Recommendations for a used Polo

[pred02]

Hi,

Looking to buy a used VW Polo as my first car in the UK, general City car to get around (non-commute) do up to 3000 miles per year. Budget is around 2000 GBP, so looking at 2005 VW with 1.4 petrol engine.

1. What engine is preferred on this model? 1.2, 1.4 or TDI? Is the TDi worth the extra investment?
2. How would you compare the VW Polo to similar vintage Skoda Fabia?
3. I am buying first time used in the UK. Is there a service that can check out the car? Is that usually done after the initial test drive?
4. Are there any decent stereo/bluetooth retrofits for this model
5. VW Polo went a change in 2006. Is it worth shelling extra for the 2006+ edition or are the 2002-2005 Polos solid?

Thanks

[bvs]

We have a 2002 1.4 16v 9n.
It is a nice little car to drive - not too big and not too small.
I do not know if you do your own servicing but it is a bit of a pain getting the oil filter out/in (lack of space) - I standardised on using a Mann oil filter because different makes seem to have different size 'nuts' for unscrewing (Mann = 30mm).
On my first service on this car I hacked (carefully cut LOL) away the rear offside corner of the engine undershield just enough to have easy access to the oil drain plug.
The air filter on ours is a bit of a pain as it involves 14 ? screws to remove from the underside of the engine cover.
We get approx 40mpg as an average (safe 400 mile range)
For audio we have a Sony Explode (ebay £10 LOL) which sounds quite nice and we normally use a mini USB stick with it.

[RUM4MO]

My wife ran a 2002 1.4 75PS Polo for 13 years from new running over 105K miles in that time I think, it had a few issues that will have been sorted if you buy a 2005ish car. I agree with all the points raised above wrt servicing, I had expected the oil filter change to seem easier with practise, but it didn't - still very doable though. The number of screws on the air cleaner, a bit silly and must add a bit of time into the service, at least these screws are numbered - if that helps - good wrist exorcise though!

Have you ever considered an equivalent SEAT Ibiza, maybe a bit more car for the money as SEATs seem to drop value like a stone, which is good for a second hand buyer?

Edit:- getting one with the higher output power 1.4 engine cars, ie 100PS might make it nicer to drive?

[bvs]

What engine is preferred on this model? 1.2, 1.4 or TDI? Is the TDi worth the extra investment?

Sorry forgot to answer that question - if you are town/london based it might be advisable to avoid a diesel - there is a vicious anti diesel lobby at the moment and it will probably escalate quickly for charges etc.

How would you compare the VW Polo to similar vintage Skoda Fabia?

Our other car is now a Fabia 2 - similar size car of course,prob slightly larger in height and length with a bigger boot than the polo.We took a risk and bought a 1.9tdi but we generally avoid cities,we wanted the diesel for our occasional 500 mile+ mway dashes.