Ask an expert
I'm looking into buying a runabout for my wife, and after some looking, she has her eye on a 96 - 98 VW Polo.
Taking into account the km's on the models we are looking at, what are some things that I should be wary of if purchasing one of these (they are either the 1.6L or the 1.8L)?
Are the European cars still considerably more expensive to repair and maintain?
What fuel would be the best for the Polo and are the cambelts expensive to have done?
Rodney
From the "Ask Jack" archives - 14 December 2009
It is generally accepted the European vehicles can be more expensive to maintain, but with the age of vehicle you are looking at, past service history means an awful lot in my view.
A well maintained Polo could be a much better buy than a poorly maintained Japanese brand for example.
Some of the big ticket items to be concerned about would be the condition of the cooling system and transmission fluid (auto). Repairs in these areas can be very costly.
Also have a good look around the door frames for any hint of corrosion.
Cam belt replacement cost would depend on the engine configuration (single or double camshaft).
The worst case scenario we received on a ring around the VW dealers was $850.
Recommended fuel is 95 Octane.
I have had a 1999 Volkswagen Polo (Currently 38,000 Km) since December and it has been a great little economical car. The last oil change cost me $90.00 at Oil Changers which wasn't too bad. The only thing is it has done very low Km's but a month ago the gearbox more or less fell apart and for that to be fixed was going to be $3,500. So we ended up getting a second hand gear box and that cost $1,500 to get installed and running. I have had it back for just over a week and was driving it today and the gearbox fell out, but this is the garages fault as they did not attach it properly.
No matter what type of car you get, there is a slight chance something could go wrong with it, but I think as Volkswagen becomes more popular the spare parts are becoming cheaper, and easier to get hold of. Even though with the problems I have had, I still really recommend Volkswagen