Hello!

I'm currently driving a 98 Nissan Elgrand which I love. But as there are only three of us now, it's slightly excessive (8 seats) and very expensive to run! It failed its MOT a few weeks back and due to nearly impossible task of getting a replacement parking brake cable, have decided to cut my losses and look for something else.

After hours and hours and hours of online research and test driving countless cars I have settled on wanting a Fabia.

I've read loads about them and already a lot on the forum and am happy buying something older and with high mileage. My elgrand had to have the fuel pump overhauled last year but has never had another problem and has 120k on the clock now. I've only got maybe 2k to spend anyway.

Any more advice or tips would be appreciated!

Hi and welcome aboard.

welcome to the forum! i bought her indoors a 52 reg fabia 1.9 sdi..was on 110,000 now on 120,000 was only £950, cd player, leccy windows & remote locking and she runs around hitting the 65mpg mark.. £55 to tax for 6 months too, cant beat the little diesel imo.. best all round car i have bought her to date.. only had a service and disks and pads on the front so far too..

welcome to the forum! i bought her indoors a 52 reg fabia 1.9 sdi..was on 110,000 now on 120,000 was only £950, cd player, leccy windows & remote locking and she runs around hitting the 65mpg mark.. £55 to tax for 6 months too, cant beat the little diesel imo.. best all round car i have bought her to date.. only had a service and disks and pads on the front so far too..

That sounds exactly what I'm looking for. Was the Sdi a choice over the Tdi or was it just that that's what that car had? That's really cheap too, I can't find any under about £1700 and very few private sellers too.

That sounds exactly what I'm looking for. Was the Sdi a choice over the Tdi or was it just that that's what that car had? That's really cheap too, I can't find any under about £1700 and very few private sellers too.

sdi just came up at the right price! if there had been a tdi i dare say i would have bought that.. but i didnt see any tdi models around the grand mark when i bought her it.. i refuse to spend more than a grand on cars for her as they mysteriously get bumped.. but she never saw anything, ever.. and it was not her, it must have happened in tesco car park.. and she has no idea how the wheels got scuffed either!! check ebay! i went to bolton to view her car before i bid on it and was happy with it, other than needing a good valet it was fine!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2003-SKODA-FABIA-COMFORT-TDI-ESTATE-BLUE-1-YEARS-MOT-TAX-FSH-BARGAIN-/110892319387?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item19d1b2829b

1st car i found on ebay when i punched in fabia.. not far from yours and roughly an average looking car, estate too.. dont know if thats good or bad though!! cheap as chips tdi!!

http://www.ebay.co.u...=item19d1b2829b

1st car i found on ebay when i punched in fabia.. not far from yours and roughly an average looking car, estate too.. dont know if thats good or bad though!! cheap as chips tdi!!

I had seen it. I'm on Ebay and Autotrader for hours each day. I don't really want an estate and I'd rather pay a bit more for one without a huge scratch down the side and with all doors that shut! But thanks for looking. There are a couple I've got my eye on, just waiting for an answer to some questions.

you just have to remember that one was as good as 10 years old! sometimes its worth buying one that has a scratch or a dent or something small wrong with it and at least you know they have not tried to cover anything up,

my local bodyshop would have done that door and handle on the estate for around £100-£120 and then i would have known what had been done to it!

the lad i bought my vrs off had done a whole lot of 'work' on it, some of which could have killed me it would appear, like sawing a front lower arm in half to put a bush in for instance,, or putting an inferior clutch in the wrong way round! things you cant see until you strip the whole car down, which i have had to do.. now i am around £6000 in to a car that is probably worth £3000 if am lucky..

That's a good point actually. That they weren't trying to hide anything. I'd never thought of it like that. I have learned that traders will make the cars look stunning so you think they're in good nick. Picked up a 206 cheap from a local garage only to realise when I got home the central locking was broken and the car would unlock itself when it felt like it and there was no way to lock the boot at all. Not to mention the oil leak and peculiar burning smell when driving it. Don't know what I thought I was doing buying a Peugeot in the first place!

I'm looking at these at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/180894689161?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_500wt_1416

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/110889702845?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649#ht_524wt_1397

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201221473553036/usedcars?logcode=visc

I cant see your location as i use my phone so might be miles away but thought id mention it.

http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-motorbikes/skoda-fabia-comfort-tdi-2002-52-diesel-mannual/103489319

Slight damage But could be cheap repair ,

That's a good point actually. That they weren't trying to hide anything. I'd never thought of it like that. I have learned that traders will make the cars look stunning so you think they're in good nick. Picked up a 206 cheap from a local garage only to realise when I got home the central locking was broken and the car would unlock itself when it felt like it and there was no way to lock the boot at all. Not to mention the oil leak and peculiar burning smell when driving it. Don't know what I thought I was doing buying a Peugeot in the first place!

I'm looking at these at the moment:

http://www.ebay.co.u...9#ht_500wt_1416

http://www.ebay.co.u...9#ht_524wt_1397

http://www.autotrade...rs?logcode=visc

the red ibiza is the only 1 i would be tempted by, i am a part time trader myself, the fabia is advertised at nearly twice its real value, the other ibiza was about right money but old shape so looks dated.. i look at cars i am buying for myself or the wife with the view that if i dont like it i could get my money back easily.. dont rush into buying something if you dont have to.. i have sold a few lemons to desperate people in my time!!

All the Fabia's I've seen that aren't damaged and are within a reasonable distance to me are between £1500 and £2000. I've been looking for three weeks now but I don't have a car and my family are getting a bit fed up with me borrowing their's. The red seat is the one I really want as it'll save me having to put a tow bar on something else. I'm still looking though......

Just noticed you were looking at higher mileage ones.

Have you seen this on ebay:

Item number: 230803346629

Cheap runabout really if checks out ok,

It's too far away. I'm in Reading. I'm looking at what comes up in searches under 2k. So invariably it's higher mileage. That's why I've plumped for the VW group, with anything Japanese close behind. I'd rather have a Skoda with 160k on the clock than something French with 90 :-)

I don't have the time or the money to travel very far to check cars out and really quite desperately need one as i'm either borrowing families cars or driving with no MOT. :think:

It's too far away. I'm in Reading. I'm looking at what comes up in searches under 2k. So invariably it's higher mileage. That's why I've plumped for the VW group, with anything Japanese close behind. I'd rather have a Skoda with 160k on the clock than something French with 90 :-)

I don't have the time or the money to travel very far to check cars out and really quite desperately need one as i'm either borrowing families cars or driving with no MOT. :think:

No worries. I will keep a look out whilst browsing. Are you looking for something at the most 2k then? Seen a few leon tdi's under that you see.

This is only down the road from you i think.

Ebay item # 300710507076

Its a Leon tdi 53 reg.

I know you like the ibiza and it does look nice.

Just sending others for options incase it goes over what you want to pay.

This is only down the road from you i think.

Ebay item # 300710507076

Its a Leon tdi 53 reg.

I know you like the ibiza and it does look nice.

Just sending others for options incase it goes over what you want to pay.

That looks ok, I hadn't seen that one. But no service history, more importantly no documented cam belt change. It's too big a risk for me to take.

Thanks for looking though, I do appreciate it cos I've really had enough!

Sorry I hadnt looked at the details on it, just forwarded on.

Im sure something will come up. I will keep looking and send info to you.

Thank you. :-)

That info was way down the bottom of a big listing, I guess the idea is you don't see it.

Have you got any thoughts on that Ibiza? I'm always happy to listen to others opinions.

This looks ok I think, but the pics are suspicious, to me anyway. One pic of the interior has no rear headrests but the pic through the boot shows rear headrests. And a remarkable difference in colour in the pics too. Have I been doing this too long now???

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=251075849237#ht_1059wt_1270

Id say its about its money somewhere around £1800-£1950 really.

They seem to about that sort of money but the fact its a sport helps above others ive seen.

I have noticed there arent alot your way which is a pain for u as there are more available sort of midlands and up towards me.

I know, its very frustrating. I had funds available in case I buy a lemon it wouldn't be so bad. Or had the mechanical ability to fix things. But I don't, so I just can't risk buying something miles away unless I was 100% sure it was ok. I know I won't get time to see the Ibiza before the auction end but he can't force me to buy it if I get there and there's something obviously wrong. I didn't used to mind travelling around or just buying off ebay without viewing. But I don't really have the time or money to do that now. Something will turn up, it has to!

Something will do without a doubt.

If you win the ibiza and it isnt as described you are within your rights to say you dont want it, he cant leave you negative feedback and as far as im aware could only open an upaid item dispute in which case ebay would listen to both your sides of events and at worst side with him and issue you an unpaid item strike. I may stand corrected but thats my understanding.

Im only stating worst case scenario, most likely if it was bad enough for you to not go ahead with the purchase ebay would usually side with u and cancel the transaction anyway.

I've been through it all with Ebay one way or another so know he score. Getting nervous now the auction is coming to an end. Just need to remember not to go over my limit. Or preferably, anywhere near it!

Back to the drawing board....