Advice about buying a mk1 Skoda fabia?

Hi everyone! I’m new here, so this is my first post! I hope this is the right area for it (I have posted in the specific fabia mk1 forum and new car forum as I didn’t know what was best!). I’d like some advice about buying a used fabia. 

This will be my first car as I’m a student going on my placement year. I’ve recently been considering a mk1 Skoda fabia, as I have seen some for sale locally to me with low miles (40k-60k) and within my budget of £1000-£2500(max). Most are ages 2001-2003 (and I’ve rather set my hopes on a bright yellow one!) I was wondering whether this would be a good investment as they are getting on nearly 20years old! (Or whether it would cost too much to keep it running?)

I will be driving around 10,000-15,000 miles per year and have been considering the 1.4 petrol model as I will be doing some longer motorway drives (4+ hours) to go home / see friends maybe twice or so a month. I’ll also be doing a lot of country roads and some town driving too. So my main questions are: 

1. I was wondering if owners found the 1.4 to be ok on the motorway? Doesn’t need to be amazing I just want to be able to overtake lorries and use sliproads without having to worry about the car being underpowered! 
2. Is this car relatively reliable? And what would realistic maintenance costs at this age be like? Hoping for something that won’t break the bank. 
3. What should I look out for/check when buying or test driving? 
4. I don’t know a lot about cars currently but I’d really like to learn more about car repairs and restoration. Would it be possible to carry out some simple repairs on a fabia or is it too mechanically complicated for novices like me?

I’d be really grateful for any advice! 

Many thanks in advance!
Alice