Hiya - was directed here by anewman

Am hoping to shortly be looking for a 'new' car and in the interests of research, I have been looking at Skodas on ebay, autotrader, etc and seeing quite a few of Felicias going for £300 - £600, aged around 1997 to 2000. Now I remember reading that from 1999 they were basically VW so am assuming there is an element of VW reliability. :eek:

Is this the sort of car that would need lots of TLC - i.e. would I have to be mechanically minded? Or is the sort of car that I could put through a service and just top up the oil, etc every now and then?

An example of the cars I have been looking at is:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1998-Skoda-Felicia-Blue-1-3-LOW-TAX_W0QQitemZ260320825355QQcmdZViewItemQQptZAutomobiles_UK?hash=item260320825355&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14&_trkparms=66%3A2|65%3A2|39%3A1|240%3A1318

What sort of thing should I be looking for? So far I have been trying to look at ones with either full or plenty of service history, but what else do I need to consider?

For the price i am looking to pay, is it worth getting an AA or RAC vehicle inspection?

Basically I need a 5 door car, suitable for me and my three tall girls. I need something cheap (less than £750 max), cheerful, that's not going to be a huge financial drain on me - low tax would be great. Have had some excellent advise elsewhere, and a recommendation to come here.

Any advice gratefully received - thanks

Edited 19 December, 200817 yr by Shiloh

The Felicia isnt a VW in disguise. It's a Favorit re-engineered

They used VW engines (the 1.6petrol and 1.9Diesel)

For the low tax the 1.3 is ideal. It's peppy enough. How tall are these girls?

Otherwise than that the Felicia even with a 1.6 is cheap to buy, cheap to run (bar the £185 tax). I know I've had one before the headgasket popped!!!

Service history, not many people keep records. My service book was stamped until the time I bought it then I just kept a record of what work was done on the car.

The Felicia is a simple car, and you dont have to be too mechanically minded and you'll learn a lot of things about it in the process.

Thanks Captain Sisko! :daisy:

Eldest (13) is 5 ft 7 already and getting taller every day, 11 year is following in her footsteps. Tis mainly me and the little monster in the car (she's 4) but I need to have space for when it's the four of us.

Got my eye on a 1.6 SLXI, 1999. Cam belt was done a year ago, some service history, MOT until next December :rubchin:

Is it Burgundy and on Ebay by any chance?

5ft7!!! thats pretty tall

My 6ft cousins fit without issues in mine prob cause im small and have the seat forward!!!

Basically if buyinh a VW engined Felly if the milage is 60k/120k ask if the cambelts been done.

Check the heater works too, if it doesnt get this sorted quick or face a dilema like I did.

Other than that good luck in your search and dont forget to view before bidding and buying!!

Not telling about the one on ebay!!!

Cambelt has been done, some service history - yeah methinks you have found the one I am looking at

Now is probably the time of year to be looking to buy. Credit crunch, people more interested in buying pressies for crimbo etc.

Not really as Felicia resale values seem unaffected.

Anytime is a good time to buy a Felicia!!!

A Felicia is indeed a very good car. I know nothing about the british tax system, but in Germany it's also very cheap (I pay 95 € each year)... Also spareparts are not expensive. Okay, I buy them in czech republic. My car uses 6,8 liters per km (I guess it's about 41 mpg). All I wanted to say is if you want to have a reliable, cheap car, the Felicia is a very good choice. When you buy it you should check the clutch and the exhaust system.

Hello!! Still got my eye on the one on ebay - anyone wanna give me their opinion on it?! (No, you can't buy it for yourself! )

Now is probably the time of year to be looking to buy. Credit crunch, people more interested in buying pressies for crimbo etc.

Thank you for steering me in this direction - much appreciated

Hello!! Still got my eye on the one on ebay - anyone wanna give me their opinion on it?! (No, you can't buy it for yourself! )

It looks reasonable.

But the steering-wheel is on the wrong side (seen through the eyes of a German )

Do you have the chance to see it before bidding? I guess this would be better...

But in fact it is okay. If you have the time - look for a Felicia with 68 bhp, it has a better performance.

Unfortunately bidding finishes on 17th, and I am at work so not going to have time to see it beforehand :( That is one of the things worrying me tbh :irked:

I had a look on Whatcar and it says it's 75/4500 bhp on that model (no idea what difference that makes) :confused:

Before buying cars, it is much better to "touch and feel" them before.

The 54 bhp can be enough... depends on your "road profile" (I mean it depends on the territory).

In GB you can just drive 112 km/h on the motorway, so the 54 should be enough. And if you drive in towns and if you don't plan to travel within high mountains it is really enough.

If you are looking for a car to drive fast the felicia is the wrong choice.

I'm 1,92 meters (sorry, I don't know how much ft this is) and I can sit quite comfortable on the front seats.

It depends on your driving on needs really.

The 1.6 Felly 75BHP feels slightly lethargic accelerating but I didnt mind that.

I got about 42mpg (nr 40 in town driving) but £185 for 12 months tax.

The car never struggled up hills. On a Motorway incline the car would hold 60-65mph (my preferred cruising speed).

Tyres are fairly cheap my local fitter £25 for budget ones although I got some mid range for £40 per tyre.

The 1.3 unit in the Favorit (similar to the Felly as you had CPI and MPI versions)

Brisk acceleration, and cruises nicely although it doesn't hold its speed as well as the 1.6 on a motorway incline.

Haven't got mpg figures yet but this sits in the £120 tax band and tyre size is the same as the Felicia so I just swapped them to have 4 good tyres on my Favorit saving me the expense of buying replacements.

Otherwise than that any Felicia is cheap to buy and maintain.

Yeah, never bought a car without touching/sitting in it before - is definitely putting me off bidding :(

It depends on your driving on needs really.

The 1.6 Felly 75BHP feels slightly lethargic accelerating but I didnt mind that.

I got about 42mpg (nr 40 in town driving) but £185 for 12 months tax.

The car never struggled up hills. On a Motorway incline the car would hold 60-65mph (my preferred cruising speed).

Tyres are fairly cheap my local fitter £25 for budget ones although I got some mid range for £40 per tyre.

Otherwise than that any Felicia is cheap to buy and maintain.

Most of my driving is in and around town - school runs, occasional by-pass driving, and even rarer motorway trips!! Sounds like a Felicia would be ideal

In fact the MPI uses less petrol than the CPI - but the CPI is easier to repair because the technology is less complicated.

The car you're aiming at is the mpi technology. In fact it provides more torque (5 to 10 Nm).

That went SO far over my head :insane:

okay, don't mind.

Torque talk is something I dont understand fully either!!

AFAIK its the pulling power.

Torque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Means the power the engine can put it's power on the road

Torque Skoda Felicia:

1,3 CPI 54 bhp = 94 Nm

1,3 MPI 54 bhp = 99 Nm

1,3 CPI 68 bhp = 100 Nm

1,3 MPI 68 bhp = 106 Nm

1,6 MPI 75 bhp = 135 Nm

1,9 D 64 bhp = 124 Nm

Torque talk is something I dont understand fully either!!

AFAIK its the pulling power.

I read that and thought "how do they decide whether people are more likely to fancy you or not in that car" then realised you meant pulling the engine power :P:rofl:

Torque - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Oh God, that just made it worse - stop please, my poor brain!! :rofl:

Okay forget about it

BTT: I think the car is okay, buy it with confidence!

I read that and thought "how do they decide whether people are more likely to fancy you or not in that car" then realised you meant pulling the engine power :P:rofl:

JayMZ has used his Skodas pulliing power to good effect

Unfortuatly one girl in our office seems to be more captivated by this one guys fleet of fast cars than my Favorit.

Oh well she might feel differently when its my leaving do this weekend!!

But chatting to a few other ladies in the office now

Back to the car it does look good, I bought my Felicia without examining it first.

The Favorit I bought after a quick look over and fitting of my clutch cable.

Theres a W Reg 1.6 GLXI which I think might be the better buy, I had my eye on it but I didnt have any job guarantees for 2009 so I left it.

I wanted an estate version.

But I got the Favorit then a new job. Can start the Roomster fund up again now.