Hi im new to this forum but pretty active on vauxhall forums but im thinking of buying a fabia vrs around a 04/05 plate with upto 100k. what should i look out for problem wise if always driven diesels and the wifes learning to drive and my astra too big apparently and im looking around for 4 door sporty diesel hatchback i keep getting drawn to the fabia vrs why are most of them black?

So whats the pros and cons of owning a VRS?

Thanks in advance

They are mostly black because thats the best colour of course.

My advice is to go and book a test drive in one at a Skoda main dealer.

Then you'll have some hands on experience to help you make your mind up.

BTW. I love mine

Why are most black? - best colour!

Problem wise, check bushes, turbo, clutch etc - all usual stuff. Make sure its had proper oil on each service and cambelts done at the right time.

Wise move from Vauxhall, you won't regret it!

Why are most black? - best colour!

Bit slow out the blocks there Adam.

You selling those spiders yet? :wonder:

To the OP, Welcome to Briskoda by the way

Bit slow - posted same time :p

grrr - you want them? I have two sets...

pros-60mpg, cant go wrong. look good, nice interior, simple, nippy little car! map gets good gains

cons-fairly high maintance (compared to petrol), vag prices, lots of irritating common faults (leaky doors,turbos, generally problems with cheaply made parts). Getting power over a map reliably is ££££££££££££

But i am very into 'modding'

So am thinking of going back to a vaux just for the fact you get a lot more for money power wise. And dont need a diesel any more to be honest.

cracking car, still love mine to bits.

pros-60mpg, cant go wrong. look good, nice interior, simple, nippy little car! map gets good gains

cons-fairly high maintance (compared to petrol), vag prices, lots of irritating common faults (leaky doors,turbos, generally problems with cheaply made parts). Getting power over a map reliably is ££££££££££££

High maintenance?! This is by far the most reliable car i`v owned, my mate has one and it has also been great.

Common faults, yes they do have a few, but they are all pretty easy and cheap to sort, bushes, leaky doors etc. And i wouldnt say there is a massive list of them either. As for power over a remap thats pretty normal for tuning a diesel, although one thing i will say as a massive pro, is the amount of decent tuning/independent specialists is amazing, you really shouldnt be far from one, which helps massively with advice and tuning (if thats your thing).

I`d say the slight con, is finding one in the first place. There might well be plenty about, but the cheaper ones seem to be shagged tbh, they have held there money quite well IMO. But get a well looked after one, and you`ll have years of good service from it.

Matt

Matt

Think whats annoying about the vrs is that common faults seem to be fairly annoying/expensive to fix. like:

bushes ?? miles,

clutch ?? miles, (£400-600)

turbo between 35k-135k miles, (~£500?)

cambelt every 40k miles, (~£200-400)

There are more things like:

Leaky rear doors,

IC hose popping,

Random knocking and squeaking from suspension due to worn rubber,

etc,

These are easier to fix.

In all honestly I may plan to tweak the car somewhat if faults occur, if I purely wanted it as standard and last forever I would have wanted a more reliable car. :|

Edit:

Sorry it will be unfair of me to ONLY talk about the downsides of the car

The pluses:

~ Done a 3 car overtake the other day on my A-road without much effort because 3rd/4th gear pulls like a train.

~ Mpg seems to average ~51 on the computer (so actual figure maybe ~45), that's just me driving at 'normal' pace. My avg mph is 28mph so thats quite alot of town driving.

~ So so easy to drive. When pushing it imo it handles a bit like a cow (some will disagree) but when you are not pushing so hard its so comfortable. I think partly I say this because I got some tyres which have soft sidewall so it feels quite unstable when initial change in direction. Only on my 1st set of tyres since ownership so I cant compare.

~ Overall its a good all rounder car.

Edited 6 March, 201115 yr by JLneonhug

Good thing about buying a 100,000 miler is that the common faults have probably been sorted by now. Eg. Bushes, leaky doors etc.

Search for the maintenance thread. I've listed what I've had to do to mine up to 90k.

Had mine for 7 years now. Wouldn't replace it for anything at the moment. Ok it's not hard core but for everyday driving and the odd brisk driving it's great.

Think whats annoying about the vrs is that common faults seem to be fairly annoying/expensive to fix. like:

bushes ?? miles,

clutch ?? miles, (£400-600)

turbo between 35k-135k miles, (~£500?)

cambelt every 40k miles, (~£200-400)

Bushes are naff standard, uprated ones are what less then £20 for the cupra ones.

Clutch?! How is that a common fault? Mine went to 125,000 miles on the standard one, and that was mapped too! If you drive like a pleb it`ll ruin it, like any car. Not only that, if it does go, £150 for a new one, and £100 fitting is hardly a huge amount of money. (bargaining tool if your looking at one that might be on its way out tho)

Turbo, again, depends how you drive and look after it. Bit more tricky to spot if its on its way out when buying a car, but even so, a decent turbo went for less than £80 on ebay, and £100-£150 fitting isnt going to break the bank, or uprated it to a 150, there was a exchange deal on here somewhere for £500.

Cambelt is every 60,000 or 80,000 depending on year. Again, hardly a common fault, and a main dealer was doing it for £199 on here somewhere.

Matt

ok so bushes door seals are common and clutch/turbo although they will inevitably go around the 100k+ mark otherwise not bad really and theyre all things i can do myself performance wise anythings better than my 74bhp astra

reading through the forum ive just realised the vrs isnt type approved for towing which kind of piddles on my parade as im a camper and need a trailer hmmm my search continues for a small sporty diesel hatch than can tow

That is a shame. Could try and find an Irish one? They were type approved.

How about looking at an Ibiza sport/fr or a polo. Very similar cars.

IMHO pretty high maintenance.

Bushes, battery, window leaks, buzzer on lights failure, both CV joints, locks sticking, waterpump, cambelt, corroded aerial base etc etc

IMHO pretty high maintenance.

Bushes, battery, window leaks, buzzer on lights failure, both CV joints, locks sticking, waterpump, cambelt, corroded aerial base etc etc

Now the feckin turbo is about to go...

Edited 6 March, 201115 yr by Beancounter1980

The major plus I've found is cheap service parts from skoda.

£18 for 5l of oil for instance.

Why are most black? - best colour!

Problem wise, check bushes, turbo, clutch etc - all usual stuff. Make sure its had proper oil on each service and cambelts done at the right time.

Wise move from Vauxhall, you won't regret it!

Because they dont show the diesel smog on the tailgate? My silver Vrs needs washing far too often to keep it looking clean. Get a black one and never worry about oil specks again lol.

Could look at an Elegance spec 1.9tdi Fabia?

Same interior plastics (just different door cards, steering wheel and seats, mostly grey).

Slightly smaller wheels.

Standard bumpers... But the wheels, Bumpers & steering wheel can be changed to vRS spec.. as can the power (near enough) with a map. it all can really, you could even get some vRS seats if you wanted.

All you'd REALLY be missing is 6th gear as the vRS isn't all that much lower than the standard Fabia anyway (15mm, aint it?)

Edited 6 March, 201115 yr by Rob.

No ones mentioned the steering issues - the sensors failing, and becoming a bit more common now, pumps and racks.

Because they dont show the diesel smog on the tailgate? My silver Vrs needs washing far too often to keep it looking clean. Get a black one and never worry about oil specks again lol.

Silver is bar for the best car if you don't like washing your car they still look clean when there filthy.

Black needs to be washed every week

but looks mint when it has been washed!

Silver is bar for the best car if you don't like washing your car they still look clean when there filthy.

Black needs to be washed every week

but looks mint when it has been washed!

Washed mine tonight in the dark . It was either do it tonight or wait till next week

J

Edited 6 March, 201115 yr by Jimi182