Hi All

I am undecided which Fabia to buy for my driving school and would appreciate your comments. I will try to explain my requirements.

It will be second-hand. I'm budgeting no more than £5000.

I need power steering, ABS and air-con, these are definites. I cover just over 1000 miles a week, mixed driving in town and country roads but rarely on motorways. It will get an oil change every 10K but I thought that the chain-drive timing belt might be a good idea as my cars normally do 150K before I change them. Diesel would seem to save me money but I have only ever driven a 2005 model 1.2HTP so I don't know how they perform.

Which one? HTP, Diesel, a certain model?

I'm new to Skodas and I want to get the right one for my job.

I have a Landrover Discovery as my family vehicle, so speed isn't an issue!

Advice please

John:)

The 1.2HTP (the 12v one) is a very nice engine, but out of all the engines I believe the only one which is chain driven timing belt is the 1.4 MPI, which is an older style engine and has a few known problems.

The 1.2 is a sweet engine, economical and affordable. The 1.4 16v might be an option too with another 30bhp on tap.

The diesels are very good, but thin on the ground. I have a 1.9TDi which I bought for £4k which has all the bells and whistles, but I bought a diesel because I did motorway work - I'd go for a small petrol if I were you (unless you can find a 1.4TDi in your budget, they're super economical!).

All the engines except the 1.0 and the 1.4 MPI (correct me if I'm wrong about the 1.0) are sourced from the VAG parts bin and therefore are pretty good anyway.

If I were you - a 1.2HTP comfort (elegance if they do 1.2's in them?) with a/c. Economical, quiet and pleasant.

HTH.

Hi John,

I have a 1.4TDI. Brilliant car, but for learners one characteristic may be worth checking; the speed at idling in gear without slipping the clutch. It's a bit high which in very slow stop start traffic can make for lots of clutch work. I've no idea if this would be a problem for you. Mine is the mid range model so has heated mirrors which I did not expect to be very useful - but they are and may be even more so for learners. Fuel consumption is fantastic and there are no lumps as the turbo cuts in.

HTH

AFAIK the 1.2 HTPs are chain driven and are designed such that the chain never needs replacing. This could be the one to get!

I'm an instructor and use the vRS for my tuition vehicle (so does ChrisGB) andy ellis is also an instructor and used the PD100...

obviously you'd not get the vRS for that budget, so I would suggest the PD100, good allround car, reliable, and easy to drive, and like Rob said, get one with all the toys, should see you up to 150k without any probs (someone on here showed a pic of his PD100 with 300k on the clock!)

don't know what the petrols are like when trying to manouver without having to use gas, but the PD engines are a dream for this......

my few pennies worth!

Sharky. DSA ADI ORDIT

I'm an instructor and use the vRS for my tuition vehicle (so does ChrisGB) andy ellis is also an instructor and used the PD100...

obviously you'd not get the vRS for that budget' date=' so I would suggest the PD100, good allround car, reliable, and easy to drive, and like Rob said, get one with all the toys, should see you up to 150k without any probs (someone on here showed a pic of his PD100 with 300k on the clock!)

don't know what the petrols are like when trying to manouver without having to use gas, but the PD engines are a dream for this......

my few pennies worth!

Sharky. DSA ADI ORDIT [/quote']

I agree! A PD100 with 'all the toys' would be one like mine . My first diesel and having owned a 1.4 16v Fabia before this one, would not consider going back to petrol. The right balance of performance and economy in my opinion. I've done 48k in just over 2 years and the engine is sweet as a nut.

I would agree

Doing that kind of mileage, either the 1.4 TDI or the 1.9 100bhp TDI would be ideal.

Thanks all. It looks like a toss up between the diesel or the HTP. I've been using a hired 1.2 HTP for a week now. All 38 of my students liked it, got on well with it and found no problems with reversing exercises. The HTP has a chain drive but the diesels should be more economical so I will have to see which I can find and go for a couple of test drives.

Thanks again

John

Dont want to pee on the bonfire but Fabias arent very durable wheel bearings antiroll bars bushings etc all wear out fairly early on.my antiroll bar was changed before 30k and for you thats about 7 months passenger side wheel bearing shot a 36k.

can you afford to have car out of use for a day every six moinths?

Rear brakes can be iffy too.

you could lease one as a business user is bound to be cheaper in the long run than buyiing one just a though.

Dont want to pee on the bonfire but Fabias arent very durable wheel bearings antiroll bars bushings etc all wear out fairly early on.my antiroll bar was changed before 30k and for you thats about 7 months passenger side wheel bearing shot a 36k.

can you afford to have car out of use for a day every six moinths?

Rear brakes can be iffy too.

you could lease one as a business user is bound to be cheaper in the long run than buyiing one just a though.

my vRS is used as a learner car, and has been very durable, it's 13 months old, has done 36k , (and has NEVER been back to the dealer for any problems, not called on the warrenty at all) and the only work I have had done was booked in by me (taking no time off work at all) and I had new brake pads front and back, (at 33k, the dealer gave me 2000 miles warning for them to be replaced) and two sets of front tyres..... (second set loads left yet..) this is very good for general wear and tear, in all honesty one of the best cars I've had for this job, and I've been doing it 12 years now

I intend to keep it for two years (66k) before replacing it with another, and anticipate just some more front tyres (and normal servicing) in the remaining year... absolutley brilliant!

edit for rally red: I don't know what model your's was, but other models may suffer with things like wheel bearings ect.....