Some advice on a vrs estate

[jamesrbeaumont]

So after a disastrous change to Honda (mime is falling to bits) I'm looking at coming back to soda I miss my old vrs so much! I digress, me and the missus are going to have another kid we've got a 5 year old and I'm wondering if people find the fabia estate is big enough? Also is the vrs engine a good choice? I do quite a lot of miles but I do like some performance. Any advice would be great seen some used ones for around 8k.

[pearce_jj]

3 kids no problem. I needed to install a rear interior light as Skoda were too tight to fit one though. Bear in mind no tow bar allowed so roof only for bikes.

Edited 28 September, 2015 by pearce_jj

[Ootohere]

Have you seen Estates with asking prices around £8,000 ?

 

Maybe have a read of the thread just down the page. (near the bottom of the page.)

'New here, after a MK2 vRS'.

 

It might give an idea on the engines and the questions to ask, and what to check.

 

george

[jamesrbeaumont]

I'm happy with engines that is stuff I'm happy to research on. But it's the boot space and actual practicality of it I was after. I find this info is best to hear from owners.

[pearce_jj]

Two boosters and a slim high-back fit across the back. Boot is enough for two suitcases, a tag-along and a kids bike... you get the idea. Sound system is pretty good for e.g. audio books. Climatronic (option) is effective. Try and get one with electric rear windows as they can be switched off from the drivers door controls. Not sure if they all have front air bag deactivation. Feels like a small car to drive so not intimidating for SWMBO to drive. DSG is usually spot-on. I usually get 37-45mpg.

 

The not so good - road noise is like you'd expect from a hot-hatch. Firm suspension can be uncomfortable if you live somewhere with lots of speed bumps. Factory tyres have very little scrub-bead, so wheels are easy to scuff. Boot size makes Ikea trips way too expensive.

[Ootohere]

I see there are a few more vRS Estates advertised than there has been for a while, 

and some that could be real bargains if all is good with them.

[jamesrbeaumont]

That is obviously something I am looking into with the engines going wrong, I would only buy from a main dealer, so the warranty is there but am just deciding if I can be arsed to send it back every year for an engine change!

[SuperTurbo]

I would say with two kids it is adequately big enough, the one thing we have found is with a large stage 0-1 car seat for the little one the middle seat becomes pretty much unusable due to the fabia being so narrow.

Boot is plenty big enough for all the clobber for two kids and then some.

[Ootohere]

jamesrbeumont, 

Not so sure there are many Skoda Main Dealers selling used vRS at around £8,000,

 but if there is that is not much different from buying from a Seat Main Dealer if they have one & put 12 months warranty on it,

or buying from an Independent or Private Seller.

 

Put a Skoda Approved Warranty on it when you buy it or the Warranty Running Expires.

You can even buy one that has had the engine changed and has had a Clean Bill of Health and Buy a Warranty for that.

 

A 2012-13 Mk2 vRS should be sorted out by now, but if one had an Oil Consumption Test and Breather Pipe update and nothing else 

done under the Skoda Warranty, you might want to walk away.

 

The other thread has the stuff you need to ask Skoda UK Customer Services like the Service History Record they hold, 

the Warranty Work Carried out if any, and if there are any Service Campaign actions outstanding and have any been done.  ie the DSG.

 

Lots of good used vRS out there for sale, and they are not all made of chocolate.

A car first registered in 2013 & on should be a CTHE engine and maybe worth going for a CTHE. (Introduced late 2012)

But there are still good CAVE engine cars but they are now going to be over 3 years old & the Original Manufactures Warranty is out.

There can sometimes be ones were the First Registered paid the extra 2 years, so still with a Skoda Warranty.

[lordsummit]

My very good Fabia estate went up for about 8.7k when I swapped it for a Yeti. That was about two months ago. The Fabia is a great little package, however, I find the Yeti more practical in the boot area, particularly with kids bikes etc.

[MidlifecrisisT]

Huge amount of space in the boot. I fit three full size suit cases, the pushchair plus other bags/items in the boot when I went to Scotland. Impressive.

My daughter is now in full size car seat. Easy to get in and out. She have enough room for her legs although she has to sit behind passenger seat as I have my drivers seat pretty much all the way back. She wouldn't have enough leg room behind me. I think I would struggle if I needed to fit two full size car seats in the fab. Other than that, I can't fault it :-)

[pkr]

I've had mine for four days and loving it. Everything I'm about to state I was aware of but it's not seen issue. We have a three year old and a nearly five year old. Compared to our blackline hatch, the boot is smaller but still more than enough. Rear leg room with isofix seats fitted is a little less but still fine as they don't wear footwear in it! Ride is firmer but as stated above expected and not to bad. I would of preferred rear electric windows but in five years of parenting I've needed the luxury about three times and they weren't happy with that! I think it's a perfect all round car which I'm glad not everyone agrees with because I feel my rallye green one with polished gigaro looks unique-ish!

[sharkrider]

less than 700 in the country, isn't that reason enough?! lol... I dont have kids (yet) but in the future, I'm sure it will be big enough!

[jamesrbeaumont]

I do love how it looks. There's a couple of vrs from main dealer for around 8k but I'm looking at all sorts, the boot on the octavia is massive and the 1.8tsi seems to be pretty solid, ford mond, peugeot 508 seems to be getting good reviews as well! So reliability worries with fabia estate, a bit drab styling with the octavia, peugeot apparently has been better with reliability but still. .. then I just don't know if I can bring myself to drive a ford.