Ownership Diary - VW Polo 1.4 (MkIV 2004)

Well, I've stuck it in here since it's at least VAG! ;) By now my familiar ownership thread, albeit not a BMW and not anything vaguely exciting!

Car in question was first registered on 5th November 2004 and is a 3-door VW Polo MkIV in Berry Red pearlescent paint and just shy of 84k on the clock. It is a one owner from new vehicle, owned by a couple in their sixties and if I hadn't seen the mileage on the clock, I'd believe they'd never driven it!!

It was bought new from VW Huntingdon, has 11 annual stamps in the service book all by VW Huntingdon - oil changes, sparks, brake fluid, brakes etc plus, most recently, a cambelt change and new waterpump just 6 miles before I collected it. It comes with fully comprehensive 12-month VW warranty and breakdown cover, two new Kuhmo front tyres and a Dunlop and Firestone on the rear with c. 4mm each. Effectively nothing to spend on it for the foreseeable. Me being me though, I have some plans.....!

So yesterday I collected it from VW Huntingdon, not really sure what to expect. It looked great in the photos, sounded great from the sales spiel and on the back of this, I'd paid 2.5k with just the remaining 449 to pay upon collection. Great customer service by the salesman there; collected me from the train station, cup of very good coffee and then took me out to the workshop where the car was sitting looking mint. I don't use that word lightly, either!

It pains me to say it, but the paintwork and bodywork is in much better condition than my 3yr old F21! Ok, so it had been compounded (natural for red paint to fade a bit) but it had been done with no swirl marks and the trim had been dressed subtely. To all intents and purposes, it looked brand new. Inside was no exception, with the only mark I could find, on the centre console above the radio where it looks like something might've been dropped from the centre storage tray which has left a very minor scuff. Apart from that, spotless! Even the pedal rubbers don't look very worn. In short, it's like sitting in a museum piece.

Aircon blows ice-cold, electric heated wing mirrors and electric windows all work nicely too.

What's it like to drive?

Well, with 75bhp on tap, it's hardly going to set the world on fire. Not only that, but being n/a petrol, it's also rather strange to hear revs build and not really have a feeling of accelerating!! But she does move along and gets up to speed nicely, if not very hurredly. The clutch bite point is a bit high, which I assume indicates the clutch hasn't got much left in it, but there was no jerking or juddering apart from a slightly lumpy idle, but nothing other than a small 4-cylinder finding its beat. Accelerates nicely, gears snick into place in a very German fashion. In some ways a nicer box to use than the 1er as it's not at all notchy and very easy to select.

Ride quality is good - very nicely damped, a bit more bodyroll than I'd like, but then what am I expecting on a car built for comfort, pootling and on 14" alloys!

All signed and paid for, I set off on the 65mile trip home along the A14 and M11. Once up to 70mph, it kept up with the traffic easily and was also equally at home at 80mph. There was a bit of an exercise in momentum management when slowing down behind lorries and getting back up to speed; nearly reaching for 4th several times, but 5th gear managing to get me through with foot buried in the firewall!! But a far nicer steer on the motorway than I was expecting and could easily have managed another few hours in relative comfort.

Road noise is most definitely there, but not as intrusive as I imagine and even with the engine at 3k rpm at 70mph, it's quick enough to respond but not boomy and the radio/cassette(!) of good enough quality to keep the road noise at bay.

Can't tell you anything about the mpg as it only had 1/3 of a tank when I collected it and filled it when I got home with 44quid of BP Ultimate (only did this for its cleaning properties - will do a few tanks of this before reverting to standard petrol).

Fact is, this car is not about the majority of what I did with it yesterday. It's going to be my primary means of transport between the new house and the station, some 7miles away. It will then sit in the station car park all day and do the same return journey in the evening. At weekends it will be used perhaps as a shopping car if there are tight spaces in car parks which the 1er might get damaged in and it will do tip runs if necessary.

All of which is a bit of a shame. I still can't believe how good a condition it's in and part of me wants to cherish her in the same way as her previous owners have done. I had thought I would service my station car myself; I'm now erring towards sending her back up to VW Huntingdon for all her service work, just to keep that lovely history file going!! We'll see.

For now, she's tucked up in the garage at home (current home, we're not moving for a month or so yet) - not sure when she'll get used next but Mrs Spuff is very keen on taking her for a spin at the weekend, such was her enthusiasm upon seeing her yesterday!

Inevitably, a to do list......

- not sure whether the chaps stuck some wax on her after the compounding, so want to get a couple of coats of Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection on her at some point soon
- ordered a set of Genuine VW carpet mats for her. At 35quid seemed a bit of steal and a real shame if the footwells get damaged given the overall condition
- bought a private plate which goes with the fleet designation, which will go on as soon as I have the V5C and the Retention Certificate
- Come October/November I'll be sticking some Michelin Alpin winter tyres on all round and will run those throughout the year. I'll sell what is on there currently on eBay.
- Could probably do with some uprated bulbs in the headlights and mainbeam given where we'll be living.
- Headunit - love the old style, original cassette/radio, but sorely tempted to change it to something with a USB plug-in. We'll see. Not strictly necessary, but have an urge to do so.

Other than that, absolutely love it and after Saturday's experience of seeing what 3k DOESN'T buy you, I feel like I've won the lottery with this.

Watch this space for running updates, costs (which I hope will be minimal) and photos.......to come. In the interim, here's the advert:

http://www.vindisgroup.com/car-details/volkswagen_polo_mk4_phase_ii_hatchback_5-dr_605186698.html

 

Thanks mate - I think it's the Beta but I'll check. That'd be great and let me know what you'd want for it.

@RickT that does look better with the double DIN fully utilised. It looks strange with the trim in-filler below it.

@Harry - it is quite a fun little thing. It rolls a fair bit and doesn't grip at corners as tenaciously as some hatchbacks I've driven and typifies the kind of "capable but dull" that I expect from VW. That kind of leads me onto the same thinking as @Zed; I've driven loads of our fleet Passats at HQ in Frankfurt and also a fair few Golfs - all of them are perfectly capable, nice enough to sit in but so ridiculously dull that I can't understand why anyone would buy one, particularly given the prices aren't that different from, say, BMWs offerings which exude far more in terms of fun and soul. But with the Polo, so far I've noticed that humble ability to get you from place to place is quite endearing - not pretending to be anything other than a solid, reliable companion for the everyday grind. I rather like that!

 

Damn you all - it's started.....! ;)

VW carpet mats arrived yesterday and really complete the interior. Black with grey edging which apes the grey cloth trim. Nice!

Then a quick flick around eBay (as you do) had me order an OEM VW CD changer (thanks @RickT for that idea!)

Thought about aftermarket headunit but want to keep it all OEM and given its a station car, didn't want anyone eyeing the ICE whilst parked up all day.

New plate is going on the DVLA site today and I'll drill / screw it on on Saturday!

As for you @kleynie - I'm now looking at dynamat for the doors and new speaker cones!

 

So, it's in - cd changer fitted. First one I've ever done, so not without a few scary moments (like when I got the removal key stuck in the radio / cassette face and then couldn't get all the loom tucked in behind the two units so that they wouldn't go back in!

Anyway, with a bit of pushing, tucking and shoving, both units are in. A tiny bit of an uneven gap at the top of the main unit, but nothing most people would notice and now revelling in great quality CD sound. Honestly, it's amazing how good the sound quality is for this little unit and just four front speakers.

In other news, Mrs Spuff took Beryl out yesterday and declared her to be "the worst car she's ever driven!"

But imagine that's more to do with her lack of confidence driving new cars, the lack of torque compared to the 1er and the relative "sit up and beg" seating position compared to what she's used to.

Anyway, I still love it. Just itching for excuses to drive her now.

 

A couple of rubbish pics...

 

I'm all ears!

I'm thinking of just sticking winters on the existing rims and running them year round. Not sure I can be bothered with the hassle of chopping and changing on the Polo. Jury's still out on the 1er - may go one set all year round or may just go steelies!

In the meantime, here's some more (although no better) pics of when Harry met Beryl!

 

That's impressive. Makes the 380quid I've found for the 14" tyres alone look a bit expensive!