Hi all,

I have been lurking here for some time and decided to post for some views on this VRS I'm looking at locally.

(Nice and knowledgeable people here and I hope I will join you soon as a fabia owner too)

 

Here is the car..

 

I went to the dealership today and found out about no service history, no evidence about cam-belt changed and a service warning on the dash.

 

The car looks fine in and out considering its age.

Pairs of quality, albeit a bit worn tires front and back (good maintenance sign compared to 3 different budget tires and a winter one..)

Started straight away, no smoke, engine sounds smooth.

Did the autotrader scan and only got a warning about plate change although the mileage is unverified..

 

I did a very short test drive as we couldn't agree on a deal and thinking he is more eager to sell than I am to buy, I left him a card and told him to give me a call if he decides to go any lower and left. I think he has not been able to sell the car for at least 6 weeks no matter how many calls a day he claims he's had so I thought I'd play "tough".

 

The details:

The car costs £3500. Good value from a brief online search, possibly due to lack of service history

He wants my corsa c 1.3 cdti for £1200 + £2300 and he will change oils and filters and do the cam-belt at his mechanic (no-receipt deal I presume so he'll get it cheap).

What I would then do is trade in the corsa, give him £300 as a deposit and finance the remaining £2000.

 

What I am about to propose is trade in the corsa, finance £2000 to pay him off and then spend about £70 for oils etc done by my mechanic and do the belt in Skoda for my piece of mind.

That would run me a few more ££ but I'd have control over what's being done to the car to get in right nick mechanically.

If he would agree on this over the phone, I'd go and do a detailed check and a proper test drive and only then I'd go ahead with the deal if I'm 100% happy with how the car drives.

I also plan to get some details of him to do the MOT history scan from DVLA. I didn't know about this until a few hours ago..

 

What do you think?

Would you stay away and why?

 

I am concerned that the more I keep the corsa, the less I'll get for it privately or as partX, and the more I'd have to finance for a fabia.

I posted a private ad for the corsa too but no interest yet.

 

I would appreciate if you could share your thoughts.

 

Best,

Athan

Unless it's mega cheap I wouldnt bother if there is no history at all, not worth the risk to try and save a couple hundred quid tbh. 

Not knowing whether PD oil has been used (interval or longlife) could be a deal breaker.

Alternatively, knock off £500 for a cam belt and thorough going over and perhaps a few extra hundred for no service history. A service is only ever oil, filters and a look so no service history ant the end of the world - as long as the belt makes it to the garage to be changed. Depends in part how long you want to keep it as the service history holds less value as the car reduces in value.

Looks straight enough.

Find out which dealer it came from, give them a ring and see what the history is.

People have different perceives on cars having no service history.

Mine is, unless it's very cheap, I'd avoid it.

I'd suggest trying Skoda themselves to see if the car appears on their data base for servicing, recalls etc.

However, I'd suggest it would need a full service, inc every filter and all fluids. Plus replacement of cambelt, tensioner, pulley and water pump etc.

Think about this; if you did not like the car after a few months and wanted to sell it, how many people would ring up and actually have genuine interest in a car with no history whatsoever, other than previous mots (presumably); possibly the same number of callers as he has had now.

There's plenty of cars out there, and plenty on here that will have been maintained properly by enthusiasts.

It always amazes me how people can 'lose' history that can only add to the value of a car at resale time. Unless, of course, there's something to hide....

I'd avoid it, and keep an eye on the adverts on here for the right car.

It's useless car dealers/garages where the cars get part exchanged that usually lose the history 

Thanks all.

Looks I can knock £300 down, that's my car + £2000. £3200 total. I think that's generally not too bad for 70.5K on the clock for a 6-plate?

And then have my car done by my mechanic for £300. Full service + belt kit change if I want to do it for cheap. Or do the belt at Skoda.

It also passed an MOT after putting new EGR valve on according to him. Apparently it run high on emissions testing. There is a concern there about  DPF wear as a result of a bad EGR tho..

That's how it stands so far.

 

I will call Skoda on Monday for any service history info , they are closed today.

 

The plan is to keep the car for at least 3 years and put around 30K mileage on it while maintaining it properly.

And it's also useless owners and traders from home who have so,etching to hide.

Perhaps because of what I used to do as a job I look at a loss of h&r history with scepticism. And avoid, unless it's very very cheap.

 

It also passed an MOT after putting new EGR valve on according to him. Apparently it run high on emissions testing. There is a concern there about  DPF wear as a result of a bad EGR tho..

 

 There won't be a DPF so unsure what your comment is based on. Also unsure if a dodgy EGR would cause MOT emission problems - the one on my 1.4TDI is disabled in the software and passed an MOT without problems. Doe's it run smokey as I am sure that a tester can pass emissions test by being gentle with the throttle. 

Diesel doesn't have emissions test. It's only smoke.

I'd personally avoid, you don't know if it been run with the corrected spec'd oil.

Diesel doesn't have emissions test. It's only smoke.

Vehicle emissions control is the study of reducing the motor vehicle emissions—emissions produced by motor vehicles, especially internal combustion engines.

• Particulate matter – Soot or smoke made up of particles in the micrometre size range: Particulate matter causes negative health effects, including but not limited to respiratory disease and cancer.

Yes,

smoke density, not emissions test. I guess it run smokey during the test.

 

I didn't know the fabia VRS had no DPF, I thought it did.

 

I would expect a bad EGR valve causing higher emissions to stress the DPF as a result, if there were a DPF. No?

Although the EGR's primary purpose is NOx reduction, improper combustion caused by a faulty one would lead to higher soot clogging the DPF (if there is one).

 

Anyhow, all I wanted to say is that the car had a new EGR.

Wrong oil could kill an EGR..

Edited 1 November, 201411 yr by Catthan

Vehicle emissions control is the study of reducing the motor vehicle emissions—emissions produced by motor vehicles, especially internal combustion engines.

• Particulate matter – Soot or smoke made up of particles in the micrometre size range: Particulate matter causes negative health effects, including but not limited to respiratory disease and cancer.

Nice quote from Wikipedia. The MOT doesn't include an emissions test for a diesel car. This is well known.

Hey Athan,

Reading this, my word of advice is. Delete your browsing history and forget you ever saw it.

Even the best of fabia's with a good service history have there problems. So i mean, the ones with bad or none are the ones to steer well clear off. The fabia is a great car, but there common faults can be very fustrating and very expensive. But I mean, thats what comes with owning one, getting under it and fixing it.

I strongly advise to stay away from any car without full service service history. The dealer doesnt even have part. How would you know of the thjngs that had been done or hadnt?

Those common problems, those critical services. Its well due its cambelt, its likely the owner flogged it because they didnt want to spend the money.

How would you know the correct oil has been used, the brake fluid has been changed every two years, the air filter replaced. If this car has been owned by a lazy, uncaring owner, the chances are the car could never have been serviced. But to you, you check out the car, the dealers cleaned it in and out, changed the oil, changed the break fluid, coolant change, so you will never know the original condition of the car as he brought it. Think, the dealer would of paid half the price advertised, from an auction or such like.

Take my auntie for example. She brought a brand new ford ka, she didnt service it for 3 years because she didnt wana spend out her back pocket or think it was critical too, it was just away of garage making more money.

Now if the if any assumptions are correct, how much damage may this have done. Heavily worn engine internals, corroded brake internals, the radiator may need replacing, rear calliper failure, premature turbo failure or valve actuator. Failure of the egr. A badly serviced car will have half the life of your Fabia.

Okaythe dealer... He knows nothing. EGR only needed a clean, if it needed replacing as he says, well the cars never been driven properly. Short trip around town, supermartket diesel, and cheap incorrect engine oil irrgeularly serviced. The biggest reason for a smoke test failure is because the car hadnt been warmed up, driven spirted to get the **** out before a test. Its the catch 22 of turbos failure. If you dont boot them, the clog up, if you boot them too much, they fail over stress. If the EGR has failed, then You can gaurenette the turbo will fail within the next 10k miles. And as discussed, there is no DPF.

If i were to buy this car, i would want a 1 year warranty, brought at £1500. That way you could sell it for parts if it were sh..

Now enough of that, okay so you still think your buying your quick and cheap way to your dream fabia vrs.

How would you know the mileage is a geniune 70k.....

I mean it could be 150k. Ive seen it time ans time again. Gone to look at a car, check the dvla, mot certs against the service history and the replacement of parts, service haitpry didnt tally the mot certificates.

First get the v5 document of the fabia, take the number and check all the recorded mots to see if the mileage tallys. Once you know where the mot certs were done, check with the garages for any service history with them. If you can happen to find the previous owners from the garage, contact them. (Post call facebook) Find out about the car, they should be honest with you.

Good luck! I hope you make the right decision. Because it could cost you alot more than you had bargined for.

Anthony

^^

That's some great advice I 100% agree with Anthony I'll stay away from this fabia there plenty on here, gumtree and eBay with service history and bills etc which will likely go massively wrong because someone has spend some money on it with bills and history to show it