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i'm so disappointed with my Fox....is anyone else??


LucyB
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I bought my 1.4 Urban fox 2 years ago and had high expectations of it...but it really let me down and now I just think they are cheaply built cars in a shoddy Brazillian factory, and I've read that they go to Germany to have their final checks but i don't believe that for one minute, because I'm sure if they did the Germans would be so ashamed of them they wouldn't be allowed to leave the country!!

I only had my fox for 3 weeks when it started flooding through the drivers door, it turns out that some foxes were made with faulty door seals, mine was one of them, and after much fighting with Arnold Clark (don't even get me started on them!!!) they replaced it, which did no good, so I fixed it myself with a tube of glue!!

Since then I have lost count of the number times that the boot has broken. It must be at least 5, I'm not kidding and i'm now at the stage where I won't open it, I just leave it closed because I know it's bound to break again. The worst time was when all my food shopping was in the boot, so I managed to get it opened with the key after a struggle, and then when i tried to close it, it jammed and my hand made a huge dent in body work!! Seriously, even the bodywork specialist was shocked my hand could do such damage to it!! I'm no Mr. Muscle!!

In the last year the wind screen wipers have stopped working, the drivers seat sometimes won't pull forward and the breaks shudder constantly when I am stopping and it feel like I'm going to skid.

Apart from that I find it's really bumpy and sways on the motorway even when there is no wind!!

For the first few months I owned it i was permanently angry, and felt cheated because i thought I was buying a quality VW. I still feel annoyed, but you know what, I've come to accept that it isn't a proper VW, it's just a cheap piece of trash.

The idea for it was great, I love the size and it is nippy as long as I'm not going up a big hill. I say the fox should be made in Germany, by proper German car makers, who take pride in their work. Build it with good quality material and then you'll have a great car which can rival the Lupo.

Until then Noddy can have his toy town car back, I'm off to buy a car made for adults!!

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no offense to anyone who likes the foxes but fox is a poor replacement for the lupo IMO! sell the fox, save your money and buy a second hand lupo mine has done 150,000 miles and not one thing is wrong!

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i have a fox on 57 plate.i have had 3 window switches,3 central locking motors on drivers side,1 cv boot,1 wheel bearing,i gearbox due to rear engine mount breaking and therefore pulling treads out or gearbox,another gearbox due to unable to select 1st gear due to 1st gear worn on 12,000 miles!!!!! 2 front fog lights due to steaming up,i drivers seat cover due to stitching came away and that is why i hate the thing.the gearboxes are made from toffee!!!!!!!

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whoa wtf

mine is a 57 fox i've had the windscreen wipers break twice (fuse)

and for no reason both headlight bulbs broke and I had to pay to replace them

think that's it though. 18000 miles. i'm happy with my car

hope the MOT isn't too much.

it's my first new car

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tbh the fox was made to be cheap as people want cheap cars, the lupo stopped producton primarily beacuse it wasnt a seller, it was priced above its market , thats why the fox came alng it was built on the cheap to be cheap

end of

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Yeah, it is a cheap car......but I expect more from a car that has VW name on it....there is no forgiveness for this poor excuse of a car...cheap or not!! I've never bought a so called "cheap" car before, so I'd be interested to know if all small cars have such problems.

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I have just traded it in for another car, and believe me, I have had so many arguments with Arnold Clark, but they are useless beyond belief. In the end I completely gave up with them, I wasn't going to argue with a bunch of morons. I never actually realised how bad they were till I did some research and found out just how many people are unhappy with the service.

At least I've learned a lesson and I can move on now. I was just curious as to whether I had bought a faulty car or if all Fox's were the same.

Edited by LucyB
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VW Fox = Poop. :)

I test drove one before a Lupo, I don't how anyone can get in one and think, yes... this is a good car, this is worth spending 6 or 7 THOUSAND pounds on.

Although I would hardly the say the Lupo is well built. Either of my Mk3 Polos feel much better built than my Lupo ever did. :lol:

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I'll have you know that the fox rides better than a 12 grand nissan micra

not saying much i know, but it isn't an expensive car for what it is

as i've said once before, it's the only car i know of that you can get with a decent spec for 10k with a 1.4 engine, alloys, air con etc

i seriously didn't want to buy a new car with a 1.2 litre engine or a 1.0

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I have often thought that the marketing team at VW got the two cars mixed up, they should have sold the Fox first then replaced it with thee Lupo. When the Lupo was launched the city car market was basically small cheap cars. Volkswagen launched a premium vehicle, with a nicer interior, better quality finish, a focus on new expensive economical technology (1.2tdi, 1.4FSI models) and big car options in to the market priced at a higher level than its rivals and surprisingly sold far fewer than it hoped. Answer? Replace the Lupo with a cheaper model.

I remember reading that the Fox would only cost £5000-£6000 when it came to Britian and I think then it would have sold better. Instead the Fox arrived at a point where rival manufacturers had started to market premium city cars with greater success. Look at the MINI and FIAT 500 and more recently the Toyota IQ all are overpriced and less practical than other models but all sell, I am sure that if there was a model on the market with 100mpg on offer with a nice interior then the Lupo would actually sell quite well, afterall the Polo Bluemotion doesn't seem to be having any difficultly!

The Fox meanwhile arrived on the market costing as near as makes no difference the same as a basic Lupo (remember for the last year or so of the Lupo's life it came with £1000 off the list price making a 1.0e about £6800) it is very poorly equiped as a base model with manual windows and no remote locking, air con is a very expensive option (I know still cheaper than the Lupo). The Fox is also hampered by its styling, the car is ill at ease with the rest of the range, is too tall and is, overall, very bland. The cabin looks like that of a early 1990's Vauxhall and is in places very badly finished.

My dealer told me that they steer people towards a Polo (like he did with the Lupo) as the lead time from the factory is too long. He pointed out that no-one really complains about being steered towards the Polo, apparently people that bought Lupo's had often fallen for the styling and would not listen to the "Pro-Polo" arguement!

If VW want to sell the Fox then they should realise its strengths, it is a roomy car, it does feel a little more solid than some of its rivals. They should lower the price significantly to be more inline with the FIAT Panda and MUCH lower than the Polo, introduce the 5 door model from the Brazillian market. I think then there is a place for it in the market for it. Of course this will not happen as VW have worked hard to get their brand accepted as a semi-prestigous marque and they will not want to harm that with a model selling at £5000.

I do feel sorry for you with the trouble that you have suffered with this car but I believe that a good dealer could have made these issues disappear and allowed you to enjoy a car that you clearly liked at some point. This is one area that I really think Volkswagen need to address their dealer network is very hit and miss the one I use at the moment is generally very good. The last one I used to use was absolutely useless. I have tried one in York after a minor problem emerged on my car I spent 10minutes argueing that dispite the 16V badge mine was not a GTI or indeed a 1.6 resolved only when they opened the bonnet to see 1.4 emblazened across the engine. I hope that the experience of the Fox has not put you off VW forever.

Edited by JB1.0e
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Guest Lauryn

A Fox as a courtesy car for 3 weeks was more time then I ever wanted to spend in one. Awful awful awful car!

P.S. How many bloody cup holders does it have?! I'm sure I counted at least 4 in the front and 2 in the back....WHY?! I like my juice but I dont need that many cup holders thanks!

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  • 2 weeks later...
I'll have you know that the fox rides better than a 12 grand nissan micra

not saying much i know, but it isn't an expensive car for what it is

as i've said once before, it's the only car i know of that you can get with a decent spec for 10k with a 1.4 engine, alloys, air con etc

i seriously didn't want to buy a new car with a 1.2 litre engine or a 1.0

as I've said before panda 100hp u can get em for 8k new

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unfortunately what you seem to have incountered is bad experience from a crap vw dealer (i haven't had experience of that retailer but from here it sounds bad)

fox's were made on a budget but most are ok quality wise (i work for vw and drive them every day)

unfortunately as with all new cars you get a few in every batch which are bad eggs this sounds alot like a really bad egg which sucks :(

maybe try taking it to a different vw garage if you need work done to it again as it sounds like they are doing repairs on the cheap and not to a high standard like most vw garages.

Edited by tomflyer
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  • 1 month later...

Erm...right well it's not just the Fox that is poorly built, it's all the cheap end VW's and the Polo 9N (2002 onwards) is affected. Cheap plastic interior which rattles, why they didn't just keep the ones from the Polo mk5 or the Lupo is beyond me.

Chassis design at the front is terrible, the wishbones on the Polo mk6/7 (2002 - 2009) eats bushes like no tomorrow. An expensive job to say least as the wishbone has to come off and tracking will have to be done again. Hence why the new Polo mk8 due out very soon and has a completely revised chassis.

Lots of other faults which I'm not going to bore you with.

I suppose there are some advantages of the mk6 compared to the mk5 or the Lupo...complete aluminium shell, main catalytic converter placed in the manifold rather than underneath the car prolonging exhaust and catalytic life etc.

Does the Fox have an aluminium shell? Way to tell is if the doors are light or heavy. Most gaylord engine variants are shared between the Fox and the Polo mk6.

Just one of those things I suppose. Keep moving forward.

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  • 3 years later...

As someone clearly pointed out,the fox is a cheap car built for people on a low budget.All manufacturers cater for every market and the small cheap car market is huge.Ever heard the saying " a cheap car is not a cheap car".What you have to appreciate is that cars are mechanical and they go wrong,all of them! There are many a merc,bmw,ferrari or skodas being worked on as we speak with all sorts of mechanical issues so you cant blame your vw fox cos all cars do it.

You need to accept you bought a cheap car which didnt live upto your expectations,i guarantee that fox isnt the only car u will buy that goes wrong and if it is then your just plain lucky!

Ive been in the industry a long time and all cars go wrong! As do hairdryers,pc's,washing machines,tv's and all othervthings electtical or mechanical so stop rubbishing a product cos u brought a "cheap car" !

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Haven't read this thread, but I looked at a Fox before I got the Lupo and was particularly unimpressed. I can't explain it. It felt cheap to sit in and it kind of felt cheap to drive. I don't really know much about them but someone told me it was a VW branded Renault engine or something? Sounds like bullputty but plausible in this day and age.

When I drove the Lupo first time, I realized how deceptive age (and physical appearance somewhat) can be. It drives like a beauty and it's a W reg. It's got 85k miles on but it still drives like a train. The guy i have service and MOT it for me says it doesn't drive like an 85k car and he cannot believe how many miles I put on it without it succumbing to problems (only disposables have gone brake light sensor, exhaust etc). He reckons if I keep it serviced once a year as normal it'll last for well over 100k miles.

The Lupo also makes me realize how naff my old 106 was which only had about 70k miles when it crashed.

Edit:

oh, and as jj says above all cars wear and develop mechanical issues. Some more than others. I know someone who had a top of the range BMW 3 series randomly seize up with no warning, or indication something was wrong Simply ground to a halt on the A34. They took it into the BMW garage and STILL don't know what happened.

Edited by Skezza
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i sat in a vw fox a couple of weeks back and i was considering buying one..

i sat there and thought to myself am i really considering selling my Lupo GTI to buy this.... What the hell is wrong with me! i am now looking at purchasing a porsche boxter for similar money...

the VW FOX is just a well dress up mk2 nissan micra! believe me i used to own one and i reckon the cg13 micras are probly faster then the fox's! and will probly last twice as long!

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