6k budget for a small car, fabia a good idea?

[GeorgeStorm]

Hi all,

As above, my brother is looking to buy his first car, he's been driving for 6+ years but hasn't owned a car himself yet.

 

Looking for something corsa/fiesta sized, and since I'm about the join the Skoda family I wondered if a fabia might be a good idea?

He's looking at petrol due to low mileage (5-7k per annum), wanting something fairly low mileage (<60k), with AC and bluetooth, 5 doors, mostly for short trips but the odd weekend away type thing.

 

From my own looking I saw the fabia was fairly well thought of, but had a couple of models that people tended to recommend staying away from (1l with 60bhp I think?)

 

What would people's recommendations be for a small car in the 5-6k budget?

[Ootohere]

He might get a 1.2 TSI Fabia from 2012 for the money. You might want to ignore before that unless a timing chain / tensioner update has been done.

Ignore 1.2 or 1.6 TDI's.

 

(Likely the 60 ps did not have AC and Bluetooth, and a mk2 vRS 1.4 tsi will have, but he should ignore them even though they look cheap.)

 

PS

Just looked at Autotrader and dealers asking prices.

£6,000 and under will get a 2014 and newer Mk3 Fabia.

Edited 23 April, 2020 by Roottootemblowinootsoot

[Gaz]

I like Fabia's, but I'd also want to consider a Yaris, Micra, Jazz or Swift in those circumstances, were it me.

 

Gaz

 

[bspman]

Coming at it from another angle. Save yourself a bunch of money.

 

Get a mk1 fabia classic?

Dirt cheap insurance. You'd have to get a bluetooth stereo fitted though. 

 

All of that will set you back under 2 grand I reckon including a nice set of tyres and an oil change.

 

 

Edited 23 April, 2020 by bspman

[skomaz]

2 hours ago, IamGaz said:

I like Fabia's, but I'd also want to consider a Yaris, Micra, Jazz or Swift in those circumstances, were it me.

 

Gaz

 

 

There's a few swifts around that meet the criteria according to Auto trader...

[GeorgeStorm]

Yeah I'm definitely not saying he should 100% get a fabia, just wondered how you guys thought it might compare, I think his shortlist that he liked the look of the most were the fiesta, rio, ibiza and corsa actually. Having learned on a corsa (my current car).

 

It would be much easier if there were only one or two models that were any good, but seemingly in this sector most are pretty decent!

[skomaz]

I've driven Fabia, Rio and Corsa recently and when I was looking a couple of years ago ended up buying a Swift (albeit the latest version).

[penguin17]

I'd personally opt for a Mk6 Fiesta over any Fabia that isn't a Mk3.  However, if you can find one in budget, get a Mk3 Fabia; great little car. Not as fun to drive as a Fiesta but more refined, more space and feels a better product on the whole. SE L spec gets you a decent amount of toys too.  Feels like a much bigger car than it is and is one of the only few supermini's that doesn't feel out of place on a long motorway drive. 

 

With both the Fiesta and Fabia look for the Ecoboost and TSI engines respectively.  The 90PS 1.2 TSI actually feels as good as the 125PS Ecoboost in the Fiesta.  

 

The non-turbo VW group MPI and Ford Duratec engines are old tech, not as economical, performant etc.  I'd stay clear if you can.  

 

With Ecoboost units do some research into the 1.0L unit engine blocks cracking. We never had an issue with ours (in fact it was completely fault free in 3 years) but it can and does happen with these engines. 

 

Oh and check insurance quotes on the Fiesta, depending on your postcode and personal details they can be expensive to insure; they are stolen quite a bit in certain areas of the UK. 

Edited 24 April, 2020 by penguin17

[lol-lol]

On 22/04/2020 at 21:49, GeorgeStorm said:

Hi all,

As above, my brother is looking to buy his first car, he's been driving for 6+ years but hasn't owned a car himself yet.

 

Looking for something corsa/fiesta sized, and since I'm about the join the Skoda family I wondered if a fabia might be a good idea?

He's looking at petrol due to low mileage (5-7k per annum), wanting something fairly low mileage (<60k), with AC and bluetooth, 5 doors, mostly for short trips but the odd weekend away type thing.

 

From my own looking I saw the fabia was fairly well thought of, but had a couple of models that people tended to recommend staying away from (1l with 60bhp I think?)

 

What would people's recommendations be for a small car in the 5-6k budget?

 

Dacia.

 

Either Sandero or Logan.

 

All other cars look poor value in comparison unless one get a cracking deal on a non Dacia.

 

TCE 900 cc turbo engine is nice to drive, have it in my Clio as well as doing 70k miles in my Logan with that engine.

 

From £99 a month, cheapish finance and key is the 3 year warranty.

 

Get a 5 or 6 year old car and you need to get an extra engine warranty to cover the turbo which will cost £20 a month plus.

 

No brainer if one is not a badge snob.  Cars have ESP which not all Skoda do of a few years back.

 

Logan is massive for boot if one wants an estate.

 

Skodas were great back a decade or two ago and I got a great deal on my Octy ie 33% off a year old and on the £30 road tax, now quite expensive due to weakness in the pound.

 

One of the kids got a fine late Mk 2 1.2 TSI Fabia Estate, OK car but terrified it will go pop and cost £2k to fix if turbo goes. 

   

Edited 25 April, 2020 by lol-lol

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi.

If your brother needs any help with insurance at all for any vehicle he is looking at then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

[skomaz]

9 hours ago, lol-lol said:

 

Dacia.

 

Sandero

 

TCE 900 cc turbo engine is nice to drive.

 

Good call there lol-lol...   not the most stylish and a bit basic design and materials inside but reasonably 'proven' mechanicals (albeit im not sure on the reliability' and the higher spec ones are a lot, size wise, of car for the money

[lol-lol]

18 hours ago, skomaz said:

 

Good call there lol-lol...   not the most stylish and a bit basic design and materials inside but reasonably 'proven' mechanicals (albeit im not sure on the reliability' and the higher spec ones are a lot, size wise, of car for the money

 

Speak as I find.  Logan/Sandero based on Clio mk 3 chassis but using latest Renault engines and as i said has Electronic Stability Pack as standard.  Did 70k miles, averaged about 50-55 mpg, got it up to 115 mph on the clock.  The Logan has a huge boot as big my Octy's.  No auto in the UK sadly, only reserved for Europe mainland, like the Lodgy, they have been selling at 10k Euros ie less than £9k and which warranty and good finance deals.

Better/cheaper overall to have a new fully warranted car than a 3 year old plus car that is going to have load of additional out-going, MOTs, need extra cost warranty etc IMO.   

 

   

[Robbydazzler]

On 25/04/2020 at 11:14, lol-lol said:

 

Dacia.

 

Either Sandero or Logan.

 

All other cars look poor value in comparison unless one get a cracking deal on a non Dacia.

 

TCE 900 cc turbo engine is nice to drive, have it in my Clio as well as doing 70k miles in my Logan with that engine.

 

From £99 a month, cheapish finance and key is the 3 year warranty.

 

Get a 5 or 6 year old car and you need to get an extra engine warranty to cover the turbo which will cost £20 a month plus.

 

No brainer if one is not a badge snob.  Cars have ESP which not all Skoda do of a few years back.

 

Logan is massive for boot if one wants an estate.

 

Skodas were great back a decade or two ago and I got a great deal on my Octy ie 33% off a year old and on the £30 road tax, now quite expensive due to weakness in the pound.

 

One of the kids got a fine late Mk 2 1.2 TSI Fabia Estate, OK car but terrified it will go pop and cost £2k to fix if turbo goes. 

   

The wife is on her second Dacia Sandero Stepway and loves it. Both cars have been totally reliable and are fun to drive. I have had two Fabias in the past and I always feel that the Dacia is from the generation before and just does not have the sophistication of the Fabia. You get what you pay for normally.

 

 

 

Edited 26 April, 2020 by Robbydazzler

[lol-lol]

23 hours ago, Robbydazzler said:

The wife is on her second Dacia Sandero Stepway and loves it. Both cars have been totally reliable and are fun to drive. I have had two Fabias in the past and I always feel that the Dacia is from the generation before and just does not have the sophistication of the Fabia. You get what you pay for normally.

 

 

 

 

Except their are some quite late Fabias without ESP where as all these Dacias do, not always the assumptions is valid, Renault 0.9 TCE is every bit as good, if not better, than the 1.2 TSI for example.   It is use in the Twingo RS and Smart Brabus with around 110 hp. 

 

 

 

[GeorgeStorm]

SO to give this an update his budget changed as they felt it was silly spending that much on a car in their current situation, so they've been looking between 3-4k and I think have settled on a swift, couple of potentials the fit the bill, trying to find out more information or see if he could test drive one, but obviously due to the current situation everything is moving a little slowly.