I'm going for my first test drive tomorow and hope to buy 1 of 2 VRSs

the first is a silver 04 plate with 31k and has a sunroof (which i wanted), the second is a red 53 plate with just 17k and is standard.

The silver 1 is

I guess it would boil down to personal choice. If it were me then I wouldn't even consider the red one (sorry, not my colour). But at the same time I'd also be put off by the high mileage of the silver car (that's nigh on pretty much 3x the average for what it should be!).

Why are you only restricted to those two?

The '53 plate should have the 'old' gearbox, with longer ratios. As such, it will be slower but more economical (everything else being equal) than the '04 plate.

If the sticker under the boot carpet of the '04 plate includes the code HBS, it's got the newer gearbox.

The differences are shown in the spreadsheet in the attached zip file.

These 2 are in my price bracket and are at localish dealers to me which is why i've chosen them

the silver is registered in march 04, is the gearbox very different in the newer models? are there any other changes from the first VRSs to the latest?

cheers

30,000 miles is nothing for an 18 month old car, especially a diesel. If thats the spec you want go for it.

In terms of the choice, I'd be tempted to go for the one which looks like it's been looked after with the most TLC - clean seats, no scratches etc. You'll probably get a feel from the seller as to how well this has been done... Good luck!

I've got the old gearbox in mine and it works well with the extra torque of the remapped engine. Plenty of go in 3rd gear for 30-80mph acceleration which is handy in the old 'real world' driving situations. Got to love the fact that the theoretical top speed is around 160mph!!! Don't think you'd get there though with the fabia's brick-like aerodynamics!

The '53 plate should have the 'old' gearbox' date=' with longer ratios. As such, it will be slower but more economical (everything else being equal) than the '04 plate.

If the sticker under the boot carpet of the '04 plate includes the code HBS, it's got the newer gearbox.

The differences are shown in the spreadsheet in the attached zip file.

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My beastie reads HDS on the sticker??? :confused:

As for it being slower - I doubt it anyway. 6th is not for pure acceleration, you can get up to very decent speeds in 3rd, 4th & 5th, only 6th has different ratios.

As for fuel-economy. Not personally convinced that without a remap 6th is always the best gear. I tend to get better fuel economy in 5th than 6th, especially if you're going 'up' even slightly, or if it's very windy. Only when you get 85ish mph on the clock 6th makes sense, or when just cruising and not being too bothered.

I have a feeling this explains why with a remap you can get better fuel economy - it would be possible to drive in 6th without labouring the engine, thus getting better economy (my theory anyway).

For the rest the differences are too minimal to worry about IMHO, both are excellent cars with a strong engine

Ended up buying the silver 04 plate - the red seemed to show up the swirls in the paint and i prefered to have a leccy sunroof