Want a Felicia, what to look out for?

[Mattbot2]

Hello everyone,

Am 17 and getting lessons soon so I'm going to be getting a car soon as well. I'm willing to pay up to £1000 for the Felicia and I've chosen it because A) It's the cheapest I could find to insure and Mum and dad had one and said it was very good.

Is there anything I should look out for when viewing etc?

How does buying a used car privately work, what should I do? Never done it before!

Another question is about test driving. Surely I'd have to be insured on it to drive it?

Thanks a lot,

Matt

[TeflonTom]

yes you would have to be insured to test drive a vehicle on the road, maybe it's best to take a parent along to have a drive instead.. for £1000 you could buy a decent felicia twice over! ebay is your best bet..

things to look out for is leaking windscreens, rusty wheel arches, and rusty tailgates..

depending on which exact model you go for there are a few other things to check, if it's a 1300cc model have a good listen to the engine and if it's rattly it could be the timing chain which isn't the end of the world and it could be a good bargaining point, for the 1.6 and diesel models check the service history to find out when the timing belt was last changed.. whereabouts are you from? there might be somebody nearby who can assist you in checking out cars

[FellyMagic]

Sunroofs have a habit of leaking too. PAS can groan a bit of full lock on cars fitted with it, and the exhaust catching on the rear axle is common. Its a simple enough fix to do, just needs the exhaust adjusting, and perhaps new rubbers. They do it when turning left..

[Blanes]

Felicia is an okay car, 1.3 is probably best for you. They are quite nippy and very strong with many R, S and T reg's about.

One local to me is a T reg one from years ago still around now with the guy who bought only having to service it and replace the exhaust - darn good for a 12 yr old car.

I have to say though, given the choice, if you want reliability, you might also want to consider a Japanese car such as a Nissan Micra 1.0 or 1.3. you can pick one up for around £500 with 12months MOT.... fit 15" alloys and 195 tyres and it will be your own personal go cart and great fun.

As for Felicia, if you really want one, maybe try Autotrader - put in a distance of under 20 miles/make:skoda/ and range under £1000.

There are also some on Ebay, but wouldnt use it myself without Seeing the car first.

The other places would be GUMTREE and Preloved - which I find really good too.

Ive seen good ones going for £350 with MOT - dont pay over the odds. I would pay no more than £600 because there are plenty about - This would then give you £400 towards your insurance ..

Best of Luck

heres one ive done for ya! loads on there

http://www.gumtree.com/cgi-bin/list_postings.pl?search_terms=felicia&search_location=United+Kingdom&ubercat=1

Edited 7 March, 2011 by Blanes

[RobinSLXi]

As Tom says, you'd need your own insurance cover for a test drive. Being a named driver on someone else's policy won't cover you to drive other vehicles even it allows them to.

In general, buying privately is a lot simpler than it seems - here's my view: do the research (as you are here ) to find out the typical condition, specifications, prices etc. so you can work out your own idea of how much you'd be prepared to pay for a certain car in a certain condition. Then find suitable-looking cars nearby (it's really not worth travelling too far for a 'cheap' car as it soon adds to the cost) to go and have a look at. As mentioned, eBay and Friday-Ad/Gumtree/Preloved/etc. are the best places to look for cars under £1000 these days as the listing fees tend to be a lot less than the likes of Auto Trader. You'll also find dealers selling off trade-ins they don't want cheaply on eBay rather than having them sit around being difficult to sell, so don't rule that out. Conversely, in this price range it's generally not worth paying the premium for a car a dealer's gone to the effort of advertising properly (unless you've got something equally rubbish you want to get rid of in trade, as I have in the past).

Once you get to see a car, condition is everything - service history is nice, but generally isn't so important in cases like this (small cars over 10 years old) compared to the current state it's in. Things like modern turbo diesels and cars with known engine issues or recalls are the obvious exceptions here. Check everything as thoroughly as you can - a test drive is good to make sure everything works and there are no nasty noises but to be honest it's probably worth having someone else drive it for you anyway if you don't have much experience to compare with. If it all checks out, offer them what you think it's worth, regardless of how much more their asking price may be. The worst they can say is no, and you've always got more cars to look at...

A couple of Felicia specifics not yet mentioned: rusty shock absorbers - if possible get your hand in and check there isn't excessive rust inside the lower spring seats on all 4 shocks. These can collect water and rust through causing the suspension to collapse. Worn-out gear linkages are pretty common, too. Not a difficult or expensive problem to fix but a vague, floppy gearshift isn't very nice to have to deal with as a beginner. Clutch failures and (on the 1.3) head gasket issues are also relatively common so signs of weakness in these areas should mean walk away or budget to have them fixed immediately and adjust your offer accordingly. I'd say the 1.3MPi is definitely the one to go for as I really don't think you'd find it worth paying the extra in tax and insurance for the 1.6 or the diesel.

As a budget car there's a few general points to look out for, too, since a lot of 'cheap' cars have been owned by (careful) pensioners and (careless) skinflints. Low-mileage cars may well need tyres replacing due to age, even though the treads aren't too worn - it's not that uncommon to see cars with the original factory rear tyres still on after 12 years or more. Similarly brake pads/discs/shoes/drums could all be close to needing replacement so that's another potential expense to be aware of. Also try to avoid cars where the owners have 'saved' money by doing no servicing or maintenance at all until something breaks. Whilst Felicias are pretty tough and can withstand a fair amount of abuse it'll take more time and money than you expect to get a neglected one back to good health, so save yourself the effort! (Believe me, I know this now... )

In reference to Blanes' comment above I'd be tempted to avoid Japanese cars in this price range if you plan on keeping it for a couple of years or so. Whilst they will be ridiculously reliable like my old Corolla, they'll also be getting to the point where original parts start needing to be replaced simply due to age, and that gets expensive fast. You may get a lot more little things going wrong with a Felicia (thermostat housings, switches, balljoints, etc.) but they're nearly always very simple to fix and Skoda parts seem to cost about 4 times less than Toyota parts! Plus if you're interested in learning/doing a bit of maintenance there are few 'modern' cars simpler than a 1.3 Felicia around these days.

[poorly_felicia]

mechanical things to ckeck - the easy way

1 - pop off oil filler cap and check for mayo. Also, put your finger right inside and rub around the inner surface, lots of sellers are cunning and will wipe away mayo, but ive never met anyone who wipes away from the indise rim

2 - if you can, run the engine from cold and make sure temp guage get about half way up and stays there. Any more or less and themostat likely gone

3 - when cold, take coolant tank cap off and check the coolant - should be no mayo / oil blobs / sludge. Colour should be green, blue or a sorta vivid barbie pink

4 - car in neutral on flat, pull up handbrake a modest amount (3 clicks) and try and push / pull the car - should not move

5 - with engine off, pump the brake pedal. it should,after a few strokes, get really hard not very far down

6 - using a torch, look underneath all 4 wheels for signs of brake fluid leaks. Even if wiped, because it oil based it will usually stain and look wet

7 - while your underneath, feel the CV boots and look with the torch for tears

8 - still underneath, run your hand along the radiator bottom support bar - any wetness here and its leaking

9 - in a flat safe area, drive slowly turning on full lock, each direction. Listen for clinks, clicks or bangs

10 - car in neutral, handbrake off. shake all 4 wheels vigorously at 6+12 o'clock and 3+9 o'clock positions. you should feel no play, clunks or wobbles

11- using your torch, look at all 4 suspenstion turrets to check condition of shoks (leaking) and spring cups (badly rusty)

12 - listen to the engine at idle. If its a 1.3, expect it to be quite noisy and rather rattly (its the design) . It should idle at a constant speed. There should not be any bangs or knocks coming from the engine. Blip the throttle for 3 second bursts and have someone look for excessive blue / black smoke from exhaust.

13 - check steering wheel fro free play (quite common on these) - look at the front wheel at the same time - the wheel should move with no free play in you turning the steering wheel

14 - wibbling the exhaust pipe (when its cold) it should feel nice and solid (solid rubbery feeling) and not clonk around

15 - lastly, check all the tyres.

If a seller ever has a problem with a potential buyer having a damn good poke around a car then they most likely have something to hide!

Hope this helps,

gav

[RainbowFire]

Regardless of what you're looking at, as Tom said:

"........you've always got more cars to look at..."

That is something to keep very much in mind. Don't get hooked up on buying *that* particular car in front of you. You're looking at a Skoda Felicia, not a Ferrari. There are plenty more out there. Whilst there are 'special' editions, none of them are *that* special. (There are only two possible exceptions from what I recall: L&K and the Fun Pickup.) Be prepared to walk away. It's your money, you decide how and what to spend it.

Always take someone with you, preferably someone who knows a thing or two about cars, even better if they know about Felicias.

Unless you've found an L&K with one old lady owner from new with full history and 10k on the clock, always walk away - even if you like what you see - go and discuss with your viewing partner somewhere else (cafe or pub) and see if they've spotted anything you missed when you were looking around. (My dad noticed the radiator wasn't so healthy on my Fun when we looked - I'd missed that.)

Always make sure the V5 is present and that it matches the address of the seller. Always make sure you get it filled out and signed when you've completed the transaction and that you get the yellow bit, just in case the original goes missing in the post (1 of mine did).

Once you've bought it, enjoy it, you'll never have another first car. Mine was a Morris Marina, a real rusty pile of sh?te, put 30,000 on it in a year.

Hope this all helps.

Good luck!

Alex

[anewman]

6 - using a torch, look underneath all 4 wheels for signs of brake fluid leaks. Even if wiped, because it oil based it will usually stain and look wet

Standard brake fluid (Dot 4) is Glycol-Ether based. A mineral-oil base would damage the seals used in the braking system. It mixes extremely well with water (which is why it needs replacing every year as it absorbs water from the atmosphere) and is easily rinsed away, which would not happen with oil-based liquids. It is also an effective paint stripper (as some vandals may know).

[poorly_felicia]

Standard brake fluid (Dot 4) is Glycol-Ether based. A mineral-oil base would damage the seals used in the braking system. It mixes extremely well with water (which is why it needs replacing every year as it absorbs water from the atmosphere) and is easily rinsed away, which would not happen with oil-based liquids. It is also an effective paint stripper (as some vandals may know).

indeed, sorry i thought it does have a oil component though? well, it wsa the right idea

[Sonner]

Tell us where you are located in the country, i'm sure you won't be short of people offering to help you, even come along and check the car over with you.

If your based in East/West Sussex or Kent area i would happily help, i've done alot of buying and selling cars for profit and would happily devote my time to finding u a good example.

as said more than a few times by other people £600 is more than enough to get the tidiest Felicias'

I've found 4 Felicia 1.3's within 20miles of my location with 6 months MOT or more for less than £400 one only had 34,000miles and 2owners from new

Edited 11 March, 2011 by Sonner

[Sonner]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201109381195051/sort/priceasc/usedcars/engine-size-cars/1l_to_1-3l/transmission/manual/fuel-type/petrol/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/price-to/1000/seller-type/private_adverts/make/skoda/radius/1501/postcode/tn401ns/page/1?logcode=p

this one off autotrader looks more than reasonable, would be interesting to know the reason for sale though

[Sonner]

the seller seems to be obilivous to the 'rotate picture' button though.

[Sonner]

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201108380678062/sort/priceasc/usedcars/price-to/1000/maximum-mileage/up_to_100000_miles/fuel-type/petrol/seller-type/private_adverts/transmission/manual/make/skoda/page/1/postcode/tn401ns/radius/1501?logcode=p

this should be equally insurance friendly and a much nicer ride to show off to the ladies and within budget!

wouldn't let mileage put you off either, unless you plan on doing alot of mileage yourself(most 17-18yrs tend to do less than 5,000miles a year to keep insurance costs down)