Volkswagen Up (Team Review) - Fifth Gear

In this review, the team get hold of the Volkswagen Up and give this wonderful little hatchback a run around the track.
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[@rafaeldomenikos5978]

Such an awesome little car. I just bought my second VW Up now, after 6 years and 110.000 miles on my first one when it got totaled by a crash unfortunately, and I could be happier with these little cars!

[@_chan.burn.21_]

Volkswagen should base the VW Beetle on this car, it would be much more fun to drive, affordable, and quirky than it is now.

[@Dr_Monitor]

Chandler Burns it'd be closer to a classic Beetle, too. Fun, affordable, and tiny.

[@aidan1585]

RIP VW Beetle 2019

[@samdurling6053]

I've just sold my up after 2 and a half years. It was my first car and was brilliant, it did motorway journeys surprisingly well (300 miles in a day) house moves and of course perfect round town. If anybody wants a city car it is the best one without a doubt

[@GuyRandom]

German engineering. It's so smart, compact, efficient and effective. Straight to the point, honest and gets the job done.

[@daviesjack12]

+Guy Random And the car lasts for ever if you change the oil every 8000 miles :D

[@khelgarironfist3301]

+Guy Random honest :D

[@nikolanikola8543]

Sorry, but this is NOT a good car. If you want good cars, you buy Japanese.

[@welshpete12]

@@nikolanikola8543 see my reply above .

[@ben3291]

@@nikolanikola8543 I Agree this Car is SHIT! bad build quality and rubbish engines and Awful auto Gearbox . I fixed so many of these barely hitting 4 years old mainly electrical and mechanical plus this 1.0 engine is just a cheap fest every other 1.0i engine on the market has a timing chain where this has a Belt . And clever use of space? Renault Twingo walks all over it i had mine for 6 years and i could carry an Ikea Flat Pack Ward drobe because you can fold the front passenger seat down .

[@madant7777]

My father has the Up, stunning little car! It doesn't look cheap, goes like hell even in the 60hp version with 3 people inside. Everything else on the market in the same segment just looks abysmal.

[@daviesjack12]

+madant1977 The 75 hp version is really quick with its small size and weight.

[@tadassmolskas3014]

@@daviesjack12 are you joking

[@jemeremy5327]

​@@tadassmolskas3014I mean the weight/HP Ratio ist Not that bad, somewhere around 1hp/12-13kg

[@iantownsend5480]

Call me a badge snob but is take the UP, just love the styling of it

[@alexw3606]

I have an up exclamation mark... such a great little car!!

[@dennyc4135]

I drive one.. very pleasant little car, comfortable and very nice ride on the highway. Fuel economy is very good too! I was considering Peugeuot 107 or Toyota Aygo but go for this due to the comfort and styling

[@britishentertainment7610]

Are you still satisfied with the car

[@welshpete12]

@@britishentertainment7610 Yes I am , had mine for 10 years

[@mattluxton8802]

Why anyone would chose the Skoda or Seat over the Up! is beyond me. A few hundred quid difference for the base model but far superior styling, better residual value, better looking interior...

[@8scatterbrain8]

Matt Luxton because they're cheaper than Up!

[@mattluxton8802]

8scatterbrain8 as I said a few hundred quid isn't really much considering the superiority of the Up!

[@8scatterbrain8]

Matt Luxton but they're still cheaper

[@XzzVttll]

+Matt Luxton its the same cars omg. same manufacturer

[@mattluxton8802]

I am fully aware they are the same car however I would choose an Up! over the other two for the reasons I mentioned.

[@FrankyRedEyes]

I drive an F150. Love watching reviews of vehicles we dont get in canada.

[@nikolanikola8543]

Be happy that you don't get this shit... These things are everywhere in Europe...😂

[@britishentertainment7610]

@@nikolanikola8543 i bet you drive a smart

[@nikolanikola8543]

@@britishentertainment7610 Smart is much better than this

[@Nabend1402]

Picking up my new Up! right from the factory in Wolfsburg in a month. So excited about it.

[@richardhurr31]

Except they're made in Bratislava.

[@Nabend1402]

That's true, but they do transport them to Wolfsburg if you want to pick up your car from the VW Motorwelt, which I did. Saved more than 200€ in delivery costs and was a fun day out.

[@Nabend1402]

Very happy with the car, btw.

[@richardhurr31]

+Nabend1402 cool. My mum's buying a used Up very soon since her KA was written off. Test drove one yesterday and she really liked it. Reading about the "common faults" with them and the gearbox/clutch issues concern me a little bit.

[@richardhurr31]

+MRsjovealek too late,she bought an Up and likes it. Old Toyota Aygos aren't without their problems. VW can't make cars? What would make you say that? They make a lot of excellent cars.

[@md-detailing]

I like the Skodas front and the back the most 😊

[@WillieMoller1965]

Awesome!

[@ThisIsDaxter]

You guys should come back and give the Up! GTI a whirl. Good old fashioned fun 👌

[@mrpoohbearlvr]

Why does only the UK get the UP, or the KA, or any of these small 'city cars'? The last time I got 50 MPG in a VW was in my DIESEL 1981 VW Rabbit...on the highway! Why dont they sell these 'city cars' here in the USA? People wet themselves to get 26 MPG on the HIGHWAY here! And then still complain we don't have electric cars or hydrogen cars yet. And you have those cars? WE need these freaking tiny 'city cars'! All I do is drive in the city, alone 90% of the time, and I get a huge 20 mpg in a f-cking Chevy Aveo! That is a tiny Daewoo under the skin, and it gets this mileage?. Bring the 'Up' over here, or any of those other tiny ones. I want one! Bring any of those tiny cars here, (and a support system for them), and I'll buy the first one! Why are WE in the USA being screwed by Toyota, to 'buy a Prius' to get 50 MPG on the highway and pay $30K+ for it, and YOU have all these great little cars, for half the price?? The smallest VW WE get is the Golf, and the Diesel wont get near 40 MPG. At twice the price!. You may pay a lot more for 'petrol', but we are getting close to you on that price, so ship those over here...now!!! I miss my old VW Diesel!!!

[@miam8984]

Marc B. Petrol is ALOT more expensive here in the UK, so stop complaining!

[@8scatterbrain8]

Marc B. you don't need small cars, you have huge roads! and americans LOVE SUVs

[@HermanWillems]

+Marc B. Geez, wish i lived in the USA. Freakingly cheap Gasoline, you have no ROAD TAX. Yes i pay 75 euro each month just for driving my car on the road. The tax is based on the weight of the car. The up you need to pay 20 euro a month road tax. Cheapest car / luxery ratio. But i don't get it why u get so low MPG with a chevy aveo. My Nissan 350z 3.5 V6 with 280horse power gets me calculated 28mpg. How do you do that? Also the insurance cost is mostly based on the new price. So the UP cost so little and the road tax so low, this is why u see them all over the place. It's the cheapest way to travel around with around 50mpg if u don't have a brick in your foot. The gasoline here has a higher quality than the USA so that's why our engines get higher milage anyway. More octane i guess.

[@mrpoohbearlvr]

+Herman Willems I wish i knew why my tiny car with a 1.6 or 1.8 L engine only gets 19mpg. Since I bought it, thats all i EVER get. I have had it examined at the dealership like 6 times , and all I EVER get told is that I only drive it like 2-5 miles a day, so 'it never gets up to 'normal operating temp.' ,so it is always running rich' so it using more gas. An excuse I don't buy. All the people I talk to on the 'Chevy Aveo Forum' online say that they get alot higher mpg! But most of them dont drive a lot more annually. Like 12K or more a year, and get higher MPG, but they drive on the highway a lot. I RARELY go on the highway. But they still get 25-30MPG in the city, in the same car, same year, and some are light drivers like me, low miles, on their cars. I only have like 34K miles on the car, after 9.5 years. I drive like 'a little old lady' ,not a dragster, and it is well maintained. So it isnt like I carry around hundreds of pounds of junk in my car, other than me:). it may be a small car, but thats all I EVER get. I use to get 20MPG in my BIG V-6 Ford Ranger truck! I would kill for a VW 'UP' or other 'Micro City car' like you have in Europe, that gets 50MPG. The only 50MPG car WE have is the Toyota Prius, and it isnt worth the cost to buy. One thing breaks on it, (like the generator, instead of a simple alternator0, its $6K to replace!! Thats stupid, and they do fail after like 50K miles. I dont drive on our 'HUGE roads' that we have over hear, as stated above. BTW...They are not that big. And I HATE SUV's! Any small car is overpriced and stuffed with power everything,using up money to buy a simple car. Thats the point of driving a small car, save money on buy it, and driving it. But they are all full of power windows, power locks, 4 wheel drive, traction control, etc, they all break and cost a small fortune to fix. It's planned obsolesces. So..we pay $2.25 - $3.75 depending on OPEC, and we have like 4 cars that MIGHT get 40MPG. You pay more for gas, but have dozens of great looking cars that get 50+ from them. Its all generated by the car makers and OPEC of course. But I just wish we could get the UP and other tiny cars here. They would sell out the day gas goes back up to the $3 range. It is in the low $2 range right now. But when you get 19MPG in a tiny car, it sucks!

[@mrpoohbearlvr]

+8scatterbrain8 Boy your ignorant. 'WE Americans' don't all love SUVs, and our roads are not HUGE. Ever see LA highways in rush hour, gridlock, and regular highways always have bumper to bumper traffic all day long. could be said 'YOU Europeans' have stupid tiny roads. But I wouldnt say that. Tell your governments to build bigger roads. What about the Autobon? Is that a 2 lane highway? Dont think so.

[@iantownsend5480]

Love the VW UP! & I always if I ever want a small a small run this will be it, apart from the new Twingo rear engine rear wheel drive please an RS version

[@joshmckinnley745]

Why can't volkwagen bring the Up! to the U.S? It seems like a very cute little car that would sell quite well when competing with the Smart, Fiat 500, Spark, etc.

[@mikema6404]

+Josh Mckinnley U.S. government discretely prevents most cars with >50mpg from selling in the USA. Fossil fuel gigants don't like them.

[@joshmckinnley745]

+Mike MA That isn't true. There are lots of electric vehicles that even get more than 100 MPG such as the Fiat 500E, Nissan Leaf, etc.

[@jaskaborner9795]

+Josh Mckinnley Oil giants hate those too, but have no real investiture in that market and thus don't have any means to lobby against em. Plus, charging them invariably involves at least some amount of fossil fuels along the lines... I had a 2013 Spark, actually. Great car, very fun to drive, horrid build quality. Fell apart at under 20k miles and cost me thousands to write off. The 2009 diesel that replaced it is cheaper per mile. Quieter, too. See, city cars won't catch on in the USA outside of, you know, cities. Highway driving in the Spark (PA to RI) nearly deafened me - although admittedly it did hold all the shopping, and was much safer than a Fiat.

[@bighands69]

+Josh Mckinnley Because small liberal Euro cars like this would not really sell in the US. In Europe cars face very high taxes and the liberal governments have decreed that smaller cars face less taxation. So guess what happens next people tend to buy smaller cars because that is what they can only afford.

[@azteck98]

+bighands69 i'd buy one i think it would look good parked next to my f150

[@BritishRailways60163]

I have an UP GTI & wow it doesn't half make you smile

[@Has7DCT]

The UP GTI just sounds too silly in my opinion😂... Just take the Golf instead

[@welshpete12]

@@Has7DCT just try driving one and you will see !

[@gabrielcaddy9850]

@@Has7DCT The golf is just dull in comparision.

[@RandyHartono]

Woooooow awesome City Car

[@skylaki22skylaki20]

VW UP! = ❤

[@jasonandrsen]

Seat and Skoda are owned by Volskwagen.. Thats why they look the same

[@JohnInSale]

I actually prefer the look of the Skoda Exterior of the three as the Up has that funny looking cartoon mouth. The sat nav thing is Bobbins, just put your smart phone in a cradle and save the money !!! Nice little diesel would be fab in this car and give it the torque it needs !!!

[@johnearl700]

I really wish VW mad a hot version on the up!, with 1.2 tsi and with uprated suspension and breaks and so on, they seem like they would be a really fun car.

[@giovanni233]

they should have put the 1.4 Turbo TSI from the jetta or the 1.8 from the golf

[@L4DProductions]

John Earl a GTI version with new suspension, brakes, lowered, and 120 HP turbo engine is on its way😀

[@MillieonaVespa]

Launching the GTI version very soon ..

[@nintendoatarikiller]

Nope you can't run out of petrol before Chernobyl. Also I really want the Up (exclamation mark) to be sold in Canada. That or the GTD.

[@welshpete12]

It's a good little round about .

[@jayjay-gg9zg]

Nice review, but would it be that much trouble to test the "basic" VW UP", unlike the high end one (white) shoved under your behind ? You talk about the prices....show us what 85% of us will buy instead of what VW gives You ! it would be much appreciated !

[@welshpete12]

See my reply above , that is the basic model.

[@toms_garage]

Cute wee VW

[@nastyscorp]

They should bring it to the Indian market it will sell like hot cakes India has a huge market for small cars like this !

[@sharafirmin1221]

I love the vw up!

[@andrewyang9095]

The looks give me nightmares

[@welshpete12]

@@andrewyang9095 never mind , perhaps new glasses would help ?

[@mercedes2336]

I wish they made them in the us

[@leleedler]

They should release the up in the US market to compete with cars like the civic and Fit.

[@bighands69]

+Le Leedler Little Euro liberal cars do not sell in the US. The US market is about power and comfort and cheap fuel. Euro is all about taxation and the reason people choose these is because they are cheap on tax in Europe. Taxation doubles the price of cars in Europe. Cars are far more expensive in Europe.

[@leleedler]

I could really see sales of this in the usa going well. Minis area common sight around here and I would say they fall under similar design.

[@azteck98]

+Le Leedler needs more power

[@leleedler]

kurt roepke Yes, it could use a good 30 more HP.

[@TheJaytotheBee]

+Le Leedler the updated version that is coming later this year will have a 90 hp 1.0 TSI turbo engine available :)

[@transce]

Post full episodes, please.

[@markjeffers4663]

Thinking of getting my daughter an UP anyone got any real good or bad experiences of them for me to help decide

[@dariusparker894]

No there good cars however I think the polo is better as it's slightly bigger

[@welshpete12]

@@dariusparker894 yes they are , same car only a little bigger

[@lionfellintothelamb]

Can you please do a review of new nissan micra

[@welshpete12]

I had three , from new . They used to be very good but the later ones were not so well made .

[@huzy.]

What time is this man

[@andyp8464]

Feb 2016 I think this video was shot in 2012.

[@FishikK]

Made in Slovakia :)

[@welshpete12]

nope !

[@gabrielcaddy9850]

@@welshpete12 They are, doesn't mean anything though, just great for the local economy.

[@andresrobayot.2759]

Maneras antros Maneras ManeManmantras

[@jorgedullete415]

Attend

[@feigo512]

This car is not as good as everybody says. I regret buying this car... Mine has 55kw(75hp). I floor the gas and shift after 3000rpm all the time and still not able to keep up with the traffic here in Australia... The sitting position is so bad, I get a pain in my neck driving it to and from work(1 hour round trip). It's because the shifter is too far towards the front, I have to sit really forward and straight to be able to reach it and shift gears, which is very uncomfortable... I am trying to sell it and no one seems to be interested at all...

[@feigo512]

Fuel economy is about 6L/100Km. And it uses premium fuel. I have no idea why... This equates to about 7.5L/100km running regular fuel. And it only has 55kw...

[@jacmar44]

The rear sitting position in the up is awful, I had serious trouble with legroom as well, sitting behind myself, whereas I have no trouble doing so in a mini. It's a very cheap feeling car as well.

[@malcolmmetcalf2276]

Cheap? I've been driving mine for 4 years on potholed roads and it still refuses to rattle. Amazing quality for such a low purchase price

[@TRC98]

I drove one and I found the engine gutless and the controls spongy and having no feedback

[@tuemose22]

i rather buy an skoda today. than an vw. because vw cars, are just getting more and more ugly.. they really miss, that old golf 2/3/4 charm. and the same charm, that the corado had. with amazing looks, and persona

[@sugarmelon8641]

They are for sure biased towards up!

[@superelectic45]

Sorry, but the UP! is not competing with the Mini - more like the Aygo

[@nintendoatarikiller]

How can it be world car of the year if it isn't even available in North America?

[@djmhyde]

because the world is a little bit larger than USA......

[@nintendoatarikiller]

djmhyde This guy gets it.

[@nikolanikola8543]

@Gibbon USA has the strongest economy in the world

[@hyylo]

world car of the year goes to Tesla Model S

[@MrBusunglueck]

hyylo up was too.

[@MrBusunglueck]

hyylo up was too.

[@muciferbad]

d

[@thekrocker2255]

I get a bit turned on by storage

[@ldivisa]

I've bought one of those this week: After 100Kms the starter just shorted! KKKK... What a piece of s****!

[@darksideofmind91]

Wait, Wait, Wait, Wait .... mmmh... weren't you 4????????

[@zeuss194]

A sort of glorified first generation twingo

[@julianmac]

get better producers.

[@keorapetsekodise3122]

It seems like a toy

[@charliehugo]

terrible cars aha. So many gearbox issues as well as the fact the 0-6 is 2-3 buisness days. would reccomend staying away from them

[@MC-Racing]

It's horrible ugly if anyone asks my opinion.. :-/

[@davis.ceksters]

nobody asked