What makes makes the Felly special?

Is it the look, the reliability, the price of spares, or maybe something else...

There are quite a few negative threads at the moment, I just thought it might lift thier spirits

For me, surprisingly, the Felly represents the advantages of modern automotive technology, with the advantages of old-school automotive simplicity.

The advantages of modern technology?

Well, the VAG-based shell/suspension and running gear, for starters.....sound, solid technology which results in ease of maintenance, and cheap spares prices..plus, modern-day corrosion protection [apart from the rear wheel arches, that is]...

Superior to what went before [Favorit] yet not so full of expensive plastic as what came later......plus, having sampled it's descendant, the Fabia..the Felly seems to have more space inside?

secondly [and I ignore the VAG-sourced heavyweight 1.6 and doizel doris]....the mpi provides electronically-controlled fuelling, with improved economy over the SPi or carb versions of the 136 engine.[ I average 45+mpg's, on cheapo petrol]

Thirdly, the gearbox is just about as good as it gets.....bearing in mind the intended usage of the vehicle as a whole [cheap, base-model family transport]...

Fourthly......unlike the Fabia and other more modern motors, the Felly manages to allow [and encourage] easier maintenance by the owner.... something that is definitely discouraged by more modern stuff.

At least one doesn't have to dismantle half the front bodywork simply to change a headlight bulb!

The advantages of older technology?

Well, the 136 motor has been around a fair while, and is a proven design... being pushrod [in a world where everything has overhead cams] is an advantage in terms of maintenance, repair, and servicing...no cambelts to worry about [and the expense of re-newing them]....yet it still manages to produce an acceptable power output.... capable of pushing the felly well beyond what is lawfully allowed.

In terms of how the power is delivered....the 136 [probably due to less-than ideal piston manufacture...a hazard shared with many other more modern makes]...has had its ignition curves designed to encourage low-end torque...rather than top-end power..hence I have found overtaking in 4th or 5th to be surprisingly good.... as good as many 2 litres I have used....and certainly better than other makers' 1.3 motors....

I find my felly pulls away smoothly and promptly using 2nd gear....thus getting me to 30mph quite a bit more promptly than other makes can manage....

Handling -wise, the incredibly light weight of the 136 means understeer isn't even an issue....[certainly not like a doizel Fiesta?].....and at lawful speeds, I have no problem staying ahead of those drivers in more modern stuff, that rely on the manufacturer to overcome the shortcomings of the driver.

In my view, if one is stuck with n=having to 'motor on the cheap'...or...simply prefers to not throw money into other's pockets all the time, then the base-model felly 136mpi is ideal.

I would avoid the power steering models...simply because of the cost of re-newing the alternator.....if it goes titzup..which inevitably alternators do.....especially when talking about cars which will now be 12 or more years old?

Power steering for the 136 is totally un-necessary....[unless one is a modern wimp?]...and, in addition, power steering removes a lot of the 'feel' for what is going on downstairs, from the driver.....something I benefited from last winter when making good progress through snow and ice.....I had zero issues in that foul weather.....unlike those around me!

The steel wheels fare better in terms of reliability than alloys....[no worries about cracking rims on kerbs, or porous alloy leading to leaking air, etc]...plus, the 165/70x13 tyres are cheap-as-chips,provide a good level of comfort....and even if made in the far east..within lawful driving speeds provide more than adequate levels of grip...at least, in my hands they do! [i have the cheapest tyres I can buy..they're all different...and I guarantee I'm not the liability on the roads!...There's too much bovine runnycr@p about tyres for normal usage bandied about out there]...

Having the estate version, I have been known to carry more than a dozen bags of coal in the back.....without the car showing any signs of distress...

So all in all, I'd consider the felly to be the ideal cheap motor [for that is what it is, in truth]....compared to what else is available in the same bracket...just avoid all the toys?

Edited 14 January, 201214 yr by alastairq

Great stuff, I have just done my alternator, I have power steering and I do agree with you comments regarding this but I've just finished the job and I need to warm my fingers.

For me (aside from the alternator) all the jobs are so easy that it takes me back to the days when I had an escort mk2 and you know whatever happened it would only cost £30.

Easy to maintain and cheap to run, I enjoy the sneers too.

I won't write an essay on it like alastairq has done but he make some good points.. personally I prefer the vw engines, in fact if you cut me in half there is a vw badge running right through the middle of me like a stick of rock..

I can't put my finger on what it is I like about the felicia if I'm honest, but i do like the laughed at factor you get when you churn upto the kebab wagon, but the biggest thing I do like is the simple down to earth low tech feeling to the car, it's basically just a box with a engine and the whole wiring is raw and simple. I stripped the whole of the front end of my current project car down to just the shell including the wiring in under 4 hours!

there are some badly designed bits on the car however, when they converted them to right hand drive they must have got to the last day and the engineers must have gone "oh **** how do we make the brakes work?" the brake linkage that goes across the bottom of the dashboard is the devils own creation and is a pig to get in or out.. The other plus side is that they are normally driven by flat capped old gits that are 60+ with a golden retriever and one of those seat covers made of beads so most of them are well maintained, with low mileage, not thrashed, don't get attention from the law, and are cheap to insure because all the young triangular torso'd rapscallion back-to-front baseball hat brigade wouldn't be seen dead driving one so hence haven't crashed them up to make the insurance group rating high like on a corsa or fiesta.

Just seems to be reliable and unassuming. I'm very comfortable driving it - I'm confident I could fix anything on the roadside if anything went wrong (I carry a toolbag in the boot). Everything's well put together, and nothing squeaks or rattles, apart from the door lock rod. The interior is very cozy, think it's the high window-line, I don't feel exposed, and the driving position is excellent. Heater is like a blast furnace, and it warmed up enough to matter this morning (1c) within a minute of driving.

Standard radio/speaker set up is pretty basic, but I'm happy with MW radio on anyway. I wish the car had somewhere to rest the side of your foot when doing motorway driving like on most other cars. Also don't like the headlight switches.

Sometimes having a really basic, but comfy and reliable car makes you remember what driving was about and brings you down to earth, especially after the stuff I've had.

I'd agree with all the comments above.

I have a peugeot 307 HDI which has just done the "timing top-end-destruction" thing which is going to be expensive to fix.

I looked around for a reliable, easy to maintain, modern car that was cheap. It's good to be able to open a bonnet and see the engine and gearbox! The Felly drives well, corners fine, and is comfortable to sit in.

I rather like it's squarer looks too, in an age when almost every other car has the same rounded looks, the felly stands out a little differently. I, at first, intended to keep the Skoda just as a stop-gap until I'd fixed the pug, but as days go by, I think it's going to be kept permanently and I'll flog my other vehicle (an old Suzuki-super carry) instead.

nowt wrong with a Supercarry, either....proper truck it is....!

Hey Tom, I'm over 60....the beads all fell apart, were a right pain to gather up again.

But sadly I find 99% of other drivers move a bit too slowly for my taste, so I tend to spend a lot of time overtaking!

For that , I find the felly absolutely ideal....

all for 350 notes and 2 mot's ago!

I'd have another when this one bites the dust...but they're getting ever older...and I do wonder what newer motor I'd look for to replace it in a few years time?

Daughter gave me on on loan last year when Tax/MOT ran out on my Fabia . Apart from a gearbox problem ( finding third /fourth sometimes a problem) ,I found it more fun than the Fabia . Equally sure footed ,but more spacious .Only drawback over the Furby (and I'm comparing a 1.3 GLXi petrol ,with a 1.4TDi was the economy ,but again for a car with twice the mileage -no shame ).I missed the additional bits -like the trip computer ,showing how much( or little) fuel ( in miles) ,and the outside temperature .

I should have never sold ole' 'Parpy'. 11,000 genuine miles and a full Skoda service history. Every receipt, MOT the works, not a mark on it and drove lovely. Bought as a trade in for £50, run it for 6 faultless months whilst the Fun was being rebuilt and painted etc, sold for £800.

Got my first one as a logical progression from my first rally car, which was a Favorit. The Fel fixed most of the problems with the fav (crap electrics, crap rustproofing/paint, crap interior that fell apart) while not introducing modern car BS which makes them a nightmare. But most of all, they are TOUGH. The original one I bought took me to a finish (and a class win) in Rally GB 2006, and the one I built did the same in 2008 and 2010, so I have three WRC class winner trophies in my living room thanks to a car which doesn't cost a fortune to run. I looked at a Fabia as an "upgrade" at one point, and it was just a plastic pig - it wouldn't last 5 minutes as a rally car without serious surgery.

I also took one to Banjul on a charity banger rally, taking in 300 miles of driving off road in the Sahara to boot. I converted it to LHD myself for very little money, and it didn't play up at all in 4400 miles of driving to western Africa. Most of the other cars in the group couldn't say the same.

I had one as a road car (initially bought as a recce car to do Rally GB) for a few years, and it never missed a beat, took loads of abuse (doing Rally GB recce 4 times), and also proved quite good at slaloms and autotests, beating quite a few 'proper' cars. As Tom says, the "laughed at" factor is funny. Even more so when you've just beaten a chump in an Impreza or GT4 (as I did at a slalom), or indeed a proper Prodrive-built rally car (as I did at a rally rides demo day - the Fel was quicker than the impreza round the tight twisty course, and also really scared the crap out of the people who I took out in it).

My mum has one as a daily driver (1.9 D estate). Cost £150 as a "been off the road 4 years" job. Just jump-started it, freed the brakes off and it was good to go. Quality.

I needed a car as I got a new job and in my previous job I had a company van. I had very little money to spend, max £500 and didn't want anything too fancy. Also nothing too popular, the idea being that the less popular the better car I may get. Asking around I got recommended the Felly and they seemed well thought of in the trade. Saw a few advertised above my budget and then my one came up on ebay. Just a 1.3 on a T plate. No PAS, manual windows etc. Suited me fine as I wanted less things on it that may go wrong. Paid £425 for it and it came with a years MOT, recent clutch replacement, recent immobiliser replacement, recent service, new strut mountings, 45k genuine miles. It's not perfect, has a dent in the passenger side wing and a minor one in the passenger door and I had to put a thermostat on it which cost very little. I've had it a year, just had an alternator problem, the rectifier pack blew so that was £54 to get sorted but really, it's cost me less than £100 in parts for the year which is fair going. A couple of niggles are that the odometer has stopped working which I'll get sorted in the near future and also the digital clock has started resetting itself since the alternator was repaired. Not a spot of rust anywhere and it gets me to work which is all I wanted it for. Had it MOT'd last week, failed at first attempt on a distorted wheel and a missing CV boot clip. On with the spare and a couple of cable ties for the boot and a pass was granted.

I like it because it takes me back to when you could work on cars without too much electronic gubbins and there's space under the bonnet which is a rarity these days. Don't care what others think of it, I like it, almost love it and am wondering what else I will be able to replace it with when the time comes. Ideally I'd have got an estate but I didn't have time to wait for one to come up so this will do just fine for now. It's a doddle to drive, economical, has possibly the best heater I've had in any car and I don't worry about whether it gets the odd knock.

It can get a shift on when I want it to but generally I don't do more than 60-65 mph which suits it fine. It does not burn any oil. The only thing I don't like is the aftermarket CD/Radio which has to be the most complicated thing to operate I've ever had the displeasure to own - or maybe it's just my age and I just wish that I had a tuning knob like in the old days, but I'd say the stereo is prob worth at least half the value of the car.

I've always had Fords, Vauxhalls, Nissans and even a Fiat Tipo (never again!) but bought my felly via ebay for £230 with a few days tax, 2 months MOT and a blown middle box.

All I've done to her (why are cars always a 'her'?) is replace the middle box, rear wheel bearings (advisory on MOT) and the battery.

That's all she's needed apart from the usual wiper blades, a drop of oil and washer additive.

Never let me down in the 13 months i've owned her, I'd have another no problem, and like someone else mentioned above, the sony minidisc head unit i fitted when new, cost more than what i paid for the car.

Also...car thieves will always head for the neighbours saxo etc. instead of my little green felly... They don't know what they're missing!

Hi Folks, to be fair I can't add much to whats been said so far, you've just about nailed it. I've had 2 felly's and in them covered around 150k. My current felly (the banana as the kids call it) has today hit the 100k mark. Apart from the normal wear & tear items I've had little or no problems. For me they just do the job but to be fair you still need to know what you're buying. My sons best mate has just changed his car and despite the talk from me he just wouldn't opt for a felly, as Tom said just not cool with younger drivers even though they often make much more financial sense. In the end he went for a 1.4 Seat which to be fair is still in the fold.

It was only last year and having recently passed my driving test, naturally, I wanted to get myself a car and get on the road. I think I stumbled upon the Felly after looking at a list of cars with low insurance groups, and found the Felicia via the Fabia. Insurance was £950 or so (on one of those 'black boxes') - bearing in mind I was 18 at the time. That car sadly died before the black box was even fitted thanks to a tired cam belt, which I intended to replace within a month or two, but that's the way it goes.

It was the 1.6 GLXi Estate - an estate car being perhaps an odd choice for a new driver. Let's face it, I didn't buy it for it's looks, but it's reliablilty and furthermore, the fact that if anything goes tits up, there's a good chance you can fix it yourself, which as many people have said is a rarity these days thanks to the hugely complex electrical systems present on modern cars.

It was an absolutely terrible example of the Felicia - rust here there an everywhere, a rusty hole in the tailgate a, the suspension completely collapsed on 3 of the 4 wheels... but well... actually, that was it. Not bad for a neglected car with just under 100k on the clock really. The interior though was spotless - excepting a digustingly sticky steering wheel which took me months to get rid of. I find that the interior is actually one of the most interesting in it's class for that age of car too, most others being a dull sea of black. And +1 for the Felicia having one of the bester heaters ever!

Also, it had a unique charm and character that other cars just don't seem to have. It was pretty fun to drive too, even if the tyres were mercilessly cheap.

Anyway, I'm off up to Sunderland tomorrow to buy another Felster, even though I don't really need a car, I just miss driving. It's the 1.9d GLi which is in one regard a step backward from the 1.6GLXi, but on the other hand, it proves more economical and probably minutely more reliable, not that reliability was ever particularly a problem with the Felly anyway.

This time around however, you can forget £950 insurance... in just a year it's rocketed up, which for me means it's actually cheaper to buy insurance that doesn't use a black box, at a whopping £1800. So whenever you complain about your premium, spare a thought for pauper's like me, whose mummy and daddy can't afford to buy them a brand new Ford Fiesta and insure it for me too. Not that I'd want a Ford Fiesta, mind you.

It was only last year and having recently passed my driving test, naturally, I wanted to get myself a car and get on the road. I think I stumbled upon the Felly after looking at a list of cars with low insurance groups, and found the Felicia via the Fabia. Insurance was £950 or so (on one of those 'black boxes') - bearing in mind I was 18 at the time. That car sadly died before the black box was even fitted thanks to a tired cam belt, which I intended to replace within a month or two, but that's the way it goes.

It was the 1.6 GLXi Estate - an estate car being perhaps an odd choice for a new driver. Let's face it, I didn't buy it for it's looks, but it's reliablilty and furthermore, the fact that if anything goes tits up, there's a good chance you can fix it yourself, which as many people have said is a rarity these days thanks to the hugely complex electrical systems present on modern cars.

It was an absolutely terrible example of the Felicia - rust here there an everywhere, a rusty hole in the tailgate a, the suspension completely collapsed on 3 of the 4 wheels... but well... actually, that was it. Not bad for a neglected car with just under 100k on the clock really. The interior though was spotless - excepting a digustingly sticky steering wheel which took me months to get rid of. I find that the interior is actually one of the most interesting in it's class for that age of car too, most others being a dull sea of black. And +1 for the Felicia having one of the bester heaters ever!

Also, it had a unique charm and character that other cars just don't seem to have. It was pretty fun to drive too, even if the tyres were mercilessly cheap.

Anyway, I'm off up to Sunderland tomorrow to buy another Felster, even though I don't really need a car, I just miss driving. It's the 1.9d GLi which is in one regard a step backward from the 1.6GLXi, but on the other hand, it proves more economical and probably minutely more reliable, not that reliability was ever particularly a problem with the Felly anyway.

This time around however, you can forget £950 insurance... in just a year it's rocketed up, which for me means it's actually cheaper to buy insurance that doesn't use a black box, at a whopping £1800. So whenever you complain about your premium, spare a thought for pauper's like me, whose mummy and daddy can't afford to buy them a brand new Ford Fiesta and insure it for me too. Not that I'd want a Ford Fiesta, mind you.

Hi, hang in there mate my lad is exactly the same and pays around £200 p month. He pays his own way as I did when his age, so more power/respect to you. Good luck.

I've had a few over the years, and so have members of my family. They are tough little cars that are fairly simple to work on. When you have a 12 year old car that only fails an MOT for a loose CV joint boot, well, you cannot complain.

I've had my R reg diesel estate for something like 6 years now and for a while had a 1.3 as well.

I started calculating the mpg for it in November and since then have averaged just over 45mpg. I do a fairly short distance to work, just over 7 miles on mostly A and B roads plus the occasional longer journeys of 120 to 200 miles. The highest I've had has been nearly 52mpg - for one of the long runs, the worst just over 36mpg - mostly local driving when it was really cold.

There's around 112,000 miles on the clock now and I sometimes tow a trailer so it's usually fairly loaded up for the longer runs.

The downside is the tax at the moment, last 6 months was £118 and now it's gone up. She's also starting to show her age a bit but not as bad as some.

I'd have another but they're thin on the ground now and getting a bit elderly.

Pretty much as has been said above, particularly Tom's point about the laughed at factor. Personally I love the fact it's not a sexy car, but it's so uncool that it is cool. It wont surprise some of you that I know fck all about cars and before I bought mine I didn't even know what a Felicia was, all I was after was a run about until I got back on my feet and had no intention of keeping it more than a couple of months, well nearly five years later we're still going strong together and in that time all I've had to spend was for a new battery £45, then two days later a new alternater £100 (how was I to know the red battery light didn't actually mean the battery was broken??), the back bit of the exhaust £32, two brake discs + pads £50, oh and a couple of tyres £28 each. At the end of my one way street there's a sleight hill and in the snow the only things to get up it are the big 4x4s and me, everybody else in their Golfs, Mondaos, Corsas, they all have to reverse a good 300 metres the wrong way to get out. Add this to the fact it costs only £135 to tax and £160 to insure I'm in no hurry to get anything more modern. Plus you don't have a silly rev counter but a VERY BIG CLOCK.

Having said that a leccy window would be handy at toll booths, and I wouldn't mind central locking, the amount of times a passenger will get out without locking the door because they expect me to "blip" the locks.

Pretty much as has been said above, particularly Tom's point about the laughed at factor. Personally I love the fact it's not a sexy car, but it's so uncool that it is cool. It wont surprise some of you that I know fck all about cars and before I bought mine I didn't even know what a Felicia was, all I was after was a run about until I got back on my feet and had no intention of keeping it more than a couple of months, well nearly five years later we're still going strong together and in that time all I've had to spend was for a new battery £45, then two days later a new alternater £100 (how was I to know the red battery light didn't actually mean the battery was broken??), the back bit of the exhaust £32, two brake discs + pads £50, oh and a couple of tyres £28 each. At the end of my one way street there's a sleight hill and in the snow the only things to get up it are the big 4x4s and me, everybody else in their Golfs, Mondaos, Corsas, they all have to reverse a good 300 metres the wrong way to get out. Add this to the fact it costs only £135 to tax and £160 to insure I'm in no hurry to get anything more modern. Plus you don't have a silly rev counter but a VERY BIG CLOCK.

Having said that a leccy window would be handy at toll booths, and I wouldn't mind central locking, the amount of times a passenger will get out without locking the door because they expect me to "blip" the locks.

I think you've just encapsulated why the Felly can be a cracking little car to own and drive, in a time of spiraling costs! Yep, miss some of the electric goodies on mine but have got used to it over time + nothing much has gone wrong thus far (please don't let me regret saying that!). There's still a lot of nice relatively cheap examples knocking around so won't break the bank if and when you need to change. When the time comes I'd happily sell the truck and get another Felly albeit a traditional 4 seater and a little cheaper if poss!

Got mine when I turned 18. Driving it for 8 years now. For me it's the old school driving, there's absolutely no fun in driving a 'modern' car for me. Especially the 1.9 diesel is fantastic. Plus, everything is made simple (or almost everything).

2 months to go, and than it s over for mine, corrosion killed it. Maybe I will buy another Felicia...

Edited 3 May, 201214 yr by The bone collector

Got mine when I turned 18. Driving it for 8 years now. For me it's the old school driving, there's absolutely no fun in driving a 'modern' car for me. Especially the 1.9 diesel is fantastic. Plus, everything is made simple (or almost everything).

2 months to go, and than it s over for mine, corrosion killed it. Maybe I will buy another Felicia...

Hi, I certainly would mate. I'd also agree on the new car front as most seem to have progressively morphed into indistinct hybrid aerodynamic bubbles! Apart from that they're fine.

I loved my felicia!!

I echo the comments above. It just feelt nice to drive and I can't quite put my finger on what it was.

When I first had Sven insured on her and he drove her for the first time it really put a smile on his face.

Nelly was just an SPi but it was a cracking engine and still very smooth once on the move (tickover wasn't great!) and pulled pretty well actually.

We once did a trip to Germany too. The long way round so down to dover and across to calais then drive all the way to Germany. We took it really steady though. That was the only downside. The MPG on the motorway. We had to do 60 in order to manage decent MPG.

I loved my felicia!!

I echo the comments above. It just feelt nice to drive and I can't quite put my finger on what it was.

When I first had Sven insured on her and he drove her for the first time it really put a smile on his face.

Nelly was just an SPi but it was a cracking engine and still very smooth once on the move (tickover wasn't great!) and pulled pretty well actually.

We once did a trip to Germany too. The long way round so down to dover and across to calais then drive all the way to Germany. We took it really steady though. That was the only downside. The MPG on the motorway. We had to do 60 in order to manage decent MPG.

I like that

I know... How I do miss Nelly...

She was pretty tidy for an N reg. The pictures don't show it either but the paint was very special too. It was blue mainly but in the light was multi-toned with purple and green in there too.

Another reason I love my felly is she was as tough as old boots... she once ate half of my feeler blade when I left it in by accident ooops:

My question would simply be:

Why not the Felly?

My main reason for shelving The Fun is purely cost (Insurance £600 + £200 tax + petrol costs at 24,000 miles a year) Can't acutally fault the vehicle itself in any way. What it did do is bring me over to Skoda. I have an Octy is a my main car now. My son hits 17 next March, so as soon as he's started driving, I'll be looking for a 1.3 Felly for him to have when he's passed.