2013 Skoda Fabia 1.4 TSI vRS 5dr DSG.. should i buy?

[Mat1210]

I have just booked a test drive for this car and have just stared reading reviews and am a bit concerned. The car is priced at £6400 is a 13 plate and has done 57k. As far as i know it comes with a 3 month warranty. It also mentions in the description that it is ex-rental. Should I look for something else with it being the post 2013 model should reliability be good? Really appreciate any advice. 

[Fitzwilliam]

Hi Mat, main thing to check is the service history particularly in frequency of spark plug changes, most fastidious owners change them more often than the recommended interval, my 2011 VRS has also done 57k and is on its 5th set of plugs, likewise with gearbox oil. I’ve had my car for 3 months and like a lot of early ones it’s a heavy oil user but in my opinion it’s a small price to pay for the pleasure of driving such a brilliant and vastly underrated car. Performance and economy balance is excellent, much better economy than the similar performing Mk 2 Civic Type R, remember that to get the best from it you need to fill up with Super Unleaded 98 octane or better.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Mat1210]

Hi, thanks for this. The car i was looking at must have been sold late Saturday as it has disappeared off the website. I am going to keep looking with your advice in mind. It seems perfect for me, needing something fairly economical for motorway driving to work but also want to be able to enjoy a drive at the weekends.   

[Fitzwilliam]

2 hours ago, Mat1210 said:

Hi, thanks for this. The car i was looking at must have been sold late Saturday as it has disappeared off the website. I am going to keep looking with your advice in mind. It seems perfect for me, needing something fairly economical for motorway driving to work but also want to be able to enjoy a drive at the weekends.   

I was looking for a VRS for about 6 months trying to find one for sale close enough to home, the right colour and the right price bracket, persevere and you’ll find one. I’m afraid with almost any car it’s the owners who have had troubles that tend to be the most vocal on forums and online generally. TheVRS does such a lot very well and very little badly that it doesn’t deserve the level of bad press that it gets. I had a diesel VRS for 4 years which I thought was brilliant but the Mk 2 VRS is in a different league except for fuel economy obviously. Auto Trader is the best bet to find one, best of luck. See if you can find a Yellow one like mine :-)

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

Unfortunately the 1,800 or so Skoda CAVE engine Fabia in the UK have had about a 25% failure rate and required rebuilds, updates and even replacement engines and even replacement engines replaced.

 

As to early CTHE cars late 2012 to early 2013, i would be equally as careful with what i bought and look for late 2013 into 2014 CTHE's.

 

It is a lottery and an expensive one if you by a lemon and there are plenty lemons out there (not just yellow ones.)  as people buy bad Mk2 Fabia vRS and get shot of them and they keep doing the rounds.

[Mat1210]

6 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

Unfortunately the 1,800 or so Skoda CAVE engine Fabia in the UK have had about a 25% failure rate and required rebuilds, updates and even replacement engines and even replacement engines replaced.

 

As to early CTHE cars late 2012 to early 2013, i would be equally as careful with what i bought and look for late 2013 into 2014 CTHE's.

 

It is a lottery and an expensive one if you by a lemon and there are plenty lemons out there (not just yellow ones.)  as people buy bad Mk2 Fabia vRS and get shot of them and they keep doing the rounds.

Thanks, I’ll be sure to stick to 63 plate or younger.  Really Don’t want to end with an expensive ornament. 

[Ootohere]

Earlier cars can be fine, they might have new engines, CAVE DSG's that had the Service Campaign '34F7' , 

CTHE that had '34H5'.  

CTHE that have had Timing chain issues resolved etc.

 

It is a case of checking the known history, warranty work and any mods carried out.

Enjoy looking.

 

?

Have you driven one yet?

 

Personally i would go look at a SEAT Leon 180ps 1.8TSI DSG.  A better handling and more reliable car.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Skoffski

[Mat1210]

10 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

Earlier cars can be fine, they might have new engines, CAVE DSG's that had the Service Campaign '34F7' , 

CTHE that had '34H5'.  

CTHE that have had Timing chain issues resolved etc.

 

It is a case of checking the known history, warranty work and any mods carried out.

Enjoy looking.

 

?

Have you driven one yet?

 

Personally i would go look at a SEAT Leon 180ps 1.8TSI DSG.  A better handling and more reliable car.

I haven’t driven one yet. 

 

Just had had a look at the Leon, bit more money in them by the looks of it but like it. 

[Fitzwilliam]

19 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

Personally i would go look at a SEAT Leon 180ps 1.8TSI DSG.  A better handling and more reliable car.

And considerably more expensive. Cheapest FR I could find on Autotrader was almost £10k. Personally I’ve driven a Leon quite a lot, my partner used to own one and I didn’t like it as much as my VRS tdi which I had at the time, I think the Mk 2 VRS handles even better although when funds become available mine’s getting a rear ARB.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

Asking prices are not what you have to pay prices, and there are ones that have asking prices lower than that, maybe not on Autotrader though.

 

The Multilink rear suspension makes a difference.

 

More reliable than a Mk2 vRS is the Seat Ibiza 1.4 TSI 150PS FR that they produced in 2012 (while the Cupra Ibiza was discontinued before being re-introduced in 2013.)

Not many around, but cracking cars and surprising near as quick as a 180ps Twincharger.

SEAT (VW) were trying something out before the CTHE was introduced.

 

They come in 3 & 5 door.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

My partner followed her Leon with an Ibiza I didn’t like how harsh the ride was, she now has a new Fiesta ST Line, now there’s the best handling/riding small car around atm.

[Ootohere]

New Fiesta ST Line are not around £7,000 - £8,000 and are not available as Automatic unless you are talking new ones

which are 3 cylinder 1.0l and 100 ps.

So you are talking apples and pears really.

 

Nice that you found a soft ride Mk2 vRS, or maybe not, hence you wanting a rear ARB.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

I know they’re not cheap, my partners was about £17k, it was just a comment on the handling and ride which are brilliant. My VRS is very good on the ride quality mainly because the dealer I bought it from replaced the coil springs all round as well as the lower front suspension arms (have the receipt for the work) so it probably rides as good as brand new. My partners Fiesta is the 1 litre Ecoboost which is surprisingly nippy although the acceleration is rather stunted by high gearing, with lower gearing in the intermediate gears it would probably hit 60 in under 9 seconds, as usual with modern cars it can’t get anywhere near the government fuel consumption figures, with over 50% of her driving being on motorways she’s only averaged 43 mpg in the first 2000 miles, that’s 9 mpg worse than the supposed Urban Cycle, I think with the same type of driving my VRS would probably do better.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Fitzwilliam

[Ootohere]

Next time you are near maybe try a road test of the New SEAT Ibiza 1.0 TSI DSG FR Sport.

I had one for a couple of weeks earlier this year.  Drives just fine, nicer than the current 1.0 TSI / DSG Polo and Fabia.

 

Best handling & fun drive Small Hatch (slightly warm hatch) is likely the Suzuki Swift if you try one.

Edited 28 April, 2019 by Skoffski

[Fitzwilliam]

8 minutes ago, Skoffski said:

Next time you are near maybe try a road test of the New SEAT Ibiza 1.0 TSI DSG FR Sport.

I had one for a couple of weeks earlier this year.  Drives just fine, nicer than the current 1.0 TSI / DSG Polo and Fabia.

 

Best handling & fun drive Small Hatch (slightly warm hatch) is likely the Suzuki Swift if you try one.

I’m sure the Suzuki Swift Sport is very good, I had a Swift GTI Mk 2 new back in 1989 and thought it was brilliant, although it could have done with power steering. Now I’ve got the VRS I don’t really bother looking round at other cars as unless I win on the lottery I’m not going to be changing it.

[Mat1210]

Any thoughts on the 1.6 tdi monte carlo? 

[Ootohere]

Best look for one that has not had the Emissions fix.

http://skoda-auto.com/services/recall-actions

?

What about a Fabia Monte Carlo 1.2 TSI 105ps from 2013/2014?

[Fitzwilliam]

On 30/04/2019 at 17:57, Mat1210 said:

Any thoughts on the 1.6 tdi monte carlo? 

Best to avoid a diesel because of all the DPF woes, stick with petrol, Skoffski’s recommendation of the Monte Carlo 1.2 tsi 1.2 105 is a good one, that engine is a good one I had it in a Skoda Rapid Sport a few years ago, it will remap to about 130bhp if you want more oomph, turbo starts spooling from quite low revs so there’s no perceptible lag so it’s a good all rounder and economical, would probably work well with the DSG box as well.

[Ootohere]

You have to get other than a Monte Carlo  to get a 1.2tsi with a DSG. 

 

[Fitzwilliam]

1 hour ago, Skoffski said:

You have to get other than a Monte Carlo  to get a 1.2tsi with a DSG. 

 

No you don’t, check this one out.

[Ootohere]

Yes mk3, s. 

[Mat1210]

Thanks.. to be honest i would rather have manual. Was only looking at the dsg as that’s what came in the vrs. I drive a 330d at the moment so was sceptical about going for the 1.2 petrol but mapping it could be a good idea!

[Mat1210]

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904187120965?minimum-badge-engine-size=1.2&advertising-location=at_cars&maximum-badge-engine-size=1.2&year-from=2012&price-to=6500&postcode=fk27dx&model=FABIA&sort=distance&page=2&make=SKODA&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

 

2012 but has really low miles and is nearby me.

[Fitzwilliam]

18 hours ago, Mat1210 said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201904187120965?minimum-badge-engine-size=1.2&advertising-location=at_cars&maximum-badge-engine-size=1.2&year-from=2012&price-to=6500&postcode=fk27dx&model=FABIA&sort=distance&page=2&make=SKODA&onesearchad=New&onesearchad=Nearly New&onesearchad=Used

 

2012 but has really low miles and is nearby me.

Looks a nice one Mat, pretty decent spec, it’s a good engine, take the 0-60 time with a pinch of salt they’re always conservative, my Rapid with the same engine would do it in 9.2 seconds and it’s quite a bit heavier than the Fabia. If you fancy getting it and getting it remapped I can recommend Celtic tuning, I had my Citigo remapped by them, they come to you so you’re not having to travel to get the job done, even though there wasn’t much scope with it being normally aspirated the improvement was quite noticeable.

[Mat1210]

So I’m just back from the test drive and decided to purchase the car. Got a service and 6 months warranty thrown in too. Pretty sure I’ll get it mapped. Thanks for the recommendation but I’m in central Scotland. Looking at getting the car early next week after it’s had the service and valet. Appreciate your help.