Buy an mk5 or mk6 Polo

yer man!

I need some peoples opinion on a decision I'm trying to make. I want to purchase a car to use for approximately 2 years (maybe longer but we will see). I have shortlisted the polo as being a good car to go with as I'm in The Netherlands at the minute and it's basically like the golf is to Ireland, they're everywhere and seem to be ideal for here. I rented an mk6 for a weekend and I was very impressed with the size of the car and all the extras it came with like adaptive cruise control and android auto. So I was looking at purchasing one for the time I will be here (Can get to work in half the time compared to the train). I was wondering if I would be made to be buying a ~14k 2 year old car or an ~8k 5 year old mk5 polo?

No idea what the depreciation would be like on these two models in two years time and what the realistic maintenance would be on the two models.

Any opinions would be appreciated, am I completely mad ?

MK6 model
https://wittebrug.nl/occasions/volkswagen/polo/10-tsi-comfortline-navigatie-cruise-control-bluetooth_occasion_rk-758-x/benzine/22486989/

MK5 model
https://www.autoscout24.com/offers/volkswagen-polo-1-2-tsi-comfortline-1e-eig-navi-dealer-ond-btw-au-gasoline-grey-dd4bb083-62f3-4f51-a716-772d95df80b6?cldtidx=5&cldtsrc=listPage

Toyotafanboi

Have you driven either? In a lot of respects, the older model is a far better car for the driver IMO. There was also an awful lot of teething problems with the Mk6. That said, my mam has a Mk6 and is very happy with it as she knows no different.

The Mk6 is very cramped inside with a high seat and a low roof and no model has grab handles in the roof which is a big omission, a simple thing you'd miss. The handbrakes are dire in them too and has been the subject of 2x recalls already. The centre console is very slim and the cup holders arent full size, again not a huge deal but you'd really not fit an actual drink of any kind into them. There was lots of other issues with them from rainwater ingress, faulty keys, power steering faults and so on.

On the upshot though, they are a good looking small car, the one linked is a good spec, the infotainment system in them is very good and the 1.0 TSi has a nice bit of power for the size of car but still gives great economy.

The Mk5 is a better car to me, the interior and ergonomics are far far better, the cabin is better laid out and has much more space than the Mk6. The 1.2 TSi in those is generally very reliable, again nice bit of power behind it for the size of car but wouldnt be as economical as the Mk6. They had far less issues at that point in their model life and reliability as a car in general is very good, particularly for a VAG product.

yer man!

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Have you driven either? In a lot of respects, the older model is a far better car for the driver IMO. There was also an awful lot of teething problems with the Mk6. That said, my mam has a Mk6 and is very happy with it as she knows no different.

The Mk6 is very cramped inside with a high seat and a low roof and no model has grab handles in the roof which is a big omission, a simple thing you'd miss. The handbrakes are dire in them too and has been the subject of 2x recalls already. The centre console is very slim and the cup holders arent full size, again not a huge deal but you'd really not fit an actual drink of any kind into them. There was lots of other issues with them from rainwater ingress, faulty keys, power steering faults and so on.

On the upshot though, they are a good looking small car, the one linked is a good spec, the infotainment system in them is very good and the 1.0 TSi has a nice bit of power for the size of car but still gives great economy.

The Mk5 is a better car to me, the interior and ergonomics are far far better, the cabin is better laid out and has much more space than the Mk6. The 1.2 TSi in those is generally very reliable, again nice bit of power behind it for the size of car but wouldnt be as economical as the Mk6. They had far less issues at that point in their model life and reliability as a car in general is very good, particularly for a VAG product.

Thanks for the feedback, great insights to the mk6! Have never driven the mk5 no, only the mk6. I was originally looking at getting the golf, as I had one in Ireland but I thought as I may actually plan on selling this in a couple years for the cash, I want something that is clearly in demand here and these two models seem to be. I was leaning more towards the mk6 because thought the resale would be better as it's the new model compared to the old one but it interesting now that these models could have problems are are only being ironed out now. I should probably test drive the mk5 too.

Toyotafanboi

I'm not saying the 6 is a bad car, but those few little interior bits, cup holders and grab handles would really grate on you after a while. Glove box us particularly small too .

They've been the subject of 4 recalls at this point and 7 I think service campaigns overall. There was two recalls due to the bad handbrakes, one for the rear seat belt accidentally opening in an accident and one for power steering potentially failing while driving.

If you were looking at a 6, you'd want to make sure the handbrake has a least 3 clicks and holds the car firmly on a hill and doesn't soften or budge whe you release the lever.

Make sure both keyfobs lock and unlock the car, these give symptoms like a dead battery but in actual fact the key is defective with no option but to replace the fob.

Check all window switches work, they arent expensive to replace, but as a side effect of being a cheap item they are made from chocolate. The rear ones are really prone to failure even with very little use.

Make sure the double seatbelt receiver for the offside and centre rear seat belts has one buckle higher than the other, if both buckles are the same height, apparently they can unclip one another in an accident.

Dampness in the cabin is also an issue, I'd be looking in the front footwells on both sides and feeling for wet and smelling for damp, seems a lot of early ones had badly sealed windscreens, water crosses through a break in the windscreen bead seal and travels down the firewall and into the footwell.

Headlights condensating due to improperly sealed units and dash rattles in models with the CD/ Nav unit in the glovebox are popular too.

Engine and box wise they actually are pretty ok. If buying from a VW dealer I'd expect a lot of the above to be dealt with already and a non issue in regards the handbrake, power steering and seatbelt stuff and anything else your warranty would cover but they'd be handy points to look for if buying outside the VW network.

L-M

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

The Mk6 is very cramped inside with a high seat and a low roof and no model has grab handles in the roof which is a big omission, a simple thing you'd miss.

Are you mixing the two models up there?

There’s far more space in the interior of the newer model than the older. The Mk6 is a lower seating position. It was achieved by keeping the car the same length almost but they extended the wheel base.

I really think there’s no comparison between the two, as good as the Mk5 is, I would consider the Mk6 to be better in every respect, drive (With the TSI to be fair) technology, space.

There really is no question, bar budget, it has to be the Mk6

Toyotafanboi

Definitely not confusing the two.

Its personal opinion of course but I'm not particularly tall and I am absolutely beat into a Mk6. Feels much more cramped inside than a Mk5.

The roofline and headroom feels much lower in the 6 and I think not having grab handles in that regard is no coincidence, there is no room for them. I haven't measured but I'd say if you checked the distance between the driver and front seat passenger, you'd find there's more in the 5. The 6 cant even fit a conventional sized cup holder in the centre console.

Dont get me wrong, the 6 isn't a really bad car, it is a much more modern vehicle and a bit more exciting and stuff but there's a strong list of pros and cons for an early 6 vs a late 5. The 6 is infinitely nicer than a lot of its competitors like the new Micra etc.

L-M

The Mk6 is 7mm lower than the Mk5, but

94 mm extra space between the front and back wheels

58mm wider car

69L extra in the boot.

I spend most of my time in the back (Way more room. I’ve never been comfortable in a Mk5 back)

And there’s noticeably more legroom in the front.

I think you need to adjust the seats (Can go much lower in the Mk6) and then sit in both side by side. There really is no comparison

Toyotafanboi

We'll agree to differ :pac: I've never traveled in the back so it could be nicer back there.

The Irish comfortline or even the launch edition makes a nice car put of them, particularly with the tsi engine. The trendlines are a bit unpleasant compared to what you'd expect imo.

The inability to fill the blank tiles on the radio screen, no recirculated air button and plastic steering wheel make it feel intentionally cheapened or something. Have my mam in a 181 trendline non tsi the last 18 months though, she wouldnt be hard to please but she seems to really like it.

L-M

Yeah the initial specs of them were fairly terrible, the plastic steering wheel I would say was just missed as a spec thing rather than omitted.

The one linked about looks like a Trendline with all the good bits from a CL

yer man!

I'm also trying to figure out which would lose me the least amount of money. Which do you think would have a greater rate of depreciation? I was thinking the mk6 would be easier to sell in 2 years as people would be looking for the new model as opposed to the older one. Either way I know the depreciation will be in the range of about 2 - 2.5k per year of ownership (50% drop every 3 years) and level off a bit in the later years.

colm_mcm

The one for almost half the price of the other will lose less!

Peter T

Just a heads up with the mk5 from my own experience. Other half has a 1.6tdi, nice car to drive moves along fairly well for the power it has. Now unfortunately its had 2 injectors fail (one replaced under warranty from the garage it was bought from), has thrown up intermittent faults with an inlet manifold flap and after taking it into the main dealer for a software update the egr failed (Covered by dealer). Also had water leaking inside. The issue was an ill fitted grommet where the wiring loom ran into the interior of the car (also the reason for intermittent fault in my opinion and grommet was a crap design with a split in it). Id say check any common faults for the mk5 and mk6, then weight them against each other. If we had our time back again probably would go petrol as the mileage covered in the polo hardly justifies the diesel considering the repair costs on this particular one. Fabia or ibiza are other alternatives too

Toyotafanboi

Those would all be common faults of the 1.6 TDI, in every model it's fitted to.

yer man!

Peter T wrote: »

Just a heads up with the mk5 from my own experience. Other half has a 1.6tdi, nice car to drive moves along fairly well for the power it has. Now unfortunately its had 2 injectors fail (one replaced under warranty from the garage it was bought from), has thrown up intermittent faults with an inlet manifold flap and after taking it into the main dealer for a software update the egr failed (Covered by dealer). Also had water leaking inside. The issue was an ill fitted grommet where the wiring loom ran into the interior of the car (also the reason for intermittent fault in my opinion and grommet was a crap design with a split in it). Id say check any common faults for the mk5 and mk6, then weight them against each other. If we had our time back again probably would go petrol as the mileage covered in the polo hardly justifies the diesel considering the repair costs on this particular one. Fabia or ibiza are other alternatives too

Yeah I pretty much have to go with the petrol here as they tax the hell out of diesel cars. Diesel version costs about 100 EUR a month to tax here whereas the petrol is about 30 EUR. Plus if I drive across the border into Germany, they're heavily restricted in a lot of cities.

colm_mcm

Personally I’d look at a 3-4 year old Fiesta.

Philb76

Had a rental mk6 for a week last year and have spent a lot of time in the mk5 there's a lot more space in the mk6 i do question the claimed bootspace in the new car actually seemed smaller as for the new car infotainment system is good and it was comfortable and they look good but I personally would save a few quid and go for the fabia or ibiza as the fabia is every bit as comfortable and the boot seems bigger and i think the ibiza looks better

L-M

Philb76 wrote: »

Had a rental mk6 for a week last year and have spent a lot of time in the mk5 there's a lot more space in the mk6 i do question the claimed bootspace in the new car actually seemed smaller as for the new car infotainment system is good and it was comfortable and they look good but I personally would save a few quid and go for the fabia or ibiza as the fabia is every bit as comfortable and the boot seems bigger and i think the ibiza looks better

There’s a twin layer in the Polo boot, it drops down a decent bit

yer man!

Philb76 wrote: »

Had a rental mk6 for a week last year and have spent a lot of time in the mk5 there's a lot more space in the mk6 i do question the claimed bootspace in the new car actually seemed smaller as for the new car infotainment system is good and it was comfortable and they look good but I personally would save a few quid and go for the fabia or ibiza as the fabia is every bit as comfortable and the boot seems bigger and i think the ibiza looks better

Yeah I was looking at the Fabia and Ibiza too but they have poverty spec on those two models here for some reason. They have windy back windows and virtually no model had the adaptive cruise control. I dunno I think for the fact it probably won't be a car I will have long term I should probably focus on a cheaper mk5. I just love cars and driving so it's a decision I don't want to regret, especially after owning a golf in Ireland.

Philb76

L-M wrote: »

There’s a twin layer in the Polo boot, it drops down a decent bit

Yeah had it at it's lowest level just seemed no different to the old car was impressed with the width and rear space of the new car

yer man!

So I think I have settled on getting an Mk5 Polo just because I don't want to spend too much money at the moment.

Does the following car seem like a good deal?

2017 for EUR10,500

https://www.athloncaroutlet.nl/occasions/volkswagen/polo/nl-810-t/

Toyotafanboi

Price seems good relative to the Irish market, looks a good spec too.

Dont think there was a 90bhp 1.0 in those in the Irish market, must be an actual 1.0 TSI.

yer man!

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

Price seems good relative to the Irish market, looks a good spec too.

Dont think there was a 90bhp 1.0 in those in the Irish market, must be an actual 1.0 TSI.

Yeah I'm definitely looking for the 90bhp anyway, and the euro 6 engine. My other option is this one:

https://wittebrug.nl/occasions/volkswagen/polo/10-tsi-edition_occasion_jj-602-d/benzine/23174132/

Half the mileage for one year older with a few less extras.

colm_mcm

Neither of them is particularly high mileage, not sure does the year make much of a difference to value where you are?

yer man!

colm_mcm wrote: »

Neither of them is particularly high mileage, not sure does the year make much of a difference to value where you are?

Not as much as Ireland no, it's mostly based on mileage and condition but it's still seems to be factored into depreciation a fair bit.

The 2017 has features such as parking distance control and buttons on the steering wheel, those are the only extras I can see that the 2016 one doesn't have.

yer man!

So I went with a Mk6 POLO in the end. Picked it up on Thursday and cannot stop driving it. Very happy with the car so far. 2018 model with 35k km on it.