UK-POLOS.NET - THE VW Polo Forum

hi guys, my first post on here.

I've read the buying guide and printed it out!

Basically, my other half is looking to replace her cinquecento sporting with something else for approx £2k max, she was looking at less than 50k.

A girl at work is selling a 1995 3dr Polo 1.3L with 82k for £1k. I can't seem to find any info anywhere for the 1300 polo specifically, does anyone know anything about it? (the engine seemed to only run for 1-2years?? i'm guessing its a mk2 golf lump) Does it eat the miles in proper german fashion?

i've got the 1296. Since the end of march 2005 i've done over 9000 miles (mostly motorway or A roads). Some of my trips included....

Last weekend I drove to wales, two of us in the car and all the kit for winter mountaineering. 450 miles and it didn't skip a beat.

In the autumn it took me 200 miles to start uni. I filled it up completely, again, it was fine (although not as nippy as normal.... due to the weight)

In the summer I did a 500 mile round trip with a weekend's worth of outdoor kit in the boot and all the kit for a 2 day meeting the day before, the car was fine.

Touchwood!!!

So yes, in my experience, it's quite happy when eating up the miles. I stay around the 70 mark on the motorway though.... perhaps someone else can fill you in on how the car is at higher speeds?

You're correct, the 1296 only ran for a year or so, when it was replaced by the 1.4 8v (another 5 bhp and some more torque).

I was reading an article from one of the motoring magazines from when the mk4 was released. They tested the original 1.0, 1.3 and 1.6 8v engines, and reckoned the 1.3 was the best balance of the three.

I have a '95 1.3, full VW history serviced reguarly and the only engine mods I've got is a RamAir induction kit. I get roughly 270 miles to £37 of petrol, but I do have a heavy foot and a half. I reckon if I tried, I could get over 300, but where's the fun in that. I do only mostly town driving as well, so that don't help.

They 1.3's are less efficient then the 1.4s for some bizarre reason! Can't fault mine though. Bought it for £1750 last June on 63K miles and nothing majorly wrong has gone with it at all...just wear and tear. I'm on 77K miles now, and still going strong.

It'll be slower than the cinq, but have more style, build quality and a higher resale value.

I've got the 'L' model so no driver aids, only electric thing is the mirrors but its less to go wrong. I reckon I will die before the car.

personally go for the 1.4 8v you wont regret it. its a beautiful car.

don't forget the 1.3 will be a bit cheaper to insure.

@ warrmr: what's so much better about the 1.4? Unless you're ragging it everywhere, i would have thought the difference in performance would be minimal?

dragon_green wrote:don't forget the 1.3 will be a bit cheaper to insure.

@ warrmr: what's so much better about the 1.4? Unless you're ragging it everywhere, i would have thought the difference in performance would be minimal?

the extra bit of torque makes so much difference this is going from a 1.2 to a 1.4 the difference prolly wont be a bigger jump as i had but it makes alot of difference. but thats prolly cos of living near the hills. ( the malverns) it felt so slow in my little italian tin can 1.2 60bhp now in 1.4 60 bhp it feels alot faster and doesnt struggle to get up the hills.

thanks for the replies guys, some interesting points there.

the convienence factor of the car being local is the biggest winner at the mo, insurance isn't much of a factor as she's on the cheaper side of 25. i guess the answer is to take it out for a spin. i hope it isn't slower than the cinq

tallpaul wrote:thanks for the replies guys, some interesting points there.

the convienence factor of the car being local is the biggest winner at the mo, insurance isn't much of a factor as she's on the cheaper side of 25. i guess the answer is to take it out for a spin. i hope it isn't slower than the cinq

Hopefully it shouldn't be noticeable that its slower, actually it might not even be slower thinking about it cause no Fiat seems to keep its out of the box performance

Im sure your mrs will love it....probably can definately say the build quality will be better.