98 polo 1.0 petrol wont start

hi, i just purchased a 98 polo 2 days ago. i test drove it and it had no problems starting. i then drove it home about 70 miles. when i got it home i noticed that one headlight was brighter than the other. i then took it out for another quick drive and it seemed to have a tough time starting, but did crank over. i took it back and parked it for the night. the next morning i got in to start it and it just kept cranking and would not catch. i noticed the battery light was on the instrument panel. i thought it could be the alternator as well because of the dimming lights. i called some guys over from nextdoor and asked for a push to see if i could clutch start it. nothing happened. then i got them to try and jump me and it still wouldnt crank. i was wondering if anyone had any ideas? it has 89k miles on it and it looks to be the original VW alternator on it. i saw that it could be an ignition switch or somethign with the wiring. i called the person who sold it to me and they said they never had problems starting it, even in colder weather. just bad luck and bad timing i guess Sad

i dont think they would lie....they seemed like a good person to me. he even told me i could have my money back if i wanted

Hello, A quick lesson . By various laws, manufacturers build roll over and crash protection in to their vehicles. In a crash
you do not want your fuel pump to continue pumping. This is done using a relay that, on low or no oil pressure shuts your engine off. If you listen carefully and turn the key to the run position but not to crank, you should hear the electric fuel pump in the tank run for about 5 seconds then shut off. I suspect your key switch is failing. That means your relay is not getting its initial start signal. Have a look at this Allan
http://forums.vwvortex.comzerothread?id=2532481