i looked at 2 in total - one in cumbira and one in norwich

travelling from the midlands its quite away

but if its good then its worth it

The 06 with 48k on the clock sounds overpriced to me at £6500; I got mine a year ago, black 55 plate with 46k and FDSH (cam belt and rear discs done too) for £5,500 from an independent. Mine had a CD changer, paintwork damage on bonnet from bird guano, a small crack in one of the mirror casings and some corrosion on front alloys; otherwise perfect.

I paid £6500 in Jan 2010 for a black magic 06 plate with 42k on the clocks so this one is a bit pricey in my eyes.

You've got to be prepared to travel at the end of the day.

I went to from London to Norwich to look at one when I was hunting for mine.

3hour drive there, parked up and wandered over to the lot to look at it.

Very cosmetically flawed and clearly uncared for by its last owner.

Didn't even bother getting the keys to hear it running. I was in the car lot for

3 minutes at most. 3 hour drive back. Complete waste of time and fuel.

The one I bought was a private sale just north of Milton keynes in the end.

All together I looked at 7 and drove 5 of them before I got mine.

100% agree with mr Grr, a car is the second biggest purchase you`ll make (except a house). So why only look 10 miles from your gaf? A weekend of travelling to get the right car at the right price seems like a much better idea than buying a dog for ££££ more than its worth but saving a bit of a trip. Your looking at purely dealers (mostly main) so you`ll probably not have the issues of finding a dog when you arrive.

Like Mr Grr I travelled from Essex to Norwich to get the right car, right colour and at a right price.

Just my own personel opion, I would go for an Astra. My sons has 60,100 on the clock and runs like a dream.

Got the vRS.

Compared a few standard and it seems really good.

Found it much smoother than the Astra when accelerating. The Astra seemed really harsh in accelerating and comes in a huge lump.

Think the astra felt better in the corners however. It feels more sporty.

When I turned up at the Cinderford (deepest Gloucestershire) Skoda garage to look at the SE I was advised they were prepping it for someone travelling down from Chester the next day. Hard luck if it was someone on here. Unlike the others responding to this thread I DO like to buy it at the local garage - makes servicing easier - they'll let you have a courtesy car if you bought it off them. At least that's the story at the Gloucester garage, the Cinderford one is more flexible...

Hi fabia owner.

Regards,

New fabia owner

Yeah, thats one of the reasons I brought this one. If anything goes wrong they will give a courtesy car whilst the cars in the garage. No travelling needed.

Can't wait to pick it up.

Found it much smoother than the Astra when accelerating. The Astra seemed really harsh in accelerating and comes in a huge lump. Think the astra felt better in the corners however. It feels more sporty.

Thanks for the feedback. If you want a sportier drive, some coilovers or new springs and a rear anti-roll bar will sort the handling a treat. And if you do want the extra oomph, a remap should get you 165ish bhp with no other modifications.