Ok, I am seriously thinking I am going to buy a Fabia vRS. I have heard great things from all of you, and I have read good reviews so I might just do it. After I went to the car wash to get rid of the bird crap on Vlad's roof (my favorit) and I spent the rest of the afternoon with drips running down my neck I think I need to change my car.

I would keep Vlad partly because he is not mine to sell (he belongs to my mother) and also because I love him dearly and I could not be without him. It is good, I could keep my Fabia for clean activities and Vlad for everything else. Also when my mother is in the country (she lives in the States) I will be able to let her drive Vlad and I have my own car.

Now the logical thing to do is buy a Peugeot as I can get a huge reduction on them, and I was looking at getting a used 206 GTi that is for sales for

insurance is group 9c or something like that.

Standard one will return 50+ miles to the gallon usually

Oh its fun. If you need to see what you can do with one, drop me a shout sometime. No need to worry about traffic lights - its quick enough. Comfortable speed to cruise at? 125 is nice. But its very good at 80mph. Doing under 2500rpm - just "right"

70mph is even better though, more leisurely and a good mpg return as well.

Sod it, I will see what they have at the skoda dealership at some point in the next few days. I want one

I'm awaiting delivery of mine, but wife had one for a year or so. We test drove one of the press demonstrators when it first arrived in the country and I can honestly say I was smiling like a chesire cat the entre time, (Private road up a steep incline in 6 at xxx miles and still pulling), and whilst I enjoyed the test i had in both mk1 and 2 octy Vrs' I was not smiling like this. So Huge fun factor YES and not just for other drivers faces! Economy I believe the gear ratios have now been changed (not sure which tho) but 70 mph came up at under 2000 rpm in 6 and returned about 60 + mpg if kept constant, round town she got about 40 - 42 (pure driving in traffic), Will cruise on motorway at any legal sppeed and many not so legal! Drove from Bradford to Poole non stop with no fatigue. Will upset alot of dearer cars at lights but requires practice not to spin/asr, or stall + mind the clutch!. Insurance w'ont be cheap for your age or NCB (

Sod it, I will see what they have at the skoda dealership at some point in the next few days. I want one

Worth having a scout round for a decent used one from the delaers I got finance on my vRS 14months old 17K on the clock.

It does mean you can not be too fussy on the options though

We test drove one of the press demonstrators when it first arrived in the country

What colour was it?? A bit off topic but I'm convinced mine was a demonstrator as I've not seen one as early as mine 2003 on 03 plate previous owner Skoda UK

I will have to see how much I am going to earn at Peugeot. Need to sell more of those 407 Coupes!

I would want on in yellow. I am not going to beat around the bush when it come to the national speed limit (it is too slow I think and nobody sticks to it anyway) Am I going to be able to do 95mph easily?

Go for it you w'ont regret but a word of advice buyYellow:thumbup: [/color']

Yes, I would get yellow!

Well,you prob know where SMC Skoda are - Head up the main drag, and hike a right at the roundabout when you have the VW/Audi place in front of you (carwash on the corner) - Its first on the left.

IML Newton Abbot are on the main road through Newton Abbot, next door to the racecourse and opposite Tesco's sorta. You probably know better than me where the IML in Plymouth is.

I live in walking distance of the Skoda dealership in Plymouth, so I might have a nose around tomorrow evening.

I forget (or maybe you never told me) where do you work devonutopia?

I live in walking distance of the Skoda dealership in Plymouth' date=' so I might have a nose around tomorrow evening.

I forget (or maybe you never told me) where do you work devonutopia?[/quote']

The Pinhoe end of Exeter - North East corner.

SMC Skoda is my local dealer,but with living in Dawlish, IML Newton Abbot are just as close and I have used both for buying parts, etc.

I am not going to beat around the bush when it come to the national speed limit (it is too slow I think and nobody sticks to it anyway) Am I going to be able to do 95mph easily?

That would be nicely in the powerband then! still expect 50's mpg if stable speed. Glad to hear it but no doubt walkie will have something to say

Johnny------

Test car was silver, driven at Lightcliffe Skoda Huddersfield, They opened their Hudds branch just as the vRS was launched and got one of the first cars in the country, we where told it was a press car by their sales bloke. Tested early august so 03 plate, had to wait 6-8 weeks that time for our car to be delivered (so 53 plate in black v. difficult to insure at that time cos nobody had heard of it:eek: ).

95 no problem! Just watch the speedo over 90, as the next big letters are 110, not 100!

Not that I've gone anywhere near than of course ;-)

Having had Fords, Peugeots and Skodas, I would go for the Skoda anyday!

MPG not a problem. I still manage to get 53mpg going from Manchester to South Wales and half the journey is hammering it cross country. Big smiles!!!

If you change your mind and what a nice Black one I may know someone selling one cheap

Am I going to be able to do 95mph easily?

95mph & first off the lights eh? But you want resonable insurance charge. Now come on, be mature. You get a number of points or probably even a ban for that and you'll be very sorry for what will feel a very long time (5 years) as you'll pay a fortune for insurance for a start.

It is entirely possible to drive quite sensibly but still have an enormous grin from the Fabia vRS. It is also possible to drive like a loon and have a grin too, but there is much more of a buzz and satisfaction from knowing you have driven sensibly and well. Ignore other's behaviour on the roads, around 70mph is a very good trade off between speed, full economy and safety.

I also suggest you look at an advanced driver course recognised by the insurance firms in order to get your premium down.

Might it be worth you looking at a lesser Fabia model to start with (say the 1.4 diesel, this a good drive by all accounts with good economy) and picking up no claims etc, then going up the chain to a vRS later?

Look at used Fabias, it will save you loads of money (as you probably know from your job) allowing you to save up now for newer/better cars plus other things like houses, pensions etc.

By the way, on a Fabia the water gets in via the rear doors instead

All just my 2p worth

Buy! Buy! Buy! you won't regret it. Had mine since June lst year and it still makes me smile!

There are a few very tidy second hand ones up for sale on here, they'll still be under warranty. First bet is to get a test drive in one locally, there may be a demo in a local Skoda garage, or there's one in a garage in Exmouth that's not a bad price and pretty close to where you work.

Once you've had a go in one, and fallen in love, then perhaps you may get a better deal with a private sale.

I bought mine funnily enough from the VW stealer in Exeter, mainly 'cos it had quite a good spec for slighly less money than the demo car at SMC who didn't really seem interested in selling me a car......their loss of commision on that one.

Still there's the sexy 207 coming out soon, surely they'll give you a healthy discount on one of those - mind you, climbing in and out of them all day and you'll probably be sick of the sight of them soon enough so will want something a little different anyway, and the Skoda is certainly quite well built and with it's angular styling it doesn't half look different from a Peugeot.

Glad to hear it but no doubt walkie will have something to say

I think Yellows fine tbh... for a girl

Well, to chuck in a few votes in favor for the Furby...

First of all, the car's really comfortable on longer journeys. About 2 weeks after getting the car last july me and swimbo took it for a road trip to north cape. I chucked out the rear seats and could easily pack up enough stuff for a 10 day trip. We did about 2800 miles during those 10 days. It was most fun I've ever had on a road trip...

Then about the top speed, I've taken mine to some silly speeds.. I've done 136 mph in it, according to speedo. And the car is totally stock. So your 95 is really not a problem. Btw, it's always worth a look to see the face of the other cars driver when they try to pass you on a steep hill on motorway. Let them pull right on your side and then just ever so gently give the car a bit of boot... Whoosh! and your gone... It tends to break the other drivers spirit

I've been giving a couple of mkI octy vrs and couple of bmw guys a run for their money on motorways. Even the 1.8t Audis have to watch their back

About economical, well I get a decent 47 mpg on motorway runs to work during the winter. And that's in Finland where it's been -8 to -19 C for the past few weeks. At extreme it can get to around -35 C in here. The mpg won't be affected much even by that low temp. But at over -15C I'm using a diesel powered auxiliary heater whilst driving. Otherwise the car tends to get a bit cold.

During summer months my usual mpg is around 50-54 mpg.

These are all with a/c on and all the other goodies you can think off plus using cruise control. I'm a lazy git...

Balls to bones, it's the best car I've ever had. Seriously fun and cheap to run. I've done about 20k miles since july.

Ohh and if you can afford it, opt for the xenons. My car was ex-show car so I didn't have the luxury of picking out my options. The regular lights are ok'ish, but xenons would be great. And Black Magic is the color to go

Now stop beating around the bush and go buy one. You know it makes sense.

- Juha

I think Yellows fine tbh... for a girl

Ah but I'm confident in my sexuality old boy,wait till u see it with the pink furry dice in the back window

Now stop beating around the bush and go buy one. You know it makes sense.

- Juha

Hmmm....got a deal with her dealer dude? :P

I live in walking distance of the Skoda dealership in Plymouth' date=' so I might have a nose around tomorrow evening.

I forget (or maybe you never told me) where do you work devonutopia?[/quote']

If you go to IML in Plympton, talk to Nik Row, who is probably the best salesman in there. If you're lucky they may let you out on your own but make sure you have your licence with you.

My wife refused to be seen in a Skoda but she only had to drive the demonstrator to the end of the road and she was sold on the idea of the vRS. Ended up doing a deal on the demonstrator.

Took it to Bristol airport and back and returned 52mpg with the cruise set to 85.

Only moans are the seats don't have much lower back support and doesn't corner as well as my Focus Zetec.

Much faster away from the lights though and quicker up Holden Hill !!!

.

Much faster away from the lights though and quicker up Holden Hill !!!

Haldon and sister hill Telegraph - that sorts the wheat out from the chaff!

That's the first place I test a car out, if it can accelerate in top gear whilst going up one of those two hills then it's got REAL useable power, if not then it's not for me!

Used to spend most of my summer holidays at the chalets on top of Telegraph hill and helping out in the cafe when our friends owned it, the amount of cars that over heat up there!