What made you guys Skoda fans. And your First Skoda

[Captain Sisko]

For me it was back in 2000

I had left a job working at a cash and carry and was looking at cars.

I came across a nice Felicia was about £2000+ at the time, I liked it as it reminded me of my Grandads mk2 Golf.

When I started a new job in 2006 I went car hunting and had no quarrells looking for a Felicia.

I went hunting on EBay and Auto Trader then popped a bid for my first/current Felly.

Was a very risky buy as I didn't examine the car before bidding.

Saw rusty bits and was a little "what have I done"

But needless to say I was lucky, got a good one for a reasonable price at the time and its not missed a beat. The rust - I'm still working on.

Now 18 months on I'm a hapy Skoda driver

Incidentally how many Skoda owners have posted their views on What Cars website and carsurvey.org

[anewman]

I still have my first one. My girlfriend's dad had it and was going to scrap it. I had just passed my test. I floated the idea of me taking the car off his hands with my girlfriend. They weren't sure at first and neither was I, but I test drove it, and I guess the things that struck me most was the weakness of the brakes and the lack of power steering. Decided to go for it and have it nearly a year on.

Car has a few bad bits, but it gets me from A to B, and the only time it broke down was after I had renewed the leads, arm, cap and spark plugs. I think I hadn't seated the cap properly, or it slipped. I had no previous experience of fiddling with cars, but on the whole this car seems reasonably easy to fiddle with, although I really hate snapping bolts when undoing them, but not had a critical one go yet. I begrudge paying a garage to do something if I feel reasonably confident about giving it a go myself

I definitely wouldn't hesitate buying another if the time comes I take this for an MOT and it comes back that it needs so much work doing to make it so uneconomical to repair.

[john_grant358]

My girlfriends dad had a Fabia VRS in silver when i was 18 and i remember think F*CK ME thats quick and it looks the ******** as well! 3 years on i treated myself to one as a 21st birthday to myself and love it!:thumbup:

[KenONeill]

What made me a fan - the old 110RS and 130RS, and Estelle rally cars.

First - my present Octy. When I was first buying, there wasn't a suitable car for my needs in the range.

[Loz]

How I became a Skoda Geek....what a lovely little anecdote

Ok....well, in 2000 I think it was, my mum was looking for a new car. We had sold the Volvo cos it just wasn't quite right anymore, think the mechanic had done something wrong, we hated the Micra we inherited from my grandad because it was just appaling and so we were looking for something new.

My dad was buying it and has to look into EVERYTHING for like MONTHS!! Finally, they worked it down to either a fabia or a yaris. I told them there was no way we were having a yaris - foul horrible little alien things! So we got an X-reg silver 1.4 Fabia Classic Was an ace little car, and the Fabia had just won What Car car of the year.

I went on to pass my test in silverfabbie, and had to defend Skoda almost all the time, I worked at Halfords at the time and people certainly hadn't come round to Skoda yet!!

In 05 I bought myself a Black Fabia Sport called Blakfabi, and then 20 months later I bought my Fabia VRS SE - surprisingly enough it is known as Blufabi!! My god I'm original

Also, inbetween there somewhere my dad got a fabia combi the same colour as Leon's!

[Captain Sisko]

I'll admit some of the people in my former work places office didn't think Skoda were good but they must have been oblivious to the VW takeover back in 1993/1994 wasn't it?

I know someone with a Fabia MPI and one of my former colleagues had a Fabia 16v Elegance before he bought the Fabia VRS - he loves it.

[ap0gee1978]

For me, it was the fact that opinion in 'the trade' at the time the Fabis vRS came out was that you couldn't get a better warm / hot hatch for the money, plus the advantages of a diesel when doing 20k per year commuting...

[Phil-E]

Again for me... it was after buying my first/current skoda... Nelly the Felly!!

Great little car... couldn't believe such a little cheap car had such a good spec... but then again it is a Laurin & Klement!!!

Hopefully one day i'll be able to get either like an octavia estate 1.9tdi or fabi vrs... who knows...

[skoda_dragon]

My felly that was my first car and still have today 3 years on. It was a cheap buy and the reason for buying it was the fact that it was cheap insurance and the thought of 'who is going to steal a skoda?'. It also only had 45k on the clock, which made it more appealing. I was looking at other models at the time but the felly was great value for money. I have managed to do most repairs myself and only used a garage for things like the tyres or exhaust. I've not had any major breakdowns (touch wood) apart from the damper collapsing. It has been a great car for 3 years and hope it will give me a few more years joy.

I hope the next skoda that I have will be the octavia VRS. I'm not a big fan of the new shape that they have released though, especially for the fabia and roomster, i think they look awful, the octavia isnt as bad.

[Psyzygy]

Do I really want to tell you?

Do you really want to know?

I'm not even sure if that's a complete list of my previous drives down there... I rode pushbikes for many years in my 20's & 30's too, plus had part shares in a moggy field car & James Captain field bike before I was 16.

Had my Felly for three & a half years partly on the recommendation of my then girlfriend who'd just bought one and partly 'coz it was the most bang I could get for my buck at the time - £495 with 52k on the clock and I've only done 20k in it myself since (albeit quite fast ones ).

After a severe case of cobblers shoes syndrome: collapsed front strut, dead alternator & a completely US exhaust within the first 6 months it's been great! Apart from now - and that's well in hand

I did have a Beemer on my wishlist for sometime in the near future, but seeing how angry they & Merc drivers get when I pass them, it seems worthwhile keeping hold of it for the forseeable future :P.

Like I say, it'll do 6k revs in 4th on a good day and I've found the handling sweet-spots, so maybe a bit of a fettle is in order now it's facing the wrong way in the drive...

Oh as a comparison, the RD 200 cost £420 new in 1976 & petrol was 50p a GALLON! (as far as I recall).

[Babs]

Simple bang for buck equasion, to be honest.

Nothing else out there with the combination of power, refinement, economy, looks, price that the Fabia vRS had.

However, I'm now after something bigger, since all my mates are as tall as I am, and it makes them sitting in the back really hard!

[pinkskud]

i flipped me festa end over end,

but me dad has had skodas for years (2 estell 2 rapid 1 fav 2 octty)

so the day after teaching a ford to fly, i cadged a lift to the skoda garage with me old man (he's had all his off the same dealer) and picked up a purple fav estate for £200.

10 month later the fav went BANG at 90mph,

so the next day i saw a felicia on the paper, and the phone no. was from the next village along. so, on me bike i gets. half hour late i owned a mk1 1.3spi glxi in snot green. £600

so, drove said mk1 like i stole it!

year later i saw my preasnt mk2 1.6 glxi on ebay in swansea. like a fool i did befor i saw, but hit lucky. £920

loving it and still driving like i stole it!!!!!!!

[Captain Sisko]

Nice. I also bid before I saw but I trusted my instinct.

I was worried at first but under my ownership its running sweet.

I wubs my Skoda.

[anewman]

I'd definitely be going to look before bidding, unless I'd be happy potentially losing the money bid and it really seemed a good deal. I'd hate to bid and get there and find the engine has peculiar noises, there's substantial rust, no coolant left in the header tank, oil as thick and black as anything or some other problem, and then be obliged to hand over the cash. According to sellers some people bid, then come along and tyre kick, but I couldn't do that I don't think Also, you'll hopefully get some idea of if the seller has something to hide or does not seem genuine.

[Leon-y-k]

yes loz same colour:)

I think it was back in 1999 when i saw the wrc octavia going about, and my dad was raving on about how good my uncles new octavia estate was with leather and stuff, it was only after i went to see the cars myself and did work experience at the skoda dealership when i was about 15 that i really started to like the brand more and more, had alot of stick back at school for liking the brand so much!

so a few years went on i knew i wanted to do some sort of design and i still have my heart set on going to design for skoda when i finish uni at somepoint in the future. i came 17 got my 1st fabia 16v comfort i took it off my mum and dads hands it had done alot of miles with me and managed to clock it about 95k for a w reg. traded it in for a 2.0 elegance estate:) wich i still have from xmas 2005

i hope to get some work experience at skoda this summer over in cz if i can. currently working on my cv and portfolio to send over to them:)

[pinkskud]

go for it

[Captain Sisko]

Definately look before bidding.

I was lucky in 2006 with my Felicia but not so this year........

Just this year my Dads brother in law was looking for a car to replace a 1994 1.4 Sunny.

Was looking for a Primera 1.6 and a few came up at some attractive prices and I only bid on my Dads instructions....

Bid and won a Y plate Primera 1.6 for £1k - in Aberdeen. The HPI checked out but it was a little downhill from there...........

When my Dad brought it back I was regretting winning the auction.

Bumper scuffs you can kind of forgive but the gearlever **** was ripped, it didnt look clean inside.

Def not a good purchase as it didnt look in the best of conditions! There was another one, closer to where we loved in red. I think that would have made a better buy. But not my decision.

What happened to the Sunny? It leaked like a sieve (it rained and I had to drain the car)

The guy who won and bought the car was a banger racer a fitting end!

Go for it!!! Designing new Skodas!!!! ACE!!!!

You won't know if you don't try.

[Psyzygy]

i hope to get some work experience at skoda this summer over in cz if i can. currently working on my cv and portfolio to send over to them:)

Excellent! Engineering or styling side?

[smivs]

Met my wife Sue on a blind date six years ago......me driving a fiat coupe 20v turbo, and Sue a skoda fav estate. My first thought was uhhh...- skoda! Sue's thought was .."flash git!". It was a bit like going back in time when I got behind the fav's wheel, but I was amazed by its reliability. Apart from the occasional bulb, nothing went wrong during the next six years, and all I ever did was change the usual bits once a year. Liked it so much, we bought a felicia on eBay and, apart from the idiotic headlamp adjusters, (yeh, right!) - which I've abandoned (cut the pipes), it's been absolutely brill - so easy to drive.

[rigsby]

Bought my first estelle in 1986 just after i passed my test . a puke yellow 105s with a full years ticket for £300. It was very sollid and a lot better than the minis and such that i had looked at. Having worked at a Skoda dealer for 6 months i knew they were reliable. 21 years on and 28 skodas later i think im hooked

[daverapid]

:)I could go on for weeks here so apologies if I do!

My late grandfather got his first Skoda in 1984, a 1982 120L in Hipberry Red. I was 12 at the time and got totally hooked by it's crazy side hinged bonnet, rear engine and the fact that it was so quirky and "cuddly"! Ever since then, Skoda and it's long and interesting history have become a very big part of my life.

I got my first Skoda in 1990 when I was 18. It was a 1988 Rapid which in a way I still have. In 2004 I used it as a doner car for my Bugrat kit car when the bodywork became so badly rotten I considered it too far gone to continue.

I love Skoda and it's cars both old and new, but I must admit that the rear engined ones are rather special to me. I honestly cannot imagine not owning one and it upsets me that they have become rare.....hence my fleet of them! How many teenagers had posters of Estelles, Rapids and S series cars on their bedroom walls instead of the usual Porches and Ferraris?

I did!

[GeoffP]

Used to buy Lada cars 'cos they were cheaper than Skoda, last one a Samara leaked oil from new, the dealer said I should expect that because of the price - I asked why they didn't include a drip tray for £1 extra. When Lada could not meet the UK emission requirements it was also time to change the Samara, I went to the Skoda dealer, they were advertising an ex demo (R reg) 1.9 deisel Felicia Estate in silver with (I think) 1,000 miles for £9,000. I decided to buy it without seeing it. I enjoyed every mile driving that car. Three years later I was offered an Octavia for one week - it was pure love and lust all in one, I had to have one! I chose the 1.9 TDI and when the new model came out in 2004 changed the Y reg for a 54 reg. I have now had the Octavia diesel Scout since June this year and have clocked up 8,500 miles, about half of which I was towing a caravan. I don't know if the 4X4 has ever kicked in but I feel much more confident driving in bad conditions.

[Reece_1]

Housemate at uni back in 1990 had an Estelle, use to get lifts in it. Never had any problems with apart from one fault in 4 years, with the alternator, which he replaced himself. He liked the car 'cos he could service it himself. No plug in diagnostics or techno overkill in those days. We never had any bias against the Skoda brand, cos we knew that it was quite a long established automotive firm.

[Leon-y-k]

Excellent! Engineering or styling side?

styling:) i hope or even just being able to get my foot in the door for now at least will be a good start, i've got another 2 years to go at cov uni! woop:)

[favfab]

I bought my first Skoda Estelle for £50.00. Changed the carb, painted the bottom half black, put two spare wheels on the boot lid and went classic car trialling with it. The only thing to let me down was the hose on the left hand side split. None of this belly plate stuff. Since then many Skodas of varying sorts, most liked being the Fabia VRS