Oh.. just me with one then?... I see...

Quote precedent at Briskoda, Briskoda & Briskoda Inc - I am the only member of the Felicia usergroup (apart from a bloke called Webmaster).

At the risk of upsetting people, we have started with the ones we know there are most of, then "octavia owner" for everyone else....

RS owners - tons of em, can't move for 'em!

4x4 owners - a handful of us, growing by the day.

L&K owners - umm, one of them if I recall correctly, but clearly they need to be pampered and feel looked after

If any other model grows in popularity (in members) then it will get a group, till then it's a generic octavia group I'm afraid, after all what use is 60 groups with one member in each?

I have no problems with that - but presumably Felicia will keep its usergroup status in anticipation of more Felicia owners joining or declaring themselves. (We tend to be a bit shy of our Skoda ancestry. Its only the fact that I have a 4x4 as well that has allowed me to 'come out'.)

L&K owners - umm, one of them if I recall correctly, but clearly they need to be pampered and feel looked after

If you drive an L&K, you're already pampered, by the car!

Phil, sitting on heated leather (it's a car seat, before anyone starts, OK?)

Yes, the Felicia group is good to promote that we are not only for the "new" skoda's....

That said, I think we are more of a "VAG" skoda community than a "Skoda" skoda community, and we want \ discuss different things than owners of the "classic" rear engined skodas.

(thats from a user perspective, not a policy or anything! )

So does no-one own any of the "classic" Skodas, such as the Estelle

or Rapid(e)? I've looked at getting one, but they seem pretty rare

and getting one that costs enough for me to justify the insurance might

be tricky!

Suggestions welcomed on where to find them!

Rob.

..and yes Phil, I was talking about you you lucky cosseted sod!

Bought some super-white bulbs at the weekend, filled with Xenon gas, can I join your club?

..and yes Phil, I was talking about you you lucky cosseted sod!

Bought some super-white bulbs at the weekend, filled with Xenon gas, can I join your club? [/quote:20010e1acd]

.......Only as an associate member, of course. You need spooky self-levelling ones to gain full acceptance.......

Well I've got full leather, heated seats and a 1.8t engine.. maybe I should slap on some wood trim and join philc!?

Well I've got full leather, heated seats and a 1.8t engine.. maybe I should slap on some wood trim and join philc!?[/quote:8f2c67d7ce]

Na, wood's no good. You need to get some slices from the Czech Orange Plastic tree, to be authentic.......

I often wonder why they bother. It's obviously not wood, so why not use something more modern and inventive? I've had other cars with "plastic wood" trim, and it's never convincing!

Phil

lol, we'll start a "wood trim" group then!

(by choice I think I would have gone for the "carbon fibre" effect kit, but it was on when I got it, honest!)

I actually wanted an L&K, but didn't really like the wood(ish) trim too much.. Then i got a phone call saying that Skoda UK had 1.8t with burgundy leather and no wood that an exec had parted with for an RS after just 2300miles.. mine for 12k if I wanted it... I got it for 11k.. bargain! I have also been told that the number of skuds with this trim in the UK is around '20 or so'.

Burgundy leather? Very unusual. Does it have nice dark coloured carpets, too?

and where is the white 1.6i owners group eh? Favorit-ism thats what I say!

:mrgreen:

Carpets are dark grey - dash and side panels are a mixture of leather/grey plastic/black plastic - all looks a bit 'audi'. I'll get hold of a digital camera at some point and post a pic.

I had an Slxi Turbo before my RS , a very nice car which i would still have , if Skoda had not introduced the RS!! Mine was silver with black heated leather seats and the 2 tone black/light grey dash and dark carpets , 99 on a V plate... in fact when its new owner picked it up and took it home he phoned me asking if there was something wrong with his lovely 'new' Skoda , as I had owned it for under 3 months!! Of course i set him straight , and he aboslutely loves the car!

So does no-one own any of the "classic" Skodas, such as the Estelle

or Rapid(e)? I've looked at getting one, but they seem pretty rare

and getting one that costs enough for me to justify the insurance might

be tricky!

Suggestions welcomed on where to find them!

Rob.[/quote:62b58b9ffd]

I have currently a 1990 136 Rapid (Garrett T2 Turbo Charger conversion) and a 1990 136 ready for home in sky.

also currently:-

1998 Felica LXI Estate

1999 Octavia SLXI 2.0

2001 Octavia RS

I have owned a number of 4 and 5 speed Rear wheel drive estelles:-

120LE, 120LSE, 130LSE, and a 130 Rapid

and a couple of 136 GL Favorits

O and a lot of parts for RWD Skodas. and you are correct there is no "e" in Rapid the Czech name for the Rapid was Garde

John

Woah John! That's a whole lot of Skodas!

So what's the truth on their reliability? And how much are parts or are

they mostly breaker-sourced these days?

Rob.

Woah John! That's a whole lot of Skodas!

So what's the truth on their reliability? And how much are parts or are

they mostly breaker-sourced these days?

Rob.[/quote:2547928508]

The truth about their reliability is that they were extreemly reliable, especialy before they introduced a crossflow aluminium head as used in Favorits and 1.3 Felicias. Earlier 120's and 130's had non xflow cast iron heads and were less troublsome.

The cars in there day handled extreemly well and have given me over the years as much fun as my RS. They held the road like glue and were a bit of an unknown secret just as Skoda's of today. Ask most owners who have actually owned a RWD Skoda and they will probably say the same. Skoda are the envy of a lot of other marqes over the loyalty of Skoda owners once you have taken the plunge you remain loyal to the brand. In there day they were far superior for the money than the British Leyland cars. Unfortunately they were always judged with cars costing twice as much and not on equal money.

I have towed a fully laden car & caravan many times to Europe inc CZ without problem with estelles and rapids, the engines/Gboxes tend to be extreemly sturdy hence the rally wins over the years.

Main problems tend to be head gaskets on 136 Rapids that problem also carried onto Felicias and 1.3 8v Fabias, the 1.3 8v Fabia engine is soon to be droped by the new 3cyl 1.2 unit.

Many Engine spares for the 136 engines are readily available from Skoda dealers as they are shared on the Favorit & Felicia 1.3's, and Skoda has a 10yr stocking policy once a vehicle has ceased production. Most RWD spares are also readily available from parts importers such as Butts & Co at reasonable prices. Most parts are readly available in CZ.

I dont use breakers for parts as I visit CZ most years, dont think you will see many RWD Estelles/ Rapids Skodas in breakers its best to get parts from importers anyway. Roadside rescue in Poole break skodas late and old and are a good source of used an dnew parts for all Skoda's.

Later Estelle/Rapid are the best with semi trailing arm suspension.

Theres not much to go wrong with the cars although there was a problem with rear wheel bearing that was covered under a recall that could have caused a rear wheel and shaft to leave the car.

All work on the car is very easy a hoist is not even need to remove the engine to change the clutch a trolley jack will suffice.

The Aluminium Engines have wet steel liners so a new set of linners and pistons can be easily fitted without the need for a rebore, even on an individual piston basis.

John

John

John,

You certainly know your Skodas :!: , as you can probably tell from my posts I don't , but I do now know a bit about their history , having had a book called " The True Story of Skoda " by Dave Randle for a xmas present , but you probably know about the book if you haven't already got it , and BTW it is printed in Stroud , just down the road from you .

John,

You certainly know your Skodas :!: , as you can probably tell from my posts I don't , but I do now know a bit about their history , having had a book called " The True Story of Skoda " by Dave Randle for a xmas present , but you probably know about the book if you haven't already got it , and BTW it is printed in Stroud , just down the road from you .[/quote:40b5e91c28]

I dont have that book although I did hear about it a few years ago when it was published - Have you got the ISBN? I may think about obtaining a copy.

I have a similar book called :-

L&K - SKODA 1895- 1995 Part II The flight of the winged arrow by

Peter Kozisek & Jan Kralik in English purchased from the Skoda museum in Mlada Boleslav ISBN 80 - 901719 - 1 - 9

I havn't read it all but is full of interesting info and photos of vehicles through those dates up to the Felicia 1.6 combi.

John ,

ISBN 0 7509 2565 5 , hope that helps . It covers from the birth of Emil Skoda in 1839 up to the launch of the Superb in 2001 .

John ,

ISBN 0 7509 2565 5 , hope that helps . It covers from the birth of Emil Skoda in 1839 up to the launch of the Superb in 2001 .[/quote:8ee012b121]

Excellent, it must be a reprint or a different book as the one I new about was in the pre Fabia Octavia Superb days. Ill Czech it out.

Cheers for that advice John - I'll have to bear all that in mind when I'm

looking. Might make a good project for the summer!

Rob.