mk2

No, for a gazillion reasons. They're electronic for starters. Bellhousing. ECU map. half shafts. mounting. shifter. dash. pedal box. more +++

I'm trying to remember how it's wired. I think the rear fog is powered from the headlight circuit via the main headlight switch, through the dip switch on the steering column, and lastly through the fog light switch that you pull out. So if high beam and dipped beam headlights work ok, the steering column selector is fine, as is the headlight/side light switch (main switch). Which points to the the main lights switch, fog light selector. It's a really unusual fault. Have you had a tracker fitted? They usually bung them in behind the light switch, connected to the always powered circuit. And make a right botch job of the wiring. To remove the light switch, instead of pulling the selector out, like you do to select rear fogs on, you push the switch in firmly to mid position. Then while keeping in mid position, wiggle and pull it straight out. The selector should stay pushed in. The whole switch assembly should come straight out revealing a ton of wiring. Press the retaining clip on the wire connector and disconnect the switch. Then you can swap over the switch or test it. And inspect the wiring leading into the connector. My guess is wiring just behind the connector (a tracker fitted) or the probably the switch itself. Let us know what you find. oh, and welcome to club lupo

Yeah, I'd say something around the front wheels. Brakes, Calipers, Bearings (unlikely), CV joints, Gearbox (diff)? Wheels screwed on tight? Tried swapping wheels around (fronts to back).

I can just see insurance companies trying to renege on any claims if you were in an accident and your car didn't have a recent MOT. So the car needs an MOT anyway. And mine are all this month, spaced apart by a few days, deliberately; as at this time of year I have the most daylight to work on a car and the weather is usually good! Working on a car in Jan/Feb is no fun. You're 100% right about the awful rubber coming out of China. Really. The quality control is shocking. Any time I see non-european engineering, I avoid... They don't grip. They tramline. They go out of balance. They perish fast. They're noisy. "Just don't" is what I suggest to anyone. For a just a few quid more, it might save people from sitting in a wheelchair for the rest of their life. A car's tyres are the only thing that is in contact with the road. It's worth going a bit better.

One of my SDIs wears a set of Avons. Only because the spare was brand new, so just needed 2 more plus one i found on ebay for a tenner! They are not too bad and are wearing well. MOT on one of the other SDIs tomorrow afternoon. Not sure I'll have time to put the interior back together after intense deep cleaning and rebuilding. So long as it has a couple of seats and the seat belts are all good, we should be fine... Got a pair of Continentals arriving later/tomorrow for the other SDI! MOT season is here.

Technically, the fox is a better, more modern car, but being built in Brazil by workers who don't own cars themselves, it isn't. They're not as well made as Lupos. Like chefs who've never eaten in a michelin starred restaurant or B&B owners who have never stayed in a good hotel.... Someone on here was selling a 1L thing a week or so ago up in London from memory. Not too far from you. Have a look through the for sale thread. Apparently in pretty nice condition too. As a first car, something will always go wrong as the driver doesn't recognise the sounds of bad things happening or about to happen, so Lupo, Fox or a French car won't make a huge difference. Just not a fox. A sub £1k Lupo will also be cheaper to insure and service/repair/maintain. And she can join Club Lupo!

I'd focus on unlocking the back door (tailgate). Or if you have pop out rear windows, a thin rod might just work to open one, to allow a longer thing to open a front door. Central locking or poverty spec locks? If central locking, chances are evrything is deadlocked, and the only way in is to break a window or drill out a lock. Do the passenger side. Prying the door will permanently wreck it.

Yeah. Check out @battlebus build thread. Only weak point is the gearbox, which can cope with up to about 100hp before going bang. Welcome to club lupo

Update: Just did another different Lupo with exactly the same symptoms. All you can hear is the relay clicking, but nothing happens when you press the window switches. Another easier solution... Once I removed the slider/cable/rail/motor assembly thing, I pulled the motor out, separating that plastic drive spline from the cable drum (that pulls the window up or down). I thought, "I wonder what will happen if I plug it in now, without the cable assmbly attached to it?". It worked. Yes, the motor worked perfectly. Up, down, start, stop. Perfect. Must be jammed tracks/cable? Assembled it again, and the damn thing carried on working as if nothing had happened. Very odd. Put it back in the door, this time with glass clamped down. It worked again. Normally. Not slow or stiff. Normal. Back out again. I needed to know why. Then I noticed that the plastic spline gear thing that the motor rotor drives, was slightly warped. The central spline was running at an angle, presumably where it was held shut for ages, as most of the time the passenger window is never used. The only reason it worked again is that when I reassembled it, the splines were in a different position (by pure chance), so there was no angled stress. Then it hit me. The slight spline shaft angle acts a lock, preventing the cable drum from turning once there's some tension on it- which there will be once the motor drives the window hard up against its stop (at the top). Solution: Pull everything out of the car as before. Separate the motor from the cable drum. Don't move the window sliders at all. Mark the white plastic splined drive cog (that I've marked 'up' and 'down' in the pic). Run the motor so the plastic worm gear spline drive is 180 degrees out before reassembly. All sorted. The new position should, over the next 20 years mean the thing will slowly unwarp... It should carry on working perfectly now, asssuming the rest of the system holds out. Yay!

Pops and bangs can be programmed into any ECU, but there's more to it than just programming. You'll need to mod the exhaust too. Welcome to club lupo

God yeah. Those wheels are worth a couple alone. Why so cheap....? Little dents, usual arch rust and no back seats are no biggie (easy to get). I paid £2k for one of my SDIs in that condition (but with 60k miles) and more rust than that!

Yeah, if you've done a mk3, a Lupo (Arosa) will be easy for you. Lots of custom stuff because of the narrow front end, but I reckon no major problems. I don't think anyone else has done it. Start a build thread for us to enjoy

Welcome to club lupo from what I've heard, it's cheaper to keep your own car with your insurance policy; buy any cheap, old runabout (lupo) with him as the main driver and you as an additional. The insurance group is not relevant really.

Ok, so most likely fan motor, but also possibly fuse or thermostat switch (or controller module, depending on variant). Try 12v straight to the motor first. If that's ok, then probably the switch (assuming the fuse is ok).

Isn't that seal at the brushes end of the starter? Like when you screw the two bolts tight, it pinches up against the end plate?