Quite interested in this Cordoba...anyone know anything about them?

[HandsomeDan]

http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Cars/Volkswagen/auction-345567604.htm




So I know they are the Spanish Polo Sedan, but nicer looking and that they are horribly undervalued here, but this one is (according to the listing) a 1.8 ( should give it a bit of "go" for such a small car?) and looks to be in good nick.

For the price and mileage it appears to be just what I want.

Thoughts?

[HandsomeDan]

OK...so I am going to have a look at this car tomorrow...taking a friend of mine (who is a mechanic) and was wondering if there is anything specific that I should be on the look out for..

Apparently has been well looked after, have done a VIR and nothing comes up - looks like it's always passed WOFs, so no alarm bells there.

I understand this is a bit underpowered for a 1.8 (only 66kw with 145nm) but it's going to be a daily to the bus station and back as well as general tootling about. We have the Mazda to get the family around in.


So...do the headlinings droop in these like they do in Golfs? Are there quirks with things like the aircon?

C'mon guys...I want to know everything I can before I hand over a lump of cash.

[Simon MkII]

Be prepared for zero parts or service support.

[Mike1410]

Have no idea about any reliability issues with these, other than to say that I used to work for Europcar in the UK which at that time was 50% owned by VW. We had a lot of Seat models in the hire fleet including Cordoba saloons and wagons. We never had any issues with them (unlike the Fiats and Rovers on fleet which were always breaking down).

Remember the Cordoba is not a rebadged Polo - it is the other way around.  VW used the Cordoba platform to build Polo saloons and Caddy vans from, so they do not have the same underpinings as the Polo hatch of the same era. The Cordoba is built on the Seat Ibiza mk2 platform, which is itself a modified Golf mk3. Mechanically the Cordoba shares lots of parts with the Golf 3, and I understand the suspension parts are fully interchangeable, but they share no body or trim parts with the Polo.

So, any damages to the exterior whilst parked at the station could be costly, as Polo body panels, door mirrors or headlights, for example, will not fit and parts will need to be sourced from europe via a VW dealer.

[Dubious]

These Cordobas were briefly sold in NZ after the SEAT brand was killed off in Oz. They ended up shipping the remaining unsold cars over to NZ to try and flick off.

Parts in either NZ or Oz will be nearly impossible to find.

[HandsomeDan]

Thanks guys. Feeling a little less enthused about it now. Will take it for a drive tomorrow and see how I feel.

[b0000st]

You can always get any parts from overseas if the worst does happen. As already posted most of the oily bits are from within the VAG group so shouldnt really be a problem.

If you like it buy it and have something different 

[Simon MkII]

Yes the parts are out there and any decent vag mechanic will be able to fix it. We (Giltrap) can still get parts through EMD, but they can take a while to get here. Service items (filters etc) are all normal vw bits and are mostly available off the shelf.

[HandsomeDan]

Well, it all became a bit of a moot point today. The seller couldn't or wouldn't get their act together to let me see it today so I went to the car fair and ended up with a Toyota Starlet.

Not vag, not cool, but cheap, reliable and in very good condition.

[slowmo]

GT starlet? 

[HandsomeDan]

GT starlet? 

ha ha. Nothing quite so exciting. It does, however, appear that I am getting my much-loved Mazda back and the wife is having the Starlet for the school run etc. Makes sense to me! It was even her idea!!!