First time driver + First time buyer - '04-'07 Skoda Fabia. Any advice?

[JoeBloggs]

Hi,

 

Due to extremely high car insurance prices, I've decided to look for cars that aren't used by many young drivers (I'm 20) and so I ended up Skoda Fabia hatchback. I have low budget, so the mileage on the clock is likely to be between 50k and 100k.

 

So... I have a few questions for you guys:

 

1. Do all Skoda Fabia 1.2 classic hatchbacks have power socket (cigarette lighter?) that can be used for dashcam? If there isn't one, is there any way I can hook up with a dashcam?

 

2. How reliable are those cars? Is there any known issues I should look out for? Is it realistically to expect there won't be any breakdowns for at least one year?

 

4. If I'm buying from a dealership, what should I negotiate?

[The Plumber]

1- our 2003 Classic HTP 54 did have a 12v power socket but we only ever ran a sat nav or phone charger from it.

 

2 - The old Fabia I is a fairly solid and reliable car, however there are four things to look out for from our experience, water ingress through the door carrier plate seals (behind the door cards; leads to wet carpets), washer hose connections coming apart due to frozen pipes (ones in the cabin can also lead to wet carpets), worn rear wishbone bushes and electrical failures such as the rear wiper motor and doors locks with central locking systems.

 

4- a decent warranty.

 

By the way the old Fabia is a good starter car, my lad ran our old HTP as his first motor and was paying noticeable less insurance than his mate in the next village with a similar age Corsa. Also got his premium down even further by going for an Admiral multi car policy, as he's still at home.

 

 

Hope of help,

 

TP

[Toxicvrs]

1 - My 53 Plate Fabia had a 12v power socket but I didn't use that for a dash cam! I ran the cables down the A pillar and into the fuse box where I cut the positive wire and put that onto a 5a piggyback fuse that went into the rear wiper fuse and put a fork connector on the negative wire and attached to bolt above fuse box! PM me if you need any help with fitting.

2- what TP said

4- if it's not been serviced recently get one done.

I started in a Fabia and was also paying a lower premium although I've found a 1.4 will take it even lower for me

[vigyaz]

1- our 2003 Classic HTP 54 did have a 12v power socket but we only ever ran a sat nav or phone charger from it.

 

2 - The old Fabia I is a fairly solid and reliable car, however there are four things to look out for from our experience, water ingress through the door carrier plate seals (behind the door cards; leads to wet carpets), washer hose connections coming apart due to frozen pipes (ones in the cabin can also lead to wet carpets), worn rear wishbone bushes and electrical failures such as the rear wiper motor and doors locks with central locking systems.

 

4- a decent warranty.

 

By the way the old Fabia is a good starter car, my lad ran our old HTP as his first motor and was paying noticeable less insurance than his mate in the next village with a similar age Corsa. Also got his premium down even further by going for an Admiral multi car policy, as he's still at home.

 

 

Hope of help,

 

TP

 

I laughed to myself reading this :P

 

-Had the water ingress in the door carrier, sealed it up

-worn wishbone bushes (or so i was told by a ripoff MOT place that i booked last minute, i got a second MOT done at another place - a vw specialist garage, and they told me the first place was bulls~@#tting me)

-electrically the front electric windows played up a little, turned out to be the Driverside window switch full of gunk

 

apart from the niggles, it has been a beautiful car, very reliable, our model has a timing chain, so no worries about belts! was tempted to sell it recently but its just too nice of a car

[JoeBloggs]

Thanks!

 

I've found a good '07 1.4 and certainly, the insurance premium does seem go down. Here's me hoping it won't get sold in next few days.

 

Does anyone have a list of things I should do regularly to maintain a car, for example, changing brake pads, timing chain/belt, oil, etc? I'm total newbie to this type of thing as nobody in my family have a car. Is servicing done once a year or ...?

[The Plumber]

Fabia's of that age tend to need a service every year or 10,000 miles which ever comes first. Generally alternating between an oil change service and a full service. If the car has air con that should have some attention every couple of years along with a brake fluid change.

 

Don't know a great deal about the 1.4 but I believe it has a cam belt which will need replacing but not sure on intervals.

 

Brake pads and discs etc. will depend on type fitted and how heavy you are on the brake pedal, should get an advisory on service or annual MOT if they need replacing.

 

 

TP

[vigyaz]

The 1.4 mpi has a timing chain