To buy or not

[JamiePvrs]

I have been looking at a colour edition 1.2 tsi 90ps manual for the wife. The garage have made me an incredible offer which seems too good to refuse. Now inwould normally be the first to say if it sounds too good to be true then it probably is!! But I'm still in 2 minds. I currently drive a mk3 fl Octavia vrs which we obviously both love. She has a 13 plate meriva. Not so much love for the Vauxhall. 

 

Are there any specifics I need to look for with this fabia? It's done 22k and is a 16plate. Any help would be appreciated   

[abaxas]

Remember, it's a polo in drag with 2-3k left in your bank account.

Get it bought :P

[AGFalco]

I have had a 90PS 1.2 TSI from June 16 with 32 K on it from new. Not a colour edition but an SE.

Still all good for me. 2016 car tax is only £20 per year. Engine very sweet.

 

What service setting has the car been on, Fixed or Variable?

Will it be MOT'd and serviced before purchase?

Have you driven it. Some people find the lower profile tyres a bit bumpy?

Has someone has put budget ( accellera? ) tyres on the front, but it still has the Bridgestones from new on the rear?

My front tyres lasted 28K miles.

Is there any spare wheel/tyre in the boot?

How many owners has it had?

HTH

 

Thanks AG Falco

 

[JamiePvrs]

Thanks people, appreciate the feedback. I will go and check all of the above before buying it. 

[ettlz]

Take it for a test drive. Listen for knocks and clonks, in particular coming from the front nearside of the car, when driving over uneven ground, or when you reapply accelerator power at lower revs in lower gears. Check for excessive backlash in the latter case too. These symptoms indicate failed engine mounts. In such a case I'd walk away (mine's chewed through three gearbox mounts in 2 years), but if you must have the car, insist that all mounts are replaced at seller's expense before purchase.

Edited 24 March, 2019 by ettlz

[shyVRS245]

We had that engine albeit with a tad more power for nearly 3 years in the larger Spaceback which was nippy, economical, cheap to tax, quiet and swapped the tyres front to back at 15,000 miles so when we traded it in for SWMBO Karoq all 4 tyres were the originals at 28,500 miles. It never used a drop of oil between the 2 annual services we had carried out on it. Get it bought PDQ.

[JamiePvrs]

I think we may go back today and have a drive and a second look. Little things put us off though. No armrest, no CD player, no rear electric windows really let's it down especially when you consider the meriva it will replace has all those things. 

 

But it's the price! It's on for 8300 but I've been offered it for more like 7000 and they will clear the 500 odd we are still in negative equity on the meriva. And theres no deposit. They have said the car will come with 2 services included, 3 year warranty, full tank of fuel and paint protection. Clearly they are desperate to sell before the end of March I just need to check were not buying a dog. 

[shyVRS245]

2 minutes ago, JamiePvrs said:

I think we may go back today and have a drive and a second look. Little things put us off though. No armrest, no CD player, no rear electric windows really let's it down especially when you consider the meriva it will replace has all those things. 

 

But it's the price! It's on for 8300 but I've been offered it for more like 7000 and they will clear the 500 odd we are still in negative equity on the meriva. And theres no deposit. They have said the car will come with 2 services included, 3 year warranty, full tank of fuel and paint protection. Clearly they are desperate to sell before the end of March I just need to check were not buying a dog. 

Sounds like a good deal but best insist on a test drive to settle any doubts you may have. Lets face it a Meriva is a well eqipped dog compared to a Fabia. We have owned 3 Fabia hatch's and 1 Fabia estate since 2005 and never had a single problem if well maintained. Like someone said you are buying a sensibly priced Polo.

[vc-10]

I had a 16 plate Fabia SE with that engine until last weekend. Loved it. Highly recommend it. I did 27,500 miles or so, never had any issues, averaged about 45mpg over that time with mostly city or high-speed motorway driving. The 1.2 TSI is a gem- efficient, quiet, flexible, and fun when you want it to be for such a little motor. 

 

The Colour Edition adds cruise and front fogs over the SE, which is totally worth it IMO for the cruise alone. 

 

I added a front centre armrest, it's easy enough to do. I bought it second hand from a scrap yard, pulled from a crashed SEL. 

[rum4mo]

All the cars that my wife and I have owned over the past almost 20 years have had rear electric windows, I even spec'd one up with them from new, but looking back exactly how much benefit have we got out of all these cars having rear electric windows, maybe only thing - rear passenger don't end up accidentally hitting the manual window handle and so leave you with a car that has got rained into it.

 

My wife's August 2015 Polo 1.2TSI 110PS needed a new upper gearbox mounting after 2 and a bit years, it eventually got a heavier duty version fitted just inside its 3 year warranty, the heavier duty one is the one normally reserved for TDI engined small cars and its been like that since the start of 2001>2002 9N Polo manufacturing  - maybe earlier for Fabia.

 

As said arm rests can be retrofitted, but there again, that is something that I always intended to fit to my wife's 2002 Polo soon after she bought it new, but she resisted that "treat" - her next car an August 2015 Polo SEL came with an arm rest - it stays folded back upright at all times, except maybe when we are parked and I am left in the car to amuse myself - so, just like the electric rear windows, you can live without them!  Typically, when waiting in a traffic queue I will rest my left arm/elbow on the top of the pivot for the arm rest while it is folded up/back!

 

Buy that car!

[JamiePvrs]

So we went to drive it and buy but it was being sold as we arrived! Grrrrrr. But..... they have a white one, almost identical in mileage and the same spec. Pcp deal of 140 a month with 3 services included, 4 years warranty, tax paid for the first year and a full tank of fuel. It's too good a deal to refuse. So we signed the paperwork today and will collect the new car next Saturday. 

 

Glad to have another skoda on the drive! Thanks for all the advice! 

[FabiaGonzales]

As a 16 plate, if it's got the original bridgestones on the rear, i'd say to swap them to the front, they'll be getting a bit old and cracked, mine had 4.5mm left after 50k miles, had one changed after one got a slow puncture after hitting a pothole, then the other was advised by a different garage to be replaced as all the rubber was quite badly cracking on the wall edges.

[Iceax]

5 hours ago, JamiePvrs said:

So we went to drive it and buy but it was being sold as we arrived! Grrrrrr. But..... they have a white one, almost identical in mileage and the same spec. Pcp deal of 140 a month with 3 services included, 4 years warranty, tax paid for the first year and a full tank of fuel. It's too good a deal to refuse. So we signed the paperwork today and will collect the new car next Saturday. 

 

Glad to have another skoda on the drive! Thanks for all the advice! 

 

Gald you got yourself a new car, but could you have not negotiated a brand new one for close to that money? 

 

I just took delivery of one like the one you posted but 95tsi for nearly the same money with no deposit, didn't get the services mind but it was new with onky 7 miles. 

 

A

[JamiePvrs]

9 hours ago, Iceax said:

 

Gald you got yourself a new car, but could you have not negotiated a brand new one for close to that money? 

 

I just took delivery of one like the one you posted but 95tsi for nearly the same money with no deposit, didn't get the services mind but it was new with onky 7 miles. 

 

A

I tried but it was just that little bit too much. Do you mind sharing the details with us? 

Edited 25 March, 2019 by JamiePvrs

[Iceax]

Of course not, I got a race blue 95tsi on 1st march no deposit for £160 a month. Only 6k a year but I don't do many miles but think I'll keep this one anyway. 

 

Thanks A