Things to look for when buying...

[wotnoshoeseh]

Hi all,
Considering a 1.2 Polo for my son who has just passed his test, and have a 2007 one locally to go and view - 59k on the clock. I really need a heads up for what to look for on these when going to look at them.
From what I've read thus far, service history is essential with oil changes at between 8 & 10k miles or annually at a minimum.
What else needs to be done? Timing chain / belt? What interval?
Are there any weak areas I should be looking for?
Does the pedal box fault that I've read about affect these Polos too? If so, how can I check for issues?

Thanks for any and all help.

Cheers,
D.

[RUM4MO]

I've never had a car with the 1.2 3 cylinder engine, but there were a few changes made to help avoid the chain jumping a tooth of two and knocking out the engine timing - extended guides/damper assemblies etc. So it is a chain not a belt, so no belt worries there (only chain concerns).

Pedal boxes, these cars have hydraulic clutches so the old pedal box breaking up should not be an issue.

I had a friend at work who had a daughter that bought maybe an older car, possibly 2003 Polo and she never ever had any problems with it - which surprised me, she traded it in a couple of years ago.

So while I would never ever buy a car with that series of engines in it, there are huge numbers of people running around in cars with these engines and having no problems at all! (the old 1.4 16V engine gets my vote as it is basic, soulless and very reliable)

[wotnoshoeseh]

Thanks RUM4MO,
I went and had a look at it last night - needed a few cosmetic things tidying up but the thing that surprised me most was the level of engine noise. Quite loud under acceleration - are they all like that? I was expecting a bit more refinement being a VW..

[RUM4MO]

As I said, I've never had a car with that engine, so I can't comment on the engine noise - sorry!

I thought that it is described as "having character" and "sporty sounding"??

[alexperkins]

The 3 cylinder is a little noisy. A lot of noise and not a great deal of grunt

Depends if you would class the noise as excessive or not.

[wotnoshoeseh]

Cheers,
What about the 1.4 then? Is it a lot more refined?
I'm looking at one of those but it's the older version with the two round lights.

Thanks in advance.

[RUM4MO]

Cheers,
What about the 1.4 then? Is it a lot more refined?
I'm looking at one of those but it's the older version with the two round lights.

Thanks in advance.

I can't disagree with that, in my eyes a much "prettier" car, sort of M-B SLK look!

Well it is a 4 cylinder engine for a start, worked well enough in the Polo my wife owned from new for 13 and 108K miles, though as I said soulless but reliable, and does the job for A>B driving.

Edit:- actually it only has one headlight, the plastic trim makes it look like it has two, which is okay as it makes it look better!