Looking to buy a used Fabia around 2004/2005 petrol 1.2 for young family member.

Looking at spending £2.5-£3.5k at a small independant garage.

What should I look out for to avoid buying a problem car??....More about Fabia specific issues than

the generic used car issues for a car that age.

Edited 7 January, 201313 yr by kibby

Welcome Have a quick search, the 1.2 has valve issues, head issues, coil issues and all the normal Fabia niggles (water ingress through door seals, angle sensor, console bushes etc.)

If it's a young driver then consider getting them into an older/cheaper fabia, they (or you) will pay that much in insurance that it makes more sense, plus the likelihood that they will have a minor prang, the safety is the same as the design didn't change through production, you just got extra airbags if you went with a higher spec.

you could aways buy a vauxhall agila such as this on :

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2002-Vauxhall-Opel-Agila-1-2-16v-Spares-Repairs-Project-Parts-Starts-Drives-/330780799737?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4d041272f9

itl be cheap to run, wont get pranged and wont break as im sure the owner would much prefer to walk therefore very low maintainence costs

^^^ First car I shared with mum was one of them, but in Arden Blue. It was the luxury model with electric windows, central locking and CD player

I loved it though, the 1.2 is pretty nippy (which is why mum / me had a 1.0)

It was one of those cars that you'd think was on its last legs, but refused to die. We chopped it in for a Polo in 2010 and got £500 for it with 135k on it, a collapsed battery cell and not a single panel without a scratch or dent on (mum's a teacher in salford, cars get subject to abuse there as well as on the streets of rochdale :( ) She was just glad someone would take it off her :p I loved it though, could get my gear in, great visibility, go kart like handling and parking it was **** easy. They also work well in the snow!

Don't be put off a Fabia 1.2. Just make sure it drives well and doesn't have any issues and get a proper warranty. If you go on any of the car forums all used cars have some issues. A newer vehicle with less miles will be cheaper to buy a warranty on.