girlfriend wants an Arosa....

[jaketalbot]

hi arosa people, im from the ibiza section, but i've got a question for you all....
my girlfriend likes the look of the Arosa, she say's its 'cute' etc etc, and now she wants one, so i've been told to ask you lot if there reliable or not? as she wants to know! so yeah just let me know what there like, and the usaul problems they have... cheers!

 

[lunalupi]

Good choice.

They are very reliable, and tough to for a little car, stand up to attacks from much bigger cars very well.

There are a few known problems, mostly small and easily fixable at home.
Wandering Idle - usually a gunked up throttle body, fixable with some carb cleaner
Clutch problems - pedal box breaks easily, this is an expensive problem to fix, but doesn't seem as common on Arosas as on Lupos.

As for living with one - I have a 1.0, which is very capable. Its not going to break the sound barrier, but we happily nip around town, and sit at 70 on the motorway. Boot space is nonexistant, but put the back seat down and you can fit mountains of stuff in there. I've taken 4 people, plus luggage, chiristmas presents and a few cases of wine through Germany and back; moved out of Uni halls; and slept in the back of mine
Seats are comfy (from what I remember, not had the original ones for over a year now), my one gripe is the accelerator pedal can be uncomfortable on long journeys - but that might be caused by my seating position (the seats are mounted very low)!
Fuel economy will depend what engine you have, but a tankfull will usually get you between 180-280 miles. That tankfull is about 25-30litres
Mine has survived attack by: Van 1, deer, badger, van 2 and lampost! Still going strong

Oh, and they look lovely after a few careful mods

Anything else?

 

[ArosaRacer]

cant fault the wee ones, mine took four plus years of abuse and still it goes on!

 

[Ibiza Monkey]

I've got the oil burner version (1.4TDI). No probs so far. For its size and the fact that its a diesel it goes like excrement off the proverbial shovel. Best things are though cheap insurance, good fuel economy and the car tax is only £35 a year (thankyou Mr Brown).

 

[ArosaRacer]

mines a 1.7 sdi minus a few bits of trim so its very light, its fun to drive well it was till the wife broke it

 

[Boo]

I have a 1.4 mpi Auto version, for a 4 speed auto gearbox variety its pretty speedy with a top speed of around 98mph . Haven't had any major problems with it at all just the idling being low and stalling sometimes but, this is pretty common. They are nippy and fun to drive, easy to fix and parts are cheap as you can buy VW Lupo parts to fit. Cannae go far wrong at all.

 

[jaketalbot]

wicked well that sounds good, ill show her later on what you've all said, i think she'll be happy with it, i might have to persuade her away from the fact that pedal boxes break! as mine did it in the beezer and she knows all to well how annoyed i was and the trouble it causes! so we'll pretend they never break. but all in all sounds pretty good, cheers guys.

 

[Noncompusmentis]

My little 1.4s is bob on.

Its a great little car. Like someone said up there /\ /\ /\ ... you can fit mountains of stuff in there... only a couple of weeks ago, I carried a VW Bug engine and all the necessary tools to do an engine change in mine, with no issues.

The 1.4 is pretty nippy too... mine will easily break the ton barrier...

Good luck finding your GF a new car

 

[cardaft]

They are great little cars, i can not think of a small car to replace mine, so im going to be keeping it for a good while longer.

Ive got two arosas, a 1.0S and a TDi. Had a few problems with my 1.0, but this was down to the useless SEAT dealer and a very rare engine problem. The TDi has not been any bother, very economical, good on fuel and pretty quick for a little car.

Pedal box issues hardly ever occur on TDis (infact i cant think ive heard of a TDi with a broken box) as they have hydraulic clutchs it ytakes the stress of the pedal box as the pedal is much lighter.

Overall both are fantastic to drive, handle well, if rolly but that part of the fun . The 1.0 is a perfect town car, zips through the gears easliy and is a joy to throw around the town.

For onger runs the TDi is way better, sits on the motorway at 70-80 no problem, is very quiet, refined and economical, ive had 74 MPG a couple of times on a good run. Average about 57 but usally heavy footed

 

[Triple D]

I have a 1.4 100 bhp sport, and dont get me wrong, its a fun to drive little car with a revvy engine, but coming from a 200 bhp diesel ibiza it just lacks the poke imho, and boy do i miss it

Im sure though for your mrs it will be fine what ever engine she chooses.

 

[jaketalbot]

being a woman, she's now maoning about the mpg!?!? apparantly she's found out that there not that great for economy? so could you do me a favour and let us know what mpg you get for both the petrol engines, she doesnt want a diesel! cheers people....

 

[Triple D]

i get around 210 miles to £25 to £27 of unleaded, thats giving it a hard time though

 

[cardaft]

I get around 100 miles for £10, which i think works out to about 42 MPG, it does do better on a run, but drinks the fuel at 70+.

It depends on what type of driving she will be doing with it, the 1.0 is a great towncar and manages well out of it too.

 

[Noncompusmentis]

I tend to drive with a pretty heavy right foot... and get about 38mpg. If I take it steady on the motorway, I can get about 40-41 mpg, but I do have roof bars and bike rails on there that cause extra drag.

Thats on a 1.4 MPi

 

[lunalupi]

About 250-280 miles to a tank, depending on how I drive and how much he's carrying

Think that works out to about 40mpg

 

[Boo]

Can get around 320 miles per tank as its an automatic. Dont know how much that works out at but, a tank of petrol costs me around £28 and thats 99RON unleaded petrol.

 

[allallyouyou]

I have the 100bhp model. Is very nippy, good quality parts etc.

Tell her to go for it, if shes lucky she'll land a bright yellow or orange one! ;-)

 

[BCM]

my misses has a lupo, and before anyone jumps down my neck there isnt a massive diff! she loves it! slammed on coilovers and 15's cant beat them!
i love giving it death round the country roads, hers is the 1.4 75 bhp petrol! good engine!

 

[Jochen]

Arosa and fuel econ

Hi,

Ive got a 99 model Arosa 1.0 manual, I use it daily for my 40 mile round trip to work and back. ( needed something cheaper to run ).
Great little car to drive, does 100 m.p.h if pushed.
Cheap to tax, and insure.
Costs me around £25 to fill it up and will always return 280 - 300 miles on that.
It has A.B.S, P.A.S, Air Con, Remote Locking and alloys.
On a recent trip upto Grimsby, it done 325 miles on a tank, mostly motorway driving 70 - 80 m.p.h, which works out to 50 m.p.g.
As for the pedal boxes, they only break if the clutch is left to get heavy.
Overall, a great little car for its money.
Good luck in finding one.

Jochen.

 

[jaketalbot]

cheers everyone, she's stunned by the mpg! bearing in mind my cupra does about 26! but thats definatley a good help, she now just has to find a decent cheap-ish one, then she'll be away, how much should we be looking to pay for one? she's not in a rush to buy, so we'll wait till the right one turns up. she definatley won't be slamming it on 15's or modding it in any way. she doesn't like all that side of things, thats for me! so she'll be looking for a pretty standard one.