Hi

I'm after a new motor and after some looking around the Fabia VRS ticks all the boxes. e.g over 50mpg combined, 0-60 of 9 sec, well built and not a common sight.

Budget is 6k, so I'm talking used motors here around the 3 year old mark with average miles.

What other cars are out there that can offer the same or better performance than the Fabia and be as good on fuel in the same price braket?

It can be petrol but would have to deliver over 45mpg combined for me to consider and perform as well.

I've read a number of petrol vs diesel debates lately but most never consider the performance advantage of diesels so it's not a fair comparison.

The only other car I've seen is the Octavia 2.0 tdi , 140bhp seen a few for under £6k, 3 years old with below average miles on, which is strange as at retail I think they were 14-15K. However I would prefer something a bit smaller but would settle for an Octavia sized car if the right one came along.

Would really like an 07 onwards BMW 118D over 60mpg and quite quick but there around 12k and up.

I'm not that keen on French motors though as they tend to fall apart and the electrics suck, going from experience.

Any Suggestions?

Obvious ones are cars built around the same platform. So Polo GT and the Ibiza Mk4, either in earlier PD130 Sport trim, or the later FR models.

Steve

Fiat grand punto sporting multijet, would fit perfectly aslong as your local dealer is a decent one unlike mine was, the car is great fun though, common rail too, so smother

Fiat grand punto sporting multijet, would fit perfectly aslong as your local dealer is a decent one unlike mine was, the car is great fun though, common rail too, so smother

agreed, handles better out of the box too, no need to upgrade the brakes either, even when you map it

68,000 miles and still going strong :P

snowrock had a bad dealer, I have a good one. if you get a bad one, you'll hate it.

I would agree on the Punto also, I am a bit of a Fiat fan as I had a good dealer and whilst I have not had a Grande Punto, I have had a fair few of them as hire cars and they have always seemed well screwed together, well equipped and the multijet engine is smooth and torquey (is that a word?)

Some fantastic deals to be had on them as well, not long ago they had an offer with free fuel for a year at my local dealer

OT, my mrs's Panda 100HP is better screwed together than the Roomster and has had no warranty related issues and when she drives it, it returns good MPG

IMO there are few cars that are as good "all round" as the Fabia VRS/ Seat Ibiza 130.

Grande Punto might handle better, but interior trim and general build quality is not as good.

Fiesta Zetec S TDCI, handles better but same story with the interior and not as fast.

There are plenty of "mid range" 130bhpish hatchbacks and saloons about, but tbh I'd rather have the Fabia simply because its "top of the fabia tree" and has a certain Q car quality about it.

Also, I doubt the Zetec or SXI trim levels have as much as a cult following or admiration as the VRS one...

You will struggle to get 45 MPG from a petrol hot hatch, even if you nanny it.

The VRS may not be that quick off the line, but from 30 to 70 there are few cars that can match it's performance. The Polo Gti is pretty rough engine wise. FIAT had horrendous clutch problems (don't know if they ever got it sorted) SEAT is fine but not as well screwed together as a Skoda.

Try to get a VRS Special Edition, interior is wicked (if you like everything black)

IMO there are few cars that are as good "all round" as the Fabia VRS/ Seat Ibiza 130.

Grande Punto might handle better, but interior trim and general build quality is not as good.

Fiesta Zetec S TDCI, handles better but same story with the interior and not as fast.

There are plenty of "mid range" 130bhpish hatchbacks and saloons about, but tbh I'd rather have the Fabia simply because its "top of the fabia tree" and has a certain Q car quality about it.

Also, I doubt the Zetec or SXI trim levels have as much as a cult following or admiration as the VRS one...

I had a Fiesta Zetec S Tdci before my Fabia Vrs, nothing wrong with interior or build quality and my Dad has owned a Fiesta Zetec 1.4 Tdci for over 5 years and had no problems, nothing wrong with Fords, ive had loads of em!

Furby Glove box ...... great build quality Strip a Roomster dash and tell me about Skoda build quality mate ......... budget does not do it justice, the Panda is miles better built (I still love the roomster though)

I had a Fiesta Zetec S Tdci before my Fabia Vrs, nothing wrong with interior or build quality and my Dad has owned a Fiesta Zetec 1.4 Tdci for over 5 years and had no problems, nothing wrong with Fords, ive had loads of em!

meh.. still slower though

Just bought a 05 plate TDi SE MK5 Golf with 38k on the clock for £6k for a relation.

Nice car to drive, might map it before I give it to em.

Just bought a 05 plate TDi SE MK5 Golf with 38k on the clock for £6k for a relation.

Nice car to drive, might map it before I give it to em.

Did you have a shotgun to their head Ross nice deal, is that a PD140 or a 105?

Are mini's down at that price point yet. Petrol or diesel should see around 50mpg, and handles very nicely

You will struggle to get 45 MPG from a petrol hot hatch, even if you nanny it.

The VRS may not be that quick off the line, but from 30 to 70 there are few cars that can match it's performance. The Polo Gti is pretty rough engine wise. FIAT had horrendous clutch problems (don't know if they ever got it sorted) SEAT is fine but not as well screwed together as a Skoda.

Try to get a VRS Special Edition, interior is wicked (if you like everything black)

my clutch is still "as new" and it was mapped at 4,000 miles...., 68k now...

my advice with fiat, is don't buy before they made the current panda (never a good story from a reliabilty front) but after that (new Bravo, current panda, GP ect ) seems good... mine has been more reliable than the vRS I had, and is just as quick as mapped vRS's (anyone who's been with me at a meet will testify to that! :P)

but then again, the dealers tend to be bad... snowrock will testify to that!

guess I'm lucky to have a good one

snowrock had a bad dealer, I have a good one. if you get a bad one, you'll hate it.

TBF that applies every bit as much to a Skoda as to a Fix It Again Toni.

I'm in agreement with the fiesta zetec s tdci, cracking little car and IIRC just as quick as it's petrol counterpart, another car I considered before purchasing the Fabia.

It was a great car, IMHO by far the best looking supermini, unfortunately i had a bad dealer (9 seperate car in shop days to get an EGR valve replaced, with no courtesy car). Mine was mapped (until the dealers removed it at service :( ) and it went very very well, mpg was good when in christian motorist mode too. I would recommend the map instantly, made the 1st 2 gears useable and the engine more lively, better mpg too. The brakes were brilliant, the handling was good too. Build quality and cabin wise i would say is miles ahead of even the new MkII Fabia. The Blue&Me system is a revelation too, fully intergrated ipod & phone voice & steering wheel control.

I only had one relatively minor problem but due to service incompetence my liking of the car was spoiled. If practicalities (the hound) didnt warrant me needing something bigger i would propbably still be driving and enjoying it now. Hopefully with no more problems. If you do buy one though don't go to fiatforum . com, its full of chav cretins & Sharkrider

I looked at both the Punto and the Panda and both made good cases for themselves being loads of fun to drive, cheap to run (ins groups 5 and 6!), well screwed together, cheap and heavily specced up. My main gripes with the Punto were silly light steering, an obstructive A pillar and no spare wheel.

The only experience of Fiat dealers I have is the one I bought the car from. Had my first service a few months back and was astonished that they a) listened to what I asked for and acted upon it, all of which meant they rearranged their jobs for the day so my car could be done first and it was ready by 9:30am. A good price too

Can't comment on how good the Fiat warranty is as I've not had to claim on it yet

Chris (keeping the chavs in check on FiatForum )

cheap to run (ins groups 5 and 6!), well screwed together, cheap and heavily specced up.

I definitely agree with that, i wanted a Fab VRS, but the GPS was half the price to insure for me, 21 at the time, silly, especially as they had the same cc and power ouputs. Probably most likely due to the 5 Star NCAP, a big deciding factor for me. The spec list was impressive too, more acronyms than you could shake a stick at .

The A-pillar was annoying, but you get used to looking around it. The warranty was good, mine had had plenty of things replaced, the headlights (twice), the door locks, seat runners, boot lock, 1 wheel and all wheel nuts, EGR valve, MAF sensor, and there was more (it was one of the first models) most was done during its time with the first owner. The only problem was although it had a 3 year warranty, the final year was a dealer warranty so they would do anything not to do the work.

Thanks for the replies everyone..

Giving me somethings to think about and I can feel another test drive coming on.

I have cosidered a Fiesta Zetec S before and driven one, nice handling but it has nowhere near the real world grunt of the Fabia and you have to work the engine quite hard plus I doubt I'll get enough mpg out of it.

The Fiat is one I've not ever considered or driven, reading some reviews they seem to suggest a good handling , nice looking car although some reviews compared it to the Fabia VRS and said it wasn't as quick and had a harsher ride and not quite so good on fuel.

How is Fiat bulid quality/reliability these days? Some family members of mine who are both mechanics said they wouldn't touch a Fiat with a barge pole and described them as throw away cars e.g. buy new keep for a few years and get rid, and they both agreed Skoda's are solid with good motors.

Still I'm not going to rule the Fiat out without driving one so will have a look this weekend.

Any other suggestions then post away.

How is Fiat bulid quality/reliability these days? Some family members of mine who are both mechanics said they wouldn't touch a Fiat with a barge pole and described them as throw away cars e.g. buy new keep for a few years and get rid, and they both agreed Skoda's are solid with good motors.

They were saying that about Skodas a few years back I can't speak for the Grande Punto as I only had one of them for a day, but imhe the Panda is better screwed together than the Fabia and, despite being abused daily (17k miles since March), still hasn't developed any faults or rattles. Wish I could say the same for my Fabia which cost me an arm and a leg as things kept falling off it or breaking.

Chris

mine has covered 68,000 miles in 20 months, and is as good as new (apart from the obvious stonechips ect that you'd expect with the miles) no undue rattles ect...and as for you mechanic friends, do they know that the motor in mine, is the same as every 1.9CDTI vauxhall? (as they buy them from fiat) and ford will be using the 1.3 m/jet in their upcomming Ka too...... if the engines are good enough for other manufacturers to buy, rather than try to develop themselves, it can't be that bad

brakes were my biggest suprise, at the last service, the mechanic said the rears were "as good as new" and the fronts (OE) lasted until 64,000 miles before they needed replacing

and as snowrock says, the blue and me is a revelation, other manufactureers are just catching up (ford: the NEW fiesta will have blutooth connectivity ect, skoda, just put a similar system in the superb (not in the fabia II I may add) ... I keep reading all this, and thinking ( as I plug my 8 gig memory stick into the media system after adding a few more albums), Fiat have had this up and running in the GP and 500 for ages.....

Best advice is to take a FIAT, Fiesta and VRS out and see what you prefer. I don't think you can go far wrong with the Fabia VRS though but I am biased. The 9.5 seconds 0-60 time quoted by Skoda seems a bit coservative. Autocar timed their long termer at 7.2 secs and averaged 8.2secs. Mine is boggo and hares away from the lights provided you are not too brutal (either wheelspin or traction control bog down take your choice!)

I personally don't like the Fiesta as I think it's a bit skittish (but you might like that). If you were to consider a Ford try a Focus: common as muck but a very fine car to drive, 1.6 VCT a nice sweet engine.