My lovely little felicia 1.3 Lxi plus has managed to squeeze through another mot, however I was given an advisory note to change the front nearside ball joint on the suspension. I have only just had the other side done around 6 months ago and knew that this would need done eventually. I also have to get the rear nearside brake load something or other done, as well as get some new tyres, but these are not quite so 'urgent'. A few months ago I had to replace the heater matrix, battery and alternator costing a small fortune.

My dilemma is this, do I keep throwing money at it, sell it or scrap it (the value for selling seems to be very low anyway). I really love the car and it pains me to think of scrapping her but I am increasingly worried about the cost implications of keeping her on the road.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, if so what did you do? I really need some help with this one :(.

hmmm :rubchin:

as it happens i'm in the market for a felicia

hmmm :rubchin:

as it happens i'm in the market for a felicia

The problem is Tom I really don't know if I want to sell it, hence the thread. I'm kind of torn in two about it, it's our first car as a family and the kids (I have 3 of them) love it. At the same time they are growing and it is becoming a real squeeze. I really don't know what to do as I simply don't have the money to keep repairing her when she goes wrong.

For a small car it's quite roomy in the back for 3, you'd have to go to a lot larger car for more substantial room.

All cars have running costs unfortunately, at least you know the history of repairs on your Feli, you could buy a new car and have to start all over again, if money is tight, you've got a year to sort out these advisaries and they aren't expensive major repairs.

agree with bobob, you'v started, its cheaper to finish.

Wait till something disasterous like a cracked cylinder head happens (would most likely cost as much as another felicia to sort out) or to get it through an MOT it costs a good few hundred.

Unfortunately replacing bits comes with the territory and the only other way around it I can see is to buy a new car and when the warranty expires get another new car, or to lease a car. Luckily parts for Skoda's are not so expensive as for some other cars around.

Grab yourself a Haynes manual and see if there's jobs you could do yourself. If it saves you shelling out an hours mechanic's wages at a garage (even if it takes you an entire weekend to sort what they'd do in an hour) you've saved a bit of cash.

Check out Jorily Skoda on ebay for bits.

And I agree with Bobob on the interior space.

If you scrap it, it would be worth pulling all the bits possible from it before scrapping and keeping them as spares. I spent a few days pulling bits off a Favorit that was off for the scrap recently. Unfortunately some bits I could not get due to rusted screws/bolts etc, and drilling the heads off on the mirrors and light units didn't seem to work well for me. I have since found out that you need more space to store bumpers than I initially thought, oops.

My lovely little felicia 1.3 Lxi plus has managed to squeeze through another mot, however I was given an advisory note to change the front nearside ball joint on the suspension. I have only just had the other side done around 6 months ago and knew that this would need done eventually. I also have to get the rear nearside brake load something or other done, as well as get some new tyres, but these are not quite so 'urgent'. A few months ago I had to replace the heater matrix, battery and alternator costing a small fortune.

My dilemma is this, do I keep throwing money at it, sell it or scrap it (the value for selling seems to be very low anyway). I really love the car and it pains me to think of scrapping her but I am increasingly worried about the cost implications of keeping her on the road.

Has anyone been in a similar situation, if so what did you do? I really need some help with this one :(.

Do you do your own repairs or do you pay a garage to do them?

you will need to work out how much it is going to cost you to change, next what you are going to relace it with and what are the cost implications of the replacement. The Felicia is a reliable and by todays standards a simple car, the parts are not expensive and there are plenty in the scrapyards. The advisories that you list seem straight forward, I suspect that the brake load valve just needs a little lubrication and freeing off a bit.

I agree with the comments made so far. All cars need parts changing at this age. i recently paid for both balljoints to be replaced on my car and it cost £45 with me providing the balljoints. Not bad really.

The tyres on a felicia will be much cheaper to get than a lot of cars due to their size and a bit of negotiation between tyre dealers will reap rewards. Alternators and battery's come with the territory and i am yet to have a car that hasn't needed both and fully expect mine to go in the next few years.

A lot of repairs on the felicia are very manageble because of their simple design and good access under the bonnet which makes it a better bet than a lot of small cars.

I'd keep it. There's nothing on that list that's not "fair wear", and potentially something you could be confronted with on another car come its next MoT.