Hello , i went to view a skoda fabia today , the car is a 2001 1.4 8v model with just 33k on the clock , the guy wants £950 for it which i want to know if its a fair price? , there are a few niggles with it though which i would want to sort.

The front grill has been replaced with some mesh which is poorly fitted , so this needs replacing , would this be expensive and also would any parts need spraying ?

The main query i have is the radiator is held on one side with cable ties , and i cant see where it should mount to ? , as there is just a massive gap ( the left hand side of the radiator if looking at it from the front ).

There is also a slight noise coming from the aux area , as far as i can tell it is the aux area and not the cam chain area , the noise doesn't sound serious at all but it is hard to explain , its a sort of tick sound but not constant and very quiet.

If anyone could shed some light on the issues it would be appreciated

Thanks

also the car only had

one key ? , should i walk away or does it still seem a good offer ? , it has probably been in a scrape before but the repairs look good

a new grill isnt 2 expensive £25 from motorhog ... prices vary on ebay

not sure about radiator... id be tempted to look in to that further .... it may have been bumped??

and as you say a little tick on aux belt may be nothing ?

I'd be skeptical about the radiator. If it had been bumped then the bodyshop would have attended to this too. The fact that it is cable tied sounds like a home job.

£950 seems cheap, 33K mileage is low and this might not be a good thing if the cars never really had long drives. I'd personally ask for service history receipts and get a feel of how much the car has been loved. I'd rather buy a higher mileage vehicle if it's been cared for and regularly serviced

I'd walk. The fact that the owner thinks it's acceptable to present his car for sale with the Radiator secured with tie wraps, shows he has, to say the least lax standards when it comes to looking after a car.

These are only the faults you have seen on the viewing.....expect more to crop up after you buy it.

Walk away.

Touch would barge not pole a with

Keep looking, from the sounds of it it's been bodged at every opportunity and with the grill missing and possible radiator mount damage in the same area I'm thinking it may have had some front end damage at some stage.

My 03 fabia was my grandads and when I had it passed to me 2 yrs ago it had only done 23000 miles. It's a great car but its had a fair bit done to it over the last 2 yrs as it had never really been worn in so to speak. I'd be cautious

What a pile of crap it sounds like, shows that my 52k plate sold a few years ago for £900 or thereabouts was a bargain in comparison (should have kept it, it was a good one, although one reason I'd avoid that engine is the HUGE tax VED cost)

Ours had 60k on but that was genuine and with dealer servicing...no cable ties....walk.....there are lots more 1.4Mpis (like ours was) that are decent and unmolested and dealer service stamped

just done a check the car was previously a cat c write off and repaired , also 5 owners for a car with 33k on the clock is a bit suspicious , whats VED cost ? and the tax is only £200 a year isnt it ?

im now on the look out for a fabia idealy with less then 75k on the clock and in good condition in the midlands area , if anyone spots a good buy can you let me know please

Doesn't the logbook show as CAT C on the front or are DVLA/the insurance co. a couple of years behind as usual?

Either way as soon as you spot front end damage (radiator mounting) and cable ties then add the grill being replaced with mesh you start thinking the worst hence my suggestion of accident damage. If it's not been properly repaired then you don't want to know.

Personally I have nothing against a properly repaired accident damaged car, a stolen/recovered car becomes a cat C even if it has zero damage if the insurer paid out prior to recovery. I'd only buy if the price was low and the seller can show me suitable evidence to back up the claim eg before/after pics with a breakdown of what was done so I can make an informed choice as you've got no chance of a trade sale in future.

VED = Vehicle excise duty.

It's not a tax you see. Taxes a bad!

But really, it's just road tax, but with a nice, friendly name to it.

also 5 owners for a car with 33k on the clock is a bit suspicious,

A 12 year old car with 33,000 miles (although not unheard of) is suspicious enough, but with 5 previous owners I'd say it was guaranteed to have been clocked.

A 12 year old car with 33,000 miles (although not unheard of) is suspicious enough, but with 5 previous owners I'd say it was guaranteed to have been clocked.

My 12 year old mpi had 21k on the clock with full service history and an MOT every 2k and the paperwork to prove it. OK it's going to hit 40k within a year of me owning it (2 weeks) but my point is they do exist.

You have to remember back then Skoda was about as cool as Lada, your average Skoda owner was older, usually didn't know much about cars, and wanted a basic, cheap car that was going to let them get to the shops and back. The dealerships were small independent franchise holders and Skoda wasn't 'cool', most people wouldn't be seen dead in one till the PR kicked in a few years later.

My 12 year old mpi had 21k on the clock with full service history and an MOT every 2k and the paperwork to prove it. OK it's going to hit 40k within a year of me owning it (2 weeks) but my point is they do exist.

Absolutely. I've owned a few cars like yours myself in the past.

But if you didn't see any service history/mot's with the car you would have had to suspect the worst.