Fabia 1.2 petrol new or used Fabia 1.2 Greenline

[yorkshirefella]

Can anyone out there help me make a final decision on a car?

It will be my first Skoda, and it will be mostly motorway miles, 40 mile round trip daily commute.

Approx 15,000 miles a year.

It will be a Fabia either the basic 1.2 petrol se model new, at the special deal under £9,000 or been offered a Fabia Greenline 1.2 diesel.

Come on, help me out! Never had a diesel before, test driven both and both good for my needs.

[yorkshirefella]

Sorry forgot to say, Greenline 61 plate, 5,000 miles at approx £9,995

[Stagger]

Well, for the things that come as standard on the greenline, my favourite being the cruise control; and the mpg, I would personally go for the greenline.

Good luck with your choice, I'm sure you will enjoy which ever one you choose.

[xman]

Buy the Greenline.

The Petrol 1.2 3cyl is poor on fuel consumption (45mpg at best - round town much lower) and is rather noisy and wearisome as a motorway cruiser (where you'll probably only get 40 mpg). Also the consumption in the first few thousand miles will be dreadful - mine only managed low 30's for a long time.

At 15,000 miles a year the Greenlines payback time is short, the road tax is very low (£30?) and as a bonus it should already be run in and the fuel consumption decent - though bear in mind the government/brochure figure are just pie in the sky.

However the Greenline is not perfect - it can be a bit noisy, the performance takes a bit of getting used to. So make sure you test drive it properly (at least an hour) to satisfy yourself - also check it has not had any warranty issues as a few (but not many) Greenlines have had major engine problems.

Edit: Yes the cruise control on the Greenline is a big plus.

Edited 13 April, 2013 by xman

[Stagger]

Buy the Greenline.

The Petrol 1.2 3cyl is poor on fuel consumption (45mpg at best - round town much lower) and is rather noisy and wearisome as a motorway cruiser (where you'll probably only get 40 mpg). Also the consumption in the first few thousand miles will be dreadful - mine only managed low 30's for a long time.

At 15,000 miles a year the Greenlines payback time is short, the road tax is very low (£30?) and as a bonus it should already be run in and the fuel consumption decent - though bear in mind the government/brochure figure are just pie in the sky.

However the Greenline is not perfect - it can be a bit noisy, the performance takes a bit of getting used to. So make sure you test drive it properly (at least an hour) to satisfy yourself - also check it has not had any warranty issues as a few (but not many) Greenlines have had major engineproblems.

Road tax is £0 for the Greenline (though I'm sure the chancellor will find a way to get his money somehow !)

[Greenmonster]

Yep, Greenline would be best for your annual mileage. I assume the new petrol is the SE 1.2 69PS which is a great deal at £8995 but shame it's not the 1.2TSI 86ps or 105ps. If you were just doing mostly town driving then I would have said go for that, but the 69ps is a bit slow. Saying that the 1.2 TDI is slow too, but will definitely give you great mpg.

[kevberlin]

Good though it is, For me the 1.2 petrol is just not a motorway car. I'd go Greenline.

[lol-lol]

Can anyone out there help me make a final decision on a car?

It will be my first Skoda, and it will be mostly motorway miles, 40 mile round trip daily commute.

Approx 15,000 miles a year.

It will be a Fabia either the basic 1.2 petrol se model new, at the special deal under £9,000 or been offered a Fabia Greenline 1.2 diesel.

Come on, help me out! Never had a diesel before, test driven both and both good for my needs.

Oh, touch dicesion.

Diesel willl be out of warranty next year so you will either need to get another warranty or risk something going wrong and if it is turbo/oil etc then that could be several thousands pounds.

Petrol warms up really quickly, literally within a mile but a Kevberlin says it is a bit grating on the motorway if you like to criiuse above 70 mph.

I would go petrol, no hassle motoring but keep it below 70 mph and it is then good on fuel and quite quiet.

Edited 13 April, 2013 by lol

[bluecar1]

the greenline is liable to be better for your motoring

if they are both at the same dealer test drive them both

I think you will be surprised at the performance, I have the GL II estate and the wife has a mk1 vrs we are changing shortly for a citigo 1.0 75ps greentech, we test drove the 75ps citigo and the GL II 75ps TDI leaves it standing, I struggle to see less than 60mpg from the GL II and on longer runs I am in the 70's and sometimes 80's mpg

the little 1.2tdi does take a while to warm up compared to a petrol

if the warranty left is an issue, see if the dealer will through in an extra years warranty to sweeten the deal? or find out how much to get the extra 2 years you can get

how come the GL has only 5k in 18months? seems very low ask a few questions about its history

[BossFox]

I would go for the Greenline II, but I'd also want some money off the price because they are under £12k new with the VAT off.

Paying £10k for one around 18 months old seems a bit much.

If you could stretch to the extra £2k for a new one a few hundred more buys you a 5 year/ 100,000 mile warranty.

Well worth it in my opinion.

Do a good test drive of the GL2 though.

I liked mine (20k miles in 1 year) but they are a little vocal when cold and the gearbox ratios are quite spaced out.

Standard kit is very good though, as is the slightly lower suspension. Less boat like than basic Fabias.

[greenstripe]

Another vote for the Greenline II here -Bossfox I agree with what you are saying price wise, but try and find one. Perhaps some serious haggling is in order

5,000 miles for a 18 month old car is very low mileage -I'd be asking why, there might be a perfectly reasonable explanation for this.

[yorkshirefella]

Thank you all for your comments, very useful.

Not sure I can stretch for a new Greenline, but will try get more info on the used one, extend the warranty, and get say £1k knocked off!

Other than that, may have to pick the 1.6 diesel instead, but test driven both this Greenline, and the 1.2 petrol, but not for 1 hour!

Took a little getting used to as never had a diesel before.

[The Plumber]

A difficult one as both have there pro's and cons, the greenline is better specified, has ESP and rear disc brakes.. However the gearbox ratio's take some getting used to and the skinny tyres lack grip and a feeling of security, particularly on back roads.

The SE is less equipped and is missing ESP/rear discs, however it's new with the option of extending the warranty to five years for about £250 (what we were charged for our Monte), plus the 1.2HTP is a well tried and tested Skoda motor, that is cheap and simple to maintain. Had a few Fabia's now with the HTP and they have quite happily taken me 600 odd miles in a day driving into Europe.

Best advice though would be to try and get a good test drive in both type to see which suites best.

TP

[bluecar1]

my daughter has a 105ps 1.6tdi monte and struggles to get 50mpg, I only got 55mpg on a trip back from devon to kent in the monte, but I normally get low to mid 70's in my GL II on the same run

also GL II has far more standard kit on it, ESP plus, cruise, hill hold, etc

1.6 is £30 tax, GL is £0 and £0 congestion charge if you drive in London (just need to register car with TfL)

[yorkshirefella]

My gut is saying the Greenline, it's just that little warranty left. I know I can add another couple of years, but this next car purchase we will keep it for 6-8 years, so don't want any costly surprises!

[The Plumber]

If your planning that length of ownership new, to me anyway, would be the way to go and OK the SE is less equipped but obviously less to give you bills after the five year point.

TP

[greenstripe]

As far as I'm aware you can only extend your warranty with Skoda at the time of purchase on a new car. Any decent dealer should let you have the car for a 1 hour test drive at the very least -in your position it might be worth asking if you can have it for longer -over a weekend perhaps if they know you are serious. You won't loose anything for asking.

[yorkshirefella]

I have found a Greenline estate, 12 plate with 13k on the clock, £10,400 or 1.6 diesel fabia 12 plate 6k miles, at same price.

If either dealer wants to come down on price, think I might be happy!!

Think either would be good for my driving, if I can extend the warranty (think it goes with RAC) for another couple of years, should be sorted.

If both had just one owner, then both had a good bedding in period, with a good warranty still on them.

Greenline may sway it, but will need to have a run out in the 1.6

[bluecar1]

the 12 plates would have been in the VAT free offer so price looks a little high for them

if you can get the reg try autotrader, they have a little thing about "value a car" costs about £5 but it gives you the prices (dealer, private and trade in, and a couple of others) used by the insurers and trade and see how it compares to what they are asking, you could use it to haggle if that shows a lower price than the dealer is asking

if you are spending 11k on a car £5 to get some info has got to be worth it

[The Plumber]

If your willing to travel a little this looks a good buy for under 10k

http://www.cjacars.co.uk/used/honda/liverpool/show/fy12wxp-2012-skoda-fabia-1-6-tdi-elegance-105bhp-hatchback/

TP

[bluecar1]

http://www.skoda.net.r66.co.uk/carview.aspx?id=602910594 62 plate £11k but in brum

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201137415809462 11 reg £9.5k a bit over priced in Peterborough

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201208172969006 12 reg £10.5k bit better price in bilston Wolverhampton

not many of the greenlines around it seems, not many people seem to want to part with them yet

[yorkshirefella]

Sure this one hasn't done 1 miles as advertised!

Thanks for the other ones though

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201304126230267/sort/default/usedcars/price-from/7000/price-to/11000/fuel-type/diesel/maximum-mileage/up_to_10000_miles/model/fabia/make/skoda/onesearchad/used/onesearchad/nearlynew/onesearchad/new/radius/60/page/1/postcode/ls226jz?logcode=p

[bluecar1]

that ones at brighton street in hull, by looks of it that one, its got a few extras as it has the multi function steering wheel according to the pictures

[raisbeck]

Having owned both a 1.2HTP (did 98,000 miles before selling it) then buying a Greenline 1 and using both on the same 110 mile commute, I would actually lean toward the HTP.

The HTP was a great little car to drive, I did 70-80 often and it handled it fine, just don't expect it to accelerate hard much above 60.

Yes the diesel is proportionally more efficient over longer distance, but over 20 miles each way taking the fact petrol is cheaper the margins arent significant over a year. As previously mentioned the HTP is simple and cheap for maintenance. I found the Greenline a bit of a pain in towns as the gears are much longer.

To be honest either car will be fine, its just in the same situation I would have the HTP.

SWMBO has my Greenline now as I have a company hack, she does about 20 miles a day in it just fine, but the economy has dropped by about 10mpg as she isnt doing the longer distances at steady speed with a fully warm engine as I used to.

Not definitive as the GL2 is very different to my GL1 so drive both, over the same distance you propose and make your decision then.

[GTWaites]

I'd be tempted to go for the Greenline. I do a 52 mile round trip on a daily basis, and seem to gain more out of a diesel more than I did out of the 1.2 petrol I had.