Looking at new car options for SWMBO and we are coming up a bit short. Basically her criteria are:

• Small for her underground car park at work
  
• 5 door
  
• preferably petrol (she does lots of small trips)
  
• Have the basics - Air con, RCL, E/F windows, Alloys
  
• Be "nice" looking
  
• Not be any slower than her 98 1.4 8V Polo (doesn't need to be any quicker either)
  
• Be no more than £6k
  

So far through unexplanable "don't like them" moments and other factors she has narrowed it down to:

Grande Punto - but must be a 1.4 Dynamic Sport or Eleganza as she doesn't like the interior on the Dynamic and the others don't meet the spec.

or

Seat Ibiza

The problem with the Ibiza is that the 5 door requirement cuts our options by 2/3 and we would really like a post facelift (06>) one. Currently we are looking for 1.4s and coming up blank but there seem to be alot more of the 1.2 3 cylinder (70bhp) jobbies out there.

Are these any good though? Would be good to get some opinions before we go for a test drive or three.

Thanks for any views you can give.

Edited 29 March, 201016 yr by lordrobs

Grande Punto is a solid, well made car, but I've driven the 1.4-8v petrol and felt it was a bit underpowered although I have no idea how it compares to the Polo.

As a bit of a left-field suggestion (which you may have already ruled out), but how about something like this?

Has all the toys and will run rings around the Polo, Ibiza and Punto imho

Chris

how about a Polo Dune - i think they are a funky little thing.

Was considering one but went for a brand new aygo instead - brilliant value and quite 'fun' and dirt cheap to run!

The 3-pot has more character than your 1. 4. Noise is nicer but performance is not much better. IIRC, first gear is quite short but it revs nicely.

Can't speak for reliability but its not like the old 1.4 was brilliant either.

Yes, the 3-pot 1.2 is a damn good little engine! The VAG 3-pots are the only ones I've driven that don't seem "unbalanced"

The Girlfriends Ibiza Mk4 has got this engine in, you have to get the revs up a little to set off otherwise it feels as though its going to stall.

Not had a problem with the engine as of yet, but i do understand that the coil packs can be a problem.

She had a 1.2 8v 4 cylinder clio before and she says it pulls better than that did.

Edited 29 March, 201016 yr by Browny_37

See earlier thread:-

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/155429-fabia-or-polo/

And "Honest John" reports :-

On Mark 4 Polo

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volkswagen/polo-iv-2005/?

Mark 5 Polo

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/volkswagen/polo-v-2009/

Or, if you do need to spend as much go for the Fabia:-

Mk 2

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/skoda/fabia-2-2007/

Common thread here is that most of the 1.4 petrol engines in the VAG range suffer from horrendous cylinder bore wear - Fab manual says that 1 litre of oil per 600 miles is acceptable usuage

This wouldn't have anything to do in the current practice (And official advice) of using lighter 10w-40 oil in an engine initially designed in the late 1980s to run on heavier 20w-50 oil - no of course not, would VAG think they could get round this issue without major re-tooling just by substituting different piston rings, thus saving themselves millions of pounds ? Of course not !

All 1.4 petrol engines have cam belt tensioner problems necesitating premature replacement of the rubber/cloth Cam belts and tensioners - my dealer replaced belts and tensioner at 6 years (40,000 miles) - past advice was they were good up to 120,000.

!.2 3 Cyl petrolengines have aluminium cylinder heads and although spritely are a little noisy. Honest John also reports failure of the metal cam chains in this model - I presume its this engine which is to be uprated with the fitment of a turbo charger to make the output 105 PS and put in the Yeti next year.

The MK 1 Fabias doors have a water penetration problem which I believe is common with the Polo (How long have they been making monocoque chassis cars ?) and Fabias have a problem with premature wear of the Anti-roll bar bushes - usually replaced under warranty.

Sorry, but looks like someone has hacked all the owners reviews on HJ into Latin text

Nick

Edited 30 March, 201016 yr by Clunkclick

I have a big lardy Fabia 2 estate with the 1.2 70hp engine. Its great, revs really well and is sprightly around town and even on the open road its pretty good. It is overcome by long gradients though but its a heavy car. Fuel cosumption averages 45mpg but I can get a bit more if I try.

Downside is the noise it makes, its not loud or anything but they always sound like they are rattling away and its not a pleasant sound tbh. My wifes little Toyota engine in her Pug 107 is much nicer, sounds proper but doesnt rev as well as the VAG engine.

In short, I would say its a good engine in the right car... the Fab estate might just be pushing things a bit

Thanks for all of the advice. It sounds like the 3 cylinder lump is well worth a try then

As for the other suggestions... the only Polo she likes is the very latest model which is way out of budget. Panda was ruled out but I never knew you could get the 100HP model in this budget. That would be my choice by a country mile but despite me driving it as much as her it is her car.

Well, I absolutely love Fiats but.... whilst the motoring press and the uneducated public seem to think the latest breed of Fiats are miles ahead in terms of reliability than their older counterparts it simply isnt true.... hence why I now drive a Skoda

Well, I absolutely love Skodas but.... whilst the motoring press and the uneducated public seem to think the latest breed of Skodas are miles ahead in terms of reliability than their older counterparts it simply isnt true.... hence why I now drive a Fiat

EFA

Chris

LOL, very good

Great little engine in 12v guise: free revving and spritely and I like the noise too.

EFA

Chris

And your fabia really turned out to be a pain the aris once it realised it was 3 years and 1 second old.

And your fabia really turned out to be a pain the aris once it realised it was 3 years and 1 second old.

2 years and 359 days, although I also learnt a lot about Westover Skoda during those last 6 days of warranty

Chris