Waved Goodbye To The Furby Yesterday

[Irf]

Hey guys,

After 3 1/2 years and 73,000 miles I finally gave up travelling around fairly incognito and traded the Furby in

I have to say that I have found so much help from this forum and its members, and even though i do not actively participate in the discussions or topics, people have always been willing to help me. This shows the community spirit of the forum and its been fantastic being a part of it.

Ultimately, the cost of getting the Furby repaired due to it being driven hard and after being involved in an accident before Christmas meant that I was not prepared to keep on throwing money at it (we're talking several thousands here, not just hundreds).

The main problems I had with the Furby were:

• Paintwork - after picking the car up it was covered in swirls and stone chips. Alex Lawrie Skoda swapped bonnet with another vehicle
  
• Faulty EGR valve. Replaced with Allard power pipe.
  
• Turbo failure two years ago. Not covered by warranty and replaced with Garrett GT17 & Forge FMIC (thank you Forge for a great service )
  
• Coolant leak and blown headgasket last December :thumbdwn:
  
• Sensor in intercooler (MAP or MAF iirc?) failed due to water :thumbdwn:
  
• Steering console replaced, along with motor for flaps behind dash :thumbdwn:
  

There were many other smaller problems which all added up but there's too many to list and I can't remember them all. Anything that could have gone wrong, did! The only common problem I escaped from was the leaking seals in the doors. Thankfully that was never a problem.

On the plus side, I did manage to enjoy the most popular mods to the car:

• Eibach springs and Koni FSD dampers, along with Revo remap were the very first mods I did to the car. Thanks to Dubsport for their help
  
• Swapped my standard exhaust and wheels with Cheekymonkey's Octy Spiders and Milltek full system
  
• As mentioned above, changed turbo for Garrett GT17 and Forge FMIC
  
• Replaced front brakes with 312's from Audi TT
  

There was a lot more done to the vehicle but those are the main mods. It was a fantastic car to drive and it surprised many people as they did not know what to expect from a Skoda. It was fairly quick with 175bhp and economic too (averaged around 40-45 mpg while I had it).

I would have been happy to keep the car for another year or two and then replace it but all the small problems were annoying me too much and I felt it was time to move on.

On the plus side, I now have 250bhp to play with Pics coming soon (hopefully!)

Once again, thanks to everyone for all the help, knowledge and information I've received from this forum. I will still continue to be part of Briskoda as much as I can

P.S. Whoever ends up with my old car (CV55 BEJ), I hope you enjoy it as much as I have (if they ever end up on this forum).

[faboka vrs]

So whats the new motor?

If your free sunday 2nd bring it to the streton fox

[ric04vrs]

sorry to hear that you've left the Fabia owners

250bhp , you've not bought Mr Grumpys ex Shifty car have you , lol

[Irf]

John whats happening on the 2nd?

Ric, it wasn't Mr Grumpy's car

After dodging the rain today I managed to put a coat of Autoglym Ultra Deep Shine, followed by Autoglym High Definition Wax. Didn't need to do much else as the paint was pretty good as it was. Gave brother's car a quick clean too. Pics below:

[Irf]

[MartynVRS]

Very nice car. Good choice. Wouldn't mind one of these to replace my Furby when the time comes. What's the mileage and what year is it and dare I ask how much did you pay for it?

[yegnold]

*Drools*

[Wardy]

Very nice trade-up there Irf

Yours was always one of my favourite Fabs, but as you say - time to move on

Good to see your usual photoshoot location is still in use too - would be good to see you and the Golf down at Stretton next week, if you can make it.

Steve

P.S. Think it's only fair that the Golf is treated to a Milltek as well :P

[ocrx8]

The R32 makes a fantastic noise, enjoy! I'm very jealous indeed!

[Kaiserb_uk]

I can't believe you've gone for another black one - I've sworn to myself that I won't do it again!

Nice car.

[Robshaw]

I want one :(

[Irf]

Very nice car. Good choice. Wouldn't mind one of these to replace my Furby when the time comes. What's the mileage and what year is it and dare I ask how much did you pay for it?

Hi its a Jan 09 model and it had 4000 miles on the clock. I purposfully got the newest one I could find as the older ones would have had stone chips on the front and less warranty. Price...well its vulgar to say but it was almost the same as a new mkvi GTI.

[Irf]

Very nice trade-up there Irf

Yours was always one of my favourite Fabs, but as you say - time to move on

Good to see your usual photoshoot location is still in use too - would be good to see you and the Golf down at Stretton next week, if you can make it.

Steve

P.S. Think it's only fair that the Golf is treated to a Milltek as well :P

Thank you Steve The furby was nice but so it should have been with the amount of time I spent cleaning it and the amount of money thrown at it to keep it running. Was it worth it in the end, no. But while I had it at least I felt better as it gave me more confidence in the car knowing nothing was going to go wrong.

I will try and make it on Sunday but I can't promise anything. What time are you guys going to be there? Mum is going abroad and I might be needed to help out :thumbdwn:

Will anyone be bringing vag-com with them on Sunday? I only have the lead to do the furby but I need to alarm beep enabling on the .:R. Can anyone help out at all?

[faboka vrs]

Normally starts around 8. Finshes when they kick us out the pub

[Irf]

Isn't Top Gear on at 8? :orb_face_

I'll try and be there but can't make any promises.

[dan-s2k]

Just stumbled across this on ebay and thought it looked nice so thought I'd do a check to see if it was someones from here, and what do you know!

2005 Skoda Fabia VRS 1.9 TD 130 Black on eBay (end time 16-Sep-09 16:16:51 BST)

Looks like a very nice spec. Can I ask what state the car was in when you part exchanged it, were there any outstanding problems that needed to be sorted?

Seems bizarre one car could have so many problems, any ideas why this was the case?

[Irf]

My old car :'(

Good find! Was always curious where it ended up. I purchased the car from Alex Lawrie Skoda when it was six months old and had 7000 miles on the clock. It was an ex demonstrator and I chose it due to the spec.

Spec:

from factory:

• Xenon headlights
  
• Cruise control
  
• ESP
  
• CD Changer (no longer connected and magazine is on my desk lol)
  
• Metallic paint
  
• Heated seats
  

Aftermarket:

• Alpine 9835R headunit
  
• Boston Acoustics 6.5" front components (cost £300!)
  
• Alpine MRVF340 amplifier
  
• Wiring in boot to connect an Alpine changer, additional amplifier and subwoofer
  
• Koni FSD dampers
  
• Eibach springs
  
• Jabba rear ARB
  
• Seat Cupra front splitter
  
• Seat Cupra console bushes
  
• Quickshift stainless steel air filter
  
• Garrett GT17 turbo
  
• Forge FMIC
  
• Milltek full exhaust inc sports cats
  
• Revo remap
  
• Allard EGR power pipe
  
• Audi TT 312mm front discs and calipers
  
• 5x 17" Octavia Spiders (four on car resprayed in bright silver with rainbow metal flakes in laquer)
  
• 205/40/17 Michelin Pilot Sport tyres
  
• Silver indicator bulbs
  

Problems/issues:

• CEL light always on due to EGR being removed
  
• ESP light started to come on randomly and stay on
  
• Air flow sensor in FMIC used to go faulty after heavy rainfall
  

If you need to check the car's service history, it might be worth getting in touch with Alex Lawrie Skoda as they did most of the work. The rest of the work and servicing was done by Roscoe Engineering in Liverpool, and if you speak to Alan or Terry I'm sure they'll give you more details.

Overall the car was really well maintained, everytime there was something even remotely wrong the part was repaired or replaced. Paintwork was in excellent condition. Mechanically the car was fine and was running around 175bhp on Superchips rollers (that was on the standard KKK turbo and SMIC). Car was on the original clutch and was not slipping either.

I won't lie when I say the car was driven hard, I used the performance to the full almost on a daily basis But it was well maintained too, with most of the servicing having not just an oil and filter change, but cabin and fuel filters changed, as well as gearbox oil a few times and brake fluid too.

The turbo blew at around 30k miles IIRC and this was a big job to sort out. The headgasket failed around October/November time last year along with a coolant leak. Again another big job to sort out. Then I was involved in an accident with a bus in November last year and I think after that is when the electrical problems occured. I was doing around 1000 miles a week for a couple of months too which must have taken its toll.

Do a search and you'll see from the posts on here any problems that I've had

[dan-s2k]

Yeh I had a look through some of your posts, looks like a very nice spec, am tempted.

When you say electrical problems, do you mean the ESP light and air flow sensor?

I also read somewhere about a Jabba dogbone mount which you weren't impressed with, is that still fitted to the car? Surprised the standard clutch is coping ok with the remap and the way you drive it! I got the impression that you drove it like ya stole it which does put me off a lil bit. Plus the fact I have a perfectly good vRS, I'm just getting the modifying itch and it makes more financial sense to buy one already played with.

[Irf]

Yeh I had a look through some of your posts, looks like a very nice spec, am tempted.

When you say electrical problems, do you mean the ESP light and air flow sensor?

I also read somewhere about a Jabba dogbone mount which you weren't impressed with, is that still fitted to the car? Surprised the standard clutch is coping ok with the remap and the way you drive it! I got the impression that you drove it like ya stole it which does put me off a lil bit. Plus the fact I have a perfectly good vRS, I'm just getting the modifying itch and it makes more financial sense to buy one already played with.

Those are the electrical problems I was talking about, but it was the fact that I had spent so much money on it and I didn't want to spend any more that made me want to change. To be honest I could have got the car fixed up and ran it for another couple of years but after having a tough year personally I just wanted something to cheer me up, but not something to show off, hence the .:R.

Like I said, the car was driven hard, but it was driven properly too. The car wasn't driven that hard when it was cold, and I tried to avoid flooring the throttle at low rev which helped to maintain the clutch. The car was looked after really well too, as stated earlier. Whenever there was anything wrong I got it fixed. The tyres were replaced at 50k miles, and they were maybe half worn when I traded the car in. Brakes were changed aroud the same time too.

[AndrewJB]

Hey mate

ive just been looking at your old car ,its for sale local to me

the description just says upgraded bhp and upgraded air filter

i could see from the pics straight away its lowered and its got different exhaust,

i knew seeing the LCR splitter aswell that it was somebodys from here

[Stormchaser]

Love the R32 and very jealous but enjoy it

[dan-s2k]

Any idea what was causing the ESP light to come on - did you check it with VAG-COM?

Was it the air flow sensor on the intercooler causing the smoke you mention in one of your threads? I assume the smoke only occured after heavy rain? Do you think the sensor just needs replacing?

Jabba dog bone mount still on the car - how bad was it?

Thanks for clarifying about the car by the way, can see you put a lot of effort into it. Lets hope the R32 causes you less headaches.

[Irf]

Hey mate

ive just been looking at your old car ,its for sale local to me

the description just says upgraded bhp and upgraded air filter

i could see from the pics straight away its lowered and its got different exhaust,

i knew seeing the LCR splitter aswell that it was somebodys from here

The eBay advert isn't exactly very tempting is it, considering the spec of the car

Mind you, maybe they aren't aware of the full spec which worries me, as whoever purchases it needs to declare the modifications to their insurnce company.

[Irf]

Any idea what was causing the ESP light to come on - did you check it with VAG-COM?

Was it the air flow sensor on the intercooler causing the smoke you mention in one of your threads? I assume the smoke only occured after heavy rain? Do you think the sensor just needs replacing?

Jabba dog bone mount still on the car - how bad was it?

Thanks for clarifying about the car by the way, can see you put a lot of effort into it. Lets hope the R32 causes you less headaches.

The ESP light came on for a day or two before I traded it in so didn't really have time to scan it with VAG-COM.

THe 'thrust sensor' in the intercooler was causing the smoke and this was replaced twice. The second time, Alex Lawrie Skoda tried to seal it to stop any more water getting into that area. There was no more smoke after that was replaced and there was no performance issues either. When winter comes and there's loads of rainfall, the problem may occur again but as the car is now it should be running fine.

Jabba Dog Bone - Apologies for not answering this earlier. I removed this very quickly as it was shaking the car to bits :thumbdwn: Even after 1-2k miles it didn't really improve much so it was promptly removed and sold on here. Any minor performance benefits were hugely overshadowed by the drawbacks.

Feel free to ask any more questions

[Babs]

Why have I only just seen this?

Gotta love the noise they make! I test drove one and found it quite quiet though... but an after-market exhaust would solve that

Looks awesome!