I've owned this car from nearly new. Currently it's got 80k on the clock. It's serviced every year. Oil service one year, a 20k service the next (even if it hasn't done that mileage). Any repair that's needed gets done straight away. It needed new shock absorbers early on, quality ones were fitted. It had a new cambelt at 60k. I like the car very much, the space in the boot and amount you can get in with the rear seats down is great.

I'm thinking I would like to keep this car for a long time. Regular maintenance would be undertaken to help keep the car going. I might look at having the bodywork underneath treated to hold back rust and corrosion and would be prepared to have a new turbo fitted if needed.. Given all that, has anyone got any thoughts on what sort of mileage I might get before the car packs up? I drive 'normally', I don't push it too hard but motorway journeys will be at 70mph. I accelerate quickly if I have to (the turbo is great), but not all the time. I realise some cars can come to the end of their life earlier than others despite regular maintenance.

Any thoughts and comments would be appreciated.

Keeping on servicing, spark plugs will have been changed twice by now i assume. I hope the air filter gets checked at least at the 2nd year services. Has the brake fluid been changed? Having a proper clean underneath and dry then rust inhibitor then a coating is a very good thing. It would have been best done before now.

53 minutes ago, keenonfabias said:

Currently it's got 80k on the clock. It's serviced every year. Oil service one year, a 20k service the next (even if it hasn't done that mileage).

That doesn't necessarily work out, lets say you average 10k-miles a year or less then that's reasonable annual mileage but once a year engine oil and filter change not waiting for 20k-miles at possibly nearer two years from last.

Unfortunately VWs need more service than some other (better and "lesser") brands and are less reliable so more timely regular service is required and the VWŠkoda (UK) servicing and "maintenance" isn't over comprehensive (other than the UK con of changing the cambelt at 5 years) so you take their servicing recommends as more of a minimum than optimum.

Sound like you drive it reasonably for the turbo which does need working reasonably hard without being silly. Short journeys where the engine oil doesn't get fully warmed (90+c on oil temperature, not coolant) are to be avoid especially if stretching oil changes.

You've already found the poor quality (front?) dampers but other suspension bits aren't always great on these cars (decades of other on other (better and "lesser") brands) depends how much you are prepared to put up with or spend out to have replaced to avoid annoyance.

Electrics and electronics (computer systems) may be issues but at least you have a 2017 rather than later years.

Unless you perhaps do preventative battery charging with an appropriate charger maintainer you might find expensive 12v battery changes come around sooner and more frequently.

I'm not sure about seat fabric durability but high mileage user might know more.

You could look on here and see if there are any common issues on 2017 models.

You might want to consider change of the "lifetime" manual gearbox oil and engine coolant at say 10 years (or 100 or 120k) DSG box depends which one for oil and perhaps reliability.

It depends what you use to coat the underside some things can hold decay unseen from the other side, rust proof and painted or keep the original paint in good condition might be better, I used Waxoyl for years then Dyn?someat 50 but mates with just paint and cleaning seemed to do better against rust.

Personally I would look at selling this and getting an older good Japanese car if I wanted long term ownership (my last car I had for 16 years and was 50 years old when I got rid of it to a mate and is still being used).

Good luck.

175k.

Bear in mind mileage alone doesn't dictate longevity of engine or car you also have consider the use and time.

Edited 17 December, 202517 Dec by nta16

All cars will last as long as someone is prepared to pay to repair it.

@nta16 maybe Dinitrol?

Paying to repair it to keep it is fine as long as it can be repaired, obsolete software or changes of formats will probably do for modern cars.

It also depends on how much and what you want the car to do, gentle irregularly or rare use or just having a more or less static garage ornament (as so many current "classics" are) will extended how long the metal and plastics hold together in form. Regular common use is another matter.

4 hours ago, rum4mo said:

@nta16 maybe Dinitrol?

No but it spurred me on to find out which I meant, it was (Bilt Hamber) Dynax-S50. - https://bilthamber.com/product/dynax-s50/

Since 1985 we’ve kept all our cars a minimum of 10 years or over at least 140,000 miles for the main car and around 16 years for the second car. We are only on the 3rd second car which is a 2015 Fabia, that’s done 21,000 miles. It has annual oil and filter changes, one battery replacement, 1 cambelt, set of tyres last month. The main cars have done: 108k, 145k, 151k, 162k, 108k between 100,000 and 110,000 miles was when they needed extra things replaced, shocks, wheel bearings, ball joints, and then they were back to normal service items. Typically had a set of front pads and perhaps front discs never needed rear brake pads or shoes replaced. The 162k Mazda had a new clutch at 140k but that was preventative - I prefer to avoid breakdowns if possible. So I think you would be able to keep your Fabia going without major expense for many more years to come. Our first “second” car we still own it’s on 40,000 miles.