considering a fabia vrs

[Powerhungry]

yes, i appreciate this is probably an old issue but input in bullet form etc would be a great piece of info. is it really worth buying. downsides etc, problems. got my eye on a silver one. 8k

im no longer owning a octy vrs due to some **** totalling mine

cheers guys

[lozgti]

I understand your other post now!

Bootspace.Limited but not bad.Nothing like the Octavia.

MPG is more like low 40's if you drive normally.Claimed figures of 55+ only if you drive very gently on an open road

Your insurance will halve,if not more.

Don't worry about the comments over 'the engine makes it nose heavy' etc.I presume,like 99% of owners you aren't buying for roundabout racing

Nothing else really.A fine fine car that has a devoted following of people keen to say its not that good or a lotus elise.Correct:rolleyes:

[xaser04]

Excellent little car.

Plus points -

- Quick for what it is (small hatch)

- Excellent diesel engine

- Vag build quality & reliability

- In gear acceleration

- seem to hold excellent residuals

- Cabin space / visibility is excellent

- Excellent MPG - My trip computer averages 52mpg which isn't bad especially as I have quite a heavy right foot at times.

Bad points:

- Torque steer can be very bad at times

- Diesel engine can be noisy initially (on start up) - this doesn't bother me at all but could be an issue for some people

- Seats being white/grey can mark easily and are a bit of a pita to clean

- Lack of vRS badge on the steering wheel (this annoys me lol)

Thats all I can think of really.

[Swirly182]

I've never heard of one to be honest :confused:

[VRSDanny]

Lack of vRS badge on the steering wheel (this annoys me lol)

exactly what i said!!!!

[cjb]

I understand your other post now!

Bootspace.Limited but not bad.Nothing like the Octavia.

MPG is more like low 40's if you drive normally.Claimed figures of 55+ only if you drive very gently on an open road

Your insurance will halve,if not more.

Don't worry about the comments over 'the engine makes it nose heavy' etc.I presume,like 99% of owners you aren't buying for roundabout racing

Nothing else really.A fine fine car that has a devoted following of people keen to say its not that good or a lotus elise.Correct:rolleyes:

I'd agree with all of that.It's quick, it handles, it's quite economical, it's well built.

It's not a supercar, but if you want something that performs well, handles quite well, is fun to drive, and is still good for your commute/shopping/whatever, it's brilliant, and a bargain. I've owned 2 other VAG TDI cars and had a lot of use of one other (Seat Ibiza II, Polo V, Audi A3 I), and the vRS is the best of the bunch. If you have realistic expectations of what a diesel hot hatch will be like you will be pleasantly surprised. I've had mine since October and it still makes me grin like a loon every time I floor it.

I do get slightly better MPG than above though. Varies from 42 (if traffic is bad and you hit the throttle too much) to 49 (open road, quick progress, but a little bit gentle. Probably 45mpg on average, so mid forties rather than low.

[anonymouse]

Fabia-vrs.com - Autocar October 2004

Above review quite informative, although it states 'standard ESP' ( which costs

[VRStu]

There are some other press reports on my website too -

Fabia-vrs.com - Press Reports

[tonystop]

1. A "warm" hatch that has great overtaking ability on "A" roads, impressive amounts of torque.

2 Build quality is quite good, not outstanding, as there have been issues with my 03 plate but still better than some other French marks.

3. For the amount of money we are talking to buy new, there is still nothing in terms of value that offers the same.

4. Residues quite good, though may suffer sometime soon, but may not, please do a search. But if you are buying second hand then the previous owner has taken the first hit.

5. A comfy car though I did find that rear vision is not the best and the relatively thick "A" pillars can be distracting.

6. Make sure that it has a full service history and that the correct PD oil has been used.

7. Is it standard? If it has been remapped then the warranty will be void.

8. I do find the handling ok, not the best; all depends on what you want the car for. This is not a Golf GTI (v5) or an Octavia Vrs (2) in terms of handling. However a rear arb does help.

9. Stutter problems on some 06 models.

10 Dealer network pretty good, some bad reports on various dealers but most pretty good.

11 Check for damage etc, Hpi check and the usual before you purchase

[rongagain]

I agree with most of the above.

I get around 50 mpg, but commute 25miles each way in steady traffic.

Reliable so far (17K)

However I do not find the seats comfortable due to their lack of lumbar support. They are fine in all other senses, including the colour. But why no lumbar support? I use an after-market lumbar support.

Also due to the 10K service or oil change period, I changed the oil at 8K then have had a service for the 12 months check and another oil change at 16K. Cost

[Schern]

Yeah, I average about 50mpg over a tank, with a mixture of short journeys, fast dual carriage way runs, and cross country A road travel. If your living on motorways at 80ish, then 40-45mpg is about right, but if you do a lot of A road travel, and don't hammer it all the time, then 50+ is quite easily obtainable. If I'm happy to travel with the traffic, overtaking only when necessary ie speed drops below 50mph then on a 40 mile trip I've averaged 60mpg on quite a few occasions.

Mines really impressed me, but it does have its little niggles. The nose is very heavy, so really pushing on round roundabouts you will go wide, although as long as you steady state it and don't have your foot to the floor all the way round then it grips well. I was expecting to go through tyres really fast, but I've got 8k on mine now, and still plenty of tread left. Once you learn to drive round its little quirks, its a fun, brisk little car. Other niggles are the way it picks up dirt! Its like a magnet! And the stutter can be annoying sometimes, but I don't think its a major drawback.

[Welshy]

bumped - for anyone looking for vRS pros & cons I think this thread does it justice.

[mac67]

Best car i've ever had (even before the re-map) Nuf said!

[anonymouse]

Good car - only 6k into our 2nd hand one (04 16k when we bought it).

Budget for 4 yr cambelt change (or 60k whichever is sooner).

Ours only does very local mileage and short trips at that. Averageing 42+ to 39+ (aircon). Have got around 49 mpg on run (and we weren't going slow).

Tyres, fronts, 16k to 8k usually depending on brand, manner driven etc).

Well chuffed with car. Oh, and yes, silver, always looks smart - so much easier to keep looking clean.

Typically I wash the alloys inbetween full washes as they get dirty with brake dust and spoil the looks. The rest of the car stays remarkably clean (rear gets dirty quickly in bad conditions).

[JezF1000]

I always love driving the wifes and I have some fairly decent cars of my own.

Tyres currently on 38,000 miles and they still look fine after front/rears being swapped, so entirely depends on your driving style. Brake dust is certainly excessive as per the above posting, though!

Jez

[Chrispy]

I still love driving mine after 6 months and I tend to get bored quickly.

It's my 11th car in 8.5 years and I regard it as the best overall. Not the fastest but the one that ticks the most boxes.

After a Vauxhall, a few Pugs, a couple of high revving Jap things, a string of Beemers and a Sh*troen this thing is the quickest in terms of real world performance, the easiest to drive and the most frugal. It's also the cheapest thing to insure that I've had and the best on VED.

The stupid white seats are getting replaced with leather on Fri so that gets round the only real gripe I had with the car when I got it.

It's not the best handler in the world but after driving a few other cars recently it made me realise it's far from the worst. I think its main negative in that dept are the low profile tyres that ruin the ride a little and are a bit noisy. They should've lowered it a bit more, put slighty fatter rubber on (still using 16"s) and adjusted the speedo accordingly. Would've improved the handling and the ride.

Also a rear ARB as standard like what most other cars get would've been nice.

For the money though it's outstanding value. Many other cars that cost a splodge more don't have as much kit or provide the grin factor anywhere near as much as these things do.

[anonymouse]

I think its main negative in that dept are the low profile tyres that ruin the ride a little and are a bit noisy. They should've lowered it a bit more, put slighty fatter rubber on (still using 16"s) and adjusted the speedo accordingly. Would've improved the handling and the ride.

For the money though it's outstanding value. Many other cars that cost a splodge more don't have as much kit or provide the grin factor anywhere near as much as these things do.

Yup - forgot about the ride - fine most of the time but on rough roads it is bad.

Only thing that makes me wish I'd got a 1.9PD Elegance and had it remapped / chipped.

[Chrispy]

Yup - forgot about the ride - fine most of the time but on rough roads it is bad.

Only thing that makes me wish I'd got a 1.9PD Elegance and had it remapped / chipped.

And when pressing on, all it takes is a slight pothole and it can't cope....the wheels leave the road and it skitters as all the shock is dealt with by the springs and dampers. Slightly softer rubber would cope with that and help maintain traction.....perhaps a 50 profile instead of a 45. A subtle but worthwhile change and the tyres are easier to sourcewhen needing replacements.

Some soggier cars can take windy bumpy roads faster than the vRS due to this.....and me not wanting to lose my teeth in the process.

[JezF1000]

I actually think the ride is excellent, one of the main reasons we chose the VRS as the wife was doing 145 mile a day commute.

[Chrispy]

On the motorway it's spot on......firm and communicative. Thing is, round West Yorkshire....and perhaps North Yorkshire.....in fact the whole of the North of England the roads are beyond f*cked and it sometimes jarrs you so badly you have to slow right down, causing the person in the caravan tyre clad Megane behind you to get impatient.

[Bushybeaver]

Just thought id put my 2p worth in, I bought my vrs in April, done nearly 10k and honestly love it.

The best thing is the look on some peeps face when you leave them on dual carriageway in fourth about 40-50 it really goes, id say it pulls as good as my Leon Cupra R remapped if not better when your at that speed.

I drove down to Cornwall for a meeting, running a little bit late so gave it a bit of beans, I love the way even up hills drop it into 5th in traffic and it suprises me everytime, the powers there.

On the way back to Devon thought id put the cruise on and see if i could get back without turning it off, WOO I came close to some caravans, anyhooo set it at 75 and got 58mpg about 1hr 30 drive back.

The way I see it is, the vrs is the flagship of the fabia range and usually with flagship models you get a lot of kit, rear electric windows no climate, gay standard radio little things like that have been left off to keep prices down.

If you can live without a big boot, skoda jokes and a bit of a noisy engine go for it.

Its fun to drive, fuel's great, doesnt look to bad try finding the equilvent golf for the money, good price.

BUY IT !!!

[anonymouse]

On the motorway it's spot on......firm and communicative. Thing is, round West Yorkshire....and perhaps North Yorkshire.....in fact the whole of the North of England the roads are beyond f*cked and it sometimes jarrs you so badly you have to slow right down, causing the person in the caravan tyre clad Megane behind you to get impatient.

We took the Snake Pass to go to Sheffield Uni a few months ago - and as Crispy says "it sometimes jarrs you so badly you have to slow right down, causing the person in the caravan tyre clad Megane behind you to get impatient."

I did ask on the Forum after and everyone says they avoid the Snake like the plague.

So 95% of the time the ride for me is fine - just that 5% which the old Cavalier on high profile tyres would have taken with aplomb.

The rest of the car - very little to fault, tons of extra handy bits / features and a good build quality coupled with a true 'wow' factor in the acceleration dept.

[Welshy]

Well Ive test driven a couple and dont have any issues with it - tickes most of the boxes, looks ok, punchy engine (well like any other VAG with this unit), good economy - when I tested it I really hammered it and still got 38mpg, that was 3 up me mrs & stealer.

I would never drive it like that if it were my own or I wasnt testing it, the GT TDI115 I had was a fine car good performance in the real world great economy, reliability etc. I'd expect nothing less of the little vRS I just hope that when I do buy one it wont be the Saxo VTS replacement which with more & more accidents & youths modifying it might bring.

[oilburninnut]

when your ready welshy i will sell you mine 1 careful mature owner,i drive it so gentle the trip is showing a 68mpg average over 800 miles and its not even run in yet[and yes i do know they lie] at the mo its doing 550miles ave per tank,and its the best colour:rofl:

[Decron]

If your looking for a really well sorted example check the for sale section