Hi, I was thinking about which modern cars would be the modern day equivalent of the Felicia.

My thoughts would be the Dacia Sandero.

But I am not sure how much useless extras they give you.

My other thoughts was possibly the Vauxhalll VIVA ..The new one just out..That car gives you lane assist and a  phone multimedia stuff. ( why???  in such a small car )

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dacia_Sandero

 

 

However my top choice would be this Toyota ( Toyota Probox )..Which seems to be just available in the JAPAN domestic market

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Probox

 

 

Of course neither of these cars are pick ups , vans and estates in the same way the felicia was.

 

The only other car that reminds me of the Felicia was these old Toyota Corollas

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Corolla_(E90)

 

So Any other thoughts on this.

In short, none of your picks have anything to do with Felicia spirit, shape, philosophy, economy or reliability.

 

Felicia was designed and built in a period when Czechs were allowed to put THEIR ideas into practice while using German technology. Felicia was the last car made by an Eastern European car manufacturer that was built to last, be cheap to run and maintain, and Fun to drive. It looks like the Czechs took pride to make this statement: "We build cars that a family enjoys a very long time, we don't subscribe to Western waste economy based on throwing to the bin rather than repair it." Czechs succeeded that brilliantly. I dare to say that if Czechs would be allowed to build a new Felicia without any interference from Germans, they would smash sales and kill Polo and Golf markets.

 

A short note on Dacia Sandero, the only one vaguely resembling Felicia. The other two picks are too far from Felicia to even mention them. Dacia is a satellite company of Renault that has only one 'quality'. They build cheap cars. The European replica of 'made in China' cheapies. Every material put into Dacia cars is low quality, parts are low quality, the finish look fades in 3 months when buyers start to realize they bought a rust bucket, like an old hooker who wears tons of makeup to look like a virgin at wedding day. Parts are expensive (old Renault scheme) and service dealer fees are ripoffs. Did I mention Dacia design compartment doesn't exist? Why? Because Dacia gets from Renault old rejected projects. Ugly cars. Any Dacia car buyer will regret dearly.

Edited 18 March, 201511 yr by RicardoM

Sorry RicardoM..I wasn't setting out to offend you..I was just thinking out loud.

I can agree with some of your points above.

The other thing I was thinking about is why the Czechs didn't export the Felicia to Africa..over there I think it would have made a great seller.

And since the Japanese have taken over that market it would have been great to see a European company take some market share. And "fly the flag " as it was.

I was thinking of the old Peugeots 404's 504's that are all over the place and Mercedes W123

But no cars like this are been built anymore.

No problem. Everybody has the right to an opinion. I would love to see too a well built, modern Felicia. But as I said, Czechs are not allowed to do that. VW invested in Skoda and they can dictate now. Ask any Czech, they hate VW manufacturing and sales policy.

 

About Skoda and Africa exports: I believe Czechs had to comply with VW sales policy. Yet Skoda Felicia was exported to Egypt, maybe some other more developed African countries. One other reason Skoda Felicia was not exported in Africa in large numbers is that Czechs had massive demand from Europe. They simply hadn't enough factories to satisfy the demand.

 

Modern cars in Felicia class are, with a few exceptions, ugly or dull. Nothing memorable. The top priority is to shave as much as possible from total production cost. Even worse, some cars are intentionally designed bad so they don't last and people buy new models every 2 years.

If you allow me as Egyptian I would say that felicia owners in egypt is not few and there is a forums and groups with hundred members just for felicia and we have used and new spare parts of it but the problem is few mechanics who understand it the car is great in many things and reliable if you search for groupsof skoda felicia on facebook you will be surprised . I love this car