Mk2 Fabia centre armrest

[freakyeke]

I have recently bought a 2010 Fabia 1.6 TDi Elegance which had the centre armrest fitted. I say "had", because I have now removed it. It is the most stupid design. Lots of elbow banging, limited handbrake access and absolutely no access to the handbrake adjuster.

 

Anyway, my question is this: if I was to sell the complete armrest unit, what would be a reasonable price? This includes the cast aluminium base with 4 bolts, the armrest unit and the plastic cowling.

[mrgf]

I paid £33 for one on eBay, last August which included postage. I made an offer which was accepted, to my surprise. The item was in very good condition, with very little sign of wear and a quick clean up with upholstery cleaner got it looking like new. 

So, I would think of starting from around that area, remembering that at this time of the year, owners will most likely be a bit short of folding so will most likely only bag a genuine bargain.

 

Reading your post, you are hardly setting out your stall, saying its basically a pain in the ar-elbow to use! 

I love to use it on long journeys and missed having one after selling an old 190E Mercedes I had once, that had one. The issues were the same but still, the benefits easily outweighed them. 

 

Might be worth asking the buyer to pass on to you, the plastic pot/cubby hole thingy, where the armrest fits, so as to not leave you with an unsightly hole, otherwise your so called profit in selling will be dented, by having to buy one or live with the hole. (I could't)!

 

When selling, be sure to clean, check and make sure all is good and mention the quality as aftermarket ones are usually a lot flimsier. When your car was new, they would have cost around £130 as an accessory, perhaps a little more, now. 

 

Another thing to think of... When it comes to selling the vehicle, the new owner might wonder why the armrest is missing. Perhaps storing it away in the garage/shed etc MIGHT be a better option ad you can then either re-fit it ar offer the new owner the option of buying it off you as an extra!

[freakyeke]

Thanks for your reply mrgf.

 

l have already bought the cubby/hole cover from EBay for £15 so that’s been sorted. I suppose I could state that the armrest is the greatest comfort aid ever created, but that would be stretching the truth somewhat. I hate it with a passion after trying to adjust my handbrake cables, a very simple job made very difficult with an after-thought design. I suppose we’re all different. The one in my Mini was equally as good and that was removed too for the same reason.

 

I may keep it and re-fit if I sell the Fabia but I doubt it will make any difference to anyone buying the car. It certainly made no difference to me when I bought the car.

 

The unit is clean, complete and working as it should.

 

Thanks for your advice.

[mrgf]

There are often people here who may want to buy it from you at a reasonable price...

There is a proper channel for selling but that means becoming a member, which, I think, can be done for a small fee for just a month so may be worth it.

 

This thread in itself may gather a bit of interest, too but take care not to be seen trying to manipulate the rules. If someone was to offer you a few beer tokens, through a personal message, that is up to them!

 

Where you say won't make a difference, though. If its standard to that model, it might but if it was purchesed, even from the dealer, fitted as an option, then its fair play.  The elegance may well have had the rest as a factory standard.

Edited 22 January, 2019 by mrgf

[freakyeke]

Thanks mrgf.

 

I think I’ve sold it now. I had it advertised on EBay and was getting offers of £35, which I thought was too low, but I had no idea how much it was worth. I’ve just accepted an offer of £65. Thanks again.

[mrgf]

They probably searched and saw how much I paid! Lol.

Thats a fair price, both ways really.

[GT0161]

Id of had that  

[UrbanPanzer]

That was cheap!!

[Emaharg]

I have the centre armrest in my 2010 fabia estate as well. To my mind its the most ridiculous piece of kit and as has already been said, makes access to useful things like the hand brake and seat belt nigh on impossible. 

[UrbanPanzer]

I understand your points, but I missed it when getting the Fabia so added one and find it makes the driving position far more comfortable.

[Kenrw8]

My Fabia has one fitted and it always upright. As said its the worst designed armrest.

[UrbanPanzer]

Get in car lift armrest to plug in seatbelt (if need to), armrest down and drive comfortable..........don't see anything else to it...

[Kenrw8]

Pull up lift armrest put hand brake on.

Stop on hill lift armrest hold car on hand brake move off , put armrest rest down.

Pull up at lights lift armrest , put handbrake on. Lights change release hand brake and set off , put armrest down. Lift armrest change to second, put armrest down , changed to third , repeat til in fifth. Reverse actions to changed down.

Get a Ford Focus handbrake offset from armrest operate handbrake and change gear without faffing around. Better still leave the bloody thing upright, useless armrest.

It's good to stop annoying rear passengers leaning forward, should sell it to Trump as part of the Mexico wall.

Edited 23 January, 2019 by Kenrw8

[UrbanPanzer]

Ahh.,......maybe its different in manual , with a DSG theres only a little annoyance, but thats outweighed by comfort.....

 

If you really don't use it, remove it and flog it, they fetch good money and people always looking for them....... 

Edited 23 January, 2019 by UrbanPanzer

[YS53]

I removed mine from our Fabia - just gets in the way on a manual gbox car LOL

[Kenrw8]

Yep its awkward in a manual.

[mrgf]

I have a manual and find it fine. On short journeys, its usually up but longer ones, it comes into its own! Up is a very slight hindrance to that small cupholder but worth the grief, for the pleasure! Don't really find gear changing difficult, just a little different, same as handbrake. As with all things, once you adopt a certain style, its then normal. I you had it for ages and still find it trouble, you probably feel uncomfortable with that pea under your mattress, too!

 

If I am blunt, I find passengers arms and coats, etc, more of a pain as they tend to wander all over the place at almost the worse times. They will get in the way of the gears, handbrake, mirror, etc just when you need to look or use that control.

 

This, again, you get used to and either carry on or politely ask them to move their bloody carcass out of the way!

Never mind, if you hate them, mention it here and lovers/would be users may perhaps contact you to become the next restee!

[Emaharg]

Haha, don't get me started on peas under the mattress. It might be that my problem with the centre armrest could be exacerbated by my " fuller figure."  Having said that, I'm sure that if I was parked up somewhere for a period of time, I would then find the armrest quite useful. For this reason alone, I don't think I would ever sell it.

[YS53]

2 hours ago, mrgf said:

 I you had it for ages and still find it trouble, you probably feel uncomfortable with that pea under your mattress, too!

 

Or perhaps different people like/dislike different things LOL

 

Sometimes it might partly come down to Anthropometrics,a different length of spine,different length of upper/lower arm etc might excacerbate the clonking of ones funny bone on the armrest due to slightly different angles /length of upper/lower arm.

I did get involved a couple of times with anthropometrics on military aircraft - even people of the same height can have quite vastly different limb/spine lengths,very important when clearing a pilot/aircrew for Ejection Seats on different types of Military Jets to be sure of avoiding certain types of ejection injury/limb loss.