I've been thinking about replacing my 51-plate Clio 1.2 16v Dynamique with a Fabia vRS, talking about it at work today and everyone was saying I could do soo much better with

I was all for going second hand but I ended up buying a Fabia vRS in the end....

I disagree that you can do sooo much better as your friend puts it.

You can get a 130 PD Golf, but it'll be slower, handle worse and for my needs is too big, but hey I guess you do get the badge.

The Leon, well with only 110bhp it'll noticably trail the vRS.

You've got to be looking at petrol cars to make much improvement, but even then not in all areas. A Lotus Elise is one possibility, but it'll cost a fortune to run and insure and is hardly practical. There are other sports cars of course, but they'll probably be only slightly better in those areas.

Why is the vRS such a good buy?

Its relatively cheap, economical, quick, looks good, well built, well specced, highly tunable, cheap to insure and run - but its not for badge snobs. It comes down to whether you can find those exact combination of qualities elsewhere, and I reckon all things considered, that would not be an easy task.

I've been thinking about replacing my 51-plate Clio 1.2 16v Dynamique with a Fabia vRS, talking about it at work today and everyone was saying I could do soo much better with

I agree its a great deal.

Another benefit is vRS's are available with good discounts if you dont have a trade in and are prepared to order a popular colour. Target mid-low 11s unless you want to specify options which I think defeat the object apart from Cruise if youre doing lots of M-way miles and the colour choice, black magic is extra cost or go for red.

the most popular colours seem to be black and silver . although they look all nice it makes a change to find one in red or yellow.

Thanks for the input, one car that's been mentioned is the Xsara 110HDI VTR Coupe. They can be found for ~

The Xsara has never been a popular car as it is not considered very good(it was based on the much better Pug 306) and dont think that the vtr is fast, on the Xsara it is similar in spec to the Focus zetec. i don't think i have ever seen one and are as rare as the 2.0l Fabia (Mainly because they are not worth the money). The Fabia has average depreciation for it's class, although as it costs less to buy it will be worth less when it comes to resale although the vRS is too new to really say anything about that model.

Might this kind of thing be a smarter buy? I bet the price could be pulled down to

well given that it has done 6k more than average, losing

Oh this is all too complicated - how am I meant to find a new car! All I want is lots more power but good mpg, reasonable looks and good handling. I only plan to own the car for ~ 2years and I'll be paying ~

French cars are awful. No comparison. End of story.

If saving pennies is all your interested in, then by all means go for it, but if your interested in having a good car, forget ****roen.

Used to own a citroen, never again. Had the car 8 months and had to call out the RAC 3 times due to mechanical failure. That does not include the endless rattles from the dash and failed electric window motors.

I wouldn't touch the Citroen with a blind mans 10 foot barge pole! French cars usually fall apart the moment you breath on them! I had a Pug 106 and though it was fun to drive, the quality was terrible! I vowed never to get another French car.

I would personally go for the Fabia in the same situation. A Skoda is now basically a re-shelled VW for lots less cash, so you can't go wrong with them!

can we talk on msn fab16v

I could do soo much better with

You could buy a 2 year old Octavia vRS for similar money to the Fabia, but it's insurance rating is much higher.

...and it will be bigger than a Focus and not return 50+mpg...

Rob.

A 130 TDi Beezer might be worth a sniff, but you aren't going to get too many diesel cars under 12K with performance to match the Furby. Not less than 3 years old at any rate...

Having driven a new style Ibiza back to back with the Fab vRS the quality difference and feeling of a bigger,stronger, safer car are the main immediate conclusions in favour of the Fabia. The Ibiza also has a higher waist line and so the glass area is quite a bit less affecting visibility.As the Ibiza tested was a 1.2 the lack of power was also a safety aspect. Whilst the 130TDi version would remedy that, the 13.5k price tag and no discounts takes it out of the supermini bracket.

These were the views of my wife, not mine incase anyone thinks I'm biased. Now there's the colour choice, she thinks black or red for