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VW POLO or Toyota Yaris

Hi,
I've decided to buy a used "automatic" car with a budget of £7000, I used to fancy Vauxhall astra car, but heard they are unrelaible with times? Anyways, the best reviews I found were from VW, Toyota and Ford "focus".

So if i'm going to commute between manchester to wigan, on a daily basis, which one would you recommend, in terms of relaibility and less times going to see the garages.

lastly, when buying a new car, is there any places you could recommend other than "autotrader website" and eBay, would you consider approved used cars from the VW or TOYOTA company which is a bit more pricey but they provide you with a one year warranty etc.. :smile:

Sorry for asking loads of questions and thanks for your time :smile:
Reply 1
Used to have a focus, currently have a yaris. Both manual.
The yaris is a nice small car and has been totally reliable (older now than the focus when it died) but the focus was a lot better suited to driving on the motorway.
Places like carcraft or 'fords of winsford' (not a ford main dealer, just the guys name... sell ex lease cars that have been serviced, that's where i'd look for focus or astras.
Original post by medic86
Hi,
I've decided to buy a used "automatic" car with a budget of £7000, I used to fancy Vauxhall astra car, but heard they are unrelaible with times? Anyways, the best reviews I found were from VW, Toyota and Ford "focus".

So if i'm going to commute between manchester to wigan, on a daily basis, which one would you recommend, in terms of relaibility and less times going to see the garages.

lastly, when buying a new car, is there any places you could recommend other than "autotrader website" and eBay, would you consider approved used cars from the VW or TOYOTA company which is a bit more pricey but they provide you with a one year warranty etc.. :smile:

Sorry for asking loads of questions and thanks for your time :smile:


go for the polo the yaris is a boring car
Reply 3
Get a BMW 1-series.

It will be under your budget.
Reply 4
I've experienced all 3 with family/friends. The Yaris is really reliable but just so, so slow and people realise this - even accelerating like a madman people will treat you badly, cut you up etc.

New astras are supposed to be really good, but I know 2 people with the older model and both have huge problems with reliability.

I'd really recommend the polo. Got about 5 friends with them and two 8 year old ones just passed their MOTs with no faults, and I've never known any of them to have a problem with breaking down etc. They look pretty cool too, but that's just my opinion
Reply 5
Original post by vxrz
Get a BMW 1-series.

It will be under your budget.


Would it's insurance be more expensive than VW POLO or TOYOTA YARIS? thanks :smile:
Reply 6
Go for the yaris. V reliable :smile:

<3 x
Reply 7
Original post by Joinedup
Used to have a focus, currently have a yaris. Both manual.
The yaris is a nice small car and has been totally reliable (older now than the focus when it died) but the focus was a lot better suited to driving on the motorway.
Places like carcraft or 'fords of winsford' (not a ford main dealer, just the guys name... sell ex lease cars that have been serviced, that's where i'd look for focus or astras.


Thank you, i do have to agree with you that yaris looks great when commuting in the city, but doesn't look that great on motor ways, i will try out carcraft and fords of winsford. thanks for that.

As ford focus, based on the reviews, they are quite reliable in the beginning, however, after 3 years their performance dies, don't know if that's true, that's what i have read on websites.. seems alot of people have different experiences in cars, that's what's so confusing when you buy one.

But thank you for your tip and sharing your experience:smile:
Reply 8
Original post by sclez1
I've experienced all 3 with family/friends. The Yaris is really reliable but just so, so slow and people realise this - even accelerating like a madman people will treat you badly, cut you up etc.

New astras are supposed to be really good, but I know 2 people with the older model and both have huge problems with reliability.

I'd really recommend the polo. Got about 5 friends with them and two 8 year old ones just passed their MOTs with no faults, and I've never known any of them to have a problem with breaking down etc. They look pretty cool too, but that's just my opinion


Yes, I really fancy the design of VW POLO to be honest, but I'm bit reluctant in buying polo which is before 2005, as some of the users said they become slightly heavier, and I guess their road tax is slightly steep than Toyota Yaris, as well as their insurance.

But I'm still open to other choices, donno if I should consider " Vauxhall Corsa" ? :smile:

Thanks you for your input
Good thread, I'm debating between the two cars as well.. but the manual form
Reply 10
The focus had developed intermittant minor electronic problems after a few years... Fuel gauge suddenly reading zero till you restarted the engine or the tripometer reading ----- for a couple of miles. Just my experience of one car etc etc.
Reply 11
Original post by medic86
Hi,
I've decided to buy a used "automatic" car with a budget of £7000, I used to fancy Vauxhall astra car, but heard they are unrelaible with times? Anyways, the best reviews I found were from VW, Toyota and Ford "focus".

So if i'm going to commute between manchester to wigan, on a daily basis, which one would you recommend, in terms of relaibility and less times going to see the garages.

lastly, when buying a new car, is there any places you could recommend other than "autotrader website" and eBay, would you consider approved used cars from the VW or TOYOTA company which is a bit more pricey but they provide you with a one year warranty etc.. :smile:

Sorry for asking loads of questions and thanks for your time :smile:


I can't recall now but correct me if I'm wrong isn't Manchester to Wigan something like 10miles apart on the motorway?

I'm guessing you're needing a fairly dependable car due to being involved in the medical profession?

Anyway I'm generally a buyer/user of automatic cars only these days, too damn lazy to shift gears. However I'm also rather picky with my automatics as I don't like being stranded or needing to be in a situation where I need to rescued or ride in a recovery truck :tongue:

Since you are buying used, the one thing I would do is to buy a car with a very conventional automatic gearbox as buying anything else on a budget is somewhat asking for trouble. Hence I'd avoid any of those cars with a semi-automatic or automated manual transmission as these things are like a timebomb, there are no accurate ways to inspect whether components within it are on their way out or not unless you strip that gearbox, the main thing that does go with them is the electro-hydraulic pump that will go after some time and they do cost a fair bit of money to replace, we are looking at the 6-800quid type money here :smile: The other thing that will go is the actuators and solenoids, this one depends on the car, Alfa Romeo and VAG vehicle ones are expensive while those on a Fiat and Toyota or Honda aren't that bad though you would need to bring it to a transmission specialist that knows these gearboxes in order to fix them, there aren't that many of those around tbh especially in UK.

The Yaris from that era uses a MMT gearbox which essentially is a sequential manual gearbox, it has a clutch which is controlled by a hydraulic motor and an actuator unit that selects the gears for you. It is all controlled by a rather smart ECU. The main problem with it is the ECU does fail, a sure sign that it is a failing one is when you stop the car at a junction it goes into Neutral and then it won't go back into gear again. The other failing point is the hydraulic motor, can go between 2-5 years depending on usage, there is no way to diagnose this as one day it will just completely stop working. This is also one car that you will need to send back to a dealer or a Toyota specialist who has the electronic tools to set the biting point of that clutch every other service or so, otherwise it the clutch will wear out prematurely.... it will be an expensive job to replace the clutch. While the Yaris in itself is a great car, the ones in Europe equipped with the MMT gearbox is a crap car to be avoided, which is why the latest model no longer uses that gearbox.

The Polo at that price you would be looking at later models of the Mk4b versions, these came with the 1.4l 75PS or 84PS (in later models) and a very standard normal automatic gearbox. My parents had one of these (though it was manufactured by VW of China rather than in South Africa like the UK models) It survived the rigours of Beijing and did 43000km in 2 years before it was sold off, never had a single issue with it. It is a reliable car and should suit your needs if all you are after is some wheels with an autobox. The Skoda Fabia is similar under skin with this and the automatic model does behave differently than the Polo version, I'd give it a test drive and you may be able to find one that is newer for the same price.

Other than that, I'd also look into a Suzuki Swift or a Honda Jazz.
Reply 12
Original post by Herr
I can't recall now but correct me if I'm wrong isn't Manchester to Wigan something like 10miles apart on the motorway?

I'm guessing you're needing a fairly dependable car due to being involved in the medical profession?

Anyway I'm generally a buyer/user of automatic cars only these days, too damn lazy to shift gears. However I'm also rather picky with my automatics as I don't like being stranded or needing to be in a situation where I need to rescued or ride in a recovery truck :tongue:

Since you are buying used, the one thing I would do is to buy a car with a very conventional automatic gearbox as buying anything else on a budget is somewhat asking for trouble. Hence I'd avoid any of those cars with a semi-automatic or automated manual transmission as these things are like a timebomb, there are no accurate ways to inspect whether components within it are on their way out or not unless you strip that gearbox, the main thing that does go with them is the electro-hydraulic pump that will go after some time and they do cost a fair bit of money to replace, we are looking at the 6-800quid type money here :smile: The other thing that will go is the actuators and solenoids, this one depends on the car, Alfa Romeo and VAG vehicle ones are expensive while those on a Fiat and Toyota or Honda aren't that bad though you would need to bring it to a transmission specialist that knows these gearboxes in order to fix them, there aren't that many of those around tbh especially in UK.

The Yaris from that era uses a MMT gearbox which essentially is a sequential manual gearbox, it has a clutch which is controlled by a hydraulic motor and an actuator unit that selects the gears for you. It is all controlled by a rather smart ECU. The main problem with it is the ECU does fail, a sure sign that it is a failing one is when you stop the car at a junction it goes into Neutral and then it won't go back into gear again. The other failing point is the hydraulic motor, can go between 2-5 years depending on usage, there is no way to diagnose this as one day it will just completely stop working. This is also one car that you will need to send back to a dealer or a Toyota specialist who has the electronic tools to set the biting point of that clutch every other service or so, otherwise it the clutch will wear out prematurely.... it will be an expensive job to replace the clutch. While the Yaris in itself is a great car, the ones in Europe equipped with the MMT gearbox is a crap car to be avoided, which is why the latest model no longer uses that gearbox.

The Polo at that price you would be looking at later models of the Mk4b versions, these came with the 1.4l 75PS or 84PS (in later models) and a very standard normal automatic gearbox. My parents had one of these (though it was manufactured by VW of China rather than in South Africa like the UK models) It survived the rigours of Beijing and did 43000km in 2 years before it was sold off, never had a single issue with it. It is a reliable car and should suit your needs if all you are after is some wheels with an autobox. The Skoda Fabia is similar under skin with this and the automatic model does behave differently than the Polo version, I'd give it a test drive and you may be able to find one that is newer for the same price.

Other than that, I'd also look into a Suzuki Swift or a Honda Jazz.


WOW, thank you very much for your information about toyota in UK, we have got alot of them in kuwait and I must say they are quite reliable, I have just looked at Skoda fabia, apparently has quite of positive reviews, i will also consider it in my choice when looking for a new automatic, their prices are quite dearer than VW to be honest in terms of the latest cars. :smile: thank you very much for your input. :smile:
Reply 13
Original post by medic86
WOW, thank you very much for your information about toyota in UK, we have got alot of them in kuwait and I must say they are quite reliable, I have just looked at Skoda fabia, apparently has quite of positive reviews, i will also consider it in my choice when looking for a new automatic, their prices are quite dearer than VW to be honest in terms of the latest cars. :smile: thank you very much for your input. :smile:


The previous version of the Yaris sold in Europe had very different specification from those sold in Asia or USA, the ones in Europe are assembled in France and has different settings and specification as opposed to those sold in Asia which comes either from Japan or Thailand or China. The ones in Asia came with a standard automatic gearbox which is why they are generally rather reliable, not sure if Mid East or GCC countries received their Yaris from Japan or France.
I only have experience with the Yaris.

I think it's a great little car. Quite nippy, spacious inside, great mpg and reliable as anything. The downside for you would be, they're really city cars. I have no issue with going on the motorway in my Yaris, but the noise is quite something!
Go for the V-Dub...If it aint rubbin, it aint dubbin
(edited 11 years ago)
Reply 16
Buy a Polo, but get the 6N2, you won't regret it.

They're very good cars
(edited 11 years ago)
Ive got a Yaris SR and its an absolute trooper. Never had any issues with it. Its a brilliant little car. To be honest, i don't think you'd be disappointed with either the VW or the Toyota.


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