04 pm

Oh yeah, another thing seems to be tappet noise. This is nothing to worry about, and can be easily solved (unless the tappets have gone) through an oil change.

metz · Post by **metz** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 12:26 pm

i thought i would never find a car i liked...they were either too far away or an oil change away from the scrappy.

after months of looking for a gt i found a near mint 1043 mk3 saloon and although it wasn't what i was looking for, the condition of it meant i had to have it.

keep looking...don't buy the first thing u see just because u can't find a good en.

you will find ur perfect car in the end if u just keep looking.

metz

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Tue Jun 08, 2004 3:55 pm

Well guys, things are definately looking good on the Polo front. Its only going to cost me an extra Â£134 to transfer my existing policy to a 1.0 Polo or Â£273 for a 1.3, I can afford that easily, now its just a matter of getting my current motor sold and finding a good example.