Hopefully this is the right place for this topic.

After my Fabia vRS SE mk1 has got written off thank to some moron who decided to go into the side of me when I was alongside (I was overtaking him on a long straight in the countryside) him. The impact has caused me to lose control and was pushed off onto the grass before 'drifting' across both lanes of road then hitting the bank on the outgoing side of the road which has caused the car to roll, then landed on the roof back on the road.

Obviously I survived or I wouldn't be here lol; came out of the car with a couple of scratches and a nasty bump behind my ear. Basically, I got away unharmed!

Point of impact; passenger side:

The end:

The aftermath:

So now, I'm in need of a new car and as much as I loved the Fabia (only had it for less than 6 months!!), I can't really afford to shell out another '07 vRS SE with less than 32k miles as like this when I brought it. It was nearing the 38k miles mark before being written off. On top of that, if I own another vRS, the insurance costs has doubled at least.

After looking around for a bit, test driving a few cars; I'm struggling to fall in love with them as I did with the vRS. Today I drove the '09 Suzuki Swift Sport and as good n fun as the handling was (I'm more of a country driver rather than the boring motorways!!), I just couldn't get comfortable in the car, it was too high and the seat is just...meh. However, this is best car as yet, and I could always change the seats if I can't get to terms with it.

Is there any good alternatives to the vRS or other good buys?

I don't want a Volkswagen or Audi because Skoda does it cheaper, and better lol. Seat is a possibility.

Because of the increase on the insurance, and I didn't get the full amount of money for the accident from the insurers, my budget is up to £7,000. If there is a really good car for its offers, I may increase the budget for that so just fire away your ideas.

(Not sure if pictures got uploaded as I'm away from computer ATM but will fix later if not)

Sorry for the long post! Lol

glad to hear you are ok after looking at the pictures, you could always try a Octavia vRS in your budget?

why is your insurance going up if he hit you?,

i know it may be swearing but you could get a good handling fiesta for that kinda money

Good to hear you've not been damaged much yourself.

Because of the increase on the insurance, ...

You have to bear in mind the Mark 1 Fabia vRS is a pretty cheap car to insure - that was one of the reasons I bought my first one in 2004 having had two speeding tickets in quick succession - it was group 9 (on the 20 point system) compared to my previous car which was 13 - and slower. Finding something similar in driving terms but cheaper in insurance is going to be tricky.

... and I didn't get the full amount of money for the accident from the insurers, ....

Not sure what you mean - you mean you accepted a low offer?

... my budget is up to £7,000. ...

Plenty I'd have thought for another vRS - for example my vRS is just about to reach 36k and I don't think I'd get £7k if I sold it - I was fearing it would be difficult in trade-in to get £5k from what others have said.

Damn! Good to have gotten away from that unscathed!

MattyD -

I've looked at the Octavia vRS but it is not really the kind I'm after for. I'm more looking at super-minis or hatchbacks like the Fabia. Also, the insurance on the Octavia vRS ('05) has raised from £500-600ish to £1,476.58.

It may also be worth mentioning that the Fabia vRS insurance has raised from £500 to £1,025. The Suzuki Swift Sport (2010 model) is just a tad over the £800 mark.

Patriot1 -

I don't really fancy a Fiesta or a Focus for that matter; nothing against Fords, just not really keen on them.

As for insurance prices up...because there are many selfish ****heads out there who won't admit to liability. It was his words against mine as well as the lorry driver behind that car who hit me. He said that he did indicate to turn right, and lorry driver saw that he indicated where I did not see the indicator. It would be pretty hard to see the indicator if I'm going at 60mph vs their 40-45mph and going ALONGSIDE the guy who hit me. He has many years of driving experience (bloke's about 55+ I would say, likely 60+) compared to my less than 3 years driving.

He wanted to turn right, and yes, there is junction ahead but it is a clear view of seeing the junction; there's literally no hedges or high banks to block out the upcoming junction.

The dodgy thing is though...he wanted to turn right (at 40-45mph? lol) at that junction but it was not for another 30-40 yards; I had plenty of time to pass him (already alongside of him, and as you can tell by the impact picture above, it shows that I was in front of him at the time of impact) before the junction point.

So therefore, my current insurer says that it was a 50-50!! because I was taking a 'risk' of overtaking him. I tried to argue that I have been travelling up and down on that road for thousands of miles and overtaken hundreds and never had a problem. I know this road like back of my hand, I could tell you the entire road route from A to B.

At this point, I've lost my 2+ years no claim bonus even though I say on the insurance quotes that it is not my fault, the prices still hikes.

DRJ -

Indeed, it is a cheap car to insure and run. That was one of the many reasons why it has appealed to me to buy the vRS in the first place. Very tricky :(.

At first, they offered me somewhere over the £5,000 mark and I refused and told them to have a look at my details and the fact that I valued the car at £8,000. I also mentioned that don't forget, this isn't the standard vRS. This is a special edition vRS. They then offered me £6,120 and I wasn't happy with that obviously but I had to take it because they would not raise it any higher.

I have thought about getting another vRS but at the same time, this an opportunity to try something else (I'm only 23, approaching 24 in Sept) and I just have this feeling that getting in another vRS is just never going to be the same again, if you know what I mean?

Babs -

Very! I even kept a souvenir from the car to remind me just how bloody lucky I am.

I will get another vRS one day, after a year or two.

There's a really nice 2010 Suzuki Swift Sport in pearl white with 18" black alloys (optional extra from Suzuki) with only 14,000 miles on the clock for under £8000...Tempted.Thoughts?

Very nice, that!

Thats one very nice swift, a few select mods and there pretty rapid, my mates keeps up with me for a few seconds when it was mapped which was suprising as it had about 100bhp less

That's identical to my brothers apart from the black wheels. His was about the same mileage and he paid just under 8k too. White is quite rare also. There's only 2 or 3 decent tyres for it but you could change profile to have more choice. It's a riot down B roads and while it "only" has 130ish bhp it's very nippy and holds speeds round corners very well. Thinking back I should have got one of these indead for my Mk1 vRS. Much more fun and not heavy on the front end.

Thats one very nice swift, a few select mods and there pretty rapid, my mates keeps up with me for a few seconds when it was mapped which was suprising as it had about 100bhp less

Do you know what mods?

I have read nothing but good things about the suzuki swift sport in the press. Everyone seems to love them. Pretty risk free purchase i would say.

I've a friend whose son has a swift and he loves it.

Glad to hear you are ok, you were very lucky indeed. Here are some ideas:

Mini Cooper or a Mini One

Alfa Mito 1.4T

Clio 1.6 (or an older 2.0 Renaultsport)

Clio 1.5dci (106bhp)

I know you don't like Fords but you could test drive a Fiesta Zetec-S.....

Sorry to heard about your RTC, at least everyone is ok, that's the main thing and just mark it up as experience. With the regards of you valuing at £8k, a lot of people make this mistake, that figure means absolutely nothing when it comes to a claim and you will always get market value and no more!

RS Clio all the way:

http://www.autotrade...age/1?logcode=p

Perfect

Ross glad to see you survived this, you've been driving for less than 3 years and had 2 speeding tickets and you know this road like the back of your hand, the guy had indicated right and the lorry driver confirmed this?, you knew the junction was coming up you should have waited until u had passed this junction and then overtook in a safe place, hopefully the other drivers were fine also? If I was you get yourself a 1.4 3 cylinder fabia , and be more aware of hazards on the road, never ever overtake where you know there's a junction coming up as most people don't even indicate any more! , once again I'm glad you got out unscathed

Do you know what mods?

Back seats out, sticky tyres, full exhaust system and an intake.....not sure if hes had it mapped or that but its certainly pretty rapid, hes got an mcr catback(or something similar) and it sounds fantastic

Back seats out, sticky tyres, full exhaust system and an intake.....not sure if hes had it mapped or that but its certainly pretty rapid, hes got an mcr catback(or something similar) and it sounds fantastic

Ah right. My brother has Toyo Proxes on that are pretty grippy. May look into getting an intake for Christmas for him

At first, they offered me somewhere over the £5,000 mark and I refused and told them to have a look at my details and the fact that I valued the car at £8,000. I also mentioned that don't forget, this isn't the standard vRS. This is a special edition vRS. They then offered me £6,120 and I wasn't happy with that obviously but I had to take it because they would not raise it any higher.

Good that you queried it. To be honest I think £8k is pushing it. I see a 54k mile one for £5950 at Autotrader - albeit a private seller not a dealer. But that's relatively close to your offer - though closer to £6.5k would have been nice. Some of the dealer prices there look hopelessly optimistic - £8.8k for one at a car supermarket (admitted low mileage)???

I think Suzukis look better in Black - mine's Black!

Renault Clio above is a nice motor, BUT they depreciate so badly, it's a shame. I like the megane F1 ltd edition in blue.

I reckon that lump behind your ear was that 1 litre bottle of oil that is now on the dashboard

You were very lucky!

The obvious choice...

is another one!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Skoda-Fabia-1-9TDI-PD-130bhp-vRS-/320965346361?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4abb068439

Good that you queried it. To be honest I think £8k is pushing it. I see a 54k mile one for £5950 at Autotrader - albeit a private seller not a dealer. But that's relatively close to your offer - though closer to £6.5k would have been nice. Some of the dealer prices there look hopelessly optimistic - £8.8k for one at a car supermarket (admitted low mileage)???

I think Suzukis look better in Black - mine's Black!

That's my se on auto trader, been getting offers of between £5k and £5.5k and mine is mint needs no money spending on it! May take 5.5k need it gone too many cars on drive.

You're lucky - I've had two offers on my Atom £4.5k less than what I'm asking!

hmmm.. Overtaking whilst coming upto a junction!!!

My advise would be get a lower powered car so you can't take life threatening risks doing questionable overtakes. The problem with knowing the roads you drive along all the time is you WILL let your gaurd down and not concentrate as much as you should hence how accidents happen, just because you've done something before doesn't mean its right or something bad can't happen.

You don't need alot of power to have a great driving experience especially if you prefer country roads to motorways.

How about something like this http://www.pistonheads.co.uk/sales/4191095.htm A few toys, IMO will handle better on twisty roads than the Fabia although probably not as sporty as the Swift but fuel efficient if you cover 000's of miles. Will also give you some spare cash towards your insurance.