deecee3

thank you Ross, thank you Stu, thank you ap0gee!!!! About an hour and half to do this today. It felt so good knowing that the Skoda garage were not getting the £160 they wanted to fit this bit. Great guide, made it easy, and I have aircon. COOL, real cool.

*********************************** I took my Skoda fabia to Crawley Down for a service. Luckily I said they had to call me before doing any work beyond the agreed service. The week before I had fitted new cheap wipers from Tesco. They phoned during the service to say that the wipers needed to be replaced. It was raining on the way there so I know the new wipers were working fine. I said no thank you. Picked up the car after waiting an hour and drove off quickly as I was very late by then. It started raining and when I tried the wipers they were all over the place. Ispection showed someone had cut the rubber on the ends of all the wipers except the back one which had been torn as it was knackered. (I won't deny that) I drove back and complained and they assured me that nothing had been done. NOT BLOODY LIKELY!!! I won't be returning

Ah well another month has passed and I still plan to part with my little Fabia TDi and hit the road with an nearly new Octy (2.0TDi preffered ). I'm still waiting for news about possible assistance from my employers financing a new(ish) motor. Patience is a virtue so I'm told. I have been watching to see if any bargains appeared over xmas and the new year. Alas if anything the prices seem to be getting higher :confused:. Hopefully there will be some room for manouvre come the end of February. Fingers crossed by then I will be ready to buy! I've noticed that Skoda UK have added quite a few used cars on their site without bothering to include interior and rear pictures. Some or them can't even be enlarged. I think this is a bit much considering the dealers want a non refundable (unless major issues) £500 deposit to get the car shipped from VAG. I don't think its much to ask to have some decent pictures if we are expected to part with a major deposit followed by £10 to £15k for a second hand motor! I have emailed my thought to VAG, I'll post any response. Roll on the end of quarter sales! As I'm still waiting I'm going to arrange another test drive of the 1.9TDi elegance. I'm trying to persaude me that this model would be ok. I do 20k per year so I know it makes sense. Still not easy having driven the 2.0TDi. Keep up the good work on the site Briskodians

I'm still patiently waiting for news from my work on possible help with a car purchase. At the same time I keep a keen eye out on the market for second hand Octy II. I will get one for sure this year. I sure hope that when I do finally get one it is more reliable than the used car search engine on the new Skoda website. During the day generally it is ok, but time and time again over the last few weeks a search in the evening or weekend will give me the following result: >Timeout expired. The timeout period elapsed prior to completion of the operation or the >server is not responding. >Server Error in '/Results.aspx' Application. Come on Skoda, sort it out If I can't buy one at the mo, at least let me look and dream....

Sounds like they didn't bother to test this properly after the work was completed. If they had, surely they would have realised something was wrong and rectified it before returning the car. If they did not bothered to check then it's just as likely that they didn't get the timing correct in the first place. Good to hear that all is well now!

No worries woodenspatula, thanks for the pm. I'm still waiting for an update from work about possible financial help with a car. If you do hear of another deal like the one I missed, please keep me posted. Although I've now added to my wishlist maxidot.... (not essential) I've just fitted brakes and disks on my fabia, it's good to stop. I was thinking about leaving this for the next lucky owner, but I need brakes. Realistic purchase will now be in January, or if I do get good news from work as soon as I can get one built!

Ahh, I'm hearing good things about maxidot....

I would also like to know how? Cheers

Hi Thanks for all your thoughts and advice!! I continue to ponder and watch the market place.. I had an email from the dealer yesterday (Crawley Down Skoda) asking if I was ready to put down a £500 deposit to secure the delivery of a very nice Flamenco Red 2.0TD 06 plate 17k miles at 13395. The deal is that its an approved (direct from Skoda) used car with the full 62 point check etc. I'm not going for it just yet. It is the car I'm after, but I'm dragging my heels a bit and weighing up the various options. They offered the 1.8k trade in. I must say the sales guy is a good egg and hasn't been trying any hard sell. This week 4 nearly new (approved as described above) cars were added to the Skoda website allocated to the Willis Motor co in Middlesex. This is only 30 miles from where I work (Crawley), and they are all 56 Oct to Dec plates 15-17k miles at 12990 each. The market is flooded! No red ones though (shame). When I first started looking at approved cars on the Skoda website three weeks ago, one car was listed: Red 2.0TDI Elegance. 56 plate Feb 07 only 5k miles for £13995 from Dutton Skoda Kent. Unfortunately sold the day before they bothered to read my email confirming I would drive over, trade in and buy! I used this as a baseline for budget, hence my disappointment when trying to find a similar car over the ensuing weeks. Another development yesterday, after talking to my boss about new Skoda's and what I'm likely to have to pay to get what I want. He said that because I have to drive using various company pool cars every other week or so and I'm not really paid that well for what I do (I look after servers, IT systems and IT security) he is going to see if there is any chance of getting me some sort of car allowance. I'm not confident, but should find out if there is any mileage (excuse the pun) in this by the end of next week. I had better wait for the result of this before I part with my ££s and say goodbye to my fabia. One thing I have decided is that I will either stump up for new (not likely as I don't quite have enough cash) or I will buy an approved used from a Skoda dealer. I may well put the fabia on the market to see what I can get for it above the 1.8k trade in, although if there is not a lot in it I'd trade in as this will be less hassle. My late shift is over now... Cheers

I've had a fabia 1.9TD from new 2001, It's been brill for me!. 120,000 happy miles later and it's time for a new car. How things have changed since my purchase. My old dealer closed down a few years back. Everywhere I look for a Skoda in the South now I'm confronted with big white glasshouses. I managed to test drive a couple of Octavias after talking with an "old school" sales guy in a portacabin whilst his shiny new white glasshouse is being built. I've been saving and couldn't decide on the 1.9TD or the 2.0TD estate. After the drive its no contest. My budget won't stretch to the 2.0TD elegance. Ah well, my thought, lets try for a nearly new one, not what I want to do, but I'm determined not to go into debt this time. It sure seems to me that the franchise dealers are having a good time reselling nearly new Octavia estates. Second hand cars on sale for more than I can buy a new one from the internet importers! 3 weeks now and I've only seen one private sale reasonably priced for its age and mileage. That was snapped up by a dealer faster than you could bake a fabia. My hope is for some xmas cheer. Does anyone know if the dealers have nice sales over xmas and skim a few £££s off there margins? I live in hope and will keep posting on my progress! I have been offered 1.8k to trade in my fabia, woo hoo!

Hi Skoda people! Great forum. I've have a fabia 1.9Td since 2001 and I'm looking to trade in or up to an Octavia estate 2.0TD elegance. Loads of useful info on this forum, and it's sure helped with my decision. It's going to be a challenge finding one within my budget. Do the franchisers have sales!! I sure hope so Merry Xmas