Well this is a story and a half. My sister is learning to drive, and is looking for her first car. The plan was to give her our Favorit, but to confuse things she has gone looking elsewhere. Which is where I need peoples help - which car should she go for?

Skoda Favorit 1.3 LXiE in the family since new (1995 M reg) and its done 140K. Full service history, and all family members have looked after it. Needs a few bits and pieces to get it on the road again, about

Id go with the favorit everytime, especially with a known family history. Favorits are cheap and easy to fix and very reliable, and surprising well built (although a bit basic) The skoda engine when kept serviced Ive heard of them getting to 180k without causing problems.

Ive never like the tin feeling of peugeots or their rough sounding engines, and only the GTI's ever looked good in my opinion. My Peugeot was exceptionally unreliable, and was glad to get shot of it.

I wouldnt touch the 205 with a ten foot barge pole! Every old peugeot i know off has been a nightmare from day one, french tat basically.

Go for the skoda

And what about Skoda's....? They didn't have the best reputation either. There isn't anything wrong with 205's... We have one!

I'd go for the favorit myself.

I fully admit to being biased but I'd go for the Favorit. First of all you know the car well. These are a tough car with a slightly flimsy interior, but less flimsy than the Peugeot. They are also very good to drive, though the handling is perhaps less sporty than the Peugeot as there is more roll.

TBH I'm not a big fan of French cars but I must say that Peugeot in my opinion are the most robust of the French marques from my experiences. The 205 in particular is a good drivers car, but is also rather tinny and tends to be heavy on suspension, brakes and driveshafts.

And what about Skoda's....? They didn't have the best reputation either. There isn't anything wrong with 205's... We have one!

The only "bad" reputation they had was from Tw@ts who had never owned or driven them ! I get so pi$$ed with the old "They are better than they used to be"crap !!! You all boast that you made the trip to CZ in your shiney VW build qualitiy Skoda's..i have done EIGHT trips to CZ in those terrible old Skoda's so they cannot be all that bad can they ? I would stay away from French crap all day long and get the Fav going as it will be more reliable,cheaper to run,good fuel economy and more room than some crummy little Pug !

Old Skud rant over,just getting my terrible 30 year old Skoda ready for a summer of fun and noise !

I'd say the 205 as they were good cars in their day and parts are cheap and easy. Also plenty in the breakers for stuff like bumpers when they get broken.

To be honest they both have their advantages and disadvantages.....

The Favorit is easy enought to repair although I assume its still using the std 1.3 single point injection engine? Are those still suceptable to head gasket issues? Whats the tin worm like? Basically a solid 'no frills' platform.

The pug is going to have a better chassis and hence the better 'drivers' car. Getting on though....and like someone else said, not the familiy history.

I'm a newbie here, so nice to see some of the old school skuds being represented (i used to have a 136 Rapid)

Dor.

Id say go for the Favorite .Pug have shown their intent by pulling out of the UK -next - no spares and /or dealers when you need those "dealer only " parts.

Secondly - Fav well know,tried tested and looked after, has solid dealer network in UK .

skudupnorth ---still got memories of changing a clutch on a mates estelle - and sorting out starting problems.

Both due to poor maintenance by previous owners - thrust bearing had run dry and distributor was loose - .

Clutch was an engine out job - not too bad if you had some workshop facilities-we used an old garage beam ,a rope and inginuity.

The dizzy - used trial and error and a guestimate of timing ---seemed to work - ran well after that.

Id say go for the Favorite .Pug have shown their intent by pulling out of the UK -next - no spares and /or dealers when you need those "dealer only " parts.

Secondly - Fav well know,tried tested and looked after, has solid dealer network in UK .

skudupnorth ---still got memories of changing a clutch on a mates estelle - and sorting out starting problems.

Both due to poor maintenance by previous owners - thrust bearing had run dry and distributor was loose - .

Clutch was an engine out job - not too bad if you had some workshop facilities-we used an old garage beam ,a rope and inginuity.

The dizzy - used trial and error and a guestimate of timing ---seemed to work - ran well after that.

Ahhhh but i bet you were impressed how easy it was to repair such joys ! just spent the day sorting my noisy timing chain on Snotty,no running problems due to loosness...just noisy and it was bugging me ! No belt to snap if i decided to leave it.

Cheers for your advice guys - will pass onto my sister.

My own advice is the Favorit through and through. I have never been keen on Peugeots - even a mate who changed from a 106 to a Favorit said the Skoda was better!!

In answer to some of your questions - Engine is 1.3 SPI, and the tin rot isn't too bad (well not without some TLC)

If not the family Favorit you could pick up another favorit with lowish mileage cheaply. Your existing one could be used for spare parts and then scrapped perhaps? It's a shame that people do not seem to want them, they are good cars. I don't understand people's snobbery about cars really, a car is a car.

My favorit seems to be able to pull away from the lights quicker than any other car. Only problem is acceleration after that is a little sluggish

I would say 205 pretty much every time....

However, since you know the past of the favourite and obviously know how to fix things when they break on it, in this case I'd take that.

Which has the better body and tyres? The Pug is more stylish, but the Favorit is more spacious, and has a known history.

Actually, that's the other question; does she need interior space or lack of exterior bulk?

You all boast that you made the trip to CZ in your shiney VW build qualitiy Skoda's..i have done EIGHT trips to CZ in those terrible old Skoda's so they cannot be all that bad can they ?

There you go. Proof... that because your car has done 8 trips to CZ, means they are a better buy then a Pug 205

I know someone (taxi driver), who did the equivalent of to the Moon and back, and then some (533_000 miles) in a 405 XUDT, so does that mean that Peugeots are better cars?

I did a quarter of a million miles in a citroen and even then it only gave up because the ULSD meant the fuel pump didn't get lubed by the sulphur that wasn't there so needed replacing.

At that price, whichever is in the best condition! I'd probably lean towards the Peugeot

Well the Peugeot apparently doesn't have any service history - so that one is firmly forgotten about!

However my little sister doesn't want the Favorit!! She is going looking for something else she can pickup for

Put some VW polo badges on it then sell it to her for

my opinion is she is being a snob over the Skoda, what do you guys think?

Quick look on Autotrader shows there's a fair few cars in budget - sure she'll find something she likes I wouldn't chose a Favorit either :P

Chris

In that price range you might get lucky like a friend did with a 230k mile mondeo that's running fine 18 months later , or it may die a week or two later and cost more to repair than you paid for it.

It's a complete gamble , but you can improve the odds by going for a car that you know has been reliable.

Don't forget that people don't tend to sell cars that are running well and behaving themselves. A lot of the time they are up for sale because they know that something is wrong. If you can get one with a genuine new MOT then that is another way to improve your chances.

Personally I'd do a search on ebay for local cars in your price range and go and see a few and see if there's a couple that aren't sheds.

Have had a 96 Pug 205 in the family since 98, so in nearly 10 years it has needed: Other than brakes, tyres and a battery cambelt ect....

A new pas belt and..........the factory exhaust is just starting to blow a bit.

Not a speck of rust in it either!

Well the latest on this is that she has gone out and spent