aixlad

Well, after 14 years of ownership, and less than 5,000 miles on the clock, you can just tell I like looking at it more than riding it . I'm also in Northants as well, how about that!

Unfortunately, the only employment opportunities to be found within walking distance of my home would be restricted to either Village Idiot or Scarecrow. But I believe I could fulfill both roles quite adequately.

If they've not been unscrewed for a while. you'll most probably find they're rusted in, solid. I used that double sided tape to attach a new rear plate, it also looks far better with no unsightly screw heads/caps showing, and avoids the risk of cracking the perspex plate when you drill through it.

Assuming you have done 114,000 miles, the fuel cost will be more like this....... 114,000 miles at average 50mpg = 2280 gallons. 2280 gallons × 4.546 = 10364 litres. 10364 litres at average £1.20 per litre = £12,463.

Aw, we had such fun times together, badly missed now. The new kid on the block, who is ever so slightly boring, has a lot to prove.

Welcome to the best forum, loads of great advice, laughs, and information to be had here. I'm certain you'll have a far better experience with your new vRS........coz' it was my old one, which I sorely miss. :'(

Shocking service. Looks like they are only considering themselves, and you are obliged to put up with what they offer. I would not accept this.

That Sir, is a very accurate description. CR is deceptive by comparison, only the rear view mirror provides any evidence that you're driving briskly, whereas the PD brutally kicks you in the pants.

Maybe it's worth £3500 today, but will be worth closer to £4000 in 6 months time? These are getting rare in standard form.

OK, having owned it from new, and kept every receipt (except fuel), here are the final whole life figures....... Cost price + tyres + maintenance + repairs + insurance + MOT + VED + average fuel cost - eBay residual value + eBay fees = £35,361.72 £35,361.72 / 130,000 miles = 27.201323077 pence per mile It was easily worth 27ppm just for the thrills!

Been on here since August 2004 and after 9 years, 7 months and 4 days of proud ownership, sadly, today I sold my much loved and trusty Fabia vRS, which I bought new. I replaced it with a new Mk7 Golf GTD, a very nice car indeed, but in my opinion the vRS is just so much better at everything, in all respects. During ownership (130,000 miles) I bought.............. 18 tyres. 1 Battery. 1 rear brake caliper (seized). 1 radiator (leaking). 4 front brake disks and pads. 1 rear brake pads. 2 cambelts/pulleys/water pumps. This is a great site, with great people, and we've all had many a laugh over the years. Thanks for everyone's valuable help!

It's truly astonishing that these great cars still have a significant residual value despite them being out of production for 7 years! Still good demand for them, hence the prices, but becoming increasingly difficult to find a good one.

When buying privately, the Consumer Protection Regulations don't apply to the purchase, so the buyer is taking on risk. When buying from a dealer you have a 6 month no cost warranty. If it goes wrong within 6 months, then it's deemed to have been defective at the time of purchase and the dealer is legally obliged to either repair it or reimburse you. Hence people expect to buy cheaper privately than from a dealer.

I guess it's a case of good intent. They stop you for having a bulb out, then show them you have a suitable replacement, which you can't fit anyway! Seems crazy to engineer the inconvenient bulb replacement issue into the headlamp assembly. Maybe if they were LED, which last many times longer than an incandescent filament bulb, it would make more sense. Perhaps this has been done in preparation for LED's coming very shortly?

Yup, I paid £45 for a rear centre headrest for my late Nov 2004 vRS, and also have a proper middle seatbelt rather than just a lap belt.

Reminds me of my old Mk4 Golf GTi, you had to remove the bumper and the headlamp to replace a bulb, a right pain, and hardly convenient. At the end of ownership I had this task down to 20 minutes of inconvenience. Always buy good quality bulbs! Having to purchase a repair kit when a bulb needs replacing is utterly bonkers, and unnecessary. I wonder how much Skoda actually save in the manufacturing process by doing this? However, the repair kit may be worth hundreds of thousands of pounds in revenue to them over the next few years. It's not good however you view it, a bulb should be replaceable, beside the road, in just a few minutes, as it's a consumable item. I notice the guys on the Mk7 Golf forum are changing front indicator bulbs for LED's, so it seems Skoda are making the engineering challenges more inconvenient.

Bottom corner of my radiator corroded, it would last three days and then need topping up with coolant. Had a new radiator fitted and been OK ever since, more than a year. Maybe a pressure test would help you identify the cause?

I fitted front and rear mudflaps on my vRS, they are just standard Fabia ones from the dealer. The fronts fit straight on, but for the rear you have to trim away part of the bumper with a Stanley knife - not too much though, only about 3mm, then they fit snugly to the bodywork. Very easy with a very sharp knife. I'm sure there's a 'How To' somewhere on here, from years ago.

I chose ESP as a factory option when I bought my vRS new in 2004, it was a £400 option. Was it worth it? I dunno, but I've not fallen off the road yet.

I never use the hand brake unless I park on an incline. Parking on the level, I just leave it in gear. On an incline, I use the hand brake and leave it in gear. When using the hand brake, I press the button in, and then release it once tension is nearly achieved so it just clicks twice into the highest position. Anyone else on here deliberately makes no use of the hand brake? Over 30 years of accident free driving and the car has never run away whilst unattended. Am I unique :-)

I like that very much, so much in fact, that I'm beginning to think that the long manufacturing lead times are now quite beneficial in that people are getting frustrated and gaining fantastic deals on some really desirable alternative vehicles, a class above the O3, albeit slightly more expensive.

Willing, and some loyal customers, are now being forced to choose an alternative purchase because of the manufacturing delays. This has two impacts; the customer will not be shopping for a new car for the next 3 to five years; and the customer may stay with their alternative brand (Mazda, M-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar, etc.) next time they change, never to return to Skoda. The price of success I guess, good work if you can get it! The uncertainty associated with ordering a new Skoda is intolerable in my opinion. Mazda, M-Benz, Volvo, Jaguar, etc. are just lovin it!

That's a fantastic colour, love it!

Ah, Oxford, where a 'Coronation Street' style house in Jericho costs £400K+.........so a £60 speeding ticket sounds like quite good value to me .

A good unbiased review from a real world user, thanks for your helpful comments.