Skoda fabia?

[af1]

I hate vag cars after having a touran that was the biggest pile of poop ever and also a mk5 golf gti that shat it's oil pump on 90k

 

The 205 of F reg and crispy bumper fame has given me 1000 trouble free miles in a week whilst I arse about (not) fixing the 306 rallye

 

However a mate at work saw me getting into the 205 of F reg and said "aw mate why you driving this?"

 

Taking pity on me he offered me his old '05' plate fabia for £500 it has t&t and about 98k on the clock!

 

This seems like a steal and it's only a 1.2 and he reckons £55 tank will get you 500 miles which seems good these days

 

There biggest pro I see is that I often take the kids to school besides the possible ridicule of daddy having a bmw a few months ago to now having a f reg 205 I also think that if yummy mummy in her x5 rear ends me, the kids will be safer in the fabia

 

Plus it's such a non descript boring arsehole of a car that no one will pay any notice to it

 

Thoughts?

[saucedoctor]

My sister's in-laws had one, and by 7 years and about 70k miles it was utterly worn out. The car hadn't been abused (sister's F.I.L. is a bus driver) and it was serviced as required by a local indie. It just felt tired out in every respect.

 

The man now has a Vectra!

[320touring]

The labia is a decent car. Simple to work on. Basic ones are basic. Watch for the eml light coming on.

 

My mum's one liked to do that (1.4 auto). Likely to be a dodgy lambda sensor.

[castros_bro]

I have a 54 1.2 (3 cyl) fabia with 20k on the clock.  It has broken down twice in the last 6 months with ign coil failure (pencil coils wih one per plug) where the coil and connector plastic melt and short out.  The engine has little torque so often stall the thing and the brakes are dramatic where a little dab sticks my nose on the windscreen thus making it a pain  to use in traffic. The "Engine" light on the dash had to be reset and now the speedo reads about 20% fast and the MPG display is 20% too optomistic.  Did the France + Spain + Portugal trip and the seats were so bad it took days before I could walk up right again.  

 

Also have a Felicia 1.3 with 120k on the clock which is comfortable and doesn't break down.

[r.welfare]

It's 500 quid.  Bite his arm off.  If it turns out to be a dud, give him an earful, then sell for a profit.  Simple.

 

My wife had a 1.4 16v years ago and I sold my brother in law's 1.4 OHV through this forum a couple of months back.  I echo much of what's been written above (although I never found the seats that uncomfortable).  They're OK but a bit fragile electronically and mechanically, the latter mainly on the engine.  The 1.4 16v had the EML on all the time (we had it for 3 years and 60k miles) and we never got to the bottom of it.  Still ran fine and gave a good performance/economy tradeoff but had bugger-all torque so I stalled it a lot.  The 1.4 OHV was fairly agricultural but not much slower or more thirsty point to point.

 

They feel a solid little thing (as they should be, weighing 1200kg!), ride well and steer OK.  Electrohydraulic PAS can cause issues, usually yaw angle sensor or a split reservoir.  I find they have the lightest clutches of all time.

 

The 1.2 is a VW lump and I believe has a timing chain, the longevity of which is critical on regular oil changes.  I've never tried one, are they 3 cylinder?

[eddyramrod]

It's 500 quid.  Bite his arm off.  If it turns out to be a dud, give him an earful, then sell for a profit.  Simple.

 

This.  Always assuming you can stand the eternal indelible shame of having actually owned a VAG product ever in your life.  You'll have no trouble re-selling, people always want small cheap cars (except me obv).

[twosmoke300]

make sure the pas works ok

[Wilko220]

Sounds like a good price but I'd rather roll in the 205 any day.

[plasticvandan]

I want an Estelle,just so i can put a "its a volkswagen,honest" sticker in the back

[Stanky]

Mrs_Stanky used to have a 1.2hpi (?) estate fabia several years ago, I understand that the engine can be a bit fragile, but hers was a hoot to drive. It revved like crazy and sounded very nice even though it was standard. I got told off several times for using up all the pez, but as others have said it has no torque so you have to hoon it, which drinks a surprising amount of fuel for a 1.2 3 cylinder engine. The fact it has to be the best part of 1250kg probably doesn't help the fuel economy. I suspect they are very hard-worked engines in all honesty.

 

It was superceded by a Diahatsu Cuore 989cc which was also a triple but was made of tin foil so went like a very quick thing (at least up to 70mph or so) though this is a bit off topic.

 

umm, so in conclusion they aren't awful but aren't anything special either. For £500 though its probably worth a punt. You'll get 40% of that back at the bridge if it turns out to be a total heap. WCPGW?

[Lacquer Peel]

I own a Fabia 1.9 SDi, it's alright, comes complete with the usual EPAS warning light. I can't wait to replace it with a superior car like an XM TD estate or something.

[Mr Lobster]

At £500 I wouldn't think twice tbh. They seem to be a decent enough thing and at that money you can't really lose.

[HH-R]

Buy it and move it on after five minutes making a profit. Interesting that these are a bit shite, the VAG fanboys would have you believe that they're the best thing ever made.

[dugong]

I find it irritating that a car based on a Polo is actually better than the car that sired it. Then again, this is VAG - it doesn't make any sense.

 

[af1]

Well the blokes even just had it serviced so....

[oldford]

I find it irritating that a car based on a Polo is actually better than the car that sired it. Then again, this is VAG - it doesn't make any sense.

 

 

The MK1 Fabia had the PQ24 platform quite sometime before the Polo had it, so it would seem that the Polo is actually based on the Fabia.