RE: Skoda Fabia vRS TDI | Spotted

[daytonavrs]

Pica-Pica said:

It was overpriced when new (2005).
Our 1.2TSi was 12k new in 2013, still going strong. Probably worth £2k or less, but a great car, and the next model from that one.
That low mileage is irrelevant, it is worth 1k at the very most, for someone who wants the seats.

It wasn't overpriced when new it was below Golf and Polo editions and leaving 1.2T engines for dead ( circa 100hp with the BLT edition 56 being around 150hp and massively more torque than your petrol ).
For longevity it would have been better I think as a 1.8T but it was what they wanted to do at the time.

Its difficult to get any fabia vrs below 2k now unless really broken...I sold mine about 5 yrs ago for only 1.2k and that was 1 owner....the diesel dirt aspect did it for me esp the generation it is, don't see how they can command high values now tbh if air pollution regs become widespread its done for.
It if had been a 1.8TSi it may have changed the dynamics of the car somewhat but likely I'd still have it now. How things have changed eh Gordon Brown

[Steve_H80]

Much as I loved my VRs I couldn't justify £8k on a 17 year old car, regardless of the condition and low miles.
But this has brought back happy memories of thrapping it up the hill out of Kinlochewe

[mattlehec]

Had one was great on fuel but ditto on water ingress!
Rear doors just poured in and car was stinky and damp most the time despite trying to fix.
Golf r mk7 I have started the same issue but managed to fix else it would have had to go!.
😁🙈

[Drive Blind]

Steve_H80 said:

thrapping it up the hill out of Kinlochewe

that is a glorious piece of tarmac

[greenarrow]

Trevor555 said:

rallycross said:

At the time was just a cheap alternative to the Polo GT tdi130 which was a much better all rounder ( but cost a lot more).

And the Ibiza FR inbetween

Does anyone else remember the diesel Cupra that was on sale for a very short time, around 2004? I think from memory it had around 155-160 BHP making it officially the most powerful iteration of the 1.9PD engine released and being relatively light it was an absolute flying machine.

People get so hung up on 0-60 times and 30-70 times but in the real world its the ability to be able to punch out of corners in 3rd and pick up immediately in 4th or 5th which often counts.......all these little VAG diesel warm or hot hatches punched above their weight out there on the road, rather than the track....

[Martin_Hx]

Please tell me someone has already mentioned "pulls like a train"

I have no first hand with these, but im sure if you can get hold of a decent one of these for less than half the price, they are a little bargain

[DaveyBoyWonder]

Pica-Pica said:

It was overpriced when new (2005).
Our 1.2TSi was 12k new in 2013, still going strong. Probably worth £2k or less, but a great car, and the next model from that one.
That low mileage is irrelevant, it is worth 1k at the very most, for someone who wants the seats.

I think you're wrong because a) its definitely worth more than a grand (there's another on AT with 40k miles for £9k as well) and b) nobody wants those seats - the dealership we test drove one from was already prepared with the "we can put you in touch with someone who can retrim the seats for a very good price" before we'd even mentioned the white/light grey fabric.

Cool little car for putting a shed load of low cost mileage on but at that money for the cost of the car, you're easily into economical diesel BMW/Audi/Merc territory which is where I'd rather be if I was clocking up big miles (just had a look and for £9 you can get a 5 year newer, sub 60k miles A5, diesel TT, loads of A3s and A1s, 62 plate 318d Luxury (awesome for doing big mileage in) etc...

[howardhughes]

Some mug will buy it. It's certainly not worth 8k more like 4.

[kambites]

howardhughes said:

Some mug will buy it. It's certainly not worth 8k more like 4.

I think that's a contradiction. A used car is worth exactly what "some mug" will pay for it, pretty much by definition.

[Rich Boy Spanner]

There was a lot of snobbishness against them at the time and some of it is repeated in the comments here. These things cost about £12K new. They were fantastic value for money for those who weren't put off by the Skoda badge which was still a source of repeated 1970's jokes. A lot of youngish people bought them and whenever they would write on forums about how they enjoyed and the mid range acceleration it would be met with irrational abuse about how they weren't actually fast and the owner was completely wrong, totally pissing on some happy young kids parade.
They were a good all rounder, and a bit different in the day. The door leaks by the way were the same for a load of VW stuff at the time. IIRC they used felt or something as a sealant material on a metal inner door panel that water ran down by design, and it rotted. There was a kit to replace with rubber, done by drilling out the rivets that held the panel on, sealing and reinstalling. Done under warranty on mine. My Dad's Golf of the same era did it too.

[Leon R]

The door seals were rubber and they eventually fail on all VAG cars that had them in that era.

I had a MK1 Leon and I had to replace them.

[SussexTrek]

I quite like these tbh but I wouldn't spank 9k on one.

Picked up a MK2 Fabia Sport last year. 58 plate 1.9 PD diesel, same engine but only 105bhp. It's pretty punchy and actually a really nice drive. Paid £3k and it's virtually mint with brilliant history. Cracking car for the money (which I know was still too much really)

[CDP]

rallycross said:

At the time was just a cheap alternative to the Polo GT tdi130 which was a much better all rounder ( but cost a lot more).

I think the Polo came out a little later, probably when they saw how popular the Skoda was.

[TameRacingDriver]

CDP said:

rallycross said:

At the time was just a cheap alternative to the Polo GT tdi130 which was a much better all rounder ( but cost a lot more).

I think the Polo came out a little later, probably when they saw how popular the Skoda was.

This is correct. The Seat Ibiza TDI Sport was the first car of its size in the VAG range to get the 130 engine, followed a few months later by the vRS, then came the Ibiza FR and Cupra TDI (the latter had a 160 bhp engine), and the Polo came soon after.

[scorcher]

Sold our 6 year fabia VRS( driving school car) with 180k on it , 1 owner and 20 dealer services for £900 in 2012. It’s still about. An almost perfect car to learn in. The 1.6 tdi that replaced it was woeful in comparison. Wouldn’t give 9k for one now, regardless of mileage.

[Tim Cognito]

Bought our 07 around 8 years ago for £2800 if memory serves. Now on 155k and still going strong, be able to sell it for what we paid at this rate...

[ArnageWRC]

Rich Boy Spanner said:

There was a lot of snobbishness against them at the time and some of it is repeated in the comments here. These things cost about £12K new. They were fantastic value for money for those who weren't put off by the Skoda badge which was still a source of repeated 1970's jokes. A lot of youngish people bought them and whenever they would write on forums about how they enjoyed and the mid range acceleration it would be met with irrational abuse about how they weren't actually fast and the owner was completely wrong, totally pissing on some happy young kids parade.
They were a good all rounder, and a bit different in the day. The door leaks by the way were the same for a load of VW stuff at the time. IIRC they used felt or something as a sealant material on a metal inner door panel that water ran down by design, and it rotted. There was a kit to replace with rubber, done by drilling out the rivets that held the panel on, sealing and reinstalling. Done under warranty on mine. My Dad's Golf of the same era did it too.

I always laughed at the snobbishness; if they were good enough for WRC champions to drive, then why would you listen to loud mouth 'experts' spouting their ill informed nonsense; PH doesn't half attract them.

I had the blue SE version, and it was a very good real world car; ate up the miles when away spectating on rally events all over the country, and economical with it.

[mooseracer]

I had the dubious pleasure of ownig an Estelle. No amount of telling people how many class victories in the RAC they had helped.

[Escort Si-130]

Hot hatch hero??? More like Hot hatch loser with a stting TDI engine. That is all that went wrong with the motoring world.

[21st Century Man]

Quicker around a track than a Mini Cooper...

https://youtu.be/78pgAg2LYPY?si=ncn5nYHfoMl9IEgc

https://youtu.be/QrfK6iunakE?si=sqw6RYVFb9gzXp80