Hey everyone!

So I'm thinking about buying a used citigo. I'll use it as a city car for the next 3-4 years, so less than 50 000 km in total.

What would be a "safe" mileage for a used car? Most offers in my price range are around 100k-150k kilometers. Is there plenty of life there left without many repairs to be expected?

What are some common faults I need to look out for? Any advice is very much appreciated.

As well to start with a look at the Fuel Filler cap area, is there corrosion or an attempt to treat / paint the area.

(See top of section for a pinned thread.)

 

Look at not just a service record but what actually was done at the services.

How does it start and drive and how does the gear change feel, going forward, and into reverse.

 

Overall condition, tyres, windscreen (chips), front brake discs etc, 

how does the braking feel, is the handbrake feeling right letting it off and applying it.

Look out for problems selecting first or reverse gear. Test this when the engine is cold. [I'm discovering this problem with the 2015 Citigo I bought last week.] 

 

A Citigo with 100,00 -150,000 kilometres should be okay as long as it has been serviced properly. 

 

Peter Remmington has some information here on what goes wrong with these cars:

http://www.remmington.info/VW UP.html

Some points in the article in the link are wrong....

 

1) Induction noise is minimal; no worse than any other car, and the crank has 120 degree offset, so the idea that 2 cylinders are in the same part of the induction cycle is not on.

 

2) The cambelt change advice is wrong - this is incorrect advice that has come out of UK dealers only, or VAG UK. The change interval is far higher - lots of data on this on the VW Up! forum. Having said that, if you buy a car with >100k km, check if the belt has been changed, and if not, haggle the price, as you will need to change it soon.

 

3) The ancillary drive belt does not need changing on every major service. In any case, failure is inconvenient, not catastrophic. You can see the condition of the belt just by peering into the engine bay.