Polo out of hibernation!

Chat about your MKI or MKII Polo (86 and 86F)
GroovyCarrot
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Polo out of hibernation!

Post by GroovyCarrot »

Hello people, long time no see!
I'm back in the polo scene, at least for a while until I find myself a nice boring diesel to replace my scirocco (for sale if anyone's interested, reason being student life is more expensive than I thought, need something more economical around town). Brought my polo out of hibernation and filled the engine to the brim with anti-smoke additives and it's now ready to MoT. Really can't fault the old car, it's been sitting for months and yet put a new battery in it and it fires up faster than my scirocco does, very impressive little beast.
So anyway, good to be back, if only for a while :)
hypojam
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Post by hypojam »

Oh right, Good to hear it :D
polokris
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Post by polokris »

LOOK the FUK OUT!!!!

welcome back fella!!!! long time no hear!! 8) 8)
DanDiesel
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Post by DanDiesel »

welcome back GC!! will be good to see the polo roaring again!!
Polo Paul
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Post by Polo Paul »

Do the anti-smoke additives work well enough for MOT and where do they come from? also if you can bang another 12months MOT on it and if its not going to fly apart it might be better to keep the Polo than have the cost of buying a diesel.

What diesel were you thinking of? You can pick up a decent 1.9tdi 90bhp Ibiza for around £1500 and they aint slow either.
GroovyCarrot
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Post by GroovyCarrot »

Well, hopefully it'll work well enough for the MoT, I'll find out at 1:45 tomorrow :) Certainly having added some it's smoking loads less, there's still a bit of smoke after around 4,000 rpm but not the clouds of it that there used to be. If it fails, I'll shove another bottle of the stuff in for good measure and try again, I think my place still does free retests so it can't hurt. You can get the additive from places like halfords, the stuff I used was made by STP who make most of the fuel and oil additives you see on the shelves. It's basically just a bottle of goop which thickens up the oil so less gets past the piston rings - bit of a pikey solution, but if it gets it past the MoT and means I can flog it to someone locally then I'm happy. Another year or two of life is better than dragging it to the scrappy.

Not sure what diesel to get - ibiza is an option but an older model as I can't afford to go over about £900, and unfortunately the older ones didn't come with a TD option, they're all N/A which sounds a bit sluggish. Mk1 toledos are very reasonable now and the TD sounds a bit more sprightly and also more practical than the ibiza, so that's a definate consideration. Lots of people have also recommended the citroen BX TD as powerful, economical and comfortable, although it suffers from the traditional french tinniness. Renault 19 DT is also on the list, as is a mk2 golf GTD or a mk3 TD of some sort. Really what I'm looking for is a large hatchback or small saloon just for practicality, the more economical the better, but I'm desperate for it not to be utterly 'average'.. I'm used to my cars being a bit different and a bit quirky, so that would be nice although obviously price and economy come first at the moment. Any suggestions would be welcome :)
Polo Paul
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Post by Polo Paul »

You can get plenty of VAG diesel for £900 off ebay, just makesure you go check it out first. Just be careful with the french cars, the are quirky and have character but they tend to fly apart after about 6/7 years old. My mate had a pug diesel, that went up in flames, my mates clio has been back to the dealer a few times and i know of countless citroens going wrong.

If you could get a mk2 GTD that would be great, very rare and still look good with the GTi big bumpers and grill on them.
Gareth_GT_Hatch
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Post by Gareth_GT_Hatch »

thought the polo had gone for good. glad to see you didnt scrap it. :D
GroovyCarrot
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Post by GroovyCarrot »

I've just added the audi 80 and vw passat tdi's to my list of german diesels, along with the GTD. My reasoning for the french cars is that the french seem to have been the first to make diesels interesting, their older diesels are more economical than any of the german offerings, and citroens in particular are renowned for their comfort due to the hydropneumatic suspension. Obviously though I realise that this is all at the cost of build quality and reliability, so I'll have to be weighing up the pros and cons a bit there.

And yes, the polo was indeed saved from the scrappy :) Couldn't bear to scrap it so I kept putting it off, lucky really! It's booked for its MoT in just over an hour, so I just have to hope that it passes now..
Gareth_GT_Hatch
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Post by Gareth_GT_Hatch »

Cheap diesel, its got to be an Audi 80 TDI. Build quality on them is very very good so im told. What about a vento as well? Theyre pretty cheap.
Polo Paul
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Post by Polo Paul »

Well is the Polo on the road did it pass?
Mk2Adam
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Post by Mk2Adam »

nice to hear GC 8)

what was wrong with your rocco exactly? not enough MPG or was it having problems?
GroovyCarrot
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Post by GroovyCarrot »

Aye, it passed, all it needed was an indicator bulb :D It was fantastic driving it again, it may not have the power of the rocco but it makes up for it by just being a joy to drive :)

There's nothing wrong with the rocco, I'm just selling it because while I'm at uni, 99% of the time I'm driving around the city, where the car isn't really in its element.. stop start traffic makes it drink petrol a bit too heavily for my liking, and speed bumps are just a pain. If only I was driving it around here in the country all the time I'd keep it, because it's good to drive, it's got more than enough power and on the open road it's very economical.. just a shame it's not so good in the city, but I guess you can't have everything.
steveo3002
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Post by steveo3002 »

why dont u find a good engine and keep the polo??

if you can find a breaker localy , i still a need a gearbox so that could cover some of the cost if you get a mot failure

nice 1.3 inj would improve fuel economy
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SpikeyG40
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Post by SpikeyG40 »

GC!

Good to see ya back matey! sorry to hear about the rocco, they are lovely cars but i can understand where your coming from mate!

Glad the Little polo passed, its good to have her back on the road! :wink:
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