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Now SOLD, thanks for the interest. Adrian

Back from the garage with a fresh MOT

Update - I'll be in Nottingham the weekend of the 17th-18th so if anyone wants to view it on Sunday 18th please let me know. I'll be in Kimberley Nottingham, passing through Hall Green, Birmingham on Sunday Eve, Monday 19th. I need to head up to pick up the new car so please let me know beforehand if you are in that area and are interested. Thanks, Adrian

I need to travel to Nottingham to pick up the new BMW so won't be too far from you.

Make: VW Model: Lupo MOT: Dec 2012 TAX: June 2012 Engine size: 1.4 (100bhp) Fuel type: Petrol Description: We have owned this from 32,000 miles and it has been my wifes commuting car, pretty much all motorway miles it now has 136,000 on the clock. Totally stock, no mods at all except a remote central locking kit. Most of you will know the common faults with Lupo sports, this has had them and they have all been fixed properly. I have a mountain of receipts, here is a bit of an overview: VW Service history up to 70K Independent garage and serviced by me after that. Cambelt - always changed on time, last one was at just over 100k Pedal box - reaplced FOC by VW (long thread on the forum about that) it has been faultless ever since. Exhaust replaced with stock VW system a couple of years back Drivers side window regulator replaced Door check straps replaced Engine temp sensor replaced Rocker cover gasket replaced. New brembo discs and pads all round fitted two weeks ago Clutch replaced at around 80k Clutch cable replaced Both handbrake cables replaced two weeks ago. Firestone's fitted on the back, vradasteins on the front with good tread Front wheel bearings replaced last Christmas along with ABS sensor on one wheel, rear ABS sensor replaced last month. New windscreen being fitted on Monday. Without blowing my own trumpet I have really looked after this car and intended to keep it (hence all the recent expense) but we have outgrown it a little and had a too good to turn down offer on a BMW 1 series. I have probably missed lots off that list but those are the main things. I will be getting it MOT'd this week so it will be ready to go. Only niggles: A few little stone chips, the heater switch has stopped working on setting 2 but works on all others (resistor needs replacing). Some kind person in the last week has decided to run a shopping trolley down the nearside rear 1/4 panel, I need to photograph the scratch, I think I should be able to restore a fair amount of it. Any Questions please ask, probably best to PM me as I don't check the forum everyday. Cheers, Adey. £1500 Location: Torrington, Devon

I have a set of genuine roof bars that were on my sport. In great condition and complete with the allen key/torque setting tool and key to lock the covers in place. The only little niggle is that someone has put a cut in the rubber strip on the top of the bars to fit a top box in the past. Doesn't bother me though as I have pads on there for my surfboards. £70 plus postage or collect from Torrington, Devon. Any questions please PM me, Thanks, Adrian

I had mine done a few years back at Nottingham VW, they were very helpful Adey

Cheers for that, yes new bolts are ready to be collected from VW. Adey

Hi, I have brought some new wishbones as the front bushes are nearly shot. Any idea on the torque settings the two mounting bolts, the ball joint nut and any other nuts/bolts I'll have to tinker with when replacing them. Cheers, Adey

Our sport used to get around 44mpg consistantly when our previous jobs involved a motorway/A road run each day. Now my wife just uses it for a a hilly B road 20 min drive to work and fuel consumption has dropped dramatically. I reckon I now get 230-250 from a tank as opposed to 270-300 on a long run before. As mentioned before it is all down to air temp, road conditions, tyre pressure/condition, servicing and definitely fuel. 97ron does give me more MPG from the tests I have done at home. Incidently I usually change around 3500-4000rpm Adrian.

I got my stock one from tps, middle pipe and back box. Not the cheapest but genuine stock item. I got a bargain deal as my mate worked for them. Adrian

My wifes sport was sounding similar. I popped a can of engine flush in, ran it on the drive for 15 mins. Did an oil/filter change and it sounds like a new car. Adrian

I have found the Michelin Energy E3A tyres to be decent although they are a tad pricey. I put Firestone TZ200 tyres on the front for the last two sets of changes. I found them to be good put wear quicker than the Michelins - they are cheaper though. I now need all 4 replacing so am searching around reviews to see what else I could try, go through the list of options from www.blackcircles.com and then search reviews online on the ones in your budget. Adrian

What year is your lupo? There is a 12 year paint warranty on VW's so I would take it back to a dealer and push for it to be investigated. I know only certain areas of the car are covered but worth enquiring. I had bubbling paint on my roof gutters, It went in for a respray and I had a courtesy car for a couple of days. All sorted FOC. Adrian

Yeah I had cleaned it that morning. It was covered in crap by the end of the week. Cleaned it again saturday ready for the dubfreeze show and now it it covered in crap again. Hey ho. I am waiting for a decent weekend so I can get the polish and sealent on it with an electric polishing wheel to do a proper job. Black cars look ace, but only when they are spotlessly clean. Other than that they are a pain in the ass. Adrian

That would have been me I think. I am on the M1 and A42 everyday. Adrian

Cheers guys, may just replace it with a GTI one then if needs be. Adrian

Hi, I reckon my cat is getting close to dying, next weeks MOT should confirm it either way, the rest of the exhaust is just about alive (with regular re-welding of the mounts). So... I know I can get a new CAT at a reasonable price but if I decided to go for a stainless system from the Cat back, what are my options? Will the GTI twin tailpipe back box fit the sport withough having to mod the bumper? I have seen a company on ebay "MIJ" offering custom built cat back exhausts, what are the other options? I don't want anything loud as I commute on the motorway everyday to work, so either something like I have already got or the twin tail GTI kind of setup. Cheers, Adrian

Right then, If your windows slowed as they lowered I would say they were jamming up. The motor would not just slow and break, its more likely to be the window rubbers or possible the tracks the window runs on. I have had a similar problem. Drivers window relay clicks when I operate it but the motor and window will not move. I also have the problem of being able to operate the passenger window on the passenger side but it will not move up on the drivers side only down. I took the drivers side door cards off and first tested the passenger side using the drivers window switch. Surprise surprise I can now control the passenger window fully so that narrows that problem down to a faulty switch which I took apart and fixed. Then I loosened the 10mm bolts holding the window guides and motor in place. Once these were loose the window operated fully. So I lowered it down and lubricated all the rubbers with silicon spray. I also lubricated the metal and nylon guide/runner assembly with the same spray. Tightened it all up and now my window runs faster, smoother and does not jam up. The reason it does jam is down to a safety mechanism in the motor assembly which is designed to cut power if someones finger/head etc gets in the way. Hope that helps on the window front. I'd also check your fuse if all power has gone. Adrian

I like this thread. As someone who commutes everyday 60+ miles in my sport I have been debating whether to get another car that is more comfortable on the motorway. To be honest though, with the pretty reasonable MPG I am getting it is hard to find a reason to swap. Here is what I get and this is very consistent, I am a bit of a geek on monitoring my mpg. You would too when your spending £200 plus a month on the stuff just to get to work. Mixed motorway and A road (40miles) + 10 miles B road = 250 miles from a tank on 95ron (Sainsburys), 270 miles on 97ron (Sainsburys) Motorway is mostly 50-65mph due to traffic, 70 on the A road (3500rpm ish). B road I usually push it a bit harder. Super efficient driving at 60-65 never topping 70 = 330 mile is the best yet, but usually more like 290-300 miles from a tank. All those are with a tank as full as I'll ever get it, usually with the needle reading beyond full for a good 40 miles. Thats around £34 around here. Just to compare, I brought the car 2 years ago and we moaned about it costing £25 to fill it, a whole £3 more than the previous car (fiesta). Oh how times have changed. Now compare that to other diesels I have looked at such as the new passat 2.0 tdi, golf or A4 I can't justify changing cars. Incidentally the new FSI engines seems to be pretty good. A recent trip from leicestershire to surrey and back returned consistent 44mpg in my friends TT with air con on at 70-80mph.. If only I could afford one! Incidentally I was quite skeptical of the arguments over 95/97 ron but I do now run it on 97 all the time and it certainly is smoother and slightly more responsive on acceleration. Combine that with better fuel economy it makes the price difference negligible, for me at least. Adrian

It seems that this saga over pedal boxes is going on an on. To add to this, Club Lupo can only represent a fraction of the lupo owners out there so I wonder how many other people have faced or are facing the same problem. This clearly isn't an isolated fault. Perhaps it is time we worked together to take this evidence to VW to try and get some accountability. Here is the plan: - I have a lot of evidence through print outs of threads on here but I really need more detail if I am to take this forward. So, if your car has been affected and you have tried to deal with VW main dealers or customer care with or without success then send me the following and I'll see about taking this forward. Date problem occured: Dealership(s) contacted (Names): Who did you deal with (manager/technician?) names if possible: What was said (be specific): Car Model and reg number Costs involved? Has the problem been resolved? Either post on here or mail/message me. If I collate it all and send a response to the Head of VW UK He should also have records and be able to verify the evidence. Cheers, Adrian

Just as another note, my sister had her belts and tensioners changed at an independent garage for £120. I don't use VW for any of my servicing anymore. The last service on mine 70k VW wanted £120, my local indepedent family run place charged me £70 and got me in on a saturday morning. Don't risk it with the cambelt though, its the tensioners that are the problem. Another poor design by VW. My tensioners split apart at 32k. I was lucky to catch the problem before they chewed through the belt !! I check the belt weekly now I have just hit 70k, it will be time for another change soon. I find it amazing that VW can be so dismissive of the problem when I spoke to them. Apparently it is normal...... So why did my old Fiesta and the Mondeo have a 100k service interval on the belts and tensioner then...... Adrian

I can see their side on that one, however, the cost of the part is highly inflated. The box itself is around £30 something I believe, certainly not in the hundreds. Its labour that costs as I think it is around a 3-4 hour job. I'd love a job as a VW technician.... they must be some of the highest payed mechanics I know of. The best I had was £400 for 3 hours of labour! Naturally I walked straight out the door. I would go beyond the dealer, beyond customer services. Go straight to the head of VWUK and explain things in a well written letter followed by phone calls several times a day until you get a reply. At the very least they should bring their labour and parts costs inline with other non dealer garages and then offer a percentage "goodwill" for recognition that it was a VW fault that caused the problem in the first place. Keep chipping away.. Adrian

My lupo is a daily but it is at stock ride height for the sport. I have a vw bay camper which is lowered 4". That is a pain in the ass when it comes to driveways, curbs and speed humps. I just try to avoid them! Adrian

Some of you may have read my frustrations and advice on the sport pedal boxes and other common problems. Now I have spent a lot of time and effort getting the sport back into tip top condition I am considering changing cars. Why you ask? Well I'd like some more power, similar fuel economy, better motorway cruising and comfort but overall reasonable running costs as I commute around 20k a year on the M1. After much calculating of fuel economy, tax, insurance and servicing costs I worked out that actually my plan for running a BMW 120d, A4 tdi or something similar didn't work out that much cheaper than the lupo sport or GTi - £100 cheaper to run a diesel. So, if I consider a GTi what do I need to look out for? common faults? I get 43mpg out of the sport on 95ron, what does the GTi get on general motorway cruising? We rarely drive around town and I certainly don't rag the pants off my cars. Does the GTi have to run on 97ron ? I know my fathers FSI golf suffers major pinking problems on 95ron. thanks, Adrian