Having just spoken to Paul Davies at Sherlodge Garage, they have their demonstrator/showroom vRS in. I am going up their at weekend fot a drive and also to find out where MY one is.:cheers:

I was talking to Paul in the garage today, he said it is arriving tomorrow and to come up at the weekend.

No news on the insurance group still.

Just been up to the dealership myself to enquire about it. You tend to get quite friendly with the dealership staff if you go in as often as i do! (hello again comments etc!)

They are expecting their demo Fabia vRS in about a week (apparently every dealer has been allocated one)

Got hold of a funky advertising pamphlet for the Fabia vRS too.

Also sat in a nice red Octy vRS (mmmmm!... leather!) waiting to be picked up.

Decisions, decisions... to vRS or not to vRS, that is the question!

the insurance group as per abi is group 12 which is the same as the vw golf gti tdi.

only 3 days to go to pick my vrs up can't wait. went and saw it yesterday. the dealer still hasn't had theirs yet but have let people have a look at mine. hope he gives us a discount. hehe.

Originally posted by Mr.Peck in this post

Having just spoken to Paul Davies at Sherlodge Garage, they have their demonstrator/showroom vRS in. I am going up their at weekend fot a drive and also to find out where MY one is.:cheers:

WHAT???????

And Barry hasnt rung me grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Best give him a call

Andy

Has anyone read this week's Autocar handling test as they had the vRS Fabia versus the Ford Sport Ka. It lost and they didn't like the vRS at all mainly because of the diesel engine and gear ratios plus it came last in the laptimes. What a pity its not the 1.8 T petrol engine.

Whilst this doesn't worry me unduly ( for the wife) I think it will tend to damage it's reputation resale depreciation-wise. I have looked up some numbers for the Fabia TDI and it does seem to drop quicker than the Oct VRS over two years - is that right in anyone's experience?

Chris

Originally posted by chrish in this post

Has anyone read this week's Autocar handling test as they had the vRS Fabia versus the Ford Sport Ka.

What a ridiculous comparison to make. They're not even remotely the same size, spec or price.

Well - my TDI is now just over two years and I've been told it's worth (privately) a MAX of

The Ford Sport KA is also butt-ugly, IMO!

Separated at birth? You decide:

Jason , I hate to point this out , but if after 3 years your car is worth 40% of its retail price , that sounds like 60% depriciation to me .............sorry :(

Originally posted by chrish in this post

. I have looked up some numbers for the Fabia TDI and it does seem to drop quicker than the Oct VRS over two years - is that right in anyone's experience?

Chris

Not really. The Fabia TDi is still quite saught after. Typically it holds 50 to 55% of it's value where as the Octavia doesn't seem to do as well on the used market. Mind you saying that there is always a demand for supermini's whereas the larger car market has all the Mondeos and the Vectras floating around that are so much cheaper therfore the Octavia has to try an compete

My car will always have a rarity value I guess - I never see Fabias of any kind in the local classifieds, let alone a TDI. However, if I was a punter, I would not expect to pay more than say,

Keeping a car for a long time seems to make more financial sense than getting shot of it after 3 or so years. Companies that lease vehicles and rental companies are holding onto them for longer too now than they used to especially with the economy the way it is at the moment.

Personally, I buy them at 2 or 3 years old when the worst of the depreciation has already taken place. Admittedly I then put a fair few miles on and don't get much back afterwards, but I don't suffer nearly as badly as if I'd bought new in the first place.

Sounds like an astute tactic, Nick. Unfortunately for me, the Fabia, in 2001, was as rare as anything and would have been lucky to get a 2 year old TDI - I think the first couple of years they only made the two petrol engines, which I didn't really want, no offence to petrol cars.

All my mates believe I should get shot of my car before the warranty expires, due to the number of problems with it. I, however, believe there have been very few real problems. The only big one was the turbo packing up and I believe that was a one-off and a turbo on a TDI engine will normally last longer than most engine components like the cambelt,etc. The only other niggles have been a new speaker ( which I blew anyway testing the new Kenwood HU...wasn't going to tell THEM that ), the second niggle has been the door lock which I'm getting fitted tomorrow morning, ready for the eibachs the following weekend... I've known less reliable cars

But who really buys a car as a financial investment anyway? As has been sagely said before, if you are worried about losing on depreciation, you shouldn't be buying a new car! And even then, a car is a guaranteed way of losing money...

Jason - I'd agree with you about keeping the car, as any manufacturing faults will be more or less ironed out by the end of the warranty period. Furthermore, even if you replaced your car like-for-like, it'll probably cost you about about

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

But who really buys a car as a financial investment anyway? As has been sagely said before, if you are worried about losing on depreciation, you shouldn't be buying a new car! And even then, a car is a guaranteed way of losing money

Rob.

Well it won't lose money if it is an Enzo or something else extremely rare or in high demand to the punters who will pay over the list to get the car! Mind you, you will have to cough up for insurance, servicing and the rather heavy purchase price in the first place for something like the enzo....

Indeed - though I think there would be more financially astute ways of investing

Indeed but if shares get you as excited as a Ferrar you need to take a good look at yourself and possible go to a travel agents!

AND, once the warranty runs out I can tell my dealer to go f*** themselves and find a local friendly independant garage to do all my repairs (hopefully, none) and servicing, of course!

Although I'm going to test the vRS Fabia - I can really see myself just keeping my car and saving up for bits and pieces to make it vRS like - the remap being priority #1

Almost certain now I will NOT be able to afford the vRS... You can say I'm too attached to my car - I think I've said that before?

Originally posted by flyingscot in this post

Indeed but if shares get you as excited as a Ferrar you need to take a good look at yourself and possible go to a travel agents!

I can imagine shares to be very exciting - well, it's just like gambling really...

Very few Ferarri's will make you money, and if they did, you probably wouldn't be able to drive it much... :(

Rob.

Originally posted by flyingscot in this post

Well it won't lose money if it is an Enzo or something else extremely rare or in high demand to the punters who will pay over the list to get the car! Mind you, you will have to cough up for insurance, servicing and the rather heavy purchase price in the first place for something like the enzo....

Now here is an idea... Let's sabotage Skoda's production lines for the vRS and make sure there are only a handfull in circulation... A cunning plan indeed!

Aye Aye, 'e's been sniffin' the Swissol again!

You sure it's not something a bit stronger, like a certain white powder?