Hive mind: opinion on this polo

[tim]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202403237889835

Girlfriend’s son is 17 soon. This looks like a bit of a unicorn, one owner low mileage and good mot history.

I know nothing about these, or that 1.2 engine. What do we reckon?

[mik]

I know nothing about these, or that 1.2 engine. What do we reckon?

Unfortunately, +1

[Sundayjumper]

I reckon a 17yo will ruin it, crash it, get bored with it and want something different inside 12 months, at which point it won’t be the 1-owner mint example you paid a premium for and you’ll wish you’d bought a “normal” one for half the price.

[Rich B]

I reckon a 17yo will ruin it, crash it, get bored with it and want something different inside 12 months, at which point it won’t be the 1-owner mint example you paid a premium for and you’ll wish you’d bought a “normal” one for half the price.

I thought the same. Theres 24 on AT under 50k miles, so it's not quite the unbelievable unicorn that has to be snapped up, it's just a good low mileage example at strong low mileage example money.

I'd be buying a higher mileage newer one - it won't be staying in perfect old lady owner condition for long anyway.

[tim]

To be fair to the lad he's not the type to go mental with/in it, but it's a good point all the same. Quick look at AT reveals a lot of the < 50k newer ones are CAT cars which is a bit off putting.

Appreciate the comments.

[NGRhodes]

A nice car in that condition and price deserves regular cleaning and proactive maintenance (or else you might as well get something cheaper, less nice), would the lad be willing ?

For a cheap (about half the price) run around I would be okay with cosmetic repairs in consideration of the general car quality (which may include cat repairs). I would personally prefer a car with lots of what I call honesty scratches (and even small dints), but with good mechanical history (which is what our CRV is like, plenty of scratches on every panel, but has a full Honda dealer history). Following this strategy is IMHO is far less likely to find cars with dodgy repairs (like a bucket full of filler used).
Having recently purchased a car, I personally gave up on looking at CAT cars, as I struggled to find one with a decently written advert and acceptable history (both service book and MOT), was much more time efficient to filter out CAT cars and increase my search radius a bit (I also only had saved searches that had keywords like "service history", "FSH", "dealer history").

[Pete_]

Deceased spec and "WHERE ON EARTH WILL YOU FIND ANOTHER" - Smith and Sniff would love it!

[Matty]

I had the GTi version of this - good car, reliable, always worked, solid. Very "Meh" but as a first car, fine.

[Sundayjumper]

Is a MINI out of the question insurance-wise ? I know I’m a broken record on this but they’re fun to drive and have way more character than a Polo. There’s loads of them about for your £4k budget.

[tim]

g/f hates them so possibly ruled out, but I will mention it.

[Sundayjumper]

g/f hates them so possibly ruled out...

She's the one paying for it and driving it yeah ?

[dinny_g]

My sister had a 1.2 for a good while - bought it with 40k km’s and it never put a foot wrong.

Mum now has one - again, bought with about 40k km’s and it’s going well so far.

Non technical feedback but they do seem a decent car. Mini Dinny will be getting one for his first.

[Jobbo]

That Polo looks good but expensive - it’s still 18yrs old so just as likely to strand the darling child due to a random fault like an old coolant pipe splitting as a car which has been used more regularly. Should at least avoid things like engine rebuilds.

[jamcg]

Like a lot of older cars, even on low mileage they can have gearbox issues due to 18 year old oil in them, as it was supposedly not “needed to be changed” which is absolute bullshit however a mate who has one just had his rebuilt at a cost of around £500 so not a horrendous bill but it does represent a large percentage of the cars value

[scotta]

Check insurance quotes first. Comparing for the boy a polo was £800 more expensive to insure than a Toyota Aygo / Skoda citigo.

[integrale_evo]

Step daughter has a polo of that shape for 5 years. I think it’s needed rear dampers, a battery and some brakes, can’t remember doing anything else to it. Parts have been dirt cheap.

1.4 though so no direct experience of the 1.2, but feels smooth, comfortable and pretty solid.

[tim]

On reflection the conclusion newer/higher mileage/cheaper is more betterer than that one. Neither like MINIs so they're out.

Ta for comments.