Ok,

So I have been on the Forum a while having owned an Octavia VRS which I was a fool to sell. Anyway I went from that to a Seat Arosa TDi which blew up after about 2 months and then decided to go back to proper cars and bought an Audi S3. Having recently sold this I thought A Fabia VRS would be ideal. Cheaper on fuel, still nippy, practical and a bit of fun. I've been looking at the forums and picturing which modifications I could make on a budget. All was looking good. Ready to buy a fabia for about £5k and found what looked like a Briskoda modded red one on a 53 plate. Lowered, splitter, xenons and a 170bhp remap. It was perfect.

Thought I ought to check my insurance company would be OK with the modifications and that was the beggining of my disappointment.

No, they would not because the power increase was more than 20%. I rang around and the story was the same elsewhere.

I rang Adrian Flux but they quoted £1100 for me and my wife or £695 for just me.

Now I vowed when I was 21 I would never pay over £1000 for insurance and I am 37 now.

I have not made a claim in 15 years, have no points, no accidents and am an advanced driver.

I tried getting a quote on a standard fabia with the company the Audi was insured with and they quoted £495. The S3 was only £440!!!!

I just feel so deflated.

What?!

That is a ridiculous amount of money to charge!

Do an online quote then hold them to it, I got £400 fully comp as my best and i'm 26 ish.

Try Direct Line or don't tell them about the remap?

direct line will not insure anyone with a "race tuned" or "modified" engine.

I went with Adrian Flux £410 fully comp and i am 41 years old.

Seems ridiculous given as S3 is probably around group 16? and fabia vRS is group 9.....

I still cannot believe it.

Much as i may be tempted to not tell them about the remap, I just can't do it.

The advanced driving bit I mentioned is police advanced driving and having seen so many people fall foul of not disclosing things to their insurance companies I would rather be honest (even though it appears being honest is going to cost me!!)

problem is the fabia vrs is the new saxo so insurance is crippling

problem is the fabia vrs is the new saxo so insurance is crippling

I'm paying roughly the same now for my vRS as I was paying for my Lupo GTi two years ago (and rates have soared to record levels since I had the Lupo, so I'd imagine it would now cost considerably more than the Fabia to insure, if I still had it).

I don't understand how advanced driving would make your premiums increase :( insurance company clearly doesn't understand roadcraft and the system of car control

problem is the fabia vrs is the new saxo so insurance is crippling

+1, the chav factor is why I got rid of mine.

Just had some online quotes for my vrs mk1 2006 unmodded fabia - came in 258 to 350 ish - which seems to add weight to the argument that fabia is now attracting more chavs? My renewal (aged 48yrs fully comp, protected full now claims, one sp30 from 2008 speeding offence still on licence) came in at £189 so I opted to renew again this time, but if it had been as high as the other online quotes I would have probably sold the fabia and gone for a new polo gti as insurance quote for that plus a mazda mx5 were about the same for a new car as the 2006 vrs! Guess I will be changing to the polo gti once supply increases and price or 0% finance deal comes along. Happy to stick with the furby in the meantime as I like the stealthness of the standard car :-)

Give Brentacre a try, I spent quite a while looking around and they were the best with the mods listed below. I paid £450 and they said it would be another £100 if I wanted to add a stage 1 remap onto it although i'm happy with the standard map. I'm an advanced driver too - I think they knocked off about £30 because of it..

+1, the chav factor is why I got rid of mine.

Was yours really bad then?

why dont you try chris knott or another insurer on here?

I rang Adrian Flux but they quoted £1100 for me and my wife or £695 for just me.

The mk1 fabia vRS must be a higher risk because the insurance group is pretty irrelevant to premium paid - obviously attracts chavs and boy racers who crash and get crashed into a lot

My insurance premium is lower on my 56 plate Mk2 Octavia vRS which is group 14 and higher value than my 07 plate Fabia vRS.

Was yours really bad then?

Nope. I just voted with my feet. It really is the new Saxo which is a shame because the VRS is a brilliant car.

I dont understand why anyone would sell a car that they say is a "brilliant" because of someone else. I`d never dream of not having a BMW/Audi because a lot of them owners of them drive like pricks. Also, Its not even like theres loads of chavved up fabias with massive body kits and stuff on them. The only reason why you seem to be dubbing it the new saxo is because it now has a lot of younger drivers?

Matt

Nope. I just voted with my feet. It really is the new Saxo which is a shame because the VRS is a brilliant car.

Fortunately I make my decisions based on what I want, I don't care what other people think.

Must be why I recently bought a Fabia VRS. And it's brilliant, I agree with you.

Interestingly, every Fabia VRS I see is nice. I've never seen a "chaved up" one. :no:

Interestingly, every Fabia VRS I see is nice. I've never seen a "chaved up" one. :no:

+ 1.

I'm perplexed at the chav chariot accusation too; I don't think I've even seen anyone under 25 driving one either (I'd always assumed the reason for this being that a diesel Skoda won't appeal to chavs & / or under 25s).

I sold a completely standard Lupo GTi and it was chavved in no time by the new owner ('ROAD WHORE' decal on the tailgate).

No doubt there are a few vRS-driving chavs but the same applies to many cars (especially as they get older and fall into chav pocket money range).

I'm very happy with my vRS and I don't give a **** what anyone else thinks.

Car is still bog standard.

I paid just under £300 fully comprehensive and all the little add-ons at the age of 63 years.

Clean license no accidents nor claims even from third parties.

I wonder how much insurance would be for a different car that had that much power as standard and was also low slung etc as standard? Probably far more cost effective getting a car with the power you want as standard. Can see the appeal of overtaking fast cars and flying the Skoda badge though

Spent the weekend trying all the comparison sites - Go compare, compare the market and confused.com.

What i have learnt from this is its all quite random!

Each one quoted a different price for the same company even though the same information was given.

For example Admiral ( who are Elephant and Bell) quoted £377 on one site but £345 on another. Bell who already quoted me £495 over the phone quoted £380 on a comparison site.

I tried Chris Knott who have insured me before through Highway (which is LV) quoted £450 but LV through a comparison site quoted £296. I asked the operator why this was and he said the companies give different brokers different offers.

Interestingly I tried a quote on the comparison site for a BMW 320d coupe - £385 so around the same!

Still want a Fabia though and the prices are going the right way.

Just going to find one and then plump for the best price.

I would ask how everyone else manages to insure their mapped, lowered cars but I don't think I want to go there.

When I put in details on the comparison site of a remap over 25% I only got three companies respond. One was over £1000, one was over £2200 and the other was £9980 which I thought was quite reasonable!!!