Cheap is a nasty word that is often misused by knowing salesman and naïve car buyers to suggest good value. “I got a great deal – it was so cheap!”
So if you can put your son or daughter in a posh Volkswagen for less than £6,000, it is certainly cheap, but is it a good deal? If you are buying yourself a run-around, is this the best value for money there is?
I asked people to guess what the Fox would cost new. Most people guessed at £9,000. But it is only £7,354 (even with a 1.4 engine) and the two-year-old examples are down at £5,000. Nearly £1,000 less than a Polo with the same engine.
And it can do everything the Polo can do. The boot capacity is reasonable, the rear seats will take adults and the front is so spacious I am surprised they didn’t try and fit a third seat in. Tall adults have all the head, shoulder and legroom they might expect in a family car.
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Infact, because the car is so wide, and the windscreen so large, you feel like you are driving a large car. You could easily believe you are driving a Golf, right up until the moment when you look inside the cabin.
Which is where it starts to go wrong. The rev counter is a ridiculous little gauge that you could mistake for oil temperature or fuel. Not something that will put you off the car, but it looks so cheap. As do all the dashboard plastics – and that’s a major surprise because it is the only VW that I would say that about. The doors don’t like being shut, so you really have to slam them, which means grabbing the almost abrasive plastic trim and wrenching the door in. It is actually noticeably unpleasant.
When you get out of the car the doors are equally reluctant to shut first time. It is too easy to walk away pressing the lock button on the key and not realise that the door is ajar.
Pulling away, the clutch felt very floppy and the gear change wasn’t much better. So around town it wasn’t a fun place to be. The width meant that you were less inclined to nip though gaps too, undermining one of the key advantages of a city car.
But out on the open road, the 1.4 engine proved to be a refined and effective power unit. The car also offered impressive motorway stability and cruising refinement. There was little wind noise, plus the engine was well within itself.
The seats, whilst they looked light-hearted in their stripy colours, proved to be soft and comfortable. They were also supportive and that made quite long journeys -which this car isn’t really designed for- perfectly relaxing and migraine free.
So would I buy one? No, I think I would save a little longer, and buy a Polo. But lots of people might, I can see, buy a Fox.
For example: students. They don’t really need a car during term because they are always drinking. But they need something for the long drive home at the end of term. I can quite easily see one of these hacking down the motorway a bit too quickly, loaded to the gunnels with ironing boards, books and duvets. The big engine and stability is ideal for the job and the average student doesn’t care about trim levels. At £5,000 it is affordable to some and as it sits in insurance group 2, its premium won’t be far off the cheapest there is.
I also think the retirees who are used to bigger cars might buy one. The reliability and price will appeal. It feels spacious and comfy like the better cars they are used to but will be easy to park and a lot less hassle.
Summary
The cheapest VW that there is. Very spacious inside. Quite wide for a small car but very short, so easy to parallel park. Comfortable and refined, it shows impressive aptitude on long motorway runs. Build quality and plastics, for a VW, are a slight disappointment.
Road test car details:
Volkswagen Fox 1.4 3dr
OTR: £7354 (new price – check out the used price)
0-62: 13 secs
MPG: 42.2
Co2 / KM:
By: Matthew Tumbridge