...I can guess what William's response is going to be

Seriously, though, SWMBO is learning to drive (a bit of a late starter), and insuring her on my Furby vRS just ain't possible. I've seen a couple of V- and W-reg diesel Felicias in Autotrader, and I think it'd be a good car to for her to learn in.

BUT...

My mum had one and the gearbox seized twice, which kind of puts me off a bit, so I was wondering what everyone else here thought...

Had one as a loaner from my dealer ages ago. Went ok - relatively comfortable and stable, although looks won't be to everyone's taste.

It depends entirely on price and condition , but there are plenty of them to choose from so you should be able to get a decent car after a bit of a search.

How much are you looking at spending?

Previous shape Nissan Micras also make very good easy to drive reliable buys and would be worth considering.

It depends entirely on price and condition ' date=' but there are plenty of them to choose from so you should be able to get a decent car after a bit of a search.

How much are you looking at spending?

Previous shape Nissan Micras also make very good easy to drive reliable buys and would be worth considering.[/quote']

...Up to 2k. Works out as 5 year-old Felicia in decent nick for the price of a relatively shabby (and much older) Clio / Fiesta. Hadn't thought about a Micra TBH...

There is a mint condition low mileage Felicia 1.3LXi at a dealer beside my kids nursery for

Hi bought our Felicia for

...Up to 2k. Works out as 5 year-old Felicia in decent nick for the price of a relatively shabby (and much older) Clio / Fiesta. Hadn't thought about a Micra TBH...

Very good value for money , and though smaller than the felicia they are probably a better car to drive.

Here's a couple of finished ebay auctions to give you some sort of idea what you could get for your two grand.

Some nice 4 year old good condition cars , and the 1 litre engine is surprisingly nippy.

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18238&item=4520906670&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18238&item=4519312671&rd=1

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=18238&item=4518519500&rd=1

My Wife ran a diesel Felicia for seven years and the only problem we had was a snapped exhaust bracket that the dealer fixed FOC and Glow plugs needed replacing after five years.

My Dad has it now for a runabout and loves the fact that you can remove the rear seat completely and use it as a Van.

The diesel Felicia would be an ideal learner or first car, the controls are light, visibility is very good and it's very hard to stall.

Very cheap motoring and well built cars, the Diesel Felicia's running gear and mechanicals are mostly VW Polo not Skoda Favorit like the smaller petrol Felicia's.

Cheers

Lee

My wifes 97P Felicia GLi is still holding up well despite the abuse it gets as a school taxi and shopping trolley. Its not the greatest thing to drive and it ain't fast, but its tough. Make sure it has PAS, otherwise its a pig to do slow speed manouveres. Insurance should be cheap -

1.3 and 1.6 Felicia's are a great buy, so much motor for little money.

As long as they are maintined very little goes seriously wrong, be carefull of older SDi's though. Parts can be pricey.

I got a 1.3LXi felicia for my first car in november and im still driving it around. nothing has happened to it yet. Its perfect for a first car and is low insurance, which is why i brought it. the only thing i don't like about it is the power it produces (it could do with a bit more). but for a first car i don't mind it at all. a great buy!

With Felicia's you want to avoid anything older than 97 as they used the less powerful version of the 1.3 engine. But as I commenetd for 2 grand you can easily get a car from 2000, the last year of the felicia, by which time it is the better MPI version of the engine, will have PAS and central locking etc.

Personally, I'd look elsewhere. Second-hand car prices are firmly in the doldrums at the moment, so you can pick up some really interesting/good/well equipped cars for peanuts.

For some reason, Felicia prices are quite strong second-hand, despite their low initial purchase price. There is better value to be had elsewhere.

At this sort of budget, individual cars, rather than specific models, should be your target. For instance, there's a Fiat Bravo JTD for sale near me, with 60,000 miles, 1999 model, for

My 97 Felicia 1.6mpi has served me very well over the last 5 years and other then running costs it has cost very little, parts have been good value and easy to fit as well.

Mines currently for sale, 65,000 miles full history and a few go faster bits. Open to offers.

My 97 Felicia 1.6mpi has served me very well over the last 5 years and other then running costs it has cost very little' date=' parts have been good value and easy to fit as well.

Mines currently for sale, 65,000 miles full history and a few go faster bits. Open to offers.[/quote']

Will probably have to give a 1.6 a miss on insurance grounds, specially with mods, but thanks anyway!

Just px mine for a furby 1.2, getting

My girlfriend has a rather nice Silver GLi 1.9D on a 98 S. She bought it quite cheap about 18 months ago when it had quite a low mileage and now, after a 70-mile commute most ddays its done about 50k. Its cheap to insure, cheap to service and quite good on fuel. Obviously performance and refinement are no match for a modern TDI but its comfortable, will cruise all day at uk motorway speeds and feels quite safe, if a bit prone to sliding in the wet. It has power steering, central locking and a sunroof but not much else, but the upholstery is nice and it has rear headrests as well as a split rear seat so it's quite versatile. For the money, we like it.

Is gearbox oil run from engine as in favorit?

Sorry to drag this thread up from so long ago, but I've just joined!!

No Skoda of any age has used the oil from the engine. Totally seperate oil is used for engine and gearbox. Only cars I can think of that the gearbox shares it's oil with the engine are the old BL Mini, Metro,Allegro ect.

Yes i'll say yes...my felicia face-lifted has 130.000km i m very satisfied with it...she has a few bugs....like some electrical ignition problems....and (excuse my enghlish) acceleration thing...like the engine just accelerate himself ...otherwise no problem so far ...petrol oil and rpm's ) Cheers

I got a 1.3LXi felicia for my first car in november and im still driving it around. nothing has happened to it yet. Its perfect for a first car and is low insurance, which is why i brought it. the only thing i don't like about it is the power it produces (it could do with a bit more). but for a first car i don't mind it at all. a great buy!

hi everyone my 1st posting , i wonder what year this felicia was ? , i just got my 1st skoda car felicia 1.3 lxi 1999 loads of power very quick ,( and my last car was 2 litre passat ) this little car seems more nippy than the vw lower tax lower insurance lower fuel bills what more could you want ?