Hello, first a bit of back story. We had a Felicia estate for seven years until last summer and covered nearly 80,000 miles in it. It had just reached 140,000 and was still going strong but was starting to get a little tired so we thought we'd upgrade to something a little more modern.

We ended up with an MG ZT-T which was very nice to drive but the problems started almost immeadiatly. At least I thought it was unreliable but talking to people at work it seems everyone expects their cars to go wrong and seem to think nothing of spending a few hundred to get them through MOT's. But our Skoda wasn't like that. It went straight through every MOT and in 80,000 miles all we really had to do was general consumables, brake pads, exhaust, an alternator that sort of thing. Never had to do ball joints , bushes, clutch or anything major in all that time and we treated the poor thing like a builders van at times.

So basically we decided to go back to what we know but thought we'd try and find a good one this time, figuring that we could probably get 150,000 miles out of one if we do. The only trouble is other people seem to have a different idea of what good means than I have. Like when the advert says "one of the best you'll find" and you get there to find the front bumper held together with cable ties. The seller then says it's good for it's age. That means nothing. It's either good or it isn't! Anyway, rant over, after two months of scouring the internet and travelling up to 100 miles to see so called good cars and walking away, this was the fifth car we went to see and was finally as good as the ad said.

It's a 1.6 SLXi with a mere 38,000 miles on it. It's not completely mint, there are a few light scratches and some of the paint has lifted on the sunroof frame, but that's easily sorted. But it is totally straight with perfect rear arches, the interior is like new and the engine bay is very nearly as clean as the interior. And of course as it's an SLXi it has all the toys on it including those alloy wheels and electric windows. This one should last us ten years as it's already in better nick than our old one when we got that, by which time it will be 25 years old!

Anyway I took a couple of pictures this afternoon, whilst I had the camera out to photograph the MG so I can try and sell it. The sun was in the wrong place and it already needs a wash even though we've only had it four days and our road is not the most photogenic of settings but you get the idea. I'll take some better ones at some point.

Anyone want an MG?

That is a really tidy looking example, I wish mine was a good as that.

I washed my car today for the 1^st time this year. It was dirty. Now it's clean. Didn't have a camera to freeze the moment in time. Anyway the sun was in the wrong spot, I hate when it's doing that instead revolving correctly around my car (autumn red).

Oh well... Anyone buying a nutered tomcat?

Hi & agree with TT on that. You'll find a wealth of information on this forum for Fellys, to enhance what you already know. There are some nice tidy examples out there, with sensible mileage & a price tag to match. Mechanically there aren't too many horror stories but do watch out for the body work side, especially those areas that tend to be harder to inspect (suspension mountings, inner wings, sills etc).

Good to hear you're returning to the fold

Ha, let the modifications commence.... :-D

I must admit to treating mine like a builders' van at times too. Same thing though, great car. Bodywork showing its age now and I don't think I'd easily find a good one like yours. People hang on to them 'till they're dead. Over 130,000 miles on it so far and hope to get some more out of it yet. None of the nagging engine management light nonsense we get with our Fabia either.

Well done, great find

I must admit to treating mine like a builders' van at times too. Same thing though, great car. Bodywork showing its age now and I don't think I'd easily find a good one like yours. People hang on to them 'till they're dead. Over 130,000 miles on it so far and hope to get some more out of it yet. None of the nagging engine management light nonsense we get with our Fabia either.

Well done, great find

Many times I've carried loads of different stuff in the back of the pick up & most of mine in the past have gone +130k! Dependable/affordable motoring with the scope to mod if you want to :yes:

That is a really tidy looking example, I wish mine was a good as that.

Hi Tom, I've been following your progress and I think yours will be very much as good as mine before too much longer. I'll swap if you like, once you've finished it of course!

Ha, let the modifications commence.... :-D

It could do with being a little lower and when I was looking for one I was thinking about a nice set of wheels but the Skoda alloys are so rare I think I should keep them. does anyone know the width of these as I was thinking a set of 185/60 13's would be a good compromise. Some bigger wheels would be nice but I can't really spend any money on it until I get rid of the MG.

One thing that is a bit annoying is that the drivers door lock and ignition have been changed so I have one key for the drivers door, one for the ignition and one for the passenger door and boot. It's not a problem when driving but it is when I stop and have to put the keys in my pocket as they are rather bulky. So I may have to invest in a matching set of locks at some point but I can live with it for now.

Here's a picture of our old Felicia. It looks better here than it really did. You can't see the rusty rear arches or the oil, plaster and sawdust ingrained in the carpet. Decent pre facelift cars are getting really rare now.

Mine's black. This is it last month in the snow:

It came with the arch covers, wind deflectors and the caddy grill. I added the foglights.

Edited 6 February, 201313 yr by Red Studio

Well that's got to be unique hasn't it? I would like mine to stand out somehow but I'm not sure how yet.

Hmm arch covers, that could hide my rusty bits enough for me to get an mot...

Hmm arch covers, that could hide my rusty bits enough for me to get an mot...

Oh, they're great for that. Took mine off to clean behind and you guessed it... :(

On the plus side they now cover up the patchwork.

Are those genuine skoda parts? I'm going to fix my arches properly anyway but I think i might chuck a set of those on too if I can get hold of some.

Arch - Covers a multitude of sins

Are those genuine skoda parts? I'm going to fix my arches properly anyway but I think i might chuck a set of those on too if I can get hold of some.

I think they could be. The texture and profile match the bumpers too closely to be otherwise but when I took the rear pair off I don't remember seeing any maker's mark.