Still worth buying the mk1 vrs in 2016?

[stuart vrs]

I bought mine with 115 k on it from a garage 4 years ago, it is a 06 plate last serviced @ 76k then nothing, so got the cam belt and water pump done straight away and done an oil, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter and pollen filter change, I've had the dreaded water leak from the rear doors, sealed them up. Not going to list but changed a lot of bits, including turbo at 151k so not bad normal wear and tear. Car is currently on 155k.

What car can deliver on a good run average 58mpg (my best 585 miles) on a full tank of 50 litres. You've got a car that has got performance and economy in one. I've kept mine standard. Good luck with finding you fabia vrs.

Edited 1 February, 2016 by stuart vrs

[chris69]

Its still a great little car and the appeal for me is it sits quite low and is nice and basic inside.

I've had mine for nearly 4 years now and I still struggle to find many cars that would suit my needs of economy/running cost and speed quite so well.

My only issue is the suspension tbh- even in perfect working order with good springs/shocks its nowhere near as good as the mk1 focus I also own.

 

covered 30k and its only ever had minor faults that have been easily fixed- again maintenance is refreshingly simple too.(along with the cambelt and waterpump of course...)

108k on the original turbo so that'll be next on the list but the expense of even that isn't that bad.

[wja96]

a full tank of 50 litres.

You need to work harder if you think that's a full tank . In this cold weather I can get 64l in. My car is ventectomized which I'd say is pretty essential if you want the ultimate long-distance machine. I recently went to see my parents in Edinburgh (800 mile round trip) and I very nearly made it one tankful of ASDA's best.

[stuart vrs]

wja96 64 litres wow, if I fill with fuel light on 50 litres has been the max, ok there is fuel in the tank but I'd never trust the balance left in the tank on the reading mine pings with 70 miles left. Next expense I need the cam belt/ water pump end of the month. £399 Skoda. Mine was a trip up from South Wales to Aberdeen. Tesco on the way up but used esso on the return but had less mileage on my return.

[wja96]

Inside the fuel filler is a small lever that vents the pressure on the expansion tank. If you remove that lever (ventectomy) or hold it down while you fill the car then you can fill the expansion tank.

And don't forget that the fuel gauge is set to zero with 5l in the tank, so when the range reads 0 you probably have 40-60 miles left before you actually run out.

[FromTheDarkness]

Just going back to the original topic,

 

What other car can be bought for £1500, spend £1000 and get gains from 130bhp -190bhp, so what car can be bought for £2500, that gives just under 200bhp, has 5 doors (family friendly) and returns 40- 50 mpg, and is small enough to be fun!

[Jrjg]

What other car can be bought for £1500, spend £1000 and get gains from 130bhp -190bhp, so what car can be bought for £2500, that gives just under 200bhp, has 5 doors (family friendly) and returns 40- 50 mpg, and is small enough to be fun!

Very good point made.

JRJG

[FromTheDarkness]

Very good point made.

JRJG

Plus i had a focus 1.8, and its enough to put me off any fords again, terrible build quality. Its clear as day they only make their cars built to last like 60k/ 5 years. Ive had some bad cars, but this topped the lot! It wasn't a lemon, it was designed a lemon! it didn't have one redeeming feature, im sure you can guess i hated it. Never listen to non "car people" ... "its a focus its solid" **** off!!

Edited 2 February, 2016 by FromTheDarkness

[poiuytre111]

wja96 64 litres wow, if I fill with fuel light on 50 litres has been the max, ok there is fuel in the tank but I'd never trust the balance left in the tank on the reading mine pings with 70 miles left. Next expense I need the cam belt/ water pump end of the month. £399 Skoda. Mine was a trip up from South Wales to Aberdeen. Tesco on the way up but used esso on the return but had less mileage on my return.

I recommend Kingsway garage in Swansea (Gors rd) - garage is a mess but he has done 3 cambelt/water pump swaps for me on different fabias, last one a week or so ago - good price for quality job, only uses vw parts.

[poiuytre111]

Just going back to the original topic,

 

What other car can be bought for £1500, spend £1000 and get gains from 130bhp -190bhp, so what car can be bought for £2500, that gives just under 200bhp, has 5 doors (family friendly) and returns 40- 50 mpg, and is small enough to be fun!

BMW Compact 320 diesel - only 2 doors but rwd and handles really well - remapped to approx 200hp, 60 to 65mpg if gentle. I have a 2004 with leather and 145k miles and doubt it will fetch £1500.

[FromTheDarkness]

BMW Compact 320 diesel - only 2 doors but rwd and handles really well - remapped to approx 200hp, 60 to 65mpg if gentle. I have a 2004 with leather and 145k miles and doubt it will fetch £1500.

 

Isnt this with the notorious swirl flaps?

 

But yes a good shout, one ive over looked

Edited 2 February, 2016 by FromTheDarkness

[poiuytre111]

Isnt this with the notorious swirl flaps?

 

But yes a good shout, one ive over looked

Indeed though removed by a previous owner - will often be the case.

[pudsam]

Morning all. New to site and sorry to jump in. I bought my 2004 vrs. I am second owner. Was up for £4300 i managed get it for £3500. Full service history. I had some pricey bills to pay. Cambelt. And front wishbone bushes. But car been great since. Revo stage 1. And have enjoyed the knowledge off this site from fellow vrs owners.

Leather interior on the look for. Was polo interior on ebay before christmas £200. Heated i not bothered about. The projector headlights i am glad to see some are running without the washers in front bumper. Saves me searching for more extras.

Just wanted to say - i originally noticed 5k vrs. A lot about. Even 6k higher mileage. My car now has 54k. And still surprises me its speed. Having been a golf 1.8t gti owner previously. And loving down on fuel costs. all round great car

[PeteVRS]

Interesting thread and very encouraging as I am likely to move on from my VRS soon and wondered what to expect. We Buy Any Car suggested £2k and Auto Trader have black VRSs the same age as mine from £1500 to £4k which seems a little optimistic. What I have in my favour is low miles - 64k and long ownership to prove it, it needs the usual cambelt change and a few cosmetic bits to tidy up. I was thinking of the easy way out and trading it in as I didn't think there would be any demand for a smoky old tractor in today's politically correct and "green" world but obviously there is, so perhaps with the investment of some money to tidy her up for a private sale.

 

Main decision is whether to remove the remap (at a cost of £100 or so) to get it back to "stock" or keep it in place. I'd hate a new owner to hammer the still standard and original clutch!

 

I must admit it does still feel fast despite the smoke trail and seems to keep up with the newer cars well.

[FromTheDarkness]

Interesting thread and very encouraging as I am likely to move on from my VRS soon and wondered what to expect. We Buy Any Car suggested £2k and Auto Trader have black VRSs the same age as mine from £1500 to £4k which seems a little optimistic. What I have in my favour is low miles - 64k and long ownership to prove it, it needs the usual cambelt change and a few cosmetic bits to tidy up. I was thinking of the easy way out and trading it in as I didn't think there would be any demand for a smoky old tractor in today's politically correct and "green" world but obviously there is, so perhaps with the investment of some money to tidy her up for a private sale.

 

Main decision is whether to remove the remap (at a cost of £100 or so) to get it back to "stock" or keep it in place. I'd hate a new owner to hammer the still standard and original clutch!

 

I must admit it does still feel fast despite the smoke trail and seems to keep up with the newer cars well.

Someone would snap it up with that mileage! to good to trade in, worth the effort of a few pics surely.. post it on here in the for sale section!

 

Is it a reputable remap? if so they should hold your original map file, you can also do it yourself for the cost of mpps cable and the use of a laptop. Shouldn't be smokey, maybe boost leak?

[john1804]

Had mine since it was about 18 months old (2005 model ) , few problems with it due to first owner been a complete ar*e but Skoda sorted everything out. Since then just wear and tear, rear callipers and a alternator.  Runs great, plenty of torque and quick enough and still gets 55 on the motorway at about 85 :-). wouldn't change it.

[barnrush]

I bought one in 2016 for £4500 due to wanting factory leather, cruise control, and didn't want the SE model as I don't like blue cars. Well cared for. Stacks of history and lovely condition. Don't regret spending a chunk on it at all so far. Quick, looks good, good size boot, five door where the rear doors don't look like an after thought.

With any car buy the best you can afford and do the homework. I have fallen out of love with cars very quickly in the past when buying 'a bargain' and spending my entire ownership fixing it rather than enjoying it. Not saying bargains don't exist but more often than not they're cheap because they're hanging.

[wja96]

With any car buy the best you can afford and do the homework.

That should be a sticky, just by itself.

[VRSD30]

Deffo still worth it imo! Just over 2 years since I sold mine and I still miss it so I'm on the lookout for another!

[hutchysrs50]

Special edition for not much over £2000 in the for sale section. Bargain if you ask me.

[BBiZ]

Special edition for not much over £2000 in the for sale section. Bargain if you ask me.

Yeah I did see this last week. Definitely was a bargain! But unfortunately I had no reasonable means for the 500 mile round trip [emoji17]

Sent from my Android using Tapatalk

[Tailhappy]

I have had my 55 plate since 2008, amazing where time flies... Still a great car, keep it garaged and looked after, on about 54K now, 30K of that was from the previous owner. Had some upgrade bits fitted like ARB, bushes and 312mm brakes which made using it more fun. Despite looking, there is nothing out there that appeals, it all seems too plastic and cheap looking on the newer cars. I kind of hoped that cars would keep getting better - like the VRS but even better, but this is not what has happened. Good to see them still getting some love.

[68jcb]

Sold our 60 plate car and bought 54 plate vRS, one owner and 85k on the clock with full service history for just under £2800. We love the car, it's so much fun, wife uses it every day and has done over 2k in less than a month.

We used to buy cars with all the bells and whistles,but when they go wrong they cost a fortune to repair. Our last car cost just under £1200 to have the steering rack replaced.

Buying any car whether it's new or old can be a gamble, you pay your money and hopefully it's not a friday afternoon car.

I hoping that if the weather and work permits, I would like to wash and polish the vRS every week, looked lush when I did it at the weekend.

[wja96]

I have had my 55 plate since 2008, amazing where time flies... Still a great car, keep it garaged and looked after, on about 54K now, 30K of that was from the previous owner. Had some upgrade bits fitted like ARB, bushes and 312mm brakes which made using it more fun. Despite looking, there is nothing out there that appeals, it all seems too plastic and cheap looking on the newer cars. I kind of hoped that cars would keep getting better - like the VRS but even better, but this is not what has happened. Good to see them still getting some love.

24,000 miles in 7 years? That must be one of the lowest mileage vRS in the UK. Less than 5000 miles per year.

[hutchysrs50]

Quite low indeed! 

This one only has 33,000 must be like a new car still!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/SKODA-FABIA-1-9-TDI-130bhp-vRS-1-FORMER-KEEPER-FULL-SERVICE-HISTORY-6-SPEED-/371537657111?hash=item56815ebd17:g:Zf8AAOSwCypWok9T

Edited 2 March, 2016 by hutchysrs50