Mk2 1.4tdi vs. mk1 vrs

[Benji96]

Hey guys,

New to the forum so apologies if I'm in the wrong section!

My predicament is that I like my mk2 1.4tdi, comfortable enough and good around town but seems to lack a little on the motorway, (it will do 70 but noticibly happier at 60) so I'm after something with more powwweerrr, I did look at getting my 1.4 remapped but insurance weren't too happy about it (I'm 19) but I did a quote for a mk1 vrs for when (touch wood) I get 2 years ncb, and it was £1400 (it's what I paid this year for my 1.4 so that seems ok.

question is, am I mad going for an older car and how noticeable will the drive be?

(Also any comments on reliably are more than welcome, I've heard mostly about the rear door seals leaking and steering rack problems)

Thanks

Ben Waine

[Naths vRS]

First of all, Welcome to Briskoda. 

 

Secondly why down grade from a MK2 to a Mk1? Why not look at a MK2 Fabia VRS? it's a newer car so insurance should be better for you. Might be quicker than a (standard) MK1 VRS and still got the comfort.  

[vRS Joe]

Personally I won't touch the mk2 vrs with all

It's engine woes, unless it had a warranty.

The mk1 is a more reliable car and more involving to drive, it's getting harder to find a good one though!

[Naths vRS]

Personally I won't touch the mk2 vrs with all

It's engine woes, unless it had a warranty.

The mk1 is a more reliable car and more involving to drive, it's getting harder to find a good one though!

 

Here we go.  Not all (including mine) has engine faults. So wouldn't believe everything you read.  Might be seen as 'oil burners' but mine and i'm sure a load others have been fine.

[Chorlton]

What type of driving are you doing?  Town, motorway a mixture of both - how many miles a year?

 

The mk1 vrs is a fairly solid and reliable car but do you really need diesel?

 

Depending on how much you have to spend, others to consider are the Fabia Mk2 Mote Carlo with 105bhp in either the 1.6 diesel or 1.2tsi petrol variant - both of these will seem quicker after a 1.4tdi.

 

I think it's unlikely you would afford the insurance on a mk2 vrs (but I might be wrong).  And you should believe what you read, there are dodgy oil burning ones out there - probably 1 in 10 chance of getting a bad one.

[Rooted]

I have a 5 Years old vRS Mk2 as has Naths vRS.  

& you can pick them up now for about £7,000 even less.

 & there are good ones, and ones that Skoda have been good enough to fit new engines to.

(plenty young drivers have or had them because for a 180 ps 5 door the insurance can be surprisingly cheap.)

 

or Mk1 vRS still worth good money when it is a good one,

but now 8 years or more since they were built.   So what ever you buy you need to find a good one at the right price.

 

So be it a Mk1 or Mk2 vRS you need to get someone that knows them to help you in finding good ones.

The Mk1 is often said to be more involved to drive only in as far as it has a Manual Gearbox, but not so sure that is a positive.

[Brian69]

Personally I won't touch the mk2 vrs with all

It's engine woes, unless it had a warranty.

The mk1 is a more reliable car and more involving to drive, it's getting harder to find a good one though!

Having owned both (two years in a MKI until I'd decided I'd had enough - now four years in a MKII) I don't agree the MKI is 'involving to drive'. Nice gearbox but it's front heavy and painfully slow in standard form until you hit mid range. Also as water tight as a colander. Each to their own - it just wasn't for me (a mistake purchase).

[tupray]

Off the point a little I know , have a good look at a second hand " fabia 11 " SE with the 1.2 tsi 105 bhp , great cars , they have a great turn of speed , cheap to run , decent kit too

[Benji96]

Hi chaps, I do about 14/15k a year, so a diesel to me is justified, which helps to count out the mk2 (both in economy and the engine issues) I'm aware that it's only some that are affected, but I want to spend no more than 6k (could be pushed if I fell in love with one) on a new motor, a big part been thinking about depreciation, and for that budget, I can seem to be able to get very high quality fsh mk1's rather than perhaps not as mint used mk2.

The actual driving type that I do is 80 miles a day 2 days a week, 3days of 16miles on an A road and occasional trips to Yorkshire from Stoke on Trent ( ish) and my main problem with my 1.4 is that it's happy at 60, it will do 70 ok, but I can tell the engine wants to go into 6th!

Later in the week I hope to go and look at a few mk1's near by, one is 5k with fsh recent camblet/water pump 65k on the clock, and a blue limited edition with factory (it appears to be anyway) sat nav fsh camblet done, 50k on the clock 6.5k

I might have a look at a few mk2 vrs's but the extra cost o buy insure aswell as engine troubles put me off

Anymore thoughts appreciated

[Brian69]

The MKII vRS definitely isn't for you.

Ignore my comments above - leaky door carriers aside (which did seriously hack me off though - I had mine in twice to get fixed but the problem eventually returned) the vRS MKI is a solid car. The mid-range torque is enjoyable and makes the car seem faster than it actually is (not a bad thing in my book).

[Jimdiesel]

What about a mk2 1.6tdi 105ps monte carlo got mine for 6k private?

[Benji96]

It's a good point Jim^ however I'm not convinced the a power gain of 25 ps is enough to justify to my self getting a new car, also I assume the gearing is the same, so I figure I would still have the same problem of high revs at at 70 (2.5k rpm)

[tupray]

Benji96 , do not dismiss the tsi 105 petrol engine , take one for a drive , you will be amazed by the drive , looking at your driving needs this engine will suit your needs , you could for little money pimp up a SE model , you could get a newer car in this disguise than a vrs

[Benji96]

The initial cost of them, and the spec of the car (for my price bracket) doesn't seem as good, also I see mpg figures that people get in real life across a tank is more like 40mpg, meaning (approx) an extra £600 in fuel a year, on top of the insurance increase, to me at least, it doesn't seem to be enough improvement for all the cost, but, if there is one close by I'll give one a look

[Jimdiesel]

Mines at about 2.5rpm @ 70 probably needs to be to clean the dpf out still get silly figures on motorways though 60+mpg with ease

[Benji96]

Mine doesn't have a dpf as far as I know, (mine is a 57 reg and I think they don't have them) and yes I do usually get 55-65mpg on the motorway which is awesome! But the child within me wants more power and speed, from what I've read, the mk1 vrs seems to handle similar (if not slightly worse) mpg