Choosing a style for my Fab

[Jack M]

ive currently had to hold out on any mod ideas ive had for my car as i still have to save up for next years insurance (being young sucks!!) BUT!!!

once i get the money gone for that next year and i am ready to start modding i want to have an idea of what would be good to do, im a novice and have no idea so any help and advice as well as opinions would be nice:)

its a classic fab 1.4mpi, i dont know whether to make it look more modern with darker lights and more modern interior etc or to go for the retro look, yellow tinted lights, retro alloys etc etc... heres the list of things running through my head:

1: Suspension - wanting to lower it slightly without slamming it so much its unusable - been told coilovers are cheaper option but ruin ride quality, opinions?

2: tint the lights - dont know if i should go for yellow or smoked tint on the front and smoked or full red tint on the back, another thing is either lamin-X or flyeyes, i know lamin X has a better quality but im more concerned as to what the police will say about it (even more so seeing as im still young and they will try and have me for everything they can!

i also want to get the OEM fogs for my car, how easy are they to fit etc?

3: Alloys -i like the sort of thick industrial look like the old 5 spoke AMG wheels or lowenhart LDR type wheels, but i dont know if they will go with the car, the other option as said before is a more retro look, so any ideas from you guys on what would look good ?

4: bumpers etc - i wanted to get the sporty addon pack that you can buy, but ive also heard somewhere that you can change the rear bumper for one with a smooth look rather than a rubbish rubber strip across it (i think it was like an american style or something) cant remember where or when i saw it but i loved it

im sure il have many ideas and dreams as to what i want to do to it and im sure many of them will never come true, i just wanna get some ideas going on and get some judgement from others, im the kinda person that sees something and just goes for it (usually resulting in disaster and dissapointment)

i must apologise about the amount of stupidity i bring forward and i want to thank everyone that reads and helps in advance il post if anything else comes to mind!

[kiddy1]

Whatever you do must be insured so you better save up just a little bit more :p how much is your insurance?

[Alex_fabia]

Whatever you do must be insured so you better save up just a little bit more and just get a VRS?

[Jack M]

Whatever you do must be insured so you better save up just a little bit more :p how much is your insurance?

insurance for first year (just turned 17 etc etc) £3.5k ish... hoping to get it to sub £2k for this time around!

[Jack M]

A vRS would be nice, but im sure the insurance wouldnt like the idea of me being in a 130+bhp car any more than they do me being in a 68-bhp one!! gonna have to wait a little whole longer for that !

[Titanium_Man]

insurance for first year (just turned 17 etc etc) £3.5k ish... hoping to get it to sub £2k for this time around!

£3.5k.... Sod that I'd sooner walk!!

[Jack M]

£3.5k.... Sod that I'd sooner walk!!

I know the feeling, but its all ive ever wanted to do since i was able to say the word car! i remember when i was 7 getting birthday cards saying "only 10 more years!" money well spent in my eyes

[Titanium_Man]

I know the feeling, but its all ive ever wanted to do since i was able to say the word car! i remember when i was 7 getting birthday cards saying "only 10 more years!" money well spent in my eyes

Well fair play for the positive attitude.... Others wouldn't bother with the insurance for that price so i say again... fair play dude!

[DRJ]

Goodness! You could be my grandson! Bearing in mind the insurance issue is a real one you're not going to like my advice. It's "Do Nothing" - save your money now and use it wisely in the future. If you really want to change the appearance of the car, I'd suggest changing the wheels would give the most visual impact (since it appears that's what you're after) and be readily reversible/re-saleable - but check the insurance implications first. You may find at your age you're in a "no-mods" situation...

EDIT - look forward to getting old! I've just renewed the insurance on my bike - £68 fully comp!

Edited 21 October, 2012 by DRJ

[Alex_fabia]

£3.5k!

[hutchysrs50]

I know it always gets mentiond but im 20 with no ncb and 1 claim against me. The price difference from a 1.2 64bhp fabia to a seat ibiza fr 130bhp was only £400. Worth looking into if you can.

[grr666]

I know it always gets mentiond but im 20 with no ncb and 1 claim against me. The price difference from a 1.2 64bhp fabia to a seat ibiza fr 130bhp was only £400. Worth looking into if you can.

Blimey! I'm glad I'm old

I pay less than the 400 difference for a whole years insurance.

Full comp, mods declared.

I thought at 19 when I got my first car that £600 insurance was a shedload of cash.

That was 20 years ago mind...

[DanHam]

Makes me sick to think how much insurance I've paid in the last 4 years on my car / bike. Got to be nearly £6K - £7K

[Jack M]

Goodness! You could be my grandson! Bearing in mind the insurance issue is a real one you're not going to like my advice. It's "Do Nothing" - save your money now and use it wisely in the future. If you really want to change the appearance of the car, I'd suggest changing the wheels would give the most visual impact (since it appears that's what you're after) and be readily reversible/re-saleable - but check the insurance implications first. You may find at your age you're in a "no-mods" situation...

EDIT - look forward to getting old! I've just renewed the insurance on my bike - £68 fully comp!

Sound advice and i am trying extremely hard not to blow all my cash on it, so far ive bought some vRS seats which were a bargain £40 which i just couldnt pass up! the other thing is a custom stereo which i will hopefully be getting rid of soon, it was a mates rates thing so again not much. other than that its standard.

i guess its just the teenage thing of that i want it to be different and put my mark on it, make it mine, just one of those things i guess.. i could do a lot of the work i want to do myself, but my dad has other ideas and i cant be bothered with him butting in!

[TriggerFish]

I think the biggest 'let down' on that type of Fabia is the front bumper. Might be worth asking the insurance firm if they'd charge if you got a facelifted one or a vRS one fitted. Otherwise I'd save up my money for something 'better' in a few years time, or just do little bits like finding colour coded handles/mirrors/bump strips.

I'm only a 3-4 years older than you and paying £800 to insure a 3litre turbo 6-cylinder as a student so it will get more reasonable soon, just stick with it!

£68 for a year though on a bike - that's less than a years VED on one isn't it (£76?)?!

[Dean-]

Jesus... 3.5K - Insurance in the last couple of years has really shot up. I past my test at 17 and insured a 04 plate (1 year old at the time) 1.9 TDI - Cost me around £1800.

If I were you I would just stick with what you have got for at least 3 years - Build those no claims - buy another car and look at doing that up.

[DRJ]

Remember there are a LOT of factors affecting the level of an insurance premium - postcode being a prime one to consider - but amount of excess makes a big difference too.

[Dean-]

Yeah... I did go for a high excess.

Thing is though I don't blame insurance company for charging the said amount... A 17 year old guy I work with drove a 1.0 Lupo and was paying a lot of money - 3 months down the line he ran straight into a tree whilst doing silly MPH around a corner...

The majority of teens, they get a few mates or a "to be girlfriend" in the car and sense goes out of the window.

[Dean-]

... and then once wrote off they like to display the photo on facebook like a medal.

[Tech1e]

Nowt wrong with a 1.4 MPi, doesn't take much to get them looking half decent

[DanHam]

Yeah... I did go for a high excess.

Thing is though I don't blame insurance company for charging the said amount... A 17 year old guy I work with drove a 1.0 Lupo and was paying a lot of money - 3 months down the line he ran straight into a tree whilst doing silly MPH around a corner...

The majority of teens, they get a few mates or a "to be girlfriend" in the car and sense goes out of the window.

I've got far to many mates like that. One I have to make look like a **** in front of everyone everytime he drives like a tool though. Its not big or clever.

[Jack M]

Nowt wrong with a 1.4 MPi, doesn't take much to get them looking half decent

Believe me im extremely jealous of your car! :p been looking everywhere on ebay for the set you have, just cant find one for the right price yet (insert sad face here). I do love your trims as well (nice to see someone pulling off trims for once) but with 14" wheels its just not the same, need to get some 15 or 16s heading my way me thinks!

Yeah... I did go for a high excess.

Thing is though I don't blame insurance company for charging the said amount... A 17 year old guy I work with drove a 1.0 Lupo and was paying a lot of money - 3 months down the line he ran straight into a tree whilst doing silly MPH around a corner...

The majority of teens, they get a few mates or a "to be girlfriend" in the car and sense goes out of the window.

See i hate driving like that, im more a "low n slow" person (please ignore the fact my car looks like its on stilts) but theres no way i can prove this to someone on the phone, they just click buttons on their computer and then tell me it said NO!

[Highway_61]

See i hate driving like that, im more a "low n slow" person (please ignore the fact my car looks like its on stilts) but theres no way i can prove this to someone on the phone, they just click buttons on their computer and then tell me it said NO!

I'm the same, i don't pay much for my insurance anymore but i know it would jump up if i got vRS & i'm pretty happy with my car just now. But non vRS models need lowering so bad! Stilts is an understatement.

Edited 22 October, 2012 by Highway_61