• No diesel or hybrid options
• Low insurance and high residuals
• Servicing for 1.0-litre engines should be cheap

What are the running costs?

During his month-long test, Ted Welford was impressed by the efficiency of the 95hp Volkswagen Polo. He explained: ‘Over 1,750 miles, I clocked up average fuel economy of 53.3mpg, but on steadier motorway runs that figure was well beyond 60mpg. It was even capable of 550 miles to a tank.”

Those figures compare to 54.4mpg (52.8mpg for the automatic) in the official WLTP testing cycle. The 80hp version of the Polo isn’t quite as economic as the engine has to be worked quite hard, but 52.8mpg is still pretty respectable. As is the 52.2mpg posted by the 115hp engine.

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The Polo has some favourable insurance rates, too. The most basic 80hp Life model sits in insurance group 3. Plus, as with all Volkswagens, it should retain higher residual values than competitors such as the Peugeot 208 and Vauxhall Corsa – to the benefit of personal contract purchase monthly payments.

Servicing and warranty

Every Polo leaves the showroom with a three-year warranty. There’s an unlimited mileage cap for the first two years, but the total mileage can’t exceed 60,000 over those three years. That’s good, but it can’t match the five-year warranty offered on the Hyundai i20, or the 10 years of coverage you get with the Toyota Yaris.

Servicing costs vary slightly between Polo models, and Volkswagen even has a system that adjusts the service schedule depending on how you drive your car. Volkswagen tends to charge a bit more than brands like Ford and Citroen, but there are various service plans that help spread the cost over a number of years.

Reliability

• String reputation for reliability
• Lots of shared parts with other VW Group cars
• Some recalls issued since the car was launched

Volkswagen has a strong reputation for building reliable cars, but its record is actually far from blemish free. Still, the Polo has very few real issues and should prove a dependable car over the long term. Our owner’s reviews show mixed feelings among Polo owners, but reliability has rarely been an issue.

Nevertheless, a number of recalls have been issued since this current generation of Polo was launched in 2017. Most of them relate to manufacturing defects; hopefully all the affected cars have had the necessary rectification work done. The most recent cars affected were built in 2021; any outstanding recalls are listed on a car’s MOT certificate.