What to look out for on fabia vrs??

[niallyp]

Evening all,

im niall from scotlandshire, i hail from the derv camp albeit a 206 usually can be found on pgac but have seen the light and am off to look at a couple of vRS's tomorrow.

are there any common problems i should be loking for or any wee niggles that anyone has? did a search as i thought there would be a dedicated thread as this site seems to have everything but drew a blank after like page 4!!! looking at an 04 plate on 18k then a an'04 53 plate on 30k. hoping all will be good and can get shot of the puglet...

so far can see that interiors can go shabby and brakes can be a bit suspect but anything over a 206 must be good

post your snags in here hopefully ill not get a crapper!

cheers, Niall

[ScoobyChris]

Fuel filler cap release braking/filler cap not shutting and leaky rear doors seem to be the most common ones

Chris

[jonny boy]

hopefully ill not get a crapper!

You can buy those from B&Q for

[Mr Grumpy]

They don't do a green one:pants:

[mcbunny]

i have a 30k (2003 53) one for 8500 in black ok im in york but still lol

[niallyp]

You can buy those from B&Q for

[mcbunny]

well exhaust on mine is fine after 3 years

the thing to look out for is water in rear footwells, dodgy cd players, and rattles everything else seems fine

[kris_vrs_fabia]

cant think of any problems, i know a few furbie vrs drivers and the ones i know dont have any problems.

[Mr Grumpy]

I've got loads of problems, but my car is GREAT:thumbup:

(when I get to drive it):(

[niallyp]

i suppose none of them are 3 years old so anything should be fixed in warranty? off tomorrow out and about in the pug to visit the local (and not so local) garages... hopefully it will be a fruitful day

[carefree]

Standard brakes are great, I think people think they are driving a McLaren F1. I think they are just right for the car.

Rattles????......you wont ever drive a car that at some point wont rattle/vibrate etc, no matter what it is.

Great car, enjoy.

[niallyp]

well sadly today the car i went to view had been sold so i never got to buy... what is the skoda warranty from new is it 2yr or 3yr?

ill make a judgement on the brakes against my 206 with brembo oem discs and mintex 1144 pads. they are without a doubt the best 206 setup i have tried. and thats with no abs!

as of yest normal pads got put back on and i can feel the shortcomings so anything better than them will be noticed. another vrs to view tomorrow

oh and no more rattles than a french car!

[sharkrider]

warranty is two years unlimited mileage, three years if you don't go past 60,000 miles...... (mine will be over in two years :( but, hey, then the new fabia will be along for me to buy!)

[flatfourburble]

I came from a Pug 206. Horrible little cars!

Trust me you will be going up in the world alot when you buy the vrs.

[DRJ]

are there any common problems i should be loking for or any wee niggles that anyone has? did a search as i thought there would be a dedicated thread as this site seems to have everything but drew a blank after like page 4!!! looking at an 04 plate on 18k then a an'04 53 plate on 30k. hoping all will be good and can get shot of the puglet...

The main thing to consider at that age is that Skoda changed the gearbox in early 2004. The early car had a long 6 speed box - the later car has a shorter box with 6th gear now about where 5th is on the earlier car.

The only easy way to tell the difference - since this happened long before the facelift - is checking the MPH/1000 figure in top gear. It's around 38 on the early car and 32 on the later one.

If the car you're looking at is very early the rear vRS badge will be longer than the FABIA one above it since they apparently originally used Octavia ones. This only happened on the really early cars so it's probably a safe bet to suggest that if it's got the overlong badge it's also got the early gearbox.

Which to choose? Well it's down to personal preference. My car's the later box and I find I rarely use 5th gear changing 1' date='2,3,4,6 - then generally 6,3. I haven't driven an early car but surmise it's a touch slower, a little more economical and generally involves a little less gearchanging (because you'd use the lower gears more keeping 6th and even 5th to an occasional overdrive) but may need a downchange on motorways more often owing to the high gearing.[/color']

The vRS was facelifted in September 2004 at the same time as the other models but the changes were minimal compared to other models - the main ones are the revised rear lights and the omission of locking buttons on the rear seats. So it's hardly a hardship accepting the pre-facelift model though it could be a bargaining point...

Amended - date correction

[niallyp]

fairly in depth there!!!! cheers but i went to see an 05 plate this afternoon and it was fairly sexual. got a cracking trade in on my pug so will get the bank to approve me on monday morning (got principal approval on thursday) and fire down a deposit so long as no one goes and buys it tomorrow!!!

had a knocking noise when engaging gear and on start up, thought it was clutch at first but maybe engine mount? dealer assures me it will be fixed but i know they lie more than politicians. will be driven to check that the fault is fixed befroe the balance gets paid. any ideas boys?

cheers,

Niall

[navarino]

I Just sold mine - a standard vRS in black magic absolutely mint - just need the notes didn't sell through choice!

I can honestly say its the best car I've ever driven (and I have driven a merc slk which didn't impress me much). The quality is fantastic and I personally think that the odd things that have gone wrong for people like the seats fraying are a small minority of cases.

With the seats If you get in and out of the car carefuly the seats do not wear abnormally fast. Mine was 18 months old and no sign of wear on them. They did not get very dirty either but any marks were easily cleaned with vanish oxy action folled by a clean wet sponge and a bit of fairy liquid, rinse followed up with a hairdryer if you wanted them dry quick (3-4 mins!) - wasn.n blow dry!

The handling is a good compromise between comfort and reasonable handling - if you want handling at all costs no one has a bad word to say about the eibach vRS specific springs even with the standard dampers. Performance is exceptional even before the obligatory 'jabbasport' remap (If you need it).

You will not be disappointed when you get a vRS ! (only when you sell it - but I will get another one Later!

Hope you find a well kept one! (mine was went for

[navarino]

That clunk on take up on first gear happened just once or twice on mine - the garage said it was most likely the hydraulic clutch release which would occasionally release fully after the clutch pedal had come right back up - hence the clunk as it suddenly took up all of a sudden after releasing slowly. This only happened occasionally on mine and actually stopped alltogether.

With the one you drove its fairly new and I expect It will bed in ok if thats what it was - if it plays up then they'll have to replce the haydraulics under the warranty:thumbup:

[niallyp]

That clunk on take up on first gear happened just once or twice on mine - the garage said it was most likely the hydraulic clutch release which would occasionally release fully after the clutch pedal had come right back up - hence the clunk as it suddenly took up all of a sudden after releasing slowly. This only happened occasionally on mine and actually stopped alltogether.

With the one you drove its fairly new and I expect It will bed in ok if thats what it was - if it plays up then they'll have to replce the haydraulics under the warranty:thumbup:

good effort, i didnt know what the noise is but i will drive it again before the balance is paid and will not accept the car if it still makes silly noises. the guy i was with "wasnt techniclly minded" (that i quote) so dint mind my attempt to test the traction control on the 2 r/bouts today.. we gotta see these things work. hehe

fuel flap was fecked along with front alloys but other than that....

ill have a look for the gti 180 vs the vrs. i have had the **** taken out me for the last 2 years for driving a diesel. all of a sudden it has become popular!

qucik question - on the golf gt tdi the traction control light flickers on the dash when its scrabbling for grip. is this the same on the furby? not once did i see the light on exceot when i turned it off for the 3rd r/bout?

me love you all long time

Niall

[The The]

The traction light does flicker if you are firing out of a wet roundabout but it is a good system and doesn't cut in too early, The only problem I have had was a snatchy gearbox which my dealer adjusted and now it is a knife through butter.

[DRJ]

qucik question - on the golf gt tdi the traction control light flickers on the dash when its scrabbling for grip. is this the same on the furby? not once did i see the light on exceot when i turned it off for the 3rd r/bout?

I find mine comes on frequently accerating quickly away from traffic lights turning at the same time - only once in 15 months have I felt it was causing a problem and I'd be better without it...