Looking to buy a fabia estate to replace my Polo 1.9 SDI which has done me very well.

 

I do a lot of dual carriageway driving at 70mph and unsure on which engine would be best for economy and reliability.

 

Got my eye on a 2010 1.6 CR for £3300 at 100k miles and a 2013 Monte Carlo 1.6 for £4600 at 79k miles.

 

the 2010 seems a little overpriced for a car covered 100k but seems reasonably priced when compared to similar cars at similar mileages.

 

Would I be best off going for 1.6 or would a 1.2 Greenline be better suited for my usage. Or am I better off going for the older 1.4 PD.

 

Sorry a bit lost, any thoughts would be helpful!

 

 

I have a 1.4 PD, ten years old next month. Great little car, no particle filter to worry about and still returns 57 mpg regardless how I drive it.

 

The CR engine is more refined in its power delivery compared to the PD though.

After a 1.9 the 1.6CR TDI will be a disappointment in performance/ driveability, economy and reliability / repair costs.

Being quieter is perhaps the only improvement.

 

A 1.2 TSI from when the revised engine was introduced, end of 2012 or 2013 I think, will not cost much more in fuel since both mpg will not be massively less and petrol is several pence per litre cheaper than diesel.

On 19/05/2019 at 16:22, pwdinwy said:

 

 

Got my eye on a 2010 1.6 CR for £3300 at 100k miles and a 2013 Monte Carlo 1.6 for £4600 at 79k miles.

 

the 2010 seems a little overpriced for a car covered 100k but seems reasonably priced when compared to similar cars at similar mileages.

 

Would I be best off going for 1.6 or would a 1.2 Greenline be better suited for my usage. Or am I better off going for the older 1.4 PD.

 

 

 

You don't mention how many miles a year you do a year

 

2010 is about the age where the DPF is introduced on all diesel engines and early implementations were not alway great.

 

A non DPF 1.9pd would be best (great engine!) - the 1.4pd is a 3cylinder version of this but fitted with a balancer shaft that can cause issues as it is on the same drive as the oil pump.

I had a Fabia 1.6TDi CR 105 and it never delivered the same enconomy as my previous 105ps TDi 1.9PD Octavia and my commute has never changed in 15 years! You certainly knew when it was doing a regen as it smelt of rubber. However it never gave me any problems in 50000 miles and pulled like a train. I regret selling it and I have just checked it out on the MOT checker and at last MOT had done 102000 miles with no fails with exception of low tyre tread. . I then sold it for a Polo TDi 75 which was awful. 

 

Personally Id stay away for 3 cylinder TDi`s. They sound like tractors. 

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

With a 1.6 TDI CR Euro 5 or a 1.2 Diesel you need to check and see if the had the 'Emissions Fix', if it got the 'Peace of mind' 2 year VW Group 2 year guarantee type thing, 

has that been any use, has the car behaved since this was carried out or has someone had problems and punted it.

 

maybe finding one that the owner never put in for the 'Voluntary Re-call / FIX' is a good idea.  

It is all a lottery what you buy regardless of engines. You need to buy on condition and maybe service / warranty history.

'Briskoda Cars for Sale can be a good place to look.'

I do at least 12000 miles a year but probably more like 15000, had job change in the last year so haven’t got an accurate figure but can estimate it will be closer to 15000. I do 40 mile round trips to work and some weeks it’s 6 days a week.

 

10 hours ago, delta925 said:

After a 1.9 the 1.6CR TDI will be a disappointment in performance/ driveability, economy and reliability / repair costs.

Being quieter is perhaps the only improvement.

 

I had a 1.9 SDI, which is a notoriously slow engine, yet very reliable. I have driven a 1.6 CR and it certainly outperformed the SDI. I would get around 400-500 miles from a full tank dependant on driving, so I believe I would see an improvement in economy also.

 

Have found a 2014 1.6 CR which I will see in a few days, though as the garage sourced it from a local Skoda dealer I imagine it’s likely to have had the “fix”.

 

Anyone had the “fix” on these engines and had problems?

8 hours ago, threadbear said:

I had a Fabia 1.6TDi CR 105 and it never delivered the same enconomy as my previous 105ps TDi 1.9PD Octavia and my commute has never changed in 15 years! You certainly knew when it was doing a regen as it smelt of rubber. However it never gave me any problems in 50000 miles and pulled like a train. I regret selling it and I have just checked it out on the MOT checker and at last MOT had done 102000 miles with no fails with exception of low tyre tread.

 

Likewise my 1.9PD TDi Audi A4 was more economical than my Fabia.

 

You have not said what year your 1.6TDi CR Fabia was, if bought new or used and the age / mileage when you sold it but rather than regretting selling it you may well have dodged a bullet or two. It may well now be on 100k plus and no significant MOT fail but equally big bills would have been paid for cambelt and probably EGR at least.

Edited 27 May, 20197 yr by delta925

4 hours ago, pwdinwy said:

I do at least 12000 miles a year but probably more like 15000, had job change in the last year so haven’t got an accurate figure but can estimate it will be closer to 15000. I do 40 mile round trips to work and some weeks it’s 6 days a week.

 

 

I had a 1.9 SDI, which is a notoriously slow engine, yet very reliable. I have driven a 1.6 CR and it certainly outperformed the SDI. I would get around 400-500 miles from a full tank dependant on driving, so I believe I would see an improvement in economy also.

 

Have found a 2014 1.6 CR which I will see in a few days, though as the garage sourced it from a local Skoda dealer I imagine it’s likely to have had the “fix”.

 

Anyone had the “fix” on these engines and had problems?

 

I missed that you have the 1.9SDi rather than TDi. As you have found compared to this the 1.6TDi CR will outperform it but equally ultimately it is a ticking timebomb. Regarding mpg I would be surprised if the 1.6TDi CR will be better than the 1.9SDi.

 

Plenty of issues as a result of the fix, take time to read back through the pages here.

The only gain is a 2 year goodwill warranty. I don't know exactly what it covers. If the fix is only just done so long as transferable you would have that to fall back on for a while but if the fix done at the start of the campaign it will soon expire.

 

Do at least test drive a 1.2TSi ideally long enough to get a feel for mpg as well as performance and driveability.

18 hours ago, delta925 said:

 

Likewise my 1.9PD TDi Audi A4 was more economical than my Fabia.

 

You have not said what year your 1.6TDi CR Fabia was, if bought new or used and the age / mileage when you sold it but rather than regretting selling it you may well have dodged a bullet or two. It may well now be on 100k plus and no significant MOT fail but equally big bills would have been paid for cambelt and probably EGR at least.

 

Mine had done 50000 miles and had had a cambelt change done at 4 years old. Id had brand new from September 2010. 

8 hours ago, threadbear said:

 

Mine had done 50000 miles and had had a cambelt change done at 4 years old. Id had brand new from September 2010. 

 

IMO good timing to have moved it on as the EGR would probably have given out sooner rather than later. Replacement would have dented your bank balance by ~ £350 for the EGR & gaskets etc + 5 - 6 hours labour as so much  disassembly and reassembly is required. If done by an independent at £50/hr ~£650 while ~£1000+ at the stealer since they would most likely add for the diagnostics.

If always dealer serviced depending on the dealer you might have got some goodwill.

 

When the 1.6TDi was introduced publicity stated it had the Continental ' fit for life ' cambelt. Your service booklet will have said ' check at 210,000km then every nnnnn km ' ( I can't remember what nnnnn is ) but no mention of a time period regardless of distance for replacement. At first the recommendation was 4 years then increased to 5 years / 60000 miles. Either not an issue if ~£100 but due to the time to gain access ~£400 with the water pump, which it is wise to do since all the same disassembly is required should it fail before the next cambelt change is due.

 

The 1.2TSi of the same era was problematic too but mostly would have been covered by warranty or recall. £1000+ buys a lot of petrol and of course the purchase price was several hundred pounds less too.

Edited 28 May, 20197 yr by delta925

Thanks for all the responses. From looking back I’m seeing lots of mixed responses, seems like it really is the luck of the draw, some people reporting great mpg and others very disappointed and having problems.

 

Going to see the car tomorrow... hopefully will be worth the 2.5 hour journey.....