I have a '09 MkII. I'm the third owner, over 37k kms it never missed a beat. The timing belt was replaced 2 years ago and got new set of brake discs and pads all around. Oh, and she is canary yellow. ;-) Can't fault it.

 

Thinking about changing.

I'd like to get a MkIII estate. I like the shape, it's very grown up. The MkII's shape is a mixed bag, bit on a less than nice side. In my country the 105 hp version is hard to get. I had to import one if I'd decide to go for it. What is holding me back that the current car basic enough, I don't have to worry about turbos, gadget's gremlins appearing, etc.

I'd like to have more power on tap and even looking into getting an Ibiza 1.4 tsi (shame the Fabia not getting something more powerful, not mentioning the troublesome vRS), more room. I'm worried about the carbon build up on the which is unavoidable. Here in Ireland there's only a 95 RON available. There's no such problem with the old 1.4 (except the slappy pistons).

 

So the question is any of you made this change and how did you find it? Was it woth?

 

I see plenty of Monte Carlo estates for the sale in the UK but all of them has a panoramic roof (must be heavier and for some reason I'm not the fan of it, (if we had a sunny weather all year maybe) and the red upholstery and gearstick surround look dreadful. I think the Fabia praticality in estate disguise would be more than enough for me, it's larger but not by much. 

Edited 10 December, 20187 yr by paddyjoe

Better the Devil or Angel you know!

IMO stick with what you have that is not costing you money and in which you can trust.

 

1 hour ago, Offski said:

Better the Devil or Angel you know!

IMO stick with what you have that is not costing you money and in which you can trust.

 

Agree I owned a Fabia Estate from 2010 for 4 years and 33,000 trouble free miles with the 105bhp 1.6Tdi engine which was very economical and practical. Cost me £12,500 new because it had a few options (7 I think).

Damn you, guys!  I've come here to make my decision easier based on this forum knowledge! And now you are telling me...

 

The very same thing what is lurking around in the deep of my head, keep it until it starts to swallow money. (The heart thinks otherwise as midlife crisis approaches, 'get something fun, man!', it tells me, you've had enough of those tiny motors!)

 

You're right in terms of money too. Bought it 3 years ago for €6.7k, now worth around €3k (could be a bit less down to the unique colour). If I wanted to go up on the years, the estate would be around €13-14k. Besides the current one has 98k kms on clock, which is a below average mileage.

 

 

Edited 10 December, 20187 yr by paddyjoe

Here's an idea. Slap a "FOR SALE" Sign in the rear window and keep driving it...

You can bet your bottom Euro anyone who likes that colour will pay that little bit more then a dealer will offer or then someone who is just thinking of a Skud but not committed.

 

In the meantime, stick with it and wait for nice spring deals!

11 minutes ago, paddyjoe said:

Damn you, guys!  I've come here to make my decision easier based on this forum knowledge! And now you are telling me...

 

The very same thing what is lurking around in the deep of my head, keep it until it starts to swallow money. (The heart thinks otherwise as midlife crisis approaches, 'get something fun, man!', it tells me, you've had enough of those tiny motors!)

 

You're right in terms of money too. Bought it 3 years ago for €6.7k, now worth around €3k (could be a bit less down to the unique colour). If I wanted to go up on the years, the estate would be around €13-14k. Besides the current one has 98k kms on clock, which is a below average mileage.

 

 

Now to depress you. Had 3 yellow cars in the past and  when I traded them in got the same story, no-one likes that colour!

4 hours ago, mrgf said:

Here's an idea. Slap a "FOR SALE" Sign in the rear window and keep driving it...

You can bet your bottom Euro anyone who likes that colour will pay that little bit more then a dealer will offer or then someone who is just thinking of a Skud but not committed.

In the meantime, stick with it and wait for nice spring deals!

The sign is good idea, cheers!

 

4 hours ago, shyVRS245 said:

Now to depress you. Had 3 yellow cars in the past and  when I traded them in got the same story, no-one likes that colour!

No, you don't depress me. The book of carsales tells you not to buy a yellow car because when it comes to sell, very few will like it. But the book doesn't tell you that on dull days you'll have a mini sunshine to cheer you up and when she's given a wash, you really see your effort. I can't get my head around why people don't like vibrant colour in this climate, while it may look dirty but it brightens the mood up.

 

(Hey, if you are true to your nickname, I envy you for that missile  )

 

I wonder how do the revised turbo lumps fare in terms of reliability? I won't buy any new Fabias due to the 1.0l engines, they must be stretched too much, not made to last. (My nether region is ok size-wise but I'd be ashamed of having that small unde the bonnet! )

Suggest you try a 1.2 (presume you mean the TSi) and then decide.

 

The first TSi I drove was in a 2010 Octavia, a 125 PS version, OK but did not make me want to part with my money. probably a good thing considering the problems people had with the chain cam engine in the next few years.

 

Then in 2013 I drove the 1.4 TSi 140 PS in a Seat Leon. Decided there and then I wanted it but the dealer was an idiot and I walked away. Did a deal 2 days later for £3000 less via a broker and collected 4 days after that. Never regretted it, brilliant car.

 

So when the wife wanted a new car we decided it was going to be another TSi but a 1.2 in either a Polo or a Fabia. Tried the Polo in 90 PS trim and found it poor, went to Skoda hoping to try the 110 PS version but found another idiot dealer and walked away, she bought a Nissan.

 

When we wanted a bigger car to replace the Leon bought a 1.4 TSi Superb 150 PS, no regrets again.

 

Just before the wife was due to replace the Nissan the Superb went in for its service and we were loaned a Fabia 1.0 TSi 95 PS. It was everything the 1.2 TSi Polo was not and she decided it was the car she wanted. After some searching I found a 1.0 TSi 110 PS to drive and decided it was worth the extra , not just the power but the 6 speed box. Had it 7 months now and I can say its brilliant.

 

As I said at the beginning try a 1.2 but if you budget will extend to a 1.0 try one of those as well. If your experience is anything like mine the 1.0 is as brilliant as the 1.2 was poor.

 

 

1 hour ago, paddyjoe said:

The sign is good idea, cheers!

 

No, you don't depress me. The book of carsales tells you not to buy a yellow car because when it comes to sell, very few will like it. But the book doesn't tell you that on dull days you'll have a mini sunshine to cheer you up and when she's given a wash, you really see your effort. I can't get my head around why people don't like vibrant colour in this climate, while it may look dirty but it brightens the mood up.

 

(Hey, if you are true to your nickname, I envy you for that missile  )

 

I wonder how do the revised turbo lumps fare in terms of reliability? I won't buy any new Fabias due to the 1.0l engines, they must be stretched too much, not made to last. (My nether region is ok size-wise but I'd be ashamed of having that small unde the bonnet! )

Yeah had in 3 states of tune over the last 16 months from bog standard 248bhp to stage 2 which is as far as it's going and 336bhp makes it a proper road rocket as the Audi/BMW/Merc/Jag 2.0Tdi motorway reps realise if they try to tailgate me.

My wife owned a 2002 Polo 1.4 16V 75PS for 105K and 13 years, so it was time to move on - and so she bought a new 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS with 6SPD manual gearbox, these 1.2TSI 6SPD cars really do seem to work well and deliver good MPG - 54MPG overall compared with 38MPG overall for the older Polo with the 75PS engine.

 

It has to be said that the 1.4 16V probably 86PS engine in your car is simple and so reliable and probably good for 45MPG overall (one of my daughters runs a late 2009 Ibiza SC with that engine), I can see your concern for trading up to a more modern engine, I never had any desire to trade up my wife's car to a 1.2TSI 16V but that was what was on offer, when I bought her the 2002 Polo 1.4 16V 75PS I expected a lot more than that engine gave, it was sluggish and relatively greedy on fuel, so when I replaced it I made sure that I went for more power, and than meant more power than the later 1.4 16V gives, ie 86PS and also that engine probably had been dropped from the Polo range by the time Polo was evolved into being a 6C version coming from the 6R. The threat at the time of ordering that 2015 Polo in April 2015 was that the door had closed on 1.2TSI 110PS orders and it would come as a 1.0TSI 110PS, that concerned me, but I managed to get a 1.2TSI 110PS as it seemed that VW Group were having problems bringing to market the 1.0TSI 110PS in volume, the reason for that I can't say.

 

As always, there is another side of things, there seems to be just too many owners of 1.0TSI 95PS and 115PS Polo/Ibiza/Fabia who are finding that these engines have been designed to be maybe economic and/or very clean, and the outcome is that the gearing seems to have been made far too high for easy driving and the engines torque curve is quite different to the 1.2TSI 16V engines, so moving off in most situations is troublesome. 

 

As usual, you do need to actually drive one of each of these cars and make your own mind up, maybe the earlier versions of 1.0TSI 110PS is linked to a better gearbox so drives better than the current ones and maybe the characteristics of the early 1.0TSI 110PS are more acceptable than the current versions.

 

One of the VW Group board members that has an engineering background( a quite unique set of skills at a high level nowadays), has been quoted as saying that these 1.0TSI engines, in some of these current output power versions are getting chopped because it has not been possible to get the higher power with drivability and economy as well as running cleanly.

Thanks for sharing your real life experiences!

I was asking for the impossible, it's always down to the buyer what they want. I have to decided whether does the upgrade make sense or keep the current one and spend the money on something else. I have to start doing test drives as well as haven't done one yet, only forming opinion based on papers.