2018 Polo v Clio?

Dony

It's finally time to put my wife's car out to pasture, a 2007 320D Touring with 175000 on the clock.

We've decided to down size her car, with the main reason being my 17 yr old son is learning to drive and he will be sharing the car with his mum. We want to keep insurance costs down, and well as engine size.

We've narrowed it down to either a Polo or Clio. I prefer the Polo, but my wife likes white cars and prefers the looks of a Clio. Does anyone have practical experience of either, even as a hire car?

Next up, do I go petrol or diesel? It's been a while since I've owned a petrol and the engines seem puny on paper, but the reviews are very positive. Again, does anyone have experience of the 1.0 engine from either of these cars. How do they drive? What MPG do you get?

90% of the driving will be short journeys on A roads, and of those there'll be 14 mile round trip and a 4 mile round trip per day. Other trips rack the mileage up to approx 15000 mile per annum.

tommitch

I have a 67 plate Clio, the 90 TCe dynamique s nav model.

Not sure on mpg, would have to check, but my driving isn't exactly eco friendly

It has a nice interior, sat nav is good, decent sound system, is quite a smooth ride IMO.
It being only a 0.9l 3 cyclinder engine I think it does rather well, a big improvement over my old 1.2l clio - definitely better mpg than my old 1.2

It also has an eco mode that reduces power by 10 or 15% I believe to improve mpg.

And a small thing I like, is that when you get out the car, shut the door and just walk away, it automatically locks and the wing mirrors fold in

PSM1

Not got experience of the Polo but have an Ibiza which is the same size and the same engines as well. I felt the small 3 cylinder petrol engine was a little lacking in power but went for the next engine up (90bhp I think) which was a 4 cylinder and it is a great little engine (1l I think). The long term average is mid 40s and got 55mpg out of it on a long run so not much drop in what I used to get from the diesels we have had in the past. Given your usage and the fact all diesels will now have a DPF then I would stick with the smaller turbo petrol engines. The Skoda Fabia and Seat Ibiza are basically the same engine and floorpan as the Polo but you may get them at a cheaper price so both worth a look.

Dony

I had a look at both cars today in the showroom.
Looks wise the Clio probably edges it, though some of the exterior panels looked quite cheap, especially the shiny black bits around the bumper area. But for everything else I preferred the Polo. It felt much bigger inside, and also has a more quality feel about the interior. My wife is going to go on her own tomorrow and do the same as me and have a walk a round each car, so hopefully she'll come out agreeing with me.

I've yet to drive either, but have continued researching online, and I think I'd be happy to go for the 90hp engines based on the reviews. My last petrol was a 1960 Beetle! The petrol is also a couple of insurance groups below the diesel variant.

In making our shortlist we've ruled out the Ibiza and Fabia. I wasn't keen on the new Ibiza's (no offence) and wifey didn't like the Fabia.

gibbsy

Only ever had a new Polo as a courtesy car. There's a hill on a dual carriageway on the way to the stealers, it's long and steep. Jesus I thought I was going backwards. That was the three cylinder petrol, had for the day and economy with so many hills in my location was awful. But I do like the new GTI.

DOBLY

I would check the insurance costs before making a huge change like that.  Also, if there is nothing wrong with the BMW, why get rid?

Dony

Already checked the insurance and it makes a big difference.
My wife has been looking to change for a while. Before it turned over 100000 I looked at trading in. The trade in prices I got were a joke in my opinion and since at that stage the car was fine we decided to keep it. Nothing major has gone wrong yet, apart from a couple of car park dings, but I think it's only a matter of time before the repair bills mount. With my son learning to drive we feel it's the right time to change.

In saying that, I may keep it as it has a tow bar so my trailer won't be redundant and I can still use it when taking the dog out.

woody10381

Have you considered the Fiesta? Not necessarily the newest version (Mk 8) but the previous model (Mk 7.5) if you don't need brand new? The 1.0L 3-pot eco-boost engines are excellent, I have the 120hp variant and get 45 mpg without trying - will achieve 55mpg on a good run.

Interior quality will probably sit in between the Polo & Clio, but overall I find it a nice place to be in.

Dony

The Fiesta gets good reviews, but rightly or wrongly, I'm not a Ford person so it's not on the short list.

Dony

It's personal preference, nothing else. I've no doubt it drives well but not for us.

I'd argue that for our purposes, the Polo is the better all rounder in terms of engine, build quality, size, spec and overall looks. The Fiesta seems to win on it's sportier drive and handling, but considering this will be my son's first car, I want to keep sportiness to a minimum!