Which Polo...?

[TheBigJC420]

My girlfriend is looking to buy a new car and wants a polo mk5 (6N?), no sure which one (either 1.4 16v or 1.6 gti) - think?
We've been warned about the 6N polo having gearbox issues...
Can anyone shed some light and advice about this?
Cheers

[rydale13]

hey mate, im a proud owner of a Mk4 polo, basically identical under pinnings of the MK5, except the Mk5 gearbox is much worse lol.

anyway ive fallen into the gearbo failure trap. The things to look for:

-keep your eye on difficult gear changes, not a fact but could be a result of a dodgy gearbox.

- listen for a whirring sound from the front of the car. the tell-tale sound of a broken box

-the worst gears are 1st 2nd and 3rd so give em a good test before handing over the cash.

-finally dont forget reverse! often over looked

check for the idle aswell, if its lumpy it could be a throttle body problem, insist it gets sorted before buying, if the owner hasnt fixed it, it might be becuase its a difficult fix. rare but not unheard of...

thats about all i got mate! lol

Luke

[Crasher]

The Polo 6N2 GTI is the Polo 3 facelift or Polo 3 2000 as the Germans tend to call it. Yes, the 6N2 GTI is terribly prone to gearbox problems and to repair the box properly costs around £1500 which gets you a genuine box with a two year warranty but you need to budget for a clutch on top of that so another £150. Other than that, I think the 6N2 GTI is one of the best small cars VW have produced since the Golf 1 GTI 1.6.

Apart from that, any 6N or 6N2 Polo is prone to gearbox, clutch and starter motor bush problems but other than that they are very good cars.

[rydale13]

the price given for the gearbox mate is a bit steep. I have had my gearbox refurbed on my Mk4. It cost £1000 and that was including the clutch and a full 12 month 100,000 mile warranty.


besides you can pick up a 2nd hand one for about £150, put it this way, you can pretty much guarantee your gonna have to sort the gearbox out, if not already!!

[Crasher]

That price is VW’s own retail price. Your Polo 3 6N (a Polo 4 is a 9N from 2002 onwards) will have either a CZG, DCC or DKE box but DSQ, DXE, DXH, EQY and EQZ boxes are also suitable so finding used example is not difficult. Finding a used 6N2 GTI (ETG, ETB, ETC, FFL, FFM, FHX, FHZ or FFW) box is not that easy.