There is a current offer on until the end of this month - £8995 for a Fabia SE 1.2 12v 69ps with a choice of two metallic colours.

 

I know a new Fabia is out soon, i already have a Mk2 one and like the bodyshape, but what is this particular engine like for general around town and going to work duties ? Is this a good deal ?

 

 

The deal's as good as you'll get. The 1.2 htp 3 pot engine is ideally suited for a town run around. A little less so for motorway work where it is noisier and heavier on fuel compared to say the 1.2tsi.

Cheap to insure, reliable, and easy to maintain.

Take it on finance, cancel finance early, and you still get the 3 yrs free servicing for virtually nothing.

Plenty of examples to test drive at dealers, make sure you get a long and decent test drive.

You should be able to negotiate a bundle of freebies, I got door strips, sill protectors, mats and a tank of fuel.

Be aware that depreciation is quite steep, in percentage terms, (december is a bad month to take a car), and will be steeper still when the new model is launched. So better if you plan to keep it for several years rather than trade in after a couple of years.

The new fabia will be considerably more expensive, Skoda have been pushing up the "list price" (which no-one in their right mind should pay) so that the new fabia will appear "good value"

Note the fuel consumption is far higher than your diesel, expect only 40-45 mpg after its run in. For the first few thousand miles you may not get much better than 35-40 mpg!

Edited 11 December, 201312 yr by xman

Iv got this engine in mine. Its a good little engine really. Obviously dont expect masses of output, but its not bad at all.

At 70 is doing 3000 revs, so its pretty happy cruising at that, or even 80 at 3500rpm, but do expect the fuel consumption to drop.

Mines done 5500 miles now and im averaging 45mpg overall. Given that its very hilly around where i am (i live in the peak district).

The 3 cylinder engine has been in vag cars for a fair few years now (my parents have a 2005 polo with the same engine, although its slightly lower geared and at a different state of tune. Because of emissions maybe?) and i know it was available in a polo right back to 2002, atleast. So its definitely proven.

I love my little car. It drives really well, and im happy with performance aslong as there isnt too much weight in.

Ditch the Fabia and get a Citigo if you don't mind the slightly smaller dimensions

 

Interior space is bigger than you think

 

Much nicer to drive and own though

 

Quite a few are leaving the fabia for a Citigo, and all are happy they did

 

Just my 2p 

I would rather have a Citigo than the 1.2l three pot Fabia but not the 1.2TSI or 1.6 CR.

Had a Citigo as a courtesy car and was pleasantly surprised at how good it was, the interior's not as nice a place to be in compared to my Monte though, too much bare metal and hard plastics and the stereo sounded pants.

If space is what you're after then the Fabia is going to win but the Citigo is defo worth looking at.

Cheers for that, its not the space i need a Citigo would suit just fine but they seem to really expensive compared to some offers on the Fabia, there is nothing on offer for the Citigo at the moment and the one i would want is the 5 door Elegance.... so even more expensive.

Fair enough, you're right though, for what I paid for my Monte Tech you could easily spend on a Citigo so pound for pound, the Fabia would be the bargain.

The one thing to consider is the Fabia is approaching the last throws of its current incarnation and there may be other "specials" to maintain sales until the new model comes out (next year I believe) - with low headline list prices.  Residuals might not be as good as the Citigo if that is a concern - especially when the new model comes out.  The Citigo is probably a better drive (based on a 75PS Citigo and a Fabia vRS that we currently have) - certainly feels more "solid"  All depends what your criteria are - MPG figures for the Citigo should be better than the 1.2 12V Fabia though - most owners struggle to get below 40mpg irrespective of the short journeys in the cold weather with high 50's being reported on a regular basis.  I think most Citigo's are also Group 1 insurance and zero road tax as well..

I dont like the look of the citigo. Just another tiny car like the aygo etc etc. the interior in the fabia is a much nicer place to be too.

I have the 1.2 three cylinder engine in my 61 Fabia SE+.  Went from a 1.9 diesel to the 1.2 petrol so a big change.  But the 1.2 three cylinder is much better than you would think.  At £8,995 for a car the size of the Fabia, it will be hard to beat.

I doubt by 2016-7 a 3-4 year old Citigo is going to be much more in demand than a 3-4 year old Fabia is.

So thoughts of good residuals for Citigos is wishful thinking.

Maybe cars are better value bought as keepers with 5 plus years in mind and bought with 5 year warranties..

We know want 5-6 year old Fabias are like,

nobody knows for another 4 years what a 5 year old Citigo/Up!/Mii will be like, probably fine.

 

george

I took one out the other day with my father and found the engine to be very poor, only in so far as it needed working fairly hard and this particular one was a bit rattly.

They too had some at that price, but my Dad preferred the citigo to drive but as they were not willing to budge on the citigo for cash he went to Hyundai and bought a massively discounted I10 current model..

I would expect a better residual for a Citigo (which by then would still be a current model) versus a "last model" Fabia, but no-one has a crystal ball on that one, George!

 

There is another argument that the last the line of a particular model has had all the bugs ironed out by that point, production processes and parts are at their optimum so it should be a safer bet (based on history) than a "just released" model.  Still appears to be a few gremlins in the Citigo (gearbox and clutch mainly according to the Citigo forum) and the odd niggle on the Octy 3...

I have this engine in my Fabia Reaction, which for about £600 more gives you the look of the Monte Carlo (almost) and is probably only missing heated door mirrors versus SE.

 

I don't know if they're still available but we bought it with our son (first car in 5 years' time) in mind so depreciation and lack of performance are not an issue.

 

We use it mainly as a town car where parking is tighter, and it has improved after being run-in.  Somehow the 3-cylinder "purr" is quite rewarding, and sparked off a suggestion by my son yesterday that he would fit a dump valve and stealth exhaust when he gets it! Maybe not!