SOLD!

[r.welfare]

Alright gang, I appreciate the lack of pictures and sketchy details in places make this a candidate for worst car sale thread ever, but I thought it best to gauge any interest before I go to eBay and the like.

 

My brother-in-law is getting a lease car (I know, I know...) delivered either this Friday or next and hence this Fabia is up for grabs.

 

No pictures yet but it's a Mk1 five-door hatch in a sort of light metallic grey/blue colour; the interior has a light grey dashboard and seats with dark grey bolsters and light grey (almost white) inserts, of more anon.

 

Good points:

• Very low mileage (dunno for sure but definitely under 40,000 and might even be under 30,000) with receipts to back up regular servicing.
• Family owned since 2005 or thereabouts. Maybe two owners before that. My in-laws had it first then when they gave up driving two years ago and my brother-in-law finally got his licence (lazy bugger that he is), he got hold of it.
• Will have one year’s MOT (once I get my mitts on it and book one). Taxed to the end of April (£110 to tax for 6 months IIRC).
• Will be serviced before sale (new spark plugs, oil, air and pollen filters).
• In the last 2 years it has had a new clutch, gearbox oil change, power steering fluid change, battery and engine-to-gearbox mount. I've done all of those except the clutch which was done professionally. It's had three clutches in total, mainly down to my late father-in-law riding the hell out of them. Hey ho. I think it had the diff rivets sorted at some point as well but don't quote me on that.
• Decent-brand tyres (BF Goodrich on the front, Continental on the back). Fronts probably have about 2/3mm on and the rears look about 4/5mm. 185/60/14 I think so fairly cheap to replace.
• Simple overhead-valve engine, so no cambelt to worry about.
• I'll be resealing the moisture barriers on the rear doors when I service it (preventing a common Fabia fault of damp rear footwells which then cause condensation).
• Well-equipped with air conditioning, ABS, electric front windows, remote central locking, electric heated mirrors, twin airbags (4 star EURO NCAP apparently), ISOFIX seat brackets, rear parking sensors (genuine Skoda accessory fitted by my good self) etc.

Bad points:

• Some marks to bodywork – shallow crease to nearside rear door and ding to nearside front wing, might be a dent on the nearside rear wheelarch, mirror housings are cracked at their lower edges. Looks very presentable when cleaned and polished mind.
• Seat upholstery a bit grubby in places – unfortunately the light grey centre panels mark easily (particularly water staining). I'll have a go at wet-vacumming them.
• The engine is the final development of the Skoda lump first introduced in 1964 and fitted in the rear of the early models, so by modern-day standards it's noisy, flaccid (68bhp to move 1200kg) and not hugely economical (I reckon on 30mpg in town, maybe 40mpg on a run). The gearbox also seems to have a fair amount of whine but no problem with selection and the oil that came out when I changed it seemed OK, i.e. full volume, no shards of metal, lovely bouquet. On the plus side, it's never overheated and the thermostat and housing were changed a couple of years back. To be honest, given the mileage and the fact my brother-in-law drives like 2 miles a day (did I say he was lazy already?), an Italian tune-up (which I do once a year, just before the MOT) would work wonders.
• Air conditioning still seems to blow cold but I don’t think it has ever been re-gassed.
• The headlights flicker a bit when the car is idling, common Fabia complaint.
• These things have electric power steering which can sometimes cause problems; in the early days the warning light came on every so often but hasn't since I fitted a bigger battery and topped up the fluid.

To sum up: Ideal first car – safe, comfortable and reliable, plus simple to fix and has a few marks to the bodywork already!

 

The car comes with two keys, V5, handbook pack and service receipts (if my brother-in-law can work out where he's put them...), and Haynes manual.

 

I was thinking of retailing it at £695 but I'm sure my brother-in-law would be happy with £600 in his skyrocket.

 

Pictures to follow, if anyone cares.

[londonm]

Pic please.

[r.welfare]

If he pops round this week I'll try and take some Billy-style photos while it's on the drive.  Otherwise probably the weekend.  As a teaser, here's a library pic (stolen from eBay) showing the colour:

 

 

Forgot to mention I'll also change the fuel filter as part of the service.  Last time round I got sent the wrong one.

[r.welfare]

OK.  Started this morning with a quick trip to Halfords and have just concluded my spannering.  Here are some pictures and more info.

 

 

Irritatingly my brother-in-law has lost the handbook pack and service book.  It might turn up yet.  However he does still have the V5 and a fair bit of service history going back three years.  Before that I know it was looked after by Jackson's Skoda in Basingstoke, where my mother-in-law purchased the car in September 2005.  Three previous owners on the V5, including my mother-in-law.

 

Receipts as follows (the last two items were done by myself, the earlier ones by independent garages):

• 18.4.14 @ 36,191 miles - oil & filter, air filter, pollen filter, fuel filter (I still stink of unleaded), Champion Platinum spark plugs, and a coolant change.  The coolant that came out all looked fine
• 30.3.13 @ 31,900 miles - MOT, oil & filter, air filter, pollen filter, gearbox oil and PAS fluid
• 6.7.12 @ 30,016 miles - fix gearbox oil leak
• 5.4.12 @ 29,434 miles - MOT, service, new front anti-roll bar, serviced front brakes, brake fluid change
• 29.12.11 (no mileage stated) - 2 new BF Goodrich tyres, tracking
• 28.4.11 @ 26,902 miles - service and MOT
• 15.4.11 @ 26,767 miles - new clutch

I've run the MOT history of the car from the Directgov site to validate the mileage further, this shows:

• 22.5.06, 11,349 miles (ties in with my recollection that the car had about 9,000 miles on it when my mother-in-law bought it)
• 23.4.07, 15,585 miles
• 6.5.08, 18,141 miles
• 28.4.09, 20,796 miles
• 20.4.10, 23,858 miles

Unused Continental spare tyre.

 

 

Interior still a bit wet from cleaning.  WARNING - this car has been smoked in.  Also, I have no idea why there are no floormats.

 

OMG GENUINE LOW MILEAGE.  No warning lights.  The MPG figure represents a lot of idling while I bled through the new coolant.

 

Box of Trail Bars can be thrown in for the right buyer.  Air con doesn't seem very cold, but my brother-in-law reckons it works fine after 5 minutes or so.  I say, try a regas.

 

On to the body damage.

 

Very shallow crease on the rearside rear door and a small dent/scuff to the leading edge of the rear wheelarch.

 

Small ding to the leading edge of the front wheelarch.

 

Driver's door mirror cover is cracked at the lower edge.

 

The only bit of rust I can find, caused by the rear wiper blade's metal edge.  I've turned it round but in doing so broke the clip on the arm.  So if you pull the wiper out the blade drops off.  But it sticks to the screen just fine.

 

A fair amount of paint loss on the nearside mirror cover.  If I get time I'll buy a touch-up stick and sort it out.

 

Offside front foglight lens cracked, but it's not letting in water.

 

Offside rear light lens has a small chunk missing.  Doesn't let any light out so should be OK for the MOT.

 

Some paint loss on the nearside rear bumper corner.

 

Also - several marks to the paint all around the car which should polish out.  I will do so if I get half a chance.

 

Front tyres (BF Goodrich) have 4mm of tread, the rears (Continentals) have 5mm.

 

The only other thing to note is that the parking sensors don't work, which I think is related to the fact that the reversing lights don't work either (bulbs are OK).  Might need a new switch which is somewhere on the gearbox casing.  I'll try and take a look when it gets MOT'd next Saturday.

 

Questions?

[trigger]

That's a bargain and pretty appealing really, It would certainly make a more sensible daily driver for Mrs Trigger.

[Jim Bell]

That looks nice. Im amazed at the MPGs though.

 

Would have thought they'd do a lot better than that.

[r.welfare]

It's not a bad little car by any means.  The engine is actually a lot quieter and smoother than I remember, certainly no timing chain rattle.  I replaced the rear 'dogbone' engine mount last year, but I reckon the other two could do with changing.  The gearbox whines a bit in 1st and 2nd, apparently, but smooths out in the higher gears.  I'll be able to say more about the driving experience when I take it for the MOT next week.

 

That MPG figure is from a lifetime of stop/start work then me fast idling it for 20 minutes while I bled the coolant.  Driving it on a gentle run I reckon on 40mpg, 30mpg in town.  But the 1.4 16v, an example of which my wife put 60k on in 3 years, did 10mpg more in either scenario, plus had the benefit of an extra 32bhp.

[320touring]

Just to note,

 

these 1.4s are 100bhp when in a manual car..I used to get 45mpg out my mums Auto 1.4 (detuned to 75bhp for moar torques)

 

grand wee cars!

 

Good luck with the sale- looks like a bargain-esp as just serviced

[r.welfare]

This one has 68 throbbing Communist horses, quite a low torque peak (2500rpm) though. Also, new rear wiper arm and blades front and back ordered. I'll check the fuses on Sunday to see if that solves the reversing light/parking sensor fault. Touch up paint also on it's way. The colour is called 'Stone Grey' apparently.

[320touring]

This one has 68 throbbing Communist horses, quite a low torque peak (2500rpm) though

Boo:(

 

ah well, nevermind

[beko1987]

I'm glad these are coming into shite territory! Always liked them. A mate had a 1.4 one once and it was pretty nice!

 

Glws

[Twiggy]

BUMP !

[Mrcarlos]

Just pm'd you

[r.welfare]

Provisionally sold to Twiggy's mate, pending collection on Sunday morning.  Fingers crossed for an MOT pass.  Will have new wiper blades and rear wiper arm plus a new reversing light switch fitted on Saturday, which should hopefully resuscitate the reversing lights and parking sensors.

[r.welfare]

W00t - reversing light switch change has revived the lights and the parking sensors.

 

I have driven this to work today.  In fact the gearbox is quiet but there's a clunk when you change gear (reverse, 1st, 2nd or 3rd only), or come on and off the power abruptly.  I'm thinking engine mount or driveshaft (Twiggy, I'll call your mate tomorrow after the MOT and let him know - I'm hoping it should be an easy fix that he may prefer to do himself).

 

Also, 45.6mpg according to the trip computer over the 15 miles door-to-door.  It's nippier than I remember, too.

[Partridge]

At least make a bloody effort with your title. "SKODLER FLEECE NOT VRS GTI DELOREAN PINEAPPLE"

[Conrad D. Conelrad]

Also, you're supposed to move the seats back for the photo of the front and then move them forwards for the photo of the back. 

[r.welfare]

Ha! Drivers' seat set to accommodate my brother in law, who is very tall and extremely broad.

[Twiggy]

Ta !