So after someone did a hit'n'run on her parked Ka last summer, we bought a Mégane Coupé. Was OK, except cam belt failed and made a mess so that's now gone to the scrappy.

As much as she likes getting chauffered around in my Tesla, I'm sick of doing it and using 2-3 hours every day doing a quadruple commute through Reading for her, and so it's time to find her a replacement car.

 

She doesn't do that many miles and combined with my new green credentials, it's probably getting a small petrol engine. A nice relatively recent Fabia 2 or 3 would be a good option I reckon, and from the sound of it, those 1.2 turbo engines are pretty economical but not an absolute dog to drive.

We could go for a new car, but it's probably more than she'd want to spend so looking at something between 1 and 3 years old. She liked my old vRS so makes sense sticking to that. Can look at Polo / Golfs / Ibizas, etc, but they're probably more expensive for the equivalent Fabia.

 

Soooo, what do you reckon? I've had a quick look in the classifieds here, but it's mainly for tuned cars which probably isn't what's best. I'm after something simple, cheap to run/insure, reliable, etc.

 

The 1.2TSi motors are quite brisk and fun to drive.  The mpgs are unlikely to hit 80% of the EU test figure though. Small turbo motors are great for the manufactures to reduce carbon footprint, and get great headline mpg on test, but in reality they need to be driven by a nun to get anywhere close to the ludicrous economy claims.

 

 

Oh, and my turbo popped at under 25000 miles. (and I drive it like a vicar).

 

 

 

 

Edited 18 February, 20179 yr by camelspyyder

Mrs G has a Fabia 3 SE-L ( 15 Plate bought new ) It's nippy and drives very well. It has the 6 speed box and if driven nicley on a run it can achieve 50+ mpg and 40+ around town. Performance wise it's no sports car but driven hard it accelerates very well.

 

 

 

 

Citigo, you don't say what the budget is, but you can get a new one for around £120 a month or less.

great car for town work with the ability of long trips.

 

if she's doing low miles would a lease be an option?

 

Might let her get something nicer on fairly low monthly plans. What car might depend on the deals of the day.

Budget, well, if buying in one lump sum then around £6k.

I'm warming to the leasing option, but it's a foreign concept to her and the thought of driving something she doesn't own needs acclimatising to.

The way I see it:

Buy a new car (Fabia, Citigo, something else) on finance.

Lease a new car.

Buy a second hand something or other.

A citigo would probably be big enough. For anything travel requiring a lot of space, she'd take the Tesla. She was car sharing with friends so the 3-door setup didn't suite her, but that's come to an end, so a 3-door isn't out of the question either.

All she asks for is something comfortable, easy to drive, maybe a bit of fun, great for town, easy to park, aircon, central locking, power steering. Leccy windows, bluetooth phone integration are nice to haves.

 

edit: ideally, needs to be something available so a custom-built whatever from factory isn't an option.

Edited 18 February, 20179 yr by Xavier

Plus I need to get my head around this whole thing, negotiating price with dealer, etc, not something I'm used to. At least with Tesla, the price is the price, no pushy sales, no discussion, it's so refreshingly simple!

If she's not too fussy I've seen some deals appear on the UKhotdeals website regularly for little motors like 106 or Clios that have been quite low deposit and well under £100 a month.

 

But I'll admit the mechanics of lease deals escape me.

 

I had a quick look but most of the deals listed for now (that aren't getting slated) are for diesel or electrics. The former probably not a good idea with low miles.

 

 

£6k would buy her a nice clean example of a Citigo, outright no need for PCP/PCH, extremely reliable, group 1 insurance with low VED. Very nippy around town and fine for a bit of motorway.

 

My wife has a Citigo SE and totally loves it, I actually drive it and it is pretty dammed good for the money.

 

There is Dacia and then there is paying more for what is needed. Now there is an auto (just on the Duster) and now there is rear camera too as well as SatNav etc.

 

Good to buy cars, and bikes, soon as New and nearly new prices are going up rapidly due the weak pound since BREXIT.

Edited 18 February, 20179 yr by lol-lol

Going to have a look at the Citigo now. May also look at the Dacia Sandero thingy too...

I do like the look of the Citigo and they do have 0% APR PCP offers on apparently... We'll see

Hmmm. Seems a pretty good deal

Bought it!

Good.

I might be wrong and the dealership correct,  but that is a 69ps SE (68 BHP) and not 70 BHP.  

But only the difference between oo and ahh.

Edited 19 February, 20179 yr by Offski

Yeah, realised that when looking at how much it would be to tax. DVLA report it as a 69PS engine. I like the sound of the three-potter though. Decent torque too, went up a steep hill in third gear with three of us in without complaining at all.

 

Nick (the dealer) did make me laugh though. First questions were how she was feeling about the car, etc. Then he asks me what I drive, mentioned the Tesla. The next 20 minutes of the test drive, Béa was completely ignored as he constantly asked me questions about the Tesla. Felt kind of strange. He was far more interested in the Tesla than trying to sell the Fabia to Béa!

Went back, and semi-negotiated a deal. On the proviso we come to collect it in the Tesla so he can have a look at one (never seen any before).

I didn't want to beat him up on pricing, but he'll get the couple of dents on the bodywork fixed, and when I said something along the lines of it's a shame to be paying a month's tax for just a few days, he offered adding a bit more fuel, so I feel happy abou that and, more importantly, Béa loves the way it drives.

So it's been a few months without a Skoda in the house, but we're now a Skoda family once more Picking it up next Saturday (after I've shown the Tesla!)

Oh and it looks like my VCDS will find a new lease of life! I now need to see what you can do with a Fabia 2 SE...

 

Picked it up this morning.

I know a salesman is going to be nice when someone spends a lot of money with them, but I really appreciated the whole attitude from Nick at Marshall's Reading. A really nice chap.

Bea is very happy with it. The minor dent on the front has been sorted, and they filled it up with fuel.

On a sidenote, he was dead keen on seeing the Tesla and couldn't contain his excitement when I offered a 5-minute spin down the road (he drives an Octy vrs). I think I discovered the 5-year old in him. Absoultely loved it!

Edited 25 February, 20179 yr by Xavier

Good!

Now tell us about the TESLA!!!

1 minute ago, Ryeman said:

Good!

Now tell us about the TESLA!!!

Link in my sig to the thread here

Wow!

(Ive never had the inclination, or time, to master all the elements of Briskoda.)

I'm way past high performance cars these days.......affordable range is my priority with BEVs and 200 miles would be a minimum and Peugeot might just get their hands on the Bolt now.

Good shout, the Mk2 Fabia facelift is a good car and what the 1.2 3 cyl lacks in power it makes up for in character, reliability and v reasonable MPG.

 

I used to buy my Skodas from that dealer group, what was Jewson's in Oxford.  Great bunch.