Post by ChrisM on Feb 19, 2022 18:00:33 GMT
Basically a "distress" purchase until the fate of daughter's A1 is sorted.... one reason for the dull colour as there is a significant shortage of suitable vehicles for her.
I'll try to keep this short as I suspect that there's not much interest in forum members for a used c£10k supermini
I picked it up this morning, 6 years old and just under 50,000 miles. Full VW service history, done annually except in 2021 probably due to lockdown and lack of use judging by the mileage, and serviced/MoT'd about 2 weeks ago by the dealership from who I purchased it.
Freshly cleaned this morning before I collected it, it's had a second wash of the day and a full body polish thanks to the crap weather, although I have to say that it hid the grime of about 100 miles mainly in heavy rain and spray very well. What a change from the sunshine in which I collected it.
On the test drive last week I discovered it had front and rear parking sensors, today I discovered it also has cruise control that is activated in a totally different way to that of the A1. An oddity is that CC increases or decreases in 5mph increments, not 1mph that I am used to.
I realised in the week that when I was looking at buying my Fiesta in 2016 I also test drove a Polo TSI of some sort, so it was almost a case of deja-vue. This has a 90BHP 4-cylinder engine to the Fiesta's 99BHP 3-cylinder, and costs £20 pa to tax instead of the Fiesta's zero. Riding on 15 inch wheel with plenty of sidewall it is also a lot more comfy than the Fiesta but nothing like as much fun to drive. However it is very quiet and refined, pulls/accelerates OK and the interior quality/styling is leaps and bounds ahead of the Fiesta. The "Composition" infotainment is also light years ahead of the Fiesta with a large touchscreen and numerous menus and layers of menus, much like a mobile phone. A/C, not climate, means a fair bit of fiddling with the controls, and using a key is so 20th century against keyless. However, it is a very nice drive - a calm and relaxing place to be. The one minor source of amusement came when I went to rejoin the M3 from Fleet services as it was just gutless in 4th trying to accelerate from about 40mph and I had to change down to third.
I'm not over-impressed with the dealership's valet - I lifted the floor mats up and found dirt/leaves on the carpets under the mats, and I discovered both sides of the lower body and the tailgate were covered in tar spots, almost all of which I have managed to remove. There is one minor piece of damage to the rear nearside door where it looks like it has been opened into a low wall, this was supposed to have been disguised by one of the mobile SMART repairers yesterday, but you can still see it, and when I washed the car it looks like the paint they used washed away..... Still, for a 6 year old used car it's honest with a reasonable number of paint chips and a few light scratches that can barely be seen with a quick glance.
Daughter should be picking it up from me on Monday, we both have a day off from our respective work places.
EDIT: OCD means that I have changed the black screws used to affix the front number plate for white ones
I'll try to keep this short as I suspect that there's not much interest in forum members for a used c£10k supermini
I picked it up this morning, 6 years old and just under 50,000 miles. Full VW service history, done annually except in 2021 probably due to lockdown and lack of use judging by the mileage, and serviced/MoT'd about 2 weeks ago by the dealership from who I purchased it.
Freshly cleaned this morning before I collected it, it's had a second wash of the day and a full body polish thanks to the crap weather, although I have to say that it hid the grime of about 100 miles mainly in heavy rain and spray very well. What a change from the sunshine in which I collected it.
On the test drive last week I discovered it had front and rear parking sensors, today I discovered it also has cruise control that is activated in a totally different way to that of the A1. An oddity is that CC increases or decreases in 5mph increments, not 1mph that I am used to.
I realised in the week that when I was looking at buying my Fiesta in 2016 I also test drove a Polo TSI of some sort, so it was almost a case of deja-vue. This has a 90BHP 4-cylinder engine to the Fiesta's 99BHP 3-cylinder, and costs £20 pa to tax instead of the Fiesta's zero. Riding on 15 inch wheel with plenty of sidewall it is also a lot more comfy than the Fiesta but nothing like as much fun to drive. However it is very quiet and refined, pulls/accelerates OK and the interior quality/styling is leaps and bounds ahead of the Fiesta. The "Composition" infotainment is also light years ahead of the Fiesta with a large touchscreen and numerous menus and layers of menus, much like a mobile phone. A/C, not climate, means a fair bit of fiddling with the controls, and using a key is so 20th century against keyless. However, it is a very nice drive - a calm and relaxing place to be. The one minor source of amusement came when I went to rejoin the M3 from Fleet services as it was just gutless in 4th trying to accelerate from about 40mph and I had to change down to third.
I'm not over-impressed with the dealership's valet - I lifted the floor mats up and found dirt/leaves on the carpets under the mats, and I discovered both sides of the lower body and the tailgate were covered in tar spots, almost all of which I have managed to remove. There is one minor piece of damage to the rear nearside door where it looks like it has been opened into a low wall, this was supposed to have been disguised by one of the mobile SMART repairers yesterday, but you can still see it, and when I washed the car it looks like the paint they used washed away..... Still, for a 6 year old used car it's honest with a reasonable number of paint chips and a few light scratches that can barely be seen with a quick glance.
Daughter should be picking it up from me on Monday, we both have a day off from our respective work places.
EDIT: OCD means that I have changed the black screws used to affix the front number plate for white ones
