VW UP! anyone? - Update

[TitanTim]

Have you thought about a Fiat Panda 5 door practicality or 500 for style ?

I've looked at the Panda 4x4 as liked the thought of 4 wheel drive on a small hatch, theres also the Suzuki Swift 4x4. The Pandas engine is a little weak unless you go for the Twinair but then starts to get pricey. I like the Swift as I've had 2 in the past but theres no local dealer to me anymore without a trek.

Tim.

[z4pilot]

My daughter has an Up! which is about 4 years old now. Drives well, but they do seem to have a common problem with the ABS circuitry which leads to a permanently lit warning light and a fairly expensive (£300-ish) switch/sensor replacement. This happened a couple of months out of warranty and VW were disappointingly not interested in making a contribution - despite a full service history and the previous owner being her Mum, so we could prove the car had been well kept.

Also the heat shields around the cat are literally made out of tinfoil and pull away from their fixings, leading to annoying rattles. Neither of which will be an issue with a new car under warranty, but I was disappointed with what look to be poor quality ancillaries on what I perceived would be a good quality first car.

[RubyBlueZ4MC]

Disca had one and ruby has one. My mother in law has the high up, drives great.

Thanks PVR, I think Mike/Ruby swapped theirs for a Z3 will see what a drive brings, not much out there that appeals in this segment, looked at all the others 108/C1 Aygo, Adam Viva etc

Tim.

I still have mine (yes there was a time when we had one each )! Mine is a High Up! perfect for work and getting around town. Highly recommend. Funny how I've had more people looking at/in it and complimenting it in car parks than I ever did with the Zed
Its staying with me for now. If I ever fancy something quicker will borrow Mike's Z3. Only downside is the boot is small. Let us know how the test drive goes.

[ben g]

What's wrong with your 1 series? I'm sure that can be a ''city car'' too. It's not a Ferrari...

[raymond.harper]

Seat and Skoda have their own versions which are a bit cheaper. The crash avoidance option costs extra. A five door car would be better than a three door car in my own humble opinion

[Nictrix]

What's wrong with your 1 series? I'm sure that can be a ''city car'' too. It's not a Ferrari...

Its not wrong to say this, I agree.
There are way better cars than a 140 being used all year round.
Its not hugely expensive, its not highly desirable, its not a classic, it wont rust instantly if it sees salt, and it wont die if the mileage hits 10,000.
Tim, you are the type of owner that people like me love. You spec your car up, keep it in mint condition and keep the mileage low so that people like me can get a bargain car with low miles.
Shame theres not more like you to make finding these cars easier.

[TitanTim]

Disca had one and ruby has one. My mother in law has the high up, drives great.

Thanks PVR, I think Mike/Ruby swapped theirs for a Z3 will see what a drive brings, not much out there that appeals in this segment, looked at all the others 108/C1 Aygo, Adam Viva etc

Tim.

I still have mine (yes there was a time when we had one each )! Mine is a High Up! perfect for work and getting around town. Highly recommend. Funny how I've had more people looking at/in it and complimenting it in car parks than I ever did with the Zed
Its staying with me for now. If I ever fancy something quicker will borrow Mike's Z3. Only downside is the boot is small. Let us know how the test drive goes.

Thanks Ruby, will let you know, I'm ideally looking at a High UP, was originally looking at the Beats model but the High UP doesn't cost too much more for some extra bits, heated seats etc.

I've received a few quotes via Car Wow but frustratingly it doesn't look like my local VW dealer are signed up to them

Tim.

[TitanTim]

What's wrong with your 1 series? I'm sure that can be a ''city car'' too. It's not a Ferrari...

Its not wrong to say this, I agree.
There are way better cars than a 140 being used all year round.
Its not hugely expensive, its not highly desirable, its not a classic, it wont rust instantly if it sees salt, and it wont die if the mileage hits 10,000.
Tim, you are the type of owner that people like me love. You spec your car up, keep it in mint condition and keep the mileage low so that people like me can get a bargain car with low miles.
Shame theres not more like you to make finding these cars easier.

lol, we need two cars and my better half won't drive the M140i and wants a small runabout to replace the Z3 with but I will be using it as well during the winter months.

I will be keeping the M140i indefinitely , main reason being and people will scoff now but I think it will be quite sought after in 10 years or so as it will be the last of its type come next year, afraid you will have to get that one owner low miler from someone else

Tim.

[Nictrix]

What's wrong with your 1 series? I'm sure that can be a ''city car'' too. It's not a Ferrari...

Its not wrong to say this, I agree.
There are way better cars than a 140 being used all year round.
Its not hugely expensive, its not highly desirable, its not a classic, it wont rust instantly if it sees salt, and it wont die if the mileage hits 10,000.
Tim, you are the type of owner that people like me love. You spec your car up, keep it in mint condition and keep the mileage low so that people like me can get a bargain car with low miles.
Shame theres not more like you to make finding these cars easier.

lol, we need two cars and my better half won't drive the M140i and wants a small runabout to replace the Z3 with but I will be using it as well during the winter months.

I will be keeping the M140i indefinitely , main reason being and people will scoff now but I think it will be quite sought after in 10 years or so as it will be the last of its type come next year, afraid you will have to get that one owner low miler from someone else

Tim.

Can we place bets that you will have swapped the 140 way before your 10 year mark?

[TitanTim]

Its not wrong to say this, I agree.
There are way better cars than a 140 being used all year round.
Its not hugely expensive, its not highly desirable, its not a classic, it wont rust instantly if it sees salt, and it wont die if the mileage hits 10,000.
Tim, you are the type of owner that people like me love. You spec your car up, keep it in mint condition and keep the mileage low so that people like me can get a bargain car with low miles.
Shame theres not more like you to make finding these cars easier.

lol, we need two cars and my better half won't drive the M140i and wants a small runabout to replace the Z3 with but I will be using it as well during the winter months.

I will be keeping the M140i indefinitely , main reason being and people will scoff now but I think it will be quite sought after in 10 years or so as it will be the last of its type come next year, afraid you will have to get that one owner low miler from someone else

Tim.

Can we place bets that you will have swapped the 140 way before your 10 year mark?

Depends what the Z5 will be like, if its like as Prius then no chance

Tim.

[TitanTim]

My daughter has an Up! which is about 4 years old now. Drives well, but they do seem to have a common problem with the ABS circuitry which leads to a permanently lit warning light and a fairly expensive (£300-ish) switch/sensor replacement. This happened a couple of months out of warranty and VW were disappointingly not interested in making a contribution - despite a full service history and the previous owner being her Mum, so we could prove the car had been well kept.

Also the heat shields around the cat are literally made out of tinfoil and pull away from their fixings, leading to annoying rattles. Neither of which will be an issue with a new car under warranty, but I was disappointed with what look to be poor quality ancillaries on what I perceived would be a good quality first car.

Thanks for the feedback, the only real problems when searching the net seems to be noisy gearboxes but then every car has some tales of woe at some point in its life

Tim.

[Paulr]

My wife's Up! Move is leased. It was just over £100 a month. PM me if that appeals as that is what I do for a living!

[TitanTim]

My wife's Up! Move is leased. It was just over £100 a month. PM me if that appeals as that is what I do for a living!

Thank you Paul, will let you know

Tim.

[TitanTim]

Thanks for all the replies, much appreciated A bit of an update on the small car front, I've placed an order for a Hyundai i10 1.2 SE Premium after all that on the UP! I was pleasantly surprised with the i10 and drove very well and cruised nicely at 70. I didn't drive one back in Nov but thought I would go back to the dealer before making a decision. In the actual drive there is hardly anything to distinguish between the two cars, the UP has better steering feel but less space etc and less equipment in High UP trim compared to the i10 which comes with 5 doors as standard. Equipment on the i10 is pretty impressive for a city car which comprises of,

Keyless entry and go.
Climate.
Heated Door Mirrors.
Heated steering wheel.
Heated seats.
Integrated sat nav with Android/Apple Carplay and 7 years free subscription to weather and traffic updates.
Lane departure and front collision warning system.
Rear parking sensors.
Electric sunroof.
15" alloys with tyre pressure monitoring.
5 years warranty.


I would need to spec extra for the sunroof on the UP and I didn't like how you have to use a docking cradle for your phone and use a VW App to run the sat nav etc which seems a faff compared to the i10 where its all built in.

Only advantage with the UP is the new 3cyl TSI engine whereas the i10 uses an older 4cyl normally aspirated, its still a pretty peppy unit though.

So there we have it, its only taken me 2 years to decide plus I've found a private buyer for the Z3 whom is willing to wait until the end of March when I take delivery of the i10 which is a bonus

Tim.

[Grumpyowl]

Congratulations on finally making a decision
Personally I think you're crackers swapping that lovely Z3 for a city car but you've obviously put plenty of thought into it.