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known faults


weslangdon
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If you develop any familiarity with the Lupo/Arosa you start to notice the same faults that occur and recur with an almost predictable certainty

Window electrics that fail

Door check straps that at best squeak and clang

Fault codes, EPC, airbags engine management

Pedal Box failure

Gear linkages

Gear box

rear springs snapping

Some of these are or should be cheap fixes, nor is this a long list and given the 7 year life span you have to ask why these issues were never resolved, if they had been I'd argue that there would have been no need for the Fox, [a sales disaster] nor for the Up/Mii/Citigo

I had a Mk 2 Golf GTI and a Scirocco GTX 16v that I kept for over 15 years with very few problems the one exception being the rear calipers which needed regular maintenance/replacement so coming to the Lupo I am shocked at how poor VW have become at resolving issues that ought not happen, they are pissing away their reputation

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the OEM switches were/are a flawed design. They have a thin plastic skin which sits above the circuit board. I assume this was to prevent water from running through the switch. The problem is that moisture and condensation build up underneath and cannot evaporate. The metal contacts rapidly corrode and then the switch fails. I really don't know if VW have fixed this issue but the aftermarket switches I'm selling don't suffer the same issue so it's entirely possible VW have sorted it. I've not had a new OEM switch for ages.

The door check straps were originally made with nylon bushes which wore very quickly. I'm pretty sure VW changed this to aluminium alloy but while this is harder than nylon it still wears. The brass oilite bushes are now the accepted solution and mean you don't have to oil anymore.

Fault codes? Any in particular? I've not had a single fault code on my SDI yet. My 1.0 had one once when I pulled off too hard but it quickly went and another when my HT leads went. I do have an airbag issue right now but the fix is fairly straightforward I've just not got time to sort it. What usually happens is one end of the airbag wiring loom gets disconnected or dirty (on the steering wheel side).

Yep, can't agree more about the pedal box, this was a really bad fault and a catastrophic design fault seeing as they should last the lifetime of the car. That said, newer replacement Lupo pedal boxes are far better (I fitted one) and aren't seem welded so won't fail. No idea if these were introduced on later Loops.

Gear linkages are a pretty common issue even in other cars to be fair.

The gearboxes are definitely made of cheese but I genuinely believe you can do yourself a favour by replacing the old 75w90 fluid with some fresh 80w90. Yes, it's thicker and yes, you'll feel it a bit more in the cold but you'll get a few more years out of it.

I've had my rear shocks go and my front spring snap, but I'm yet to have a rear spring snap heh. I guess the springs in general on Loops aren't great. That said, they're so easy to replace.

I will say this, while the Lupo isn't as reliable as other older VW's, you only need to look at it's rivals of the time to see why they're still worth having, imo.

Ford Ka's literally rust from underneath you, Punto's suffered routine head gasket failure and have awful interior, 206's were boaty unreliable and also suffered HGF issues, Clio's were Renault (say no more), Saxo's were made of tin foil etc etc. The Lupo wasn't perfect but it holds up well against some of its competitors.

As for the newer models, well, it's the automotive industries desperate lust to make everything, well, bigger.

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I agree it's not all bad, Lupo's seem devoid of rust problems and are roomy and quite a charming vehicle to drive, I'd still chose one over a French or Italian alternative. My criticism is that the whole VW ethos was developed around continuity, the constant development of the Beetle over a 40 year period, this set the brand apart from the built in obsolescence of virtually every other vehicle manufacturer.

The transition to the front wheel drive Golf was difficult but the model was reliable, decent value and although it only lasted 10 years [18 if you count the convertible] the carryover of engines and parts into the Mk2 gave considerable continuity and an improved vehicle. I suppose what I'm saying is that if you get the basics right which I believe they did with the Lupo there is no need to change for change sake, keep refining it till you achieve perfection

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I agree it's not all bad, Lupo's seem devoid of rust problems and are roomy and quite a charming vehicle to drive, I'd still chose one over a French or Italian alternative. My criticism is that the whole VW ethos was developed around continuity, the constant development of the Beetle over a 40 year period, this set the brand apart from the built in obsolescence of virtually every other vehicle manufacturer.

The transition to the front wheel drive Golf was difficult but the model was reliable, decent value and although it only lasted 10 years [18 if you count the convertible] the carryover of engines and parts into the Mk2 gave considerable continuity and an improved vehicle. I suppose what I'm saying is that if you get the basics right which I believe they did with the Lupo there is no need to change for change sake, keep refining it till you achieve perfection

While I agree with your premise, market forces dominate these decisions and ultimately, the Lupo did not sell well in comparison to other cars in its class. Haynes for example, only usually make their manuals for vehicles that have sold more than 100 thousand units. A hundred thousand units isn't very many in reality for a company like VW, yet if you use HowManyLeft, in 2005, there were roughly 28452 units on the road. Say we round that up to 29000 (because HML numbers above a thousand are ambiguous) and perhaps say that there's also a percentage of cars that are written off every year or broken for parts. Now, I don't know what that percentage is, but just call it x%. Attribute this a number if you like, 5 maybe, but the number is not important.

In 2005 there were 199,000 base model Ford Ka's on the road alone. That number actually doubles if you throw in all the various derivatives of the Ka (Style, KA 2, Ka Luxury). In any case, for every 1 Lupo (E, S, TDI, GTI, SDI), there were about 8 bog standard Ford Ka's... or maybe 7 if we round that number down, it's about 7 and a half to be precise. Consider the fact that x% is an abstract and not a number, it is highly probable that x% of Ford Ka's is in fact higher than the x% of Lupo? Why? Ka's were known to rust.... badly. Some of them, literally rusted around you to the point that they were write-offs. So, that x% is potentially even higher which means even MORE sales. So, you can see now the concerns VW must have been having at the time. Their city car was being outsold comprehensively, approximately 8 to 1 (or even more) by Ford Ka's base model, even if it was a rusty shitbox that fell apart after a few years. If you consider the derivatives then it was being sold at around 14 to 1. Throw in all other manufacturers like Peugeot, Citroen, Vauxhall and christ, they must have been worried.

It's easy to see why VW discontinued the Lupo if you go on sales alone. I genuinely believe the Lupo was too expensive for its class. It was nearly £8000 for the base model and it was after all, a fairly basic city car. The Ford Ka on the other hand was several thousand cheaper and came with other features such as central locking and electric windows as standard. People buying a new car aren't thinking about what'll happen in 10 years. The Lupo was the better car, but the Ka was the cheaper car. Most people will go for the cheaper car. Now, of course, which vehicle stood the test of time? Most Ka's are plagued with rust problems and are being written off because of such issues, while the Lupo hasn't had such issues and suffer from fairly minor problems.

If you use the numbers from HowManyLeft and do some simple maths, it's clear which vehicle is standing the test of time. If we don't consider niche models that people keep running because they're somewhat desirable (Lupo GTI, Ford StreetKa) and just consider base models alone:

80% of Lupo base models on the road in 2006 are still on the road, while just 50% of Ford Ka base models on the road in 2006 are still on the road.

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