Polo replacement

Toyotafanboi

Basically, we have a 09 1.4d polo, comfortline, 80k km's.

we would be willing to put up to 5k max with it, not too pushed on going "up in the years" or what have you, just to make the move to another similar (nice) car.

the car we change to will be owned for a good many years i'd say, so we would be looking for something that will wear/ age well in terms of reliability and maintenance.

criteria i suppose:
polo/ fiesta/ yaris sized car, but open to the next segment up golf/ focus etc
preferably diesel :rolleyes: but open minded to petrol
price of no greater than 09 polo + 5k

what would the polo be worth on a trade in roughly speaking? €7k ish?

MuppetCheck

They are horribly boring but my aunt got a Kia Rio a while ago. Decent spec, interiors alright to be in and plenty of warranty. Had a 1.4d newer Fiesta (10k km in 2 years...) and says it's not costing much to run. No issues despite the dogs abuse it gets. They are also cheap to buy.

Toyotafanboi

yeah, would be interested in korean options (:P) thought this looked nice, but not sure if it's outside the budget
http://www.carzone.ie/search/KIA/Ceed/CEE'D-1./43413952503752100/advert?channel=CARS

the fiesta was what i first thought of, in 1.4d, i think they're probably one of the best looking super mini's out there.
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Fiesta/1.4-DIES/57814043906820410/advert?channel=CARS

dare i say, the newer gen polo actually looks quite nice too.
http://www.carzone.ie/search/Volkswagen/Polo/C%23L-1.6T/83314107938454030/advert?channel=CARS

i suppose it hinges on the polo's trade in value really.

Toyotafanboi

potentially going to view these two. fairly hemmed in as the family don't really like to travel to buy cars and despite my est efforts have a horn for diesel vw's.

which would be the better buy? it's probably quite optimistic to expect to get the 1.2 within budget anyway, but you'd never know.

http://www.sinnottautos.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Polo/COMFORTLINE-TDI/82814107938422190/
http://www.sinnottautos.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Polo/CL-1.6TDI/83314107938454030/

so far as my ignorant eyes can see. the 1.2 has alloys and the 1.6 does not :P i'd also imagine the 1.2 is dangerously slow?

the generic photos are a pain in the sack.

MuppetCheck

For a soon to be 5 year old Polo with 80k miles on it is 11.5k not a lot of money?

Toyotafanboi

MuppetCheck wrote: »

For a soon to be 5 year old Polo with 80k miles on it is 11.5k not a lot of money?

imo, yes. much better value in other manufacturers.

the "problem" is the 09 polo (our trade in) is my late fathers. he passed a number of months ago and my mother now uses the car, but it carries too many memories both good (good times) and bad (hospital visits, bad news, funeral etc) so we reckon it is no longer healthy for her to keep using it if it's eating her heart out. it was my fathers intention to trade up to a mk8 polo this year but his illness prevented it, so in his memory mam wants to buy one of those as a compromising solution kind of. i have put other options to her and although she see's the logic i think she wants the polo for him. *sob story over*

MuppetCheck

That's fair enough then.

Sorry for your loss btw.

Edit - typo...

Toyotafanboi

Thanks

would still rather a fiesta :pac: looks like more bang for buck, but at this stage i think it's damage limitation and just ensuring we get best cost to change possible!

Toyotafanboi

ok, well this has taken an interesting change. i was taking in some top gear on netflix on friday evening and she caught sight of a fiat 500, which i'm thankful for because 5k to trade up one year to another diesel polo was grating on me.

soooo, visited a few dealers today and seems as though we're getting offered around 8k for the polo, and we could get a brand new (admittedly low spec) 500 for €4500 (if we register it 142 and not 151) which is very reasonable i think. there was also a couple of zero mileage 141 and 142 already registered cars that we could have for a little less, around 3800 ish.

viewed one 132 500, ex hire car, 50k kms on the clock that the dealer wanted 13500 for second hand, 6k to change to it from the polo, i was shocked, given what we had been offered in a fiat dealer before hand!

are the 500's any good? had a very quick glance under the bonnet and it looks like a fiddled with version of the 1.2 engine that has been in the puntos for years, which i think is a pretty sound engine.

MuppetCheck

Took a 1.2 Lounge spec around Italy for a week last year. I didn't get what all the fuss is about, although I was probably more preoccupied with figuring out what the feck I was doing as the roads were mad. The engine was a bit lacklustre imo.

It did take two of us and our luggage in comfort and was very, very economical. Diesel like almost. I did have some fun up the hills to San Marino and it was well specced for a small car. What kind of warranty are they offering? For the relatively small money they are asking it could be a good buy.

What dealers did you try? Going looking at one for herself at the weekend as she loves the things.

JohnBoy26

A fiat 500 would be downgrade from your polo tbh, imo.

Toyotafanboi

MuppetCheck wrote: »

Took a 1.2 Lounge spec around Italy for a week last year. I didn't get what all the fuss is about, although I was probably more preoccupied with figuring out what the feck I was doing as the roads were mad. The engine was a bit lacklustre imo.

It did take two of us and our luggage in comfort and was very, very economical. Diesel like almost. I did have some fun up the hills to San Marino and it was well specced for a small car. What kind of warranty are they offering? For the relatively small money they are asking it could be a good buy.

What dealers did you try? Going looking at one for herself at the weekend as she loves the things.

Motor Village Waterford was where we viewed the new models, looked at a second hand in H and H renault which was in rough shape (ex hire drive), wouldn't waste my time going to see it.

Fiat are offering 5 years warranty and roadside assistance on a new one which is certainly competitive. we were looking at basic enough models (only seen one pop! model) but even in basic spec they are very tolerable. it's one car where i don't think spec counts too much, all it does is add more chrome and different wheels :P

the claim for the 1.2 petrol is 55mpg, even half that would be reasonable i reckon. had a spin out of one or two and they are a peppy little drive, a bit of a go kart but without feeling like a shoebox.

JohnBoy26 wrote: »

A fiat 500 would be downgrade from your polo tbh, imo.

indeed it is a step down, sure it wouldn't be fair to trade up 5-6 years to a brand new car for 4k ish if it wasn't a step down. brand isn't a big deal and she will be keeping it at least until the warranty is up so 5 years down the line whatever she buys will be worth very little. it's just a breath of fresh air compared to humdrum polo/ golf type thing. she does chronically small mileage so petrol will be a weight off of my mind

JohnBoy26

Was referring to the class and size of the car rather than the brand tbh.

The 500 is based on a Ka, both are of similar size and both are a class below the polo which is more a fiesta rival.

If this doesn't bother you and you are willing to go for a smaller car then that's fair enough, by all means go for it just giving my opinion is all

bazz26

500 is niche model though similar to the MINI. Opel Adam might be worth looking at too if you fancy the 500 or a Suzuki Swift if you want something with a bit more room.

Toyotafanboi

indeed it is a smaller car but it's grand for the mammy popping around town, she'd rarely have need to venture any further.

we viewed another one in linnanes fiat today, a "colour therapy" model which is a bit neater looking than the basic cars. it's a 141 with a few thousand kms on it keeping the cost to change at 4500 which is good, considering the colour collection was €1k more to buy new (€14500) just 6 months ago.

the spec wouldn't set the world on fire as opposed to the basic "pop" but you get retro chrome wheel trims, white mirrors and roof whip which make the car look a bit more tasty and a colour coordinated gear knob from what i can see :pac:

we viewed it reasonably late today, so we are just waiting on a call back in the morning to confirm that 4500 cost to change is sound and if it is, we'l take it

Toyotafanboi

got a call we really weren't expecting. €4250 if we wanted to trade and he'd throw in a set of tailored mats and a fill of petrol i was expecting the provisional 4500 to go up now down :pac: so we dealt. the (main Fiat) dealer is also going to deliver the car to our house 30km away from the dealers and pick up the polo from there this afternoon, this seems like remarkable service considering we didn't even ask :O

colm_mcm

Result!

ba_barabus

Excellent.

I'd love a 500. Great little cars.

Toyotafanboi

yeah, only problem is it was 30km through road works in the rain so it was filthy when it got here :P

will give it a nice wash and get a few photos up! thanks for all the help

Toyotafanboi

just to wrap this up, here's a couple of quick photos

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=92564288&postcount=2180

the car itself is really good fun to drive, it feels quite nippy, even if 0-60mph takes 13 seconds, there is also virtually zero engine noise in the cabin even when you are revving the nuts off of it which is surprising for a cheap small car.

generally speaking we couldn't be happier, there's a couple of thousand on the clock, 7k i think, but there was still the clear plastic film of newness on a few parts around the car so i wonder what the car was doing the last few months, the dealer said it wasn't ex rental but i have my doubts, either way it's in great shape. spec is decent with auto lights, air con, stereo with aux, stop start and a decent trip computer... 4.5 years warranty and roadside assistance remaining.

the most glaring omission for what is essentially a womans car is that there is no vanity mirror in the drivers sun visor!

Colser

Thats lovely OP...hope your mom gets many years of happy driving from it:)

colm_mcm

That's a deadly colour, the white mirrors and wheels really suit it.

Noccy_Mondy

Only getting around to looking at these threads now!

Well wear! That is one funky looking car, loving it! What sort of set up is going on with the wheels, are they trims, steelies or alloys, I can't tell.

Oh and sorry to hear about your loss man, hope all is getting better for ye now

Toyotafanboi

Noccy_Mondy wrote: »

Only getting around to looking at these threads now!

Well wear! That is one funky looking car, loving it! What sort of set up is going on with the wheels, are they trims, steelies or alloys, I can't tell.

Oh and sorry to hear about your loss man, hope all is getting better for ye now

thanks sorry for the late reply. they are just a plastic wheel trim (well played, fiat :pac: ) the outside is painted cream and the inside is also plastic but it's a mirror finish when the car is clean. i think these will be a problem keeping clean as the winter sets in.