Reliability of the VW Caddy bakkie and the Polo Classic sedan 1.6i.

[Fiftee]

Can I just say , straight of the bat, I don't have a car nevermind a VW , I'm still a student but I have this love for older model VWs that I plan on my first car being either a Citi, Mk2 ,Mk3 ,Mk 4(including the corresponding Jettas) , or the Polo Classic or the Polo 5. I just figured it wouldn't hurt to get informed about the known issues about the cars now rather than later.

Anyway my question is that I don't see a lot of VW Caddies on the road, could it be that they are unreliable or only a few units were ever made then the model was canned?

My second question is about the Polo Classic. I think this car looks beautiful once dropped slightly in front with eagle rims and neon lights but I once read on one of the older threads that the car uses up a lot of fuel and has fuel gauge issues.I think reliability wise the engine should be reliable because I read that the car uses the same 1.6i unit in the Citi Golf Life but you guys would know better so please set me straight .

[panic-mechanic]

almost any car is as reliable as you are good at maintaining it.

[Ram013]

+1 on the maintenance bit

I had a 2002 Polo Classic 1.6i, which I kept until 2009. Early on, the starter motor failed, other than that no issues. Not even a clutch replacement. Ah, the simplicity of n/a cars.

Just be warned, get good quality lowering springs or a coilover. I skimped and got some cheap springs - 3 months later, I switched back to stock.

[Fiftee]

@Panic Mechanic so like , so as long as the car comes with fulll service history and is well maintained , the milleage is irrelevant?

@Cadet wow man , that's what I like reading about. How much do quality springs go for or went for at that time that you decided to skimp on it?

[amstel18]

unfortunately buying any used car, you cannot be guaranteed of how it was maintained.
Full service history is a good start, but I have seem some horrible botch jobs, even with full dealer history.

Most of the times a good indication of how a car was maintained is overall the condition of the car and by what type of tyres the car has on.

If the previous owner skimped on the the 4 small patches of rubber that keeps the car on the road, then most likely they skimped on maintenance and only fixed stuff with the cheapest of parts.

[Fiftee]

That is so true. I mean browsing through the Cars website , some cars will have "FSH" under their description but their mileage is way too low for the year that model came out e.g a I've seen a 90s Citi Golf Chico with around 30K kms on the clock going for R99K.The car looks fresh but how is that possible for mileage to be that low?! If they can defraud with mileage what else could they be hiding?!

[Ram013]

@Panic Mechanic so like , so as long as the car comes with fulll service history and is well maintained , the milleage is irrelevant?

@Cadet wow man , that's what I like reading about. How much do quality springs go for or went for at that time that you decided to skimp on it?

I just went for the cheapest. Money was tight, decided to get mags, upgrade the sound system all at once. Young and impatient!

IIRC the brand was razor (guaranteed to make you want to slit your wrists indeed).

[DJ7]

@Panic Mechanic so like , so as long as the car comes with fulll service history and is well maintained , the milleage is irrelevant?

@Cadet wow man , that's what I like reading about. How much do quality springs go for or went for at that time that you decided to skimp on it?

I just went for the cheapest. Money was tight, decided to get mags, upgrade the sound system all at once. Young and impatient!

IIRC the brand was razor (guaranteed to make you want to slit your wrists indeed).

Had a Razor 60mm kit in my EG Honda when I too was young and dumb. And wow, I can't even begin to describe how crappy the drive was.

[Ram013]

Lol, glad I wasn't the only one. Mine was a mere 40mm, so 60 must have been even more painful. Lesson learnt.

[DJ7]

Lol, glad I wasn't the only one. Mine was a mere 40mm, so 60 must have been even more painful. Lesson learnt.

Yeah, now I will only go eibach, decent coilovers or air. Nothing else. Lesson painfully learnt.

It was a 40mm dohc kit, which fitted onto any other Honda equates to a 60mm drop. But you live and you learn hey.

[Fiftee]

@Panic Mechanic so like , so as long as the car comes with fulll service history and is well maintained , the milleage is irrelevant?

@Cadet wow man , that's what I like reading about. How much do quality springs go for or went for at that time that you decided to skimp on it?

I just went for the cheapest. Money was tight, decided to get mags, upgrade the sound system all at once. Young and impatient!

IIRC the brand was razor (guaranteed to make you want to slit your wrists indeed).

Lol sound will probably be the last upgrade I make on any car of mine as a youngster.Aesthetics comes first to me,dropping the front slightly , the mags , lights even the interior then if we can be disciplined enough to save , we might for sound But thanks for your advise , this was my first ever post and I thought no one would reply to it after a few days without a reply ,I regard you and Panic Mechanic as my older brothers-forum on here

[DJ7]

Sound is my first upgrade to my cars or 1 of the first in some way or the other. I love music and because I know I will spend quite a bit of time in my car, it is important for me to sort that out as soon as possible.

[Fiftee]

Sound is my first upgrade to my cars or 1 of the first in some way or the other. I love music and because I know I will spend quite a bit of time in my car, it is important for me to sort that out as soon as possible.

You sound like a dj lol

[Ram013]

@Fiftee, thanks no worries.

[DJ7]

Sound is my first upgrade to my cars or 1 of the first in some way or the other. I love music and because I know I will spend quite a bit of time in my car, it is important for me to sort that out as soon as possible.

You sound like a dj lol

Lol, not at all, don't let the username fool you. Those are just my initials.

[Fiftee]

Sound is my first upgrade to my cars or 1 of the first in some way or the other. I love music and because I know I will spend quite a bit of time in my car, it is important for me to sort that out as soon as possible.

You sound like a dj lol

Lol, not at all, don't let the username fool you. Those are just my initials.

Lol funny thing is when I said that , I had forgotten that your username is Dj I just thought that a person who would prioritise sound even as a first upgrade , would in all likelihood be dj

[DJ7]

No, worries, just a lover of music. Always have been.

So my first mod was a sub and amp in my current car. Then a different head unit and then a second amp for the door speakers.

In the time since then though, I have gotten a set of mags, a GTI back bumper, front bumper, seats and steering wheel. All of which are standing in the garage.

In next year I will probably look into getting a debadged GTI look-a-like grill and the GTI side sills and then fit everything.

[Fiftee]

I get it , I love music too but I just never really think of sound as a priority when it comes to cars.

Judging by your avi, your own a Mark 5.Why didn't you buy a GTi or a FSI instead of building your own GTi?
Lol dumb question ,but why don't you rather try make it unique instead of trying to make it a GTi?

[Greenz]

Because he probably enjoys the TDi but the look of the GTi perhaps?

[DJ7]

Because he probably enjoys the TDi but the look of the GTi perhaps?

I enjoy the economy of the TDI yes and would like it to look a bit better.

[DJ7]

I get it , I love music too but I just never really think of sound as a priority when it comes to cars.

Judging by your avi, your own a Mark 5.Why didn't you buy a GTi or a FSI instead of building your own GTi?
Lol dumb question ,but why don't you rather try make it unique instead of trying to make it a GTi?

Correct, I have g5. So the GTI was firstly out of my price range and secondly I actually wanted a 9n3 Polo TDI but then the Golf popped up and it was hard to pass on. Golf is also a DSG, which is a pleasure to drive and then it has many similarities feature wise to the GTI, so that is cool as it is the 2.0 Sportline.

To answer the question on why get the GTI stuff and not do something unique? Firstly I am more of an OEM+ kinda guy when it comes to looks. Secondly, I prefer the look and feel of the GTI seats and steering over mine. I was always looking for the rear bumper to relocate my exhaust to the side from the centre exit the previous owner did. But then I kinda got a lot more for a decent price. So, I will be going debadged GTI front grill instead of the normal one. Just need the fog light grills, debadged centre grill and the side sills and then I have all the parts. I also want to recover the seats in ox blood leather and recover the GTI steering wheel as well. Not sure if I wanna do ox blood as well or just plain black with ox blood stitchinh. Hope this answers your questions bud.

[Fiftee]

I get it , I love music too but I just never really think of sound as a priority when it comes to cars.

Judging by your avi, your own a Mark 5.Why didn't you buy a GTi or a FSI instead of building your own GTi?
Lol dumb question ,but why don't you rather try make it unique instead of trying to make it a GTi?

Correct, I have g5. So the GTI was firstly out of my price range and secondly I actually wanted a 9n3 Polo TDI but then the Golf popped up and it was hard to pass on. Golf is also a DSG, which is a pleasure to drive and then it has many similarities feature wise to the GTI, so that is cool as it is the 2.0 Sportline.

To answer the question on why get the GTI stuff and not do something unique? Firstly I am more of an OEM+ kinda guy when it comes to looks. Secondly, I prefer the look and feel of the GTI seats and steering over mine. I was always looking for the rear bumper to relocate my exhaust to the side from the centre exit the previous owner did. But then I kinda got a lot more for a decent price. So, I will be going debadged GTI front grill instead of the normal one. Just need the fog light grills, debadged centre grill and the side sills and then I have all the parts. I also want to recover the seats in ox blood leather and recover the GTI steering wheel as well. Not sure if I wanna do ox blood as well or just plain black with ox blood stitchinh. Hope this answers your questions bud.

You've more than answered my question.You bought a high mileage DSG transmission car? You're brave , I thought that was risky.I also like the 9n3 Polo TDi 74kw even though before I joined this forum , I used to be of the opinion that diesels , especially pre-owned are not to be considered when looking for a car.But so many people on here have so many good things to say about them that they are slowly winning me over and I'm beginning to find that mild, coarse isuzu-sounding sound of those engines sexy.Lol even though there is always the fear of the turbo going and how expensive they are , I think I would risk buying one if it came with a full service history by VW or a VW approved workshop

[DJ7]

I get it , I love music too but I just never really think of sound as a priority when it comes to cars.

Judging by your avi, your own a Mark 5.Why didn't you buy a GTi or a FSI instead of building your own GTi?
Lol dumb question ,but why don't you rather try make it unique instead of trying to make it a GTi?

Correct, I have g5. So the GTI was firstly out of my price range and secondly I actually wanted a 9n3 Polo TDI but then the Golf popped up and it was hard to pass on. Golf is also a DSG, which is a pleasure to drive and then it has many similarities feature wise to the GTI, so that is cool as it is the 2.0 Sportline.

To answer the question on why get the GTI stuff and not do something unique? Firstly I am more of an OEM+ kinda guy when it comes to looks. Secondly, I prefer the look and feel of the GTI seats and steering over mine. I was always looking for the rear bumper to relocate my exhaust to the side from the centre exit the previous owner did. But then I kinda got a lot more for a decent price. So, I will be going debadged GTI front grill instead of the normal one. Just need the fog light grills, debadged centre grill and the side sills and then I have all the parts. I also want to recover the seats in ox blood leather and recover the GTI steering wheel as well. Not sure if I wanna do ox blood as well or just plain black with ox blood stitchinh. Hope this answers your questions bud.

You've more than answered my question.You bought a high mileage DSG transmission car? You're brave , I thought that was risky.I also like the 9n3 Polo TDi 74kw even though before I joined this forum , I used to be of the opinion that diesels , especially pre-owned are not to be considered when looking for a car.But so many people on here have so many good things to say about them that they are slowly winning me over and I'm beginning to find that mild, coarse isuzu-sounding sound of those engines sexy.Lol even though there is always the fear of the turbo going and how expensive they are , I think I would risk buying one if it came with a full service history by VW or a VW approved workshop

So, it was a risk, but a calculated risk. The previous owner had a timing belt snap. Redid the head, replaced belt and all those things, then car also had all it's DSG services on time, when the head and everything was done, owner redid the turbo also. So all the major stuff was take care of already. Price also helped. I am the third owner and the previous owner had all receipts for all work done on the car since the car was bought. Only been running on fully synthetic oil as well. So, I thought about everything. Only had to do services, replace battery, xenon bulbs, ballast, igniter and redo starter since owning it. For me that is to be expected. I wanted a 96kw Sportline 9n3. The sound depends on the motor. My gf has the 1.9 TDI and I find her golf to be a lot louder than mine. And her's has standard exhaust with all boxes. Mine has a mufflerectomy and is quieter. My car is what convinced the gf to get her a diesel too, coz she was looking at a 1.6 or 2.0 FSI. Fuel economy is great. I am hoping to do atleast a downpipe, hopefully DP and full exhaust with some software in next year.

[Fiftee]

@Cadet
So you actually drive a G5 2.0 TDi? So mufflerectomy " "muffles" the sound ? I am clueless about these mods but at least I've learned something new.

[DJ7]

@Cadet
So you actually drive a G5 2.0 TDi? So mufflerectomy " "muffles" the sound ? I am clueless about these mods but at least I've learned something new.

Lol, so the forum name is DJ7, yes, that is what I drive. Mufflerectomy is when all the boxes have been removed from the exhaust and it is just a straight pipe.