Any Lupo GTI Owners?

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Fancied one of these for ages and started looking at them again as a bit of project/occasional commuter. Just wondering what they were like to live with? In my head it'd just be a reliable, well built little go-kart. I've had a couple of Polo 6N2 GTIs from the same era which were well bolted together but plagued with the cheese gearboxes but I believe the Lupo doesn't share this box but does share the revvy little 1.6?

[TTOBES]

I'm a former owner. I had a black 54 reg between 2007 & 2010. It really was an awesome little car, especially for London (eg: fitting it on short single yellows on Sundays) and also good on the motorways. Mine had air con & 6CD (extras) and had the red/grey seats. Xenon headlights on this car were very, very good.

There is quite a bit of love for them on here and on Club Lupo, and any thread mentioning the possible sale of a 2005 Laser Blue/leather/air con/sunroof/6CD example is likely to attract lots of drooling and views ... and someone very keen to part with £7K for one when the advert is barely dry :-). There's only ever a handful on Autotrader at a time now, and the majority of those are Japanese imports from a company in the Bristol area, but I don't see why that would be a problem. Having said all that there's a black one up for £10K at the moment!

There's a PH user with a thread on modifying his red one, and PH did a "spotted in the ads" feature on one two or three years ago. I sold mine at about 49,000 miles so don't have any idea how well they age past that.

Would I buy one again? Yes, if I had the space and the money, but, even though I've owned one and know how uncommon a sight they are on the road, I cannot see the value of them over a MK1 TT.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Good point about the TT - theres a 3.2 2 miles away from me for a grand less than the cheapest not-smashed Lupo GTI on AT/eBay. But dead set on a Lupo GTI even though there are faster/more exotic/bigger/better (?) cars out there for the money

[dxg]

Do it! You won't regret it. Had mine almost 14 years now. Every so often I wobble and think of selling it, so I just go for a drive out and that changes my mind.

It's not the fastest thing out there, but it's somehow just so eager!

Try to get one that's not been barried, though.

[dxg]

Also the very early five speeds have the same chocolate gearbox as the Polo, so avoid them...

[DaveyBoyWonder]

dxg said:

Also the very early five speeds have the same chocolate gearbox as the Polo, so avoid them...

Ah, didn't know that. Definitely get a 6-speeder then.

What were the standard specs on them vs options? Assume xenons were optional? Not too bothered about leather, in fact I'd rather have cloth seats.

[TTOBES]

Xenon headlamps standard. Not sure if even a single CD player was standard, so:

Single CD or
6CD autochanger

air con
Leather (came with heated seats)
sunroof
rear bench seat (three belts)

That's all I can think of.

DaveyBoyWonder said:

Good point about the TT - theres a 3.2 2 miles away from me for a grand less than the cheapest not-smashed Lupo GTI on AT/eBay. But dead set on a Lupo GTI even though there are faster/more exotic/bigger/better (?) cars out there for the money

I'm now a TT 3.2 owner so have been on both sides of the fence!

[Mr. Potato Head]

Love mine, a 6 speed bought new in 2002.
No, it isn't for sale.

If you don't mind the price, go for it but watch out for scene cars with notched chassis legs

[Mr. Potato Head]

TTOBES said:

Xenon headlamps standard. Not sure if even a single CD player was standard, so:

Single CD or
6CD autochanger

air con
Leather (came with heated seats)
sunroof
rear bench seat (three belts)

I don't think the 3 seat rear bench was an option on the GTI
Side airbags were the other option

[MattyB_]

dxg said:

Also the very early five speeds have the same chocolate gearbox as the Polo, so avoid them...

Just for clarity, the Lupo GTi 5 speed box doesn't suffer these problems, it doesn't use the 085 gearbox that the PoloGTi does.

The 6 speed is the better box to go for, though; the gears are much more tightly spaced so makes for a nippier car, as 6th is almost the same as the old 5th so they're pretty tightly spaced!

[dxg]

I was certain it does - certainly plenty of stories of them failing.

This has just come out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFT4dEZfjBY

[mcg_]

dxg said:

I was certain it does - certainly plenty of stories of them failing.

This has just come out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFT4dEZfjBY

I used to be well in to my lupo's, and I'm also sure they don't share the same 5 speed.

[DaveyBoyWonder]

dxg said:

I was certain it does - certainly plenty of stories of them failing.

This has just come out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nFT4dEZfjBY

Cheers - saw that over the weekend and was very useful.

Looking around, I'm starting to think a 3.2 mk1 TT might be a better and cheaper option!

[TTOBES]

Let us know how you get on or what you decide to get!

[Cabb]

I’ve had one since new 2001 Silver 5 Speed box no problems car is sorned at the moment great little cars