Mk1 Fabia VRS buying advice

[Maieth]

Just noticed it has got rear parking sensors as well.

The airbag light and the missing button from the stereo need looking at.

 

I've just spotted these bits.  Parking sensors are yet another bonus, this one has a great options list, but on top of the damaged console and airbag light, on closer inspection I've also noticed what seems to be a tear on the drivers seat, scuff marks on the doors, passenger seat and rear seats as well as the general grubbiness of the interior.  I think after some initial excitement, I'm going to have to keep the following in mind: 

 

Buy on condition and service history, not on mileage.  If it's not been looked after then walk away.

 

This car has not been looked after.

Back to autotrader.

[mondy1975]

This car has not been looked after.

Back to autotrader.

 

Probably a wise move...

[m4tt274]

What was wrong with it?

[Maieth]

Small stuff mostly, but take a close look at the interior pictures and they show a lot of marks on the upholstery, a switch broken off the dash and the airbag warning light left ignored. Less a case of the issues themselves, more the kind of treatment they suggest by previous owner.

On top of which, I was a less than impressed with the dealership over the phone. Spoke to them twice and both times I was spoken to as if picking the phone up to discuss a sale was a massive inconvenience.

[mondy1975]

On top of which, I was a less than impressed with the dealership over the phone. Spoke to them twice and both times I was spoken to as if picking the phone up to discuss a sale was a massive inconvenience.

 

Imagine what they'd be like if you had a problem with it then!

 

A vRS with that specification should have shifted quickly - the fact that it hasn't says it all, sadly.

[Maieth]

Ok, next:

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403102393773/usedcars?logcode=visc

 

Lower spec, but lower price to match. Looks in better nick, looked after and the dealership have been exceptionally polite and helpful so far. Service history sounds decent from phone conversation.  Question is, does anyone know how many of the original options can be added aftermarket? Indications of price would be excellent as I'm sure heated seats, for example, would be possible to find and install, but only at several hundred quid.

[mondy1975]

Cruise control - about £200-£230 (details further back in the thread)

 

Heated seats - would be easier (and possibly cheaper) to get a new aftermarket kit fitted, would cost around £400-£500.  Trouble is, it wouldn't have the Skoda switches.  Alternatively, you could scour the scrapyards for a facelift Elegance, which had heated seats as standard, and strip out the heated panels, wiring, switches etc.

 

Parking sensors - aftermarket ones around £250 fitted and colour coded.

 

Xenon lights and washers - would mean getting them from a breakers yard and may be a sod to do.  New parts would be astronomical.  You could always upgrade the bulbs in the standard headlights if you're unhappy with them.  You can get Osram Night Breakers for about £16 and they're brilliant.  There's also a Philips equivalent that people on here like.

 

Leather re-trim - around £850-£1000 including the doorcards.

 

Electric sunroof - would have to be aftermarket and would be at least £600.

 

Better to either wait until a better specified one comes up, or bite the bullet and pay the extra for an SE.  It will always be easier to sell though and be worth more than a normal vRS.  Alternatively, you could get one that's already got the factory Xenon option (which would be the hardest option to retrofit) and just add the extras you want, eg cruise control and parking sensors would cost around £450.  Trouble is, adding options won't increase its value, just its desirability; whereas an SE will hold its value because the fancy bits were a standard feature and thus the car's value is a known quantity. 

[Bogwoppit]

Ok, next:

 

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403102393773/usedcars?logcode=visc

 

Lower spec, but lower price to match. Looks in better nick, looked after and the dealership have been exceptionally polite and helpful so far. Service history sounds decent from phone conversation.  Question is, does anyone know how many of the original options can be added aftermarket? Indications of price would be excellent as I'm sure heated seats, for example, would be possible to find and install, but only at several hundred quid.

That looks better in the photos than the black one from previous.

It has got cruise control on it which is a bonus.

[Maieth]

Yeah, I spotted the cruise control even though not advertised. My daily commute is a 50 mile round trip that's 90% motorway and major A-road, so slipping into a lovely 65mph  cruise in 6th should see my fuel expenditure fall nicely.  I currently have to rev the **** out of a battered pug306 that manages 29mpg on a good day.   Spoke to the dealer yesterday and no heated seats sadly. It's the one thing I'd pay a little more for at the moment.

[mondy1975]

Heated seats are very rare on the vRS - I've only seen a couple with them.  Madness when you consider how cheap an option they were when new.

[mondy1975]

Looks a lot better car, that one.

[Maieth]

Cruise control - about £200-£230 (details further back in the thread)

 

Heated seats - would be easier (and possibly cheaper) to get a new aftermarket kit fitted, would cost around £400-£500.  Trouble is, it wouldn't have the Skoda switches.  Alternatively, you could scour the scrapyards for a facelift Elegance, which had heated seats as standard, and strip out the heated panels, wiring, switches etc.

 

Parking sensors - aftermarket ones around £250 fitted and colour coded.

 

Xenon lights and washers - would mean getting them from a breakers yard and may be a sod to do.  New parts would be astronomical.  You could always upgrade the bulbs in the standard headlights if you're unhappy with them.  You can get Osram Night Breakers for about £16 and they're brilliant.  There's also a Philips equivalent that people on here like.

 

Leather re-trim - around £850-£1000 including the doorcards.

 

Electric sunroof - would have to be aftermarket and would be at least £600.

 

Better to either wait until a better specified one comes up, or bite the bullet and pay the extra for an SE.  It will always be easier to sell though and be worth more than a normal vRS.  Alternatively, you could get one that's already got the factory Xenon option (which would be the hardest option to retrofit) and just add the extras you want, eg cruise control and parking sensors would cost around £450.  Trouble is, adding options won't increase its value, just its desirability; whereas an SE will hold its value because the fancy bits were a standard feature and thus the car's value is a known quantity. 

 

Very helpful list, cheers Mondy. Cruise control is my top pick so I'm glad to have found one with that. OE heated seat switches are available from skoda parts so one would hope they could be hooked up to an aftermarket kit by a skoda garage. Something to look into.  Found a local VAG garage today who gave me a very fast callback to an email enquiry, so that's a good start.

[mondy1975]

Cruise control is the easiest thing on the list to retro-fit (and quite cheap ), so I wouldn't worry about whether any cars you look at have it or not as you can always add it.

 

You might be better contacting a firm that fits aftermarket seat heating to see if they could connect up their kits to the OEM Skoda switches, most car alarm / car stereo places now do aftermarket heated seats and will have more experience in wiring than most mechanics (as mechanics normally hate wiring and contract such work out a lot of the time).

 

One other modification that I'd be tempted to do to a vRS if I had one is to fit the electric rear windows from an Elegance model in the breakers yard.  You'd need to find an Elegance with black trim and also fit a blanking plate to the hole where the window winder had been. 

[Maieth]

Ok.

I went to view and test the red VRS today. Not too bad - one or two minor issues and a couple of queries raised.

1. Blue smoke. Followed advice and started engine from cold. On startup the exhaust gave off blue smoke for 3 or 4 seconds before settling to minimal white vapour and then nothing. No evidence of blue smoke under load or when accelerating. What would this indicate and should I be budgeting for any test or work?

2. Coolant warning light. This was illuminated from startup, but the level was fine. Just above max. Dealer said that it is a known issue that when the coolant filler cap is opened and resealed it sometimes throws up the error light for about until it is next started. True or a big fat fib? If a fib, again, what other causes might there be?

Thanks for advice so far guys. Has been very useful.

[Maieth]

Blue smoke - further reading suggests stem seals and guides. Anyone able to give an estimate on getting these sorted professionally?

[sepulchrave]

Blue smoke - further reading suggests stem seals and guides. Anyone able to give an estimate on getting these sorted professionally?

 

Not on a TDI, far more likely to be turbo seals which seal better once oil pressure is up.

[Maieth]

Not on a TDI, far more likely to be turbo seals which seal better once oil pressure is up.

Thanks. Ok, so same question - how big a problem and how quick/expensive to sort?

[sepulchrave]

Not really a big problem, means the turbo is middle-aged, it would mean a new CHRA which is about £250 plus labour.

 

Coolant light probably means a new coolant tank needed, get the dealer to do it, they're about a tenner.

[rtz62]

Just a quick addition;

A genuine VAG cruise control kit is £90 from a Skoda dealer. There are guides on here on how to fit, but you will need someone with vagcom (or whatever it's called now) to code it in.

The parking sensor are £89 for a Cobra 0258 kit, they come colour coed and again there is a guide on here for fitting (dead easy) a why pay £205+ for a genuine Skoda kit?

Instead of genuine xenons (and you would need the self-levelling motors and headlamp washer to be legal), why not get some Zprojector headlights (I think the make is Depo?) and fit some HIDs into them? Ok, not cheap (£180 for dipped and main beam HIDs) and the new headlights, but I believe others on here have done it, and swear by them

SWMBO has got heated seats on her vRS, and as I've got a crumbling spine, they are great for staving off back ache...

Personally, if the car your looking at hasn't got the above, I'd fit the parking sensors, cruise and lights myself

I wouldn't have the sunroof, the sat nav is bettered by a TomTom.

You can pick up a 6cd changer off fleabay for under £75, possibly half that?

Then I'd consider spending some money on a full service (at a good specialist, should be around £130-150) and check when the cam belt was changed; if it hasn't been changed recently (not sure, but I think it's 4yrs/60k) I'd get it done, around £300 inc water pump, belt, tensioner and antifreeze.

[Maieth]

Hmm. I think at the moment, if buying this particular car, I'd get a full VAG service done, with cambelt and pump kit sorted at the same time. Could get a quote and a much clearer picture of what needs doing with the turbo too.

Hmmmmmm.

[Maieth]

Got one!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403112416216/sort/default/usedcars/radius/30/price-to/5000/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/page/1/keywords/vrs/maximum-mileage/up_to_90000_miles/postcode/b988rj?logcode=p

This only came up for sale yesterday I think.

 

Very tidy and very well looked after overall.  Service history is good. it's been serviced every 10k miles all the way to the current 80k, mostly at skoda garages. Needs the cambelt doing so this will be a priority.  Base spec, but the price is low enough that I can budget to get cruise control fitted easily enough.  Some stone chips from motorway miles, one that will need sorting out quickly, but the scratch mentioned in the ad isn't too bad at all. Long, but not very noticeable. It ran beautifully from a cold start with no smoke.

Placed a deposit today, collecting next week.   A few more days and I'll be a proper Briskoda member, not just a freeloader

 

Thanks again for so much useful advice, particularly to Mondy, Bogwoppit and Sepulchrave for the regular feedback - it's meant I could buy with confidence and know I haven't missed anything major or obvious.  Cheers guys

Edited 23 March, 2014 by Maieth

[Beard]

Got one!

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201403112416216/sort/default/usedcars/radius/30/price-to/5000/onesearchad/used%2Cnearlynew%2Cnew/page/1/keywords/vrs/maximum-mileage/up_to_90000_miles/postcode/b988rj?logcode=p

This only came up for sale yesterday I think.

 

Very tidy and very well looked after overall.  Service history is good. it's been serviced every 10k miles all the way to the current 80k, mostly at skoda garages. Needs the cambelt doing so this will be a priority.  Base spec, but the price is low enough that I can budget to get cruise control fitted easily enough.  Some stone chips from motorway miles, one that will need sorting out quickly, but the scratch mentioned in the ad isn't too bad at all. Long, but not very noticeable. It ran beautifully from a cold start with no smoke.

Placed a deposit today, collecting next week.   A few more days and I'll be a proper Briskoda member, not just a freeloader

 

Thanks again for so much useful advice, particularly to Mondy, Bogwoppit and Sepulchrave for the regular feedback - it's meant I could buy with confidence and know I haven't missed anything major or obvious.  Cheers guys

Nice one mate, looks smart. Hope you have more luck with yours than I have with mine lol 

[mondy1975]

Looks nice - I do like silver!  A good, honest advert too, which is always a good sign.  Enjoy it!

 

Really good price too.

[Maieth]

Right.  I'll be picking the car up at the end of the week. Loan money finally arrived, so I've been able to breath a big sigh of relief.

Over the coming weeks I'll be looking to put a few things right and generally ensure the car is in the best condition possible.

I'm considering doing the following jobs in pretty much the order they're listed.  Can anyone offer any advise on any other checks/work worth doing?  The car has only done 2000 miles since the last service by a Skoda garage, for which I have the full, itemised receipt for plugs, filters, oil etc, so I won't be looking to get a full service done just yet.

 

Jobs to do:

Wash, polish, wax and hoover - Previous owner dust and grime makes me feel icky.

Get cambelt and waterpump replaced ASAP.

Get stonechips and one deep-ish scratch repaired. Wheels to be refurbished and resprayed at the same time.

Carry out 'elephant' mod.

Replace old badges.

Replace silver foglight surrounds.

remove and clean EGR.

Look into fitting cruise control.

 

What have I missed?

[Craig01]

I bought mine at c80k with FSSH etc. Suspension bushes turned out to be knackered shortly after and at c90k the turbo went pop. Worth replacing the bushes with Cupra ones if/when they go as they don't perish in the same way as the factory ones and don't cost any more so it's a nice 'mod' to do.  Also be sure to check that the rear doors are not leaking from the bottom as it's a common fault.

 

The wheels also go porus/corrode, so watch for loosing air from the tyres. I had to get a refurb on one for £60 as it would literally go flat within 24hrs so defo worth the refurb you are getting and make sure they do the whole wheel and pay attention to bead area.

 

I have also resisted the temptation to go anywhere near any 'mapping' on the 1.9 130 as from what I've heard without other upgrades it will just kill the clutch/turbo/your soul. Fair enough as long as you accept the other upgrades required as it can be turned into quite a weapon.

 

If you're coming from a car that handles very well (Mini,Peugeot 306) watch out for understeer, it's very nose-heavy. I sometimes forget to adjust my driving style (moronic) when going from the 182/205 to the Fabia. Enjoy the torque that will annoy 118d drivers and constant 48MPG even when you drive it like a rental.

 

Ross Tech1e is your man for retrofit cruise etc.