Skoda advice PLS.

[RedSparrow]

Since moving to Czech I have missed driving immensely so will be looking to get a motor as soon as I can afford to.

It would seem rude to not get a Skoda, but there are a few dilemmas.

 

I would like a 120 series (Estelle), but they are seen here as reliable but embarassing and are driven by old folks and gypsies (they HATE gypsies here). There are a fair few still around and look quite rust free - decent examples seem to start from around £300ish. Not a hit with the ladies sadly.

Favourit - Hmmm. Bit of a love-hate for me, depends what angle I look at them from (Like many girls I know). Decent examples are still good value for money.

Felicia - the obvious sensible choice, I think one of these is most likely in estate form. Seem to rust a lot round the wheel arches.

Fabia - outta my league.

 

So, can anyone advise on the pros and cons of these? Particularly the Estelle or Felicia.

Cheers!

[Wilko220]

My grandad had a Felicia and it was very solid and reliable, until he crashed it into a skip, "A Fish Called Wanda" style.

Personally, though, I think the chance of being mistaken for a Pikey is a small price to pay for the chance to cruise around in a nice-looking Estelle for 300 notes.

[M'coli]

I think you've answered your own question, RedSparrow: buy whatever you think will be least likely to scupper your chances.

[RedSparrow]

I won't go into gory details but I am having the best time ever living here!

I hope owning an Estelle won't ruin that...

[Andrew353w]

This one's on Evil Bay at the moment; looks good.....

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/170775418634? ... 500wt_1191

 

The price seems a bit rich, though!

[RedSparrow]

Local second hand dealer listing, starting with the cheapest first:

http://www.aaaauto.cz/skoda/#!&make=109&sort[0]=5&sort[1]=1

You will have to copy and paste it - can't hyperlink cos of the brackets.

 

The blue/grey 120 seems the best of the bunch, although there was a much nicer one on there for only slightly more last week. Kc6000 is about £208.

The article reads:

Almost new winter tires, cheap liability insurance, towing, Light management for women

(It's a little old fashioned here).

 

Didn't know they were going for so much in the UK!

[M'coli]

I won't go into gory details but I am having the best time ever living here!

I hope owning an Estelle won't ruin that...

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Can you not afford a Rapid?

[Polystratus]

So, can anyone advise on the pros and cons of these? Particularly the Estelle or Felicia.

Cheers!

 

You could try Briskoda forum for a bit of advice - Felly Magic might have gone back on there but you might get a lot of' buy a Fabia VRS/if it's not a VRS it's crap' sort of idiot that at one time was on there, but things might be a bit better.

 

The Estelle never owned one myself but I use to have lifts with someone at Uni, that was a 120, it was his Aunts, never had a problem with it despite the likes of Clarkson saying how shit they were..

[trigger]

You could try Briskoda forum for a bit of advice - Felly Magic might have gone back on there.

 

It would seem that he upset a load of people on there and got banned as well. http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/22 ... shut-down/

[eddyramrod]

I had a 120...

...and it was rather more fun to drive than the paper spec suggests! It's basic, and you're never going to get a really slick gearchange, but it's tough and reliable, mostly. On mine the gear linkage was pretty damn worn, so it was very hard to get 3rd; I just used to go 1-2-4-5. And back. Often the joint at the foot of the lever would slip out of place either going into reverse or coming out. I got very handy with a 10mm socket, to remove the shroud and just plop it in manually. The 1200 engine was very willing. Drive it like you would an MG Maestro and you might get a nice surprise! Just remember to take the corners a bit easier... If you can lay hands on a decent one for next to nothing, then go on, do it, you'll regret it if you don't.

[Shep Shepherd]

I like Estelles, especially the Rapid coupe, which to me is a cheaper to buy, cheaper to run and more logical version of a Porsche 911

[RedSparrow]

Not seen many coupes. In fact I've been here 3 weeks and only seen 1 coupe which was a knackered brown 100MB one. Mean to photograph it one day.

Also, most of the Estelles here are in rather dull colours, not your decadent bright red! (looks lovely by the way).

But yeah, if can get a decent one for peanuts I may as well give one a chance. Buying furniture is a priority atm though.

 

I intend to take more photos for here but there always seem to be dodgy looking characters around when I want to use my camera-phone.

[eddyramrod]

most of the Estelles here are in rather dull colours, not your decadent bright red! (looks lovely by the way).

 

Thank you! It looks better than it actually was. Bear in mind the poor light; the car was actually more orange than red. It cost me a whole 90 quid from a dodgy trader outside the front gate of Chorley Auction one night in 1995. I'd let a blue 83 Alpine slip past me at 25 (!), a two-tone grey Capri had gone over budget and I'd run out of enthusiasm for the bidding process. So walking back with my dad to his Polonez, I let myself be talked into a test-drive of this thing, a make and model I'd never owned before. And, well, you see what happens... Cue a Communist convoy back to Southport, and about 7 months of relatively happy Skoda-driving. Skoda went to scrap in the early summer of 96, as I'd bought a Capri. Which I swapped for a Volvo 244. In less than a year I'd gone from a 1986 car to a 1983, to a 1978, but several steps up in status.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

http://www.annonce.cz/detail/skoda-rapi ... xy53h.html

19k crowns.

[RedSparrow]

http://www.annonce.cz/detail/skoda-rapi ... xy53h.html

19k crowns.

 

Ugh, I think I can find a nicer one for the money. Thanks though.

The coupes are rarer and do fetch a bit more though.

[Luxobarges_Are_Us]

Well, it's a coupe and it's autoshite brown. What more could you wish for?

[RedSparrow]

http://translate.googleusercontent.com/translate_c?act=url&hl=en&ie=UTF8&prev=_t&rurl=translate.google.com&sl=auto&tl=en&u=http://www.annonce.cz/detail/skoda-120-lpg--5-let-16873382-wqdexv.html&usg=ALkJrhjfqUKth1-6qh6c_x2oquH-XN1a-Q

 

Unusual grille, LPG, grim faded orange, £156.18 at today's exchange rate. I'm amazed you pro-shiters aren't here every weekend hoovering these beauties up.

[eddyramrod]

That looks like a miserable bargain, if you can have such a thing!

[Station]

You can't go wrong with the Felicia, although I could see the Estelle being much more fun.

 

Felicia isn't a frivolous car, but the reliability of the thing and the fact that the cabin is very comfy and has a nice feel about it outweighs that. Get the 1.3 with power steering and iron out the usual £10 faults it'll come with and you'll get 10 years driving, depending on corrosion, I don't know if they have a problem with rust tbh.

GRÀ for a-to-b driving.

[oldford]

You could try Briskoda forum for a bit of advice

 

I know that forum, I hear that they have a particularly suave moderator on there that drives a blue Sierra.

 

you might get a lot of' buy a Fabia VRS/if it's not a VRS it's crap' sort of idiot that at one time was on there, but things might be a bit better.

 

There's not too much of that on there and it's genearally a friendly place.

[Polystratus]

You could try Briskoda forum for a bit of advice

 

I know that forum, I hear that they have a particularly suave moderator on there that drives a blue Sierra.

 

you might get a lot of' buy a Fabia VRS/if it's not a VRS it's crap' sort of idiot that at one time was on there, but things might be a bit better.

 

There's not too much of that on there and it's genearally a friendly place.

 

When I joined a few years back there was a lot of that sort of thing - mentioned it to the site owner who actually said sorry about it and they would get some extra mods in to keep things in check, occasionally have a visit and its seems a better place now.

 

Is Moggie Tech still on there?

[AnthonyG]

This should be in the stupid questions thread really but does 'Briskoda' come from 'Brisk Skoda' or 'British Skoda'?

[Akron]

Brisk - Skoda is where it comes from I was one of the first members when it all began in 2004, IMHO it used to be a good forum with a friendly feel however it is completely faceless now shame really. Also you have to sift the advice given and some of the how-tos are frankly ridiculous, all my opinion of course.

 

Back on topic, get a 1.6 Felicia, cracking engine loads of torque and really shifts such a light car. Parts from Skoda are as cheap as aftermarket and you get the bonus of a 2 year warranty on them in the UK. My missus Felicia is great £100 - £200 every year for MOT service and running repairs 300 miles to a tank and never left her stranded great cars.

[Father Ted]

http://www.aaaauto.cz/cz/skoda-120/car. ... t%5B1%5D=1

Hubba Hubba

Beige fanny magnet

[RedSparrow]

Thanks for the advice guys. As much as I would love an Estelle/Rapid, I think I will have to go for something a little more reliable and less likely to be laughed at.

 

Felicia I recon - watch this space.

So what are the usual problems to lookf for on these?

[Akron]

Failed thermostat, leaking screen seal inspect fuse box under the dash if full of water run away. On 1.3 engines you can get rattling timing chains under £30 for the parts from skoda. Gear linkages can be quite sloppy but should not affect the gear change parts are around £40 from skoda, other than that not much swmbo's has had front disk and pads £28 genuine rear shoes £15 a back box around £30 gearlinkage fettling and a new screen seal £25. They are great cars I really rate them very highly shop around and get a good one though.

[daverapid]

Estelle's and Rapid's are a lot of fun and very reliable when maintained properly...or in the case of some of mine even when not maintained! I've never not had one in the last [almost] 22 years and can't see that changing any time soon. I'm currently down to just eight of them!

 

You're obviously someone that likes fun...the Felicia is a good car and with mods can be made fun, but as standard will be no where near as fun as a RWD Skoda....unless of course you find a Felicia Fun!

 

Briskoda is good IMO, and I say that as someone that helps run another well known excellent Skoda community that's been around almost 50 years!

[skoda_fan]

For what it's worth I would certainly endorse what Dave has said about the rear-engined Skuds, and living where you do surely it's just got to be done!? I have owned at least one (usually several) for the last 20 years and can vouch for the enjoyment factor. Snap one up over there while there are (I hope) still a few around

 

Graham

 

(Hi Dave!! )

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I LOL’d at that Briskoda link! what a complete ringpiece that Felly guy was, the fuggin mind boggles.