looking to buy this car, not familiar with hatchbacks - what you think?

[R B Customs]

HI guys,

I own a felicia fun, so as far as the 'front bit' is concerned I know the main parts to look at, but this one is a 1.3, and a hatchback, so different kettle of fish

52,000 miles, S reg, service receipts, 11 months Mot, 5 months Tax,

PAS, central locking, stereo, alloys, spare key,

He's wanting £795 ONO.

Strieks me alread as a bit high, but no one pays the asking price do they? Goingto look at it tomorrow morning, so if there are any specific 1.3 GLI things to look for let me know. I've been flicking through the haynes having a look in the mean time. The only thing that concerns me without seeing it is the price.

cheers,

Rick

[richardsfavorit]

The Gli I had did not come with alloys - so it might be worth finding out if they are add on's. It might have a better stereo for that price? :wonder: I think it is overpriced, go in with an offer if you think its any good.

[wilse78]

Price is a bit high, i paid £210 for my 98R with 63k on, 8mths MOT on her. But that was at auction!

Hatchbacks are just like estates but have less room in them

I have however replaced :

Thermostat housing (£18) - temp guage never really moved!

Mid and rear exhaust (£50) - rotted at joint between pipe and centre box

Voltage regulator (£14) - was convinced was alternator til i posted on here

Rear shoes, cyls, handbrake cables and shoe fittings (£70) - offside brake had zero performance on rollers for MOT. cyl had burst and shoes contaminated. did handbrake cos i was already in the drums lol

It passed its MOT on the second attempt after the brake work, I love my Felicia. Its basic but solid all round the areas similar aged cars fall to bits. And it had already had the struts changed before i got it!

And yours is Green!!!! get it bought lol

[djaychela]

Depends if it's good or not - if it's really tidy, no rust, etc., etc., then it might be worth punting something on it, but I think £795 is a bit high. But that end of the market has gone up a fair bit 'cos of the scrappage scheme; I paid £420 for my R reg recce car (1.3 hatch) nearly 4 years ago, and it's probably worth near that now; certainly when I thought about selling it at £395 I had 20-odd enquiries (I'd changed my mind by then, thankfully). Alloys look like Skoda 14" ones to me?

Check for:

Warming up properly (thermostats are always going on these until they've been fixed with the "mk2" version)

Rattly tappets

Rattly timing chain

Rust in the rear arches/sills

Rattly top mounts

Whining in 5th gear

Water in the footwell (particularly the passenger side)

Battery light coming on

Aside from all the usual things you'd look for on a secondhand car.

[AndyC]

We had the same model 97P reg. As stated above didn't come with alloys as standard. Make sure the rear hatch isn't leaking Ours used to get soaked in the boot and the spare wheel well filled with water every time it rained.

Andy

[GentleGiant]

If you read the threads you already know to check window and sunroof seals, and wheel arches.

For an "S" reg private sale £795 is very high, I paid £350 at a DEALER, although I have seen similar advertised at other dealers for upwards of £1000 ( I saw one really knackered example being offered at £1495!!!!); the average forecourt price when I was looking last summer was about £500-£600.

If its a GLi you should have the 68BHP engine with electric mirrors (but not windows), central locking, drivers airbag and seat belt pre-tensioners.

When you phoned up about it, did you ask "about the car", or did you name the car??

Off forecourt sales are very common, with the public getting stiffed by dealers who know all the tricks but who pretend to be naive sellers; I always ask "about the car"; and if they answer "which one" I walk away.

[myjalopy]

Ok, I am no expert, but have just bought very similar model. Mine's a LXi, 2000 reg with 45k on it, no alloys. Bodywork appeared immaculate.

To put it in perspective for you, I paid £650 for it, he would not accept less. I saw others on the web for almost twice that in similar condition so i went for it.

So far I have discovered knocking top mounts, duff stat, a rattly engine which might be timing chain, complete exhaust replaced under warranty, headlight levellers don't work, rust is appearing in the rear arches, but minimal.

Touch wood, no water leaks.

I was after a reliable second car to get me to work and was constantly seeing various 10 + year old small to medium hatchbacks being offered at £800-1000 with mileage of 70k on average.

From the picture it looks good, so make an offer, they can only say no.

Edited 6 February, 2010 by myjalopy

[myjalopy]

If you have the time, get the last MOT testing station number if you can and do an online check before you part with cash. This will tell you what it failed on and any advisories on all it's MOT's. These little bits of paper always seem to be missing when the seller gives the old MOTs to you.

Edited 6 February, 2010 by myjalopy

[djaychela]

Oh, the headlight adjusters never work, so just ignore them!

[myjalopy]

Oh, the headlight adjusters never work, so just ignore them!

Already do. I have electronic ones on my Scenic and don't think I have used them in 6 years!

[richwarwicker]

sounds high, mine was £500 for t reg estate, with 12 months mot, 6 tax, fsh complete with all invoices and receipts!!!! mines a gli in same colour only difference is estate, the mileage on this one is 20000 lower though. mines spotless barring a crack in rear bumper rest of bodywork is like new

[Captain Sisko]

Diff Felly's fetch diff proces.

I paid £745 for my S plate back in 2006 with the 1.6 petrol.

Then I got the 1.3 Favorit.

Think this Felly is most likely going to be the MPI rather than SPI.

Definatly go for a look and a test.

I didn't do that with either of my Skodas!!!

[felicia16v]

bit overpriced but at the moment sub 1K cars are hard to find as a lot of people bought cheap runabouts due to damaging theirs in the snow but go and barter wont hurt and i would try for £600

[R B Customs]

Hi guys

Thanks for all the pointers, We went to see the car and ended up buying it. I knew about all of the leaking problems from my own, so knoew where to look. It's all bone dry (for now)

theres a vew issues, some I knew before even looking at it would be dodgy - thermostat and or temp sensor (saw that one coming) ! and theres maye 2 switches that need replacing:

- heater switch (controls speed of fan 1 -4) this only works on setting four. (full) not a huge deal, I'm sure that will be fairly straight forward.

- light stalk ont he steering wheel, does not 'flash' the full beams in the usual way, that does not work. but pushing the stick away still turns on the full beams.

- light between revs and speedo does not indicate when he dipped beams are on or not (again, this is not a massive issue as its obvious when they're on or off.

slightly tappetty, possibly needs valve clearences doing? or perhaps just needs an oil top up (not had the chance to fully check the oil level as it's never been cold and flat when I've seen it)

it will be going in for a new stat and or temp sensor this week, it was serviced in november but I will give it a once over tomorrow, and ask the garage (I'm back home so have a friendly garage contact this time!) to give it a once over too. is there anythign else to have done while it's in?

thanks guys, now my girlfriends for a skoda! ha ha

p.s I *think* that the headlight adjustment might still work but will check this... what are the chances of that!?

[myjalopy]

How much did you give?

[R B Customs]

How much did you give?

650, he wouldnt budge (partly due to his original asking price of £800... must have had that in his mind the whole time.

[R B Customs]

And Laura is over the moon with it by the way getting up early tomorrow to attack it with soapy water and hoovers etc it's her first car, so getting her off to the right footing - keep it clean

Edited 7 February, 2010 by R B Customs

[myjalopy]

Result! £650 not too bad, I paid that for mine.

Edited 7 February, 2010 by myjalopy

[TeflonTom]

i think you did well to get that for 650 with 11 months ticket on it, the car does look very tidy from the pics.... wont be long before there's a massive stereo in there and a giant exhaust on it too

Edited 7 February, 2010 by TeflonTom

[myjalopy]

i think you did well to get that for 650 with 11 months ticket on it, the car does look very tidy from the pics.... wont be long before there's a massive stereo in there and a giant exhaust on it too

What, like this...

http://www.modifiedcars.com/cars/16834/modified-skoda-felicia-1997-pictures/picture/7029

[R B Customs]

i think you did well to get that for 650 with 11 months ticket on it, the car does look very tidy from the pics.... wont be long before there's a massive stereo in there and a giant exhaust on it too

ha ha... no mate, not a chance stereo will be sensible, well balanced sound. nothing daft no chance of chav exhaust either. I've just fitted a custom 'gun-gum' system to mine made it much quieter.

What's the voltage regulator you 1.3 boys are always talking about? is that an added part, or is it somehting already on there that needs replacing? please elaborate.

[djaychela]

Something that often goes on the alternator, a replacement part rather than add-on. It's the brush pack and regulator, so usually goes 'cos one or the other has failed.

[myjalopy]

Just to show I'm learning stuff here, ahem...

Plugged into and part of the alternator. It's what regulates the supply to elecrical applications such as the headlights. Without it, the lights for example would be brighter at higher revs and dimmer at lower revs.

I thank you.

Now let some smart alec correct me !

[R B Customs]

Just to show I'm learning stuff here, ahem...

Plugged into and part of the alternator. It's what regulates the supply to elecrical applications such as the headlights. Without it, the lights for example would be brighter at higher revs and dimmer at lower revs.

I thank you.

Now let some smart alec correct me !

The lights dim as the revs drop below it's idle speed (as getting used to the car, not putting enough gas on) but the altenator was replaced on 1/12/09 (looking at the invoice for it now) the bill was £293 for the part and fitting! that sounds a bit steep! poor previous owner :(

[TeflonTom]

the regulator pack has 2 functions, firstly it rectifies the ac waveform into a dc one using a pair of diodes, then it regulates the voltage to stop it exceeding a pre-set amount using a transistor, it also forms the actual mechanical/electical connection to the stator output via the little spring loaded brushes...

it's quite common for people to not connect the little 2 pin connector on the outside of the alternator too, this is the exciter feed for the field current in the regulator pack, and it would normally cause the lights to be dim on startup, then come up to full brightness and stay there once the alternator has revved up high enough to self-excite

perhaps i'm talking a foreign language to most people with this??