Hi,

I am going to be trading my Astra Coupe Turbo in for a Fabia VRS. I just wanted to know if theres anything I should look out for when buying. I have three cars I am planning on going to look at.

1. Black, 15K, standard spec, costing around 8500

2. Silver, 15K, standard spec, costing around 8700 (at Skoda dealer)

3. Red, 25K, standard spec + xenons, cruise and heated leather, also has aftermarket 17" alloys and a stainless exhaust system, costing around 9500 (at Skoda dealer)

Would it be worth paying the extra for the red one? I like the extra factory features but not so much the aftermarket bits, plus it has higher miliage.

Any advice would be great.

Cheers,

Rik

I'd stick with the main dealer and get the silver one.. (best colour)

When I started looking a few months back had my heart set on a black VRS, but when you see it next to a silver one there is no real choice silver wins everytime.

Just my opinion mind you.

Would go with the Silver one from the Skoda Dealer with 15K on it

Silver again - bought ours 16k, from dealer so got Xtra year warranty (worth it for peace of mind + because we got it from a Skoda dealer they had already checked for leaking rear door seals and resealed one).

Silver so easy to keep clean - always looks smart + the Diamond Silver is quite a bit different to other manufacturers so it seems to stand out more.

Lowest possible mileage would be another recommendation i.e. 15k as you're looking at. Higher mileage = bigger bills sooner.

Re the red car with the extras - a possibility the car has had some real stick and you will be the one with the potential problems.

Silver is so 1990's I think it was the colour of every Vauxhall Astra ever

All three cars are still under warranty and I wouldn't worry too much about the mileage 25k is nothing for a car especially the Furball. As for being ragged well even if it has it will still be ok has they are fairly bomb proof if left as standard.

Xenons are a

Every man, woman and dog has got a Silver or Black car. (no offence to people who have them) so why not go for the red.

Red suits the car very well stands out a bit more in the rush hour and it has a much better spec.

Silver, Red and Black are all common on our roads these days.

Why not try and source a Yellow VRS if you really want to be unique and stand out from the crowd.

Too much of a statement for me, plus every other taxi up here is that colour.

If you can find a yellow you're assured a good deal as they depreciate most cos no bugger wants them

Personally I'd go for the red one.

As said, Xenons and heated leather add up to nearly 2K's worth of options.

Plus, if you don't like the 17"s, you can always sell them on.

Thanks for all the replies, wasn't expecting such a great number of repsonses.

I am waiting for the Skoda dealer to call back about the red one, its a grand over my bugdet but it sounds like they are going to offer me some kind of deal so I'll have to wait and see. I am concerned about the mods and how it has been treated, how much do standard vrs alloys go for. Even if they knocked

If the red one has an aftermarket exhaust and big wheels, I'd also be checking for any other mods (chipped?, lowered, etc) as these will all affect insurance and could also compromise the warranty.... I wonder if it's an ex Briskoda car? Could help track down the history

Worth looking at all 3 though, imvho

Chris

A salutory lesson for folks desperate to "improve" their motors.

If you want to sell it,put it back to standard spec.

That's assuming you've kept the standard bits........

I wouldn't touch a modded car personally. Buy one of the standard ones - lots of sensible people drive vRS's (not just the reprobates on here ) but you can pretty much guarantee the red one has had a younger owner who's into modding & as such is more likely (not is guaranteed-don't jump on me!) to have had a harder life. It is also more likely on the face of it to have been remapped or had a tuning box than the other two, which could lead to premature drivetrain failure.

That doesn't guarantee the others haven't though, but you buy a car with your eyes & you've got more info about the red one's past than the other two & it's screaming 'Hard Life!' to me.

Silver seems to be the least critiscised and safe colour to go for. They sell the best and look the best if not cleaned for a couple of weeks. BUT....

They're the least rewarding to clean, the hardest to colour match for stone chips and the most plain, but in my opinion the best colour. I've owned red cars....they fade to a pink and need cleaning regularly to look good. Black cars look mucky within minutes and on the Fabia they hide the blackened grills making the entire car look black. Plus they show up the stone chips something chronic.

Yellow......well, they're an aquired taste. You've got to WANT a yellow car.....I imagine on some days they're ace as you're constantly noticed and you have a colour that few other cars have, but on other days you're just sat there thinking 'FFS I wish I'd bought a silver one'.

Just to add, if red didn't fade and it looked cleaner for longer I'd always own red cars....I love the colour as it's sporty and when fully buffed up with gleaming wheels it makes the Furby look ace. It's just that it ranks alongside black in terms of being hard to maintain. You'll end up using Tcut several times in its life to keep it from going pink or orange.

When I was looking for a Furby, there were several red ones on the market. All of them were slightly cheaper than the very few silver ones that were around. I wanted silver and so had to wait a little, hunt more and pay a little more but I got the one I wanted in the end.

yeah my tip is hurry up, cause they're ace!

oh, and get a black one!

stu.

Just to add, if red didn't fade and it looked cleaner for longer I'd always own red cars....I love the colour as it's sporty and when fully buffed up with gleaming wheels it makes the Furby look ace. It's just that it ranks alongside black in terms of being hard to maintain. You'll end up using Tcut several times in its life to keep it from going pink or orange.

My mums 53 plate is red, has only ever had basic jet-washes & looks great. My onw one was red & got washed about 5 times in two years - the red hides the dirt better than you'd think

Just to add, if red didn't fade and it looked cleaner for longer I'd always own red cars....

Only red car I've had before the Mondeo was a Corsa and that did go pink. Mondeo isn't especially cared for and is still gleaming red, even after 5 years

Chris

I prefer red on the fabia. Mine was washed and waxed regularly, and looked stunning when clean, and it does hide the dirt reasonably well.

I've just finished sprucing up my 'latest' silver one, and although I know it couldn't look much better, it still doesn't appeal really, it's just too, err, silver, if you know what I mean.

My red cavalier went pink.

My red CRX went pink.

My red MR2 went pink.

My red BMW went pink.

All of the above required Tcutting, some more frequently than others.

I wonder if manufacturers have just figured out in recent years how to stop red cars going pink then?

From the night-safety-being-visible point of view Silver is very good - so too the yellow

I wonder if manufacturers have just figured out in recent years how to stop red cars going pink then?

Yeah, haven't seen a faded red car in years...

Well, I have just got back from the dealer and I will be sticking around as I purchased me a Silver Fabia VRs. 53 Plate with only 14600 miles on the clock. Was owned by a very old man who retired from driving. Very excited about picking it up.

Its going to take a coupe of weeks as they need to transfer my number plate onto it. Also there are lots of scratches all over it and the front wheels are kerbed, so they are sorting all the bodywork out and giving me two new alloys and tyres, also giving me new clean mats. They are going to pay for tax and to transfer the number plate too so very happy.

Congratulations If it's been kerbed a lot, also get them to check over the suspension components and tracking/wheel alignment

Chris

How much did you pay for it if you don't mind me asking, looking to buy a VRS in September.