Warming up the engine
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The Volkswagen Polo has been around even longer than the Ford Fiesta, making its debut a year earlier in 1975. Over that time, and across six generations, it’s effectively become the supermini equivalent of the Volkswagen Golf, making it the default choice for a lot of buyers for its quality, image, and practicality.
The modern Polo is even quite similar under the skin to the Golf, which explains why it’s one of the larger superminis and feels like a bigger car from behind the wheel. With a solid feel, a wide range of engines depending on the year you’re looking at, and confident driving characteristics, the Polo makes as much sense today as a used buy as it always has. Read on to find out more about the Polo.
The Volkswagen Polo is one of the easiest cars in the supermini class to recommend - and has been for years. What it lacks in excitement it makes up in being a true all-rounder, with no significant weaknesses or deficiencies in any area, backed up by Volkswagen’s strong brand image.
Since 2018 the Polo has been five-door only. There’s no sporty three-door body style then, but it does make fitting people into the back seats a lot easier, and the Polo is among the roomiest cars in the class so they’ll fit better than most. The boot is a pretty decent size by supermini standards too, and overall the interior feels high-quality, clearly inspired by some of VW’s bigger and more expensive cars. There’s a touchscreen, but the controls are all still fairly hands-on too, and sensibly laid out.
The driving experience is comfortable and refined. Larger wheel options can give the ride quality a harsh edge but mostly the Polo is smooth and confidence-inspiring to drive, taking longer trips in its stride as easily as it will navigate around town. The engines are impressive too - some of the non-turbo petrols are a little slow but do the job as town cars, while the turbo petrols and the older turbodiesels have plenty of punch and return excellent economy. The GTI’s fun too, albeit not up with the best hot hatchbacks for thrills.
The supermini market is still a busy one so there’s no shortage of alternatives to the Polo. The current Renault Clio is an impressive car and right up with the Polo for its feeling of quality, while the Ford Fiesta, though it recently ended production, remains one of the best in this class to drive. The Peugeot 208, Vauxhall Corsa, and Skoda Fabia are all worth a look too, as is the hybrid Toyota Yaris, while you can get a much newer Dacia Sandero for the price of an equivalent Polo too.
There’s one all-rounder that stands out in the Polo engine range, and that’s the 1.0 TSI petrol. This three-cylinder turbocharged unit is available, depending on the year of car you’re looking at, in either 95PS, 110PS or 115PS form, but it’s an excellent engine in any form. Even the least powerful version still has peppy performance, dipping under 11 seconds from 0-62mph, while all return impressive economy. Post-2022 110PS versions are only available with the dual-clutch automatic - this is no hardship obviously, but you’ll need a pre-2022 car to get a manual, or opt for the 95PS engine.
1603-1620 of 1,801 vehicles
Match trim strikes a good balance of cost and equipment in pre-2022 Polos, while Life is probably the sweet spot post-facelift, including kit like matrix LED headlights and plusher interior trim.
Volkswagen has offered a wide range of trim levels on the eighth-generation Polo since 2018, so much so that we’ve split the list below between 2018-2022 cars, and 2022-onwards. The one consistency is that there’s no three-door model this time around, unlike its predecessors - the Polo is now five-door only.
When the Polo range was updated in 2022, the trim levels changed quite significantly too:
The Volkswagen Polo's exterior dimensions are:
The Volkswagen Polo's boot size is:
No Polo breaches the £40,000 threshold, so there’s no painful £600 annual bill to worry about here. There are no hybrids to give you a £10 discount either, so that means every single Polo on the list above will currently cost you £190 per year to tax, as of 2024/2025.
Insurance should be typical supermini stuff for the Polo - a bit expensive if you’re a new driver, but pretty reasonable for everyone else. The most affordable models start in just group 3, while the group 29 Polo GTI is the only model that’s really likely to cost a few bob each time you renew.
£16,495
£18,799
£22,990
£13,890
£21,480
£16,495
What is the most popular colour for Volkswagen Polo ?
What is the most popular gearbox for Volkswagen Polo ?
What is the most popular fuel type for Volkswagen Polo ?
What is the most popular engine for Volkswagen Polo ?
What is the average mileage for Volkswagen Polo ?
15372
How many Volkswagen Polo cars are available for sale?
1910
