Just wanted to praise the assistance and responsiveness of this forum and its members since I've had the pleasure of owning my 2010 Octy vRS for the last three years. Unlike other car forums the advice has always been available invariably in super-quick time. For this reason I will continue to log in and contribute even though I'll be Skoda-less.

Looking to down-size from the estate as its only ever me in the car these days, so it will be going on AutoTrader by the end of the week. TBH I would stay with the brand if Skoda pulled their finger out and delivered a new Fabia vRS and I'm sure I'm not alone in thinking this. If it does ever happen then I'll be back in a Skoda (and probably my old-man as well).

Octy is going for the four shoes to be repaired and brought back to mint condition then someone, somewhere will have the benefits of a well-looked after and much loved motor. If they are not members of this forum then I will suggest they do, if only for the valuable resource and helpful insight they will clearly benefit from.

For all of you who responded to my threads - many thanks.

Change of plan - now I'm going to keep the vRS.

Bought a Mini Cooper D (Chilli Pack, 17", full leather etc) from a relative and having previously had a Cooper S thought it would no problem changing and sizing down. But alas I was completely wrong.

Having used the Mini for the last six weeks and whilst it's fun over short distances anything longer than a hour in the car and you feel it. I appreciate it's a smaller car which is what I was looking for but I just can't bring myself to keep it over the vRS. On reflection I would regret getting rid of the vRS over the Mini so the Mini is going. Apart from comfort and pace the biggest thing I missed was DSG. God I love DSG!!!

I replaced my Volvo V70 for a C30 thinking I didn't need the space any more. But I missed the practicality of a bigger car and changed the C30 for my vRS estate. Sometimes I miss the straight line performance of the C30 but other than that have never looked back! So I know where you're coming from.

The only saving grace is that I wasn't in any rush to sell the vRS and on reflection running the Mini for 6 weeks straight saved me a whole world of pain & regret.

Don't get me wrong the Mini is great for pootling around & on the twisty stuff but not as a mile-muncher - it just the wrong type of car. Did a straight 260 mile journey and it almost broke me - admittedly being stuck southbound on the M6 from Jct 11 onwards didn't help matters. Bigger car and DSG makes the traffic hold-ups that much more bearable.

I downsized once. Hated it.

 

The only time I ever resent having a bigger car is parking. The Accord is a couple of inches longer than many supermarket parking spaces.