Hi, am new to this site but all the info is very helpful!

Basically I have seen a 54reg Furby for sale, which is in the price range that im looking to spend - however its done 97,000 miles. It says its got Full Skoda sevice history, has some nice extras, cruise control, heated seats, sat nav. Its just had new tyes and is taxed and MOT'd for 11 months.

Im just wondering what the consensus is on one of these cars with that sort of mileage. Are there any areas other than the cambelt, oil changes etc that you need to look for?

Many thanks, Simon

Sorry, forgot to mention the asking price is £5395

let me tell you something from experience......

i have owned a few high mileage cars, a lupo gti at 100,000 miles, an ibiza cupra 20v turbo at 105,000 miles, and a polo gti at 105,000 miles.

the money that you save from buying these high mileage cars invariably ends up being spent replacing expensive things that are worn out at that stage in the cars life.

polo gti needed a new gearbox, new lambda sensor, new coilpack, and some other bits and pieces, that bill mounted up to around £700 inc fitting.

ibiza cupra needed a new turbo, new clutch, new driveshaft, new hub, and some other stuff, that was all bloody expensive, and i ended up selling the car cheap and losing a lot of money and letting the new owner take care of all the problems.

in my honest opinion, at £5395 i would spend and extra £600 and that will open up the market a bit more for you to find a lower mileage car. for £6k i recon you could bag a vRS with closer to 60k on the clock.

On the other hand i have owned at least 5 cars with over 100k on the clock, all but one (Subaru Legacy turbo 4x4) i never spent a penny on them other than the usual servicing costs.

As with any car the way it has been looked after and serviced is what its all about.

If its been ragged from day one then you are asking for an expensive ownership ahead!

Adam, i think your problems were mainly because they were GTi's, so tend to be driven harder anyway.

and this is a VRS

But Fabia vRS is a diesel...

apart from the known "issues" they are reliable cars, and the PD engines are proven to take high mileages..

Issues are leaky doors and worn suspension bushes.. both are cheap to fix

Mines done 101k and has been 100% reliable

I've never had a high mileage car but I tend to agree with everything thats been said above^^^

My 04plate fabia has 45k on the clock and I paid roughly £6800, so spending that extra £1500 will get you half the amount of mileage and overall you wont have to worry as much about maintence, but not every1 has the same budget

Although it is a diesel and many people say that diesels aren't properly run in till 100k (the engine anyway)

I've found the high mileage older cars are cheap to run if you look carefully when buying..

However that is because older cars used to be less complex. These days everything is too complex. Had one run for 250k, before I changed it to a skoda, and I sometimes wish I hadn't.

Prices have come down alot tho and you can prob buy a vrs with 45k on the clock for less than £6800 now

Go on Auto Trader UK - Buy & Sell New & Used Cars, Car Loans, Car Insurance

Iv just found a VRS 2004, 23,600miles on it for £5,700! So i dont think your looking in the right place my friend!

Fair point John, just one small problem its a cat D ,

Cat D? Uv lost me?

Now iv looked it is, what does that mean mate?

Cat D? Uv lost me?

Now iv looked it is, what does that mean mate?

Insurance writen off, then repaired. Normally Light damage. Or something like that.

97K miles for a new common rail diesel is feck all, as long as its got full service history and the cambelt is fine i say go for it.

I had a 306 hdi, bought it at 103k miles and sold it at 141k miles and it never missed a heartbeat, my mechanic said it was mint and would do the mileage again

Category D - most likely to be nonstructural damage and should be relatively easily repairable. In this case the vehicle may have been economical to repair but for other reasons it was written off. For example where the insurer have to provide a courtesy car the time taken to repair the vehicle would mean that the courtesy car cost together with the repair cost would be excessive. In a category D scenario it is more likely that the insurer did not wish to repair.

97K miles for a new common rail diesel is feck all, as long as its got full service history and the cambelt is fine i say go for it.

I had a 306 hdi, bought it at 103k miles and sold it at 141k miles and it never missed a heartbeat, my mechanic said it was mint and would do the mileage again

Shame the VRS isn't common rail then hey

I owned a 1.6 405. Got it at 50K. Sold it at 100K to a friend Only problem was a cv joint. My friend then never checked the oil and killed the engine.

Omega my dad got at 118K miles and the mileometer had stopped working. He then had it for a few years and traded it in for a new laguna. The omega never missed a beat and apart form the speedo was spot on unlike the laguna.

Shame the VRS isn't common rail then hey

It isnt?

what is it then?

But Fabia vRS is a diesel...

apart from the known "issues" they are reliable cars, and the PD engines are proven to take high mileages..

Issues are leaky doors and worn suspension bushes.. both are cheap to fix

Mines done 101k and has been 100% reliable

agreed , seen taxi Ford Galaxys , PD engine the same as the Fabia VRS, with moon miles on , i wish all Fords had the PD engine

Cheers people, turns out the car has been sold anyway. My hunt continues, but i will hang on until the new year and see what comes along.

Maybe getting one with around 60k on the clock, and with new cambelt/service etc already done would be a better bet. Im willing to save a little longer to get a car thats right - rather than buying one now purely because i cannot wait!!

I would consider the Category D damaged car, but ive read all sorts of different opinions on what the insurance companys will pay out if I then had an accident!

Cheers people, turns out the car has been sold anyway. My hunt continues, but i will hang on until the new year and see what comes along.

Continue to keep an eye out this month, if you can. Traditionally a very slow month for sales, as people concentrate their money on other things.

Going into a dealer (main or independant) the week after Christmas could be worthwhile

Steve

Continue to keep an eye out this month, if you can. Traditionally a very slow month for sales, as people concentrate their money on other things.

Going into a dealer (main or independant) the week after Christmas could be worthwhile

Steve

or buy mine

Good luck with it, sensible not to rush into a buy.

I have spoken to taxi boys who run these engnes (in Passats, Supurbs etc) and they say that, provided they are well serviced (with the correct 505.01 oil), they will run and run. Only thing that sometimes gives trouble is the Mass air flow metre (look for erratic running and unsteady idle, no power etc) but these VW parts can be got quite cheaply as exchange now.

Finally if you rally want to make a high miler last longer, change the oil at 5,000 miles AND at 10K. Just give the car a bit of TLC and you should be o.k. If you haven't bought yet ask for all the usual stuff ie history,bills, has it been chipped, what sort of miles (i.e motorway). Also what is the owner like? "If you like the owner, you will probably like the car" (Quentin Willson remember him). I.e does he look like an idiot who has thrashed it from day one or is he the sort of bloke that polishes it every weekend outside a nice, posh house (snobby but the hoorays do tend to spare no expense, you try beating them down on price though)

Good luck, you will enjoy owning one of these if you get a good one.