Hi Folks,

 

Needing abit of advice, after owning her 2004 Fabia vRS with 170,000 miles currently on it, my mum is thinking of getting a new car.   The Fabia has been faultless and pretty much still is to this day.   It has the usual wear and tear marks, the worst being the peeling rear spoiler and rust now showing on the rear arches etc.   The car has never had the dreaded 'Head Lift' and it has the original turbo, gear box, clutch and exhaust system.   Its due its MOT next month and it should pass ok.

 

She loves the power from the Fabia - to allow her to overtake (no street racing, she's 60 years old) but she doesn't know what car to change to.   She wants a car that is roughly the same size (to fit in garage....) and has roughly the same power or more.   She won't be doing as many miles so a petrol car is now an option.   5 doors too because of grandchildren.  

 

My initial thoughts are:

 

·         2014/15 Seat Ibiza FR ACT 1.4 petrol 130bhp (or new polo gti - same engine)

·         2014/2015 Nissan Juke 1.6 petrol 117 bhp or 1.6 diesel 110 bhp (maybe these don't have enough power??)

 

Budget would be around £15k mark and ideally 2014/2015 year.   

 

Any help or advice would be appreciated.

 

Thanks,

New Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost, 123 BHP, £0 Tax, 60 MPG, my daughter has the Zetec S and it's a fantastic car in every way, she bought one recently 3 months old with 3k for £12k.

+1 for the above.  Even better with the mountune kit fitted

I would have thought a key part of the VRS experience was the generous and early (low revs) supply of torque.

The ecoboost may have similar outright performance but I would not have expected it to have as much of this "grunt" so may feel less powerful.

I would have thought a key part of the VRS experience was the generous and early (low revs) supply of torque.

The ecoboost may have similar outright performance but I would not have expected it to have as much of this "grunt" so may feel less powerful.

 

Dude, it's a 1.0 turbo petrol engine, it simply doesn't have the same torque characteristics of a 2.0 turbo diesel, but it does rev higher and harder and has a much better spread of usable power, meaning no need for a six-speed gearbox, it also weighs about half as much as the 1.9 PD meaning VASTLY better handling.

If she loves her current Fabia why not have a look at the newer shape Fabia vRS?

 

I know it's a bit bigger but the Octy vRS I would also short-list. You have a choice of a petrol or diesel then, both of which are cracking engines and a good upgrade from the Mk1 Fabia in terms of refinement and power. 

 

I'm not so sure I'd be too keen on the Ibiza/Polo with that engine, I've got a friend with a new shape polo GTi 1.4TSi (180bhp) and he's had nothing but trouble with it. They are well known for consuming oil between services and there is more to go wrong with it having both a turbocharger and supercharger. From what I've read I'm not sure I'd fancy one myself!

I'd go with a Mk2 Fabia, powered by a common-rail 1.6 tdi engine which has about 105bhp. I had one of those for a while and it just feels good. A lot better than the 1.6tdi from the 2012 Focus.

Went into dealers to enquire about the MK2 fabia and i was told to stay away from the DSG gearboxes on them as they are known to SKODA as being unreliable (according to one local SKODA dealer). 

 

Unfortunately theres also no mention on a MK3 fabia VRS, it appears to have been killed off in the UK! 

I'd be surprised if they do a Mk3 Fabia vRS... http://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/skoda-will-kill-fabia-vrs

 

Didn't sell enough of the Mk2 to make it economically viable according to that article and it would have to be something special to compete with the current offerings from other manufactures. 

Thanks for your advise folks, will def look into the Fiesta.  The current Mk3 Fabia just doesn't cut it in terms of power and the Mk2 Fabia vRS is just automatic & as mentioned above unreliable :/

What sort of mileage is she doing?

I wouldn't consider a newer diesel if doing less than 15k p/a. Plenty of small powerful petrol engines out there but they will need a bit of rowing to get the power.

Fiesta seems best of the bunch these days.

Lots of misinformation on here, including on the DQ200 DSG 7 Speed Twin Dry Clutch gearbox which was subject to a Service Campaign  since May 2014 (to change in some cars the Factory Synthetic Oil changed to Mineral & a Software Update done free,)

and is still the same DSG DQ200 fitted in 2015 in the Polo GTI 1.8 TSI 192 PS / DSG (250Nm) and many other VWG cars & likely to be for a good while into the future.

 

Re post #1.

A 1.4 TSI ACT '140 ps' in a Seat Ibiza is the same as a 1.4 TSI in a 'VW Polo Blue GT'. 148 BHP / 150ps. (previous 140ps)

 

A New Polo GTI manual 2015 has a 1.8 TSI 192 ps (320 Nm  or the DSG and 250 Nm Torque) .

& the Polo GTI 1.4 TSI 2010-2014 is a 180 ps DSG Twincharger & 250 Nm Torque).

 

Same as a Ibiza Cupra 1.4TSI 180 ps DSG 2009-2015

Audi A1 1.4 TFSI 185 ps S-tronic (DSG) 2011-2014

 

.................

Before discounting an All New 3rd Generation Fabia 1.2 TSI 110 ps (minimum)Manual or DSG, best try driving one.

Maybe have a look at the Fabia 3 Section and the New Fabia Monte Carlo in Black & Black that a member

has just bought.

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/369647-picked-up-my-new-mk3-monte-carlo

 

New Seat Ibiza 2015 range are coming out now.

So real bargains can be had on the to be discontinued cars already built.

The new Ibiza Cupra 1.8 TSI Manual comes out next year i believe.

 

New Seats 2015

http://broadspeed.com/new_cars/Seat/Ibiza/Choose_Number_Of_Doors/Hatchback

Includes Ibiza 1.4 TSI Eco 150ps

 

Good prices can be had on slightly used Audi A1 with 1.4 TFSI 150 ps COD engines or 1.4 TSI 122 ps ones.