And so onto Fabia VRS number 3!

 

One of the very few cars I have owned that I have regretted selling, My last Fabia VRS that I should have never let go. I didn't need the money and had got it pretty much perfect but was offered such a good price for it as a P/X towards a Golf GTI Edition 30 that I let it go, I should have kept it as a daily but hey ho.

 

As mentioned in my Golf R thread, I decided that I wanted to have a break from expensive cars and that I was going to sell it. So I decided I needed another daily driver, It had to be a Diesel, Sporty and fun to drive with decent looks and reliability but still in good condition...You can see where this is going.

 

After scouring the Internet for past Month relentlessly for a decent MK1 Fabia VRS I really had my work cut out this time, I had a wanted advert on here, On the Fabia VRS Facebook page and have been looking at all the other usual places Autotrader, Ebay etc

 

I almost gave up as everything I was offered was Highly Modified, High Mileage or had a sketchy Service history. Then I popped on here and checked the Cars For Sale section and spotted what looked like the perfect car which fellow Brisky member Shadowphax was selling. After a few PM's and a Phonecall I went to view the car after work on Friday and after going through everything and a thorough test drive I said yes and collected it yesterday, I didn't even haggle with him as the car was exactly if not better as described and just what I was looking for. Very genuine seller and enthusiast and an absolute pleasure to deal with, He was concerned that the car was going to go to a good home and I assured him that I would give the car just that.

 

The car...

 

: Mk1 Skoda Fabia VRS TDI

: Lemon Yellow

: 2 Owners from new, Last owner has had the car 8 Years and is a Briskoda Member/Enthusiast

: 68K Miles

: Factory Zenon's, Sunroof, Cruise Control, CD Changer

: Totally standard apart from Genuine Mudflaps fitted all-round, Facelift Grille and Tailgate badges

 

: FSH, Been done every 6-10K Miles, Just Serviced and MOT'd a few Weeks ago at D.M Keiths Skoda Main Dealer as well as a pair of Rear Bump Stops, No advisories on Service or MOT. On its 3rd Timing Belt as it has been done every 4 Years. Gearbox Oil has been changed. Had a recent pair of Genuine Rear Brake Calipers, Recent Brake Discs and Pads fitted all round, Uprated Console Bushes fitted. A really well maintained car.

 

Car is in very good condition both inside and out even to my standards, Been garaged everyday for the past 8 Years, Front seats have Covers fitted to keep them looking as new with no bolster wear, It has some tailor made floor mats fitted and the original VRS items are like brand new and have been un-used for the past 8 Years, Rear seats hardly ever used, Door cards have all been removed and the Door Panels have been Sealed properly (Common Fabia Problem)

 

The car also came with 2 sets of Wheels....A powder coated set of 15" Steels with Winter Tyres and the original Fabia VRS Alloys fitted with nearly new Hankook V12's.

 

I had a great drive back home in the car, Averaged 55MPG with no effort and immediately knew I had made a good choice holding out for the right example. Even coming from the MK6 Golf R the Fabia felt very solid inside, Was comfy and the little 130BHP PD Engine felt nice and flexible.

 

Future Plans...

 

Now I know the whole reason for me buying this car was to have a break from Detailing and spending all my spare time on the car but I still intend to do a big initial Detail on the Fabia which will hopefully make keeping on top of it much easier. Plus it deserves it!

 

The previous owner has done a fab job and the car is a credit to him. I intend to continue and take it to the next level including giving the Car a Single Stage Machine Polish, Wax, Wheel Removal and Wheel Arch Deep Clean, I have some VRS Green Pantone 348 High Temp Paint which I had made for my previous VRS so will be doing a Brake Caliper repaint and Hub repaint. Engine Bay De-Grease and Detail.

 

The Standard 16" VRS Alloys where refurbished a few Years ago but where Powder-coated White, I personally prefer a more OEM look so will be getting them redone over the next few Weeks and will be going for a Silver finish.

 

Possibly replace the Head Unit for something more modern as it has the Factory Fitted item, Open to idea's on that as I have no idea when it comes to In Car Entertainment.

 

Lastly I might consider a Remap, Nothing balls out and something that will keep the Stock Clutch in check. Heard good things about Faboka on here but Niki Gower at R-Tech who I use for my TFSI mapping also does software for these too.

 

Sneaky Pic...

 

Just a teaser shot for now, The car is currently in Winter Mode on its Steelies and is not going to be used over the next Week until the Golf has gone hopefully next Weekend. I will post some proper pictures of the car once it has had its first Bonelorry Detail

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looks well fella. Looking forward to the updates. Hard spec to find with most of the factory options on, good work!

Certainly sounds a nice one

Just don't ever park it next to a Sprint yellow one !

6/3/17...

 

 

On early shifts this Week, The Sun was shining and I had a decent finish time this afternoon so decided to make a start on the Fabia.

 

When I first buy a car and carry out its first Wash/Detail in my ownership I like to spend additional time on area's that you do not always see such as all the Door Shuts, Wheel Arches and Engine bay. As well as doing a Basic wash and prepping the Paint for Polishing/Waxing.

 

Made some decent progress today and did what I call a basic enhancement Detail, I will be giving the Fabia a Machine Polish at some point soon but for now...

 

: Thorough Rinse, All Door Shuts, Boot Shut, Fuel Filler Cap and Bonnet Shuts. Using APC to High Concentrate and Detailing Brush

: Full Exterior Wash, 2 Bucket Method, Megs Shampoo & Lambswool Mitt

: Wheels cleaned using Bilberry

: Trolley Jack used, Jacked up a corner at a time and All x Four Wheel Arches Deep Cleaned

: Underneath of Sills Scrubbed using soft bristle brush and APC to High Concentrate

: Paint Clayed

: Paint De-Tarred

: Towel Dried

: Hand Polished using Autoglym SRP, Removed with Microfibre

: 1 x Layer of Collinites no:845 Wax Applied using Soft Applicator, Removed with Microfibre

: Glass Cleaned inside and out using Autoglym Fast Glass

: Wheel Arches dressed using Aerospace 303

 

: Engine bay de-greased, Turrets cleaned, Engine Cover removed and cleaned, Engine bay dressed using Aerospace 303

 

Couple of pics from todays efforts...

 

Not much came off the paint when I clayed it however I always use a separate piece on the lower half of the car below the door mouldings and this is what came off...

 

 

 

The Rear doors had some soft plastic adhesive door edge protectors fitted which just had to be removed, This is what I was left with...

 

 

All left over Glue residue taken car of using Autoglym Tar Remover, Then the areas where Hand Polished. You would never even know they where ever fitted now...

 

 

Wheel Arches deep cleaned and dressed...

 

 

Engine Bay post Detail...

 

 

Mint seats, Been covered for the past 8 Years...

 

 

End Result, It does need a Machine Polish and some minor Paint Correction to really get it looking its best but I am happy with how the car is now looking after a simple Hand Polish/Wax application. For a Solid Colour it has quite a bit of depth...

 

 

 

Lastly, Here are the 16" VRS Alloys which are currently finished in White with Carbon effect Centre Caps, Although they are in good condition sadly I am not a big fan of White Alloys and want to keep with the OEM theme so I am dropping them off tomorrow afternoon for Refurbishing. They will be getting Powdercoated Hi-Power Metallic Silver, I am still undecided on whether or not to order a set of new OEM Centre Caps too...

 

 

 

 

 

 

New genuine centre caps, the car deserves those at least 

19 minutes ago, Lofty said:

New genuine centre caps, the car deserves those at least 

 

Just ordered a set off ebay from Rainworth Skoda.

I think the silver wheels will suit it 100 times better than the white would Simon. Wise choice having them changed. Couple that with a set of fresh black wheel bolt covers and it'll look fresh at each corner.

8 hours ago, Lofty said:

I think the silver wheels will suit it 100 times better than the white would Simon. Wise choice having them changed. Couple that with a set of fresh black wheel bolt covers and it'll look fresh at each corner.

 

You must be reading my mind Lofty!

 

Dropped the Wheels off today for Refurbishment, Couple of choices of Silver to choose from but I opted the Standard OEM Silver. They offered a Brilliant Silver with a Metallic finish but it looked a bit blingy to me,

 

Also ordered a set of Black 17mm Wheel Nut covers, Same ones as I fitted on the Golf R.

7/3/16...

 

Well I dropped the Alloys off this afternoon for refurbishing, I also ordered a set of Black 17mm Wheel Nut Covers the same type as what I have on the Golf R and a set of 4 brand new Genuine Centre Caps. Looking like the back end of next Week when the Alloys will be finished, I went for an OEM Silver finish.

 

Nothing else too exciting but I had another couple of hours on the car this afternoon, Did a few small jobs such as remove all the Window Stickers and old Tax Disc Holder. There was an old Service sticker on the Drivers Door Shut/B Pillar which had been peeled off and left behind was the old glue residue so i removed that and Polished all the Door Sills.

 

The Fabia Badge on the Tailgate had seen better days and there was a build up of grime surrounding the letters which looked a mess and would be impossible to remove with the badge in place, Decided to remove the badge and the left over glue and sponge was removed using a Caramel Wheel and then I using the D/A with Megs 105 and an Orange Hex pad to finally clean the whole area.

 

I might actually leave it De-Badged, Quite like the look with just the VRS badge.

 

 

 

Edited 7 March, 20179 yr by bonelorry

I had a set done in high sparkle silver once and they looked too OTT tbh. I think the standard finish silver you've chosen will be much nicer. 

 

 

2 minutes ago, Lofty said:

I had a set done in high sparkle silver once and they looked too OTT tbh. I think the standard finish silver you've chosen will be much nicer. 

 

 

 

My thoughts too! Looking forward to getting them back next week and on the car, Will Paint the Brake Calipers and Disc Bells prior to fitting.

 

Actually looking forward to getting the little Fabia on the road and driving it

13/3/17...

 

Well the Golf R went on Saturday morning and I swapped insurance over straight away, Unfortunately though due to the fact that DVLA had already issued the new V5 in my name I was unable to Tax the Fabia online on Saturday with the Green Slip/V5C/2 and so had to wait until this morning. Rang the DVLA first thing today and got through pretty much straight away and was able to do it over the phone....Then 20 Mins later the new V5 came through the post in my name LOL.

 

Anyway all sorted now and the Daffodil is up and running and on the road!

 

Decided to go an have an hour or so out in the Fabia this morning, Called into Halfords for a few bits as I had a couple of Gift Cards from Xmas to spend, Popped to Jepsons in Sheffield to get a pair of new Number Plates made up and did a few other jobs. All in all clocked up about 30 Miles, Mixed driving and averaged 54MPG without even trying.

 

I now no the reason I opted to buy another Fabia VRS, I should never have sold the last one in 2015! For a daily driver it really is a great little car, The 1.9 PD130 engine never feels like you are actually working it in such a light car and In-Gear it is surprisingly flexible. Bearing in mind I have just come from a 320BHP car I do not feel it lacking and it is still fun to drive but very economical also.

 

A couple of little jobs done today, Fitted a pair of new front Bosch Wipers 21"/19" as the car had some retrofitted flat/aero type blades fitted which I am not a big fan of. Also had a fresh set of Number Plates made up.

 

Couple of pics...

 

 

Off with the old tired looking plates and Rear Surround...

 

 

New Front...

 

 

New Rear, As mentioned I have also removed the old Plastic Surround to further tidy the look of the rear end up...

 

Looks loads better without that rear plate surround, much sharper

Are you not tempted to back to the original Mk1 badging? I kinda think it suits the era of the car nowadays 

1 hour ago, Lofty said:

Are you not tempted to back to the original Mk1 badging? I kinda think it suits the era of the car nowadays 

 

As a matter of fact yes Lofty, I have been giving some thought to replacing the Front Grille and Rear Tailgate badges with some originals. I am fitting the original style Centre Caps on the Alloys when they come back from refurbishing.

 I think because the rest of the car is so nice it would suit it down to the ground having the right badging on it. I have always thought the newer style badging looks out of place on the mk1

24 minutes ago, Lofty said:

 I think because the rest of the car is so nice it would suit it down to the ground having the right badging on it. I have always thought the newer style badging looks out of place on the mk1

 

You are right!

 

Just ordered a pair from Rainworth's, Part No: 1U0853621CMEL. Same badge for the Front and Rear 

The new style badge on the grille looks much better than the old fashioned standard one

 

Deffo don't put the horrible Fabia badge back on the boot,loads better with just the VRS

16 minutes ago, coskev said:

The new style badge on the grille looks much better than the old fashioned standard one

 

Deffo don't put the horrible Fabia badge back on the boot,loads better with just the VRS

 

I think that will be it for the Badging! Yes I am not going to refit the Fabia Badge on the Tailgate, I prefer the cleaner look of just the VRS Badge.

 

Will fit the Original style Green Skoda Badges when they arrive and leave it at that

 Simon, ignore Kev, hes wrong about the badging, the OE green Skoda badge is the "only" one to suit the Mk1, unless you want to be a Facebook fabia chav....

 

 

I wasn't going to mention the Fabia lettering... was going to leave that for another time... cough cough...

3 minutes ago, Lofty said:

 Simon, ignore Kev, hes wrong about the badging, the OE green Skoda badge is the "only" one to suit the Mk1, unless you want to be a Facebook fabia chav....

 

 

I wasn't going to mention the Fabia lettering... was going to leave that for another time... cough cough...

 

 

Theres the part number save you looking it up...

39 minutes ago, Lofty said:

 

Theres the part number save you looking it up...

 

I have already seen them at Rainworths, I was looked last week after I removed the Fabia lettering but once I had polished the area I decided to leave it as it is.

 

Thanks though

14/3/17...

 

Lofty's fault...

 

New Genuine original style Badges arrive tomorrow, Purchased from Rainworth Skoda.

 

 

 

 

Guilty as charged...