Best 1.9Tdi daily for £3k ish

[Type R Tom]

I’m thinking about a Fabia VRS 1.9tdi as a new daily, they are all around the £3k mark at the moment but as with the VW group the engine is shared about. So my question is out of all the cars that have that engine, for £3k which is the best when weighing up “speed”, comfort, fun to drive, economy etc.

[martin mrt]

3k?? Christ I'll sell you one for half that

It's not mint by any stretch of the imagination but it's mechanically spot on, I've known the car for past 4 years and it's recently had a turbo and steering rack/pump replaced

[spats]

The VRS is the lightest with that engine I believe. Also VW did a 130bhp polo 6 speed which was more subtle and the seats aren't the easy to ruin light grey.

The Fabia did suffer from water leaks in the rear doors but this was easy to fix and a recall aswell.

The boot space in either one isn't massive, nor is rear leg room but I certainly found the vrs easy to drive, perky and with 6 gears good for motorway journeys and around town too.

If you want bigger car then the Golf is the next size up, bigger boot space and you have a Skoda Octavia.

Going slightly bigger still and theres the VW Passat and Audi A4. Although I found the Sport versions to be the only option if you want something that feels remotely fun to drive.

Overall if you don't need to space the Fabia is a great little car with excellent mpg and a nice bit of grunt.

[Type R Tom]

Thanks, that's the sort of thing I was after. Any other tips? Yep, £3k is top money but the cheaper ones seem a little rough.

[Drive Blind]

Ibiza FR?

the Ibiza and Fabia with the PD130 were available up to about 2007-2008

Golfs, Boras, A3/A4 stopped using the PD130 about 2004. So you'll get a newer car if you go for the Ibiza or Fabia.

[Ilovejapcrap]

I have a 1.9tdi Audi A3 56 plate.

It's ok bit slow but does not really bother me will still ramp up to 80 with punch for an overtake on motorway.

Just out of interest why do you want a tdi ?

[Justayellowbadge]

Type R Tom said:

Thanks, that's the sort of thing I was after. Any other tips? Yep, £3k is top money but the cheaper ones seem a little rough.

Must admit I don't know much about them, but my Father asked me to sell his, and looking on here, BriSkoda and Autotrader would suggest 3k is not top money. It's where they seem to start on here, at least, and doesn't seem to buy much on Briskoda either.

[Who me ?]

spats said:

The Fabia did suffer from water leaks in the rear doors but this was easy to fix and a recall aswell.


Overall if you don't need to space the Fabia is a great little car with excellent mpg and a nice bit of grunt.

i've never driven a VRS, but I've got little brother (1.4) ,and it's not just rear doors that leak. All 4 can suffer.As said - recall/ warranty job, but easily fixed ( see Link for details)
Flywheels can be an expensive option on the 6 speed. I get 50 or so MPG on a 1.4 on mixed driving, but on motorways I could do with another gear to keep the REVS DOWN AND mpg up. 1.4Tdi gets along nicely on most roads, at 70 bhp, so I'd imagine at 130 with only a small increase in weight, the Vrs is a shifter. OIL change data is important ,as thePD needs regular 10k servicing, if only engine oil ,and fuel filter at longer intervals as AFAIK, the fuel lubricates the PD pump.

More on Fabia here - http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/213819-the-ex...

[AJB88]

MK4 Ibiza FR or the pre-facelift MK4 Ibiza Sport both have the 1.9TDI, You can also get the MK4 Ibiza Cupra 1.9TDI PD160.

MK1 Leon FR/Cupra/FR+ PD150

[Drive Blind]

I just had a look at Fabia vRS prices on AT and sellers are still asking £5K for a 2006 example

I paid less than that 4 years ago.

[Drive Blind]

and basically the same car except with a SEAT and FR badge

click me

[Defconluke]

Currently looking at diesel Ibiza FR's myself.
IMO the facelifted ones look a bit nicer but only have minor revisions over the older versions.

If the location on your profile is right then I should be fairly local to you so this shouldn't be too far: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2006-56-Seat-Ibiza-1-9TD...

[BGarside]

IIRC the Ibiza is the lightest car with that engine, at around 1120kg, whereas the Polo GT and Fabia vRS were claimed to weigh in at around 1315kg.

Not sure why they are so heavy - I had a Leon Mark 1 FR TDI and that was claimed to weigh circa 1330kg despite being quite a lot bigger.

I drove a Polo GT and it had plenty of grunt but the handling was lacking so I think you'd want to uprate the suspension if you bought one of those. The Leon was better handling on the FR sports suspension but hard-riding. Also couldn't really recommend one as mine developed a number of issues during my ownership, though mostly not related to the engine.

If I was buying a 1.9TDI now I think I'd go for either the Fabia vRS or Ibiza FR. Not many Polo GTs around.

A remap will make a big difference to performance but beware clutch slip if the torque is more than around 300 lb ft (though this is less likely with the 130hp engine than the 150).