Hi guys, need to start saving some money so the Golf mk v gti's gotta go. Looking to spend upto 4 grand on a Vrs. Do i go for an older 03/04 plate with miles as low as 58k miles or I've seen up to 06 plates with up to 119k miles?

Cheers for any advice

depends on how the cars been treated I would rather have 50k miles of mechanical sympothy and regular services. Rather than 10K of hard ragging not getting serviced and limited mechanical sympothy,

Go in the middle and get an 05 with 50k for 5k... best of both worlds - not too old and not too many miles?

If one of the low milers you refer to is a Red one on a 53 plate from a dealer with 56k @ 3995 don't bother, it's awful, I can give details if needed but it is the worst presented car for sale I have seen and badly mis-described.

Carl.

If one of the low milers you refer to is a Red one on a 53 plate from a dealer with 56k @ 3995 don't bother, it's awful, I can give details if needed but it is the worst presented car for sale I have seen and badly mis-described.

Carl.

Yes that sounds familiar, thanks for the heads up! Savese a lot of time and money.

If you can go a bit higher then have a look at mine in the for sale section make me an offer.

Dont buy a car on age or miles, buy it on condition and history.

Like mine?!

Go in the middle and get an 05 with 50k for 5k... best of both worlds - not too old and not too many miles?

Dont buy a car on age or miles, buy it on condition and history.

This and this.

Although I feel 5k is the prime budget for a proper example!

You can get a nice fabia for 5k even if you don't go for mine, you should still find a good one for that money, just make sure it's got service history, always go for the best advice I've been given with cars, if it dosent look right just walk away.

The OP does say he's looking at spending around 4k

You can get a nice fabia for 5k even if you don't go for mine, you should still find a good one for that money, just make sure it's got service history, always go for the best advice I've been given with cars, if it dosent look right just walk away.

Ok mate point taken, may increase my budget slightly, its just i need to free up some cash from the sale of my current car. Spent and lost 1000's on cars over the years. Finally ive realised that they are money pits though its taken me 38years ha ha. Just looking for something reliable, economical, cheapish but can still have a bit of fun with and the fabia VRs seems to tick all those boxes.

As said mines been modded but nothing crazy just the usall stuff, but every thing has been done by a trained mechanic and serviced regulary, cambelt and waterpumps done and the clutch! But if standard is what you want then you'll still find a good one that's for sure.

Yes that sounds familiar, thanks for the heads up! Savese a lot of time and money.

No problem, it does look tempting and hardly surprising the guy reckons loads of people have called about it. Not surprising no one has bought it.

Carl.

Having spent around £1000 sorting out my 2004vRS's suspension and steering woes in three garage visits between 50k and 64.5k miles I bought a low mileage 2007vRS only to be told it now needs £200 spending on it replacing bushes at 30k miles! You can't win!

Edited 3 December, 201114 yr by DRJ

Whatever you want, get a good test drive.

Some have been lowered a fair bit and I personally find the ride terrible. If it's to be a practical car the standard (or close to it) ride height is preferable. If it's had a suspension kit or been lowered compare it to a regular unmodified one to see the difference.

Of course, if you are going to track it that's another matter... but otherwise I can't see why you'd want to have a hard ride and be scraping the underside on bumps.

Personally id rather have an older lower mileage example

5k will get you a decent one!

I feel the fabia vrs has kind of bottomed out on price.... 2 years ago my 04 with 65k was worth around 5k and if i still had it now it would probably be worth not much less

Certainly good for sellers but terrible for buyers!

When i got mine the recession struck so prices plummeted and i lost about 2k in value in just under 6 months

I've just put a deposit down on an amazing 04 plate silver VRS sold by a fellow member. Collect it on the 17th.

I won't disclose how much I bought it for, but it was under £5k, and hasn't yet rolled over to 40k miles.

Beautiful car which has wanted for nothing : full Skoda service history (inc cambelt), meticulously taken care of, one of those you'd take their hand off for at the price! Loving owners who are genuinely sad to see it go.

Others I've seen have been absolutley shocking and nowhere near as good as advertised. Many had been played with, lowered, tinted etc and you could tell they'd been owned by some little badboy wannabe, many of them hadnt even been cleaned - the seats were filthy!!!

Spoke to the trader selling the red one with 56k for £3999, and he was a rude obnoxious a*rse. I'd definitely advise having a really good look before buying, pictures don't tell half the story (good or bad). Seen a few good ones around Pistonheads and AutoTrader, but also try Gumtree, Preloved and Ebay - fair few around at the mo but usually high milers.

Can't wait to get it - stocking up on my AutoGlym products to keep it in the condition it's accustomed to

Spoke to the trader selling the red one with 56k for £3999, and he was a rude obnoxious a*rse. I'd definitely advise having a really good look before buying, pictures don't tell half the story (good or bad).

So you didn't go and see it then, did he say whether it had an MOT yet?

Funny you wrote that description of him, I thought I may have just been being harsh when I wrote but stopped short of posting that I thought he was a cocky little tw4t!

Be interesting to see how long it hangs around for.

I reckon it's worth no more than 2.5k in it's current condition.

Carl.

Don't buy a VRS! Buy a 1.2 Fabia estate!

Wait, hear me out, it's cam chain not cam belt - 1 less thing to replace as part of the service schedule, loads of space, low insurance group, very economical, good performance for day to day driving (not for track days obviously) and as it's a petrol is quieter and the fuel doesn't freeze in the winter months, like a lot of diesels in previous years...

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201146428463636/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/fabia/make/skoda/keywords/vrs/page/2/radius/1500/postcode/hp217nh?logcode=p

This one?

I went to see a Cupra he's selling and it was parked up on the driveway. Looked OK externally, although the rear door/wing were a bit buckled/pushed in (only slightly) and the exhaust looked to point at an angle. Inside, it looked OK, but there were fag burns and stuff that aren't in the advert.

He turned up late though, it was dark by the time he arrived, and the car was 'delivered' to his house by his Silk Cut smoking brother. Love taking a test drive in the car full of fag smoke! That said, he seemed pleasant enough.

So you didn't go and see it then, did he say whether it had an MOT yet?

Funny you wrote that description of him, I thought I may have just been being harsh when I wrote but stopped short of posting that I thought he was a cocky little tw4t!

Be interesting to see how long it hangs around for.

I reckon it's worth no more than 2.5k in it's current condition.

Carl.

Nope ... didnt bother. Rang him up, and he answered the phone with a grunt. I then politely asked if it was still for sale .. met with another grunt. I started asking about whether the cambelt had been done when he started going on about someone from Ireland who was coming over to buy it, who was happy to take it how it was, so I wished him good luck and put the phone down.

Proper little ****.

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201146428463636/sort/priceasc/usedcars/model/fabia/make/skoda/keywords/vrs/page/2/radius/1500/postcode/hp217nh?logcode=p

This one?

I went to see a Cupra he's selling and it was parked up on the driveway. Looked OK externally, although the rear door/wing were a bit buckled/pushed in (only slightly) and the exhaust looked to point at an angle. Inside, it looked OK, but there were fag burns and stuff that aren't in the advert.

He turned up late though, it was dark by the time he arrived, and the car was 'delivered' to his house by his Silk Cut smoking brother. Love taking a test drive in the car full of fag smoke! That said, he seemed pleasant enough.

Yeah, thats the one. Sounds shocking, but not really surprised after the phone conversation I had with "Buck".

I got the Ireland story too! Although I'm pretty sure he said Marlow (quite close the Wycombe) on the phone?

(Pretty sure it's Buck's Autos as he's based in Bucks btw! )

I'd assumed that, given the state of the market people would be going out of their way to shift cars? Most dealers seem to either lie in the descriptions, or get really funny about letting me test drive anyway. The most accommodating person I've found is a private seller who I struck a deal with on Sunday.

Nope ... didnt bother. Rang him up, and he answered the phone with a grunt. I then politely asked if it was still for sale .. met with another grunt. I started asking about whether the cambelt had been done when he started going on about someone from Ireland who was coming over to buy it, who was happy to take it how it was, so I wished him good luck and put the phone down.

Proper little ****.

Honest appraisal of what I picked up on when I saw it:

No MOT.

Both rear tyres that are so cracked and perished that you could fit a penny in some of the cracks (I decided to not even test drive as I felt they were dangerous).

The brake discs on the front worn badly (2mm lip).

The interior is mouldy and smelly (mildew and cigarettes).

Large Cigarette burns in all the seat bases.

The rear seat 2/3 back is not located correctly and has jammed the release so it wont fold any more, releasing will probably involve breakage and therefore replacement (but they are mouldy anyway).

It has had a front end impact that has damaged grill and bumper and pushed the drivers side wing back so it catches on the drivers door and has taken paint off.

He couldn't supply the history and said it was at his house (which we left only 5 minutes before), might have but I didn't see it (I was a serious buyer and bought mine later the same day).

Front tyres are perished as well.

Paint has been partly buffed and a black residue has been left all over the car.

Has been stood for a year off the road (probably with tyres flat) apparently and will need a major service.

He has taken pictures that are poor in quality as the residue could be seen in decent ones and there are no interior shots as you would see the mildew spot on the seats.

Carl.