DieselMonte

Aside from the doors it does look like a nice example. any other plans for it or will you just fix what needs fixing and enjoy it as it is?

Honestly not bad. I was getting quotes for 1700 euro initially,then when I was about to pay I was told 4500 euro. mrgf is right, High mileage cars can be a bit of a risk,but they can also be some of the best cars you can get. However, in my opinion you could definately find a cleaner example of a fabia.

Youll want to get a smaller engined fabia. Check parkers.co.uk for the insurance groups of various specs of fabias.

https://www.motors.co.uk/car-55741052/?i=0&m=spf Im not explaining myself right,thats on me. I found when I was trying to get insurance myself that any car older than 2008 or so would either be prohibitively expensive or I would just be outright refused for a quote. What I was trying to say was that a newer car may be cheaper on insurance and stay cheap for atleast a few years to come. (Within reason,a 2020 Gt86 is gonna be more expensive than a 2006 micra for a first time driver) And on the insurance side of things, Aside from a blackbox its the only way to have even quasi-realistic quotes on any car. I'm not saying its the best way or the most ethical way but the fact is that it is the most reasonable way a young driver can get insurance. And on the blackbox side of things,an insurance company is not out expressly to save you money, I have heard more than a few horror stories of blackboxes being used against the driver and hiking their premiums sky high. Anyone remember the topgear "cheap cars for a 17 year old challenge"?

Also, a link to the ebay ad would be nice, I cant seem to find it on my phone.

As a first car a fabia is a decent choice. Age is one of the more important thing for insurance especially for a new driver. You might find that a newer one might cost 500 pound more,but could save you more than that on insurance. As an aside,is it possible to have a parent insure the car as a main driver and put you on a month or two later? I can guarantee it would be much cheaper on insurance. Also,with that car in question, 150,000 miles is higher than I would be comfortable getting. Plus you could probably find a better equipped one for around the same price if you wait.

Apparently Rust water put together twigs something in Briskoda's censors. Oops.

Since I am on here updating my Monte Carlo thread I felt I should update this one aswell. Where to start? For a while now I had been suspecting that the headgasket was gone because over the course of a few days it would lose coolant randomly. However,I found out just the other day that it is just some hose that looks to be going to the heater core which is spitting "coolant" out. Also,I noticed the oil cap was spitting oil out and noticed it was missing its rubber seal. I just so happened to have a cheapo Oil and Coolant cap set off of eBay I was initially going to put on the Monte Carlo but wasnt happy with. Happily however,It hasnt leaked since. On the topic of stealing stuff I have earmarked for the Monte Carlo,I got a pair of badges for the bonnet and boot of it. Since my boot badge is in fine enough condition I just took it and put it on whats left of the grille of this car.Granted,They are just cheap Wish badges but I'm contented with the results. Finally, My drivers side spring,which had already snapped a coil off before,decided to lose another coil. I can't properly describe the massive clang that went through the car as the spring went, I could feel it snap. Yes,the orange rus****er is what should be distilled water. I got most of it flushed out by now so Im not worried.

Also took the time this evening to Put some generic heat reflective tape on the side of the airbox nearest the turbo. I want to keep the car looking near standard so I just used silver heat reflective tape instead of gold.Not bad for an hours work,but I doubt it will make any significant difference. Also,continuing on the "near standard" approach. You can see that my Vrs intake is mounted with just a few black screws on either end of the portion near the bumper and two screws into the side of the airbox,aswell as one in the bottom of the airbox to keep it firmly in place and looking standard.

Small update this evening,Got sick of the tatty centre caps on my wheels so I got some stick on ones and put them on. Tried my best to align them with the valve cap and top lug bolt.

Is it possible to setup boost by gear on one of these cars? Running less boost in 1st and second might help with wheelspin.

Oh and the steering wheel is easy enough to replace you just have to be careful. only thing is you need a 12 spline bit to get the wheel off.Also the steering wheel and airbag may be sold separately. You might have some luck getting an upholsterer (?) to do the steering wheel leather on your old wheel. Or maybe you could buy an identical wheel to yours,get it done and swap it over? Just guessing.

Just replace the doors you can reuse your glass,motors and interior door cards. If you get lucky you might find a set of doors in your colour at a breakers. In my opinion those doors are too far gone to be worthwhile to fix. +1 on the cruise control, If you do any sort of motorway driving it can be very nice to have.

Stitch on steering wheels can take ages to put on if they are the ones im thinking of. Maybe you could find a monte carlo or vrs steering wheel and airbag from a breakers as they are leather and I would imagine the airbag would just plug and play. If you are looking for a radio you can try the rcd330 afaik it is nearly a plug and play upgrade over the standard swing stereo. Could you show us some pics of the outside so we can see what you are on about? A dent can mean different things for different people.

I know there is a website called "torquecars" or something to that effect that goes through engine/car specs and common mods people do to their cars. Might be what you're looking for. Its just general advice and insight into certain cars,In my opinion its not quite as good as just looking through Owners forums.

I run Torque pro on my phone to keep an eye on my boost/water temp/voltage. Best sub £20 "Mod" I ever got. Can show codes and clear them, everything!

Yeah, I see it only sits on top of the transmission. The only thing thats bugging me is that its never once done it while I was driving it.

I just was thinking back to another car. The clutch was giving trouble,letting air into the system and when I checked the reservoir it was coffee coloured. It had a fresh clutch and all and what should have been fresh enough dot (4?) fluid it was dark coloured like coffee. Seemingly it was bringing air and contaminates into the system and that was what caused the colour change,atleast that was what I took it to mean. Will try that, are slaves known to go bad on these cars?

Come to think of it I never checked how the clutch fluid looked,If its gone brown its probably bringing air into the system.

Probably the case on her last car she actually ended up wrecking the clutch due to her riding it. I was thinking it is the slave cylinder but I wrote it off because looked bone dry. I'll have to check it again.

Hi all, Having a mysterious problem with my clutch. Well, Its not me thats having a problem with it actually, but it seems every time my mother drives it, the clutch drops to the floor and wont return up, or go into gear. It can be solved By gettung your foot under the clutch and flicking it back into position. and if you turn the car off,get into gear and start it, you can drive,but only in that gear. I checked the slave and its bone dry and I cant see any leaks from the master either. I've been told this could be due to her keeping her foot on the clutch,which is entirely possible. Yet,whenever I drive it the car drives fine, I know it actually is an issue because she has come home with the clutch on the floor and I just flick it back up and I can drive it fine again. Anyone know what could cause it? its my 2012 1.6tdi fabia Monte Carlo just incase its a problem specific to my car / gearbox

Bit of bad luck today, a truck coming the other way kicked up a chunk of rock at the windscreen. Thought it would go through considering the massive bang it made. Don't know how to go about fixing this. The marks aren't too deep and it almost looks like it could be polished out, or Maybe one of those glass repair kits could work,but the marks aren't actually that deep. Has anyone got any advice on what I should do?

I don't think mk3s are very compatible with a mk2. Mk1 and mk2 have a lot more compatability.

Is that your standard bonnet with holes cut in it,or is it an s2000 bonnet thats been painted white. Is it even possible to find a s2000 bonnet these days as they would have only been used on rally cars?

I personally like the sound of a buzzy 3 cylinder but a muffler delete may drive your neighbours nuts,especially if you get up for work early in the morning. Havent any experience specifically with a 1.2 htp though.