PoloDriver

Establishing itself as a force to be reckoned with last month by driving into the UK’s top 10 best-selling cars for January 2010, the Polo has repeated the feat for February. Released this week, the figures show that although the Polo slipped three places to number seven, its Golf stablemate actually improved its standing, rising to number three from six in the first month of the year.

While the Polo was still 1336 units clear of challenging its class rival Ford Fiesta for the top spot, it sold 301 units more than the eighth best-selling car, the BMW 3 Series. Rising for the eighth sequential month, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders state that the UK’s February’s sales were actually up 26.4%. The full list of what sold what is as follows:

1 Ford Fiesta: 3236 units
2 Ford Focus: 3035 units
3 Volkswagen Golf: 2586 units
4 Vauxhall Astra: 2524 units
5 Vauxhall Corsa: 2391 units
6 Hyundai i10: 1938 units
7 Volkswagen Polo: 1900 units
8 BMW 3 Series: 1599 units
9 Kia Picanto: 1573 units
10 Peugeot 207: 1422 units

These latest encouraging Polo sales figures come just as the German consumer magazine Guter Rat have awarded the Polo the Best Compact Car 2010 award.

This month, Simon Kimber tinkers with service items and saddles up his 1991 110,000-mile Polo GT Coupé for its MoT test

This month sees ERP going for its MoT test, and like I do every year, I put it through its paces to rid myself of any surprises and to reassure myself that there are no lurking faults that might get the old stager a red ticket. I do all this in the month leading up to the test day itself, and although I have had the odd amber advisory before now, it has never been for anything more than a worn tyre or suspension top mount.

More importantly, this is also the time to carry out a service, and this year, it was the 110,000 mile one. All the important things like spark plugs were done this time last year, which reminds me I must change the fuel filter sometime soon. I booked the car at my employer’s garage on a Saturday for one reason; for it to be ready for the emissions check, the engine has to be at running temperature to be accurate. So, the drive in is the warm up and hopefully I will be able to get this checked first as I don’t want to be using fuel needlessly (not to mention that the running may adversely affect the fuel consumption).

The actual test went without too many hitches; a headlight aim just a tad too high and a non-working driver’s side repeater the only things of note. However, there was one advisory. The near-side steering arm ball joint was showing signs of movement, not enough to fail it but when I ’m told of it there is only one thing I can do, which is to replace it while I remember, saving a red ticket being handed out next time.

Looking at it the other way, ERP didn’t do too badly for a 19 year-old car. All I have to do now is decide what way to go with the ball-joint; embark on a possibly fruitless search to obtain the correct one as Euro Car Parts and GSF don’t list one separately, or buy a complete track rod from my local Volkswagen retailer (which also happens to be my employer, so I won’t have to worry about collecting it). Update to follow…

Costs this month: £50.35 (MoT test fee)

While the speculation over the Polo’s move to the US continues, Brazilian car magazine Revista Autoesporte seems to have the clearest rendering yet of the upcoming saloon version. While the new notchback is rumoured to appear in the Chinese, European and Russian markets, it’s the North and South American territories that have been the most reported on in recent months as possible sales destinations.

We still don’t know of course if Volkswagen are going to take the jump and put the boot in (or technically, on) the fifth-gen Polo, and while spyshots are few and far between, the illustration on the front of Revista Autoesporte (alongside photos of the facelifted CrossFox and SpaceFox) definitely seems to resemble a Polo. Unfortunately, there’s no confirmation, just the tag ‘Anti-Civic’, which would point to a sedan-style car with the Polo’s footprint. The waiting game continues.

After the recent months’ snow and an appearance in the March 2010 issue of Volkswagen Driver magazine, Rich Gooding’s Polo GT Coupé is now parked indoors and undercover – temporarily at least…

The biggest thing that’s happened to L307 JTM since my last report is that it’s now taking shelter from the weather in a borrowed indoor parking space not far from home. And while it will have to be moved, blinking into the great outdoors once more, it might not happen for a few weeks yet. Why indoors? The reason is simple – the water leak in the passenger footwell would have had time to dry out, or at least that’s what I’m hoping. Then it’s off to find somewhere that will water test the car, sourcing the leak once and for all.

In other news, fresh from last month’s minor DIY service, I looked back at some old parts receipts. It turns out the spark plugs were only changed 8,000 miles ago in 2008. Yes, that’s right, the Polo’s had only 8,000 miles roll under its wheels in two years. That was news to me (pleasant, I think) and was a much shorter distance than I’d thought. That figure might increase slightly this year, as I intend to attend more shows once the season gets underway, but then again, being effectively laid up for the last three weeks, maybe not…

Costs this month: £0

Just to prove that they are still around, here’s a 1991 Polo GT Coupé that we saw for sale on eBay today. It’s black, done 98,000 miles, has the optional factory-fitted sunroof and alloy wheels (which you don’t see often and are in fact also fitted to the 1980s Polo Coupé Ss) and, unbelievably, has had just two careful owners. With that registration plate, we think it could either be an ex-Volkswagen UK press or fleet car, too. Want a tidy piece of Polo history? Bidding ends here on 13 March.

EDIT: When the end of the auction was announced, the car sold for £620.00, attracting a total of seven bids.