Hi all,

I've recently bought myself a silver 04 Fabia vRS. Firstly I would like to thank everyone on the forum as I've found loads of good, informative threads on a variety on important subjects. I've been into cars for about 8 years or so now, primarily (and still currently!) with Vauxhall Nova's! I don't know what it is about them, but they are extremely fun, cheap, easy to work on, and decent ones are few and far between now!

Onto the Fabia, I'm over the moon with it. Tis a little rough around the edges but nothing easily sorted, mechanically it is absolutely spot on (which is rare for me to say as I can always find a fault somewhere - too many years with Novas ). Its had a remap to 180bhp so it packs a lot of grunt and the mid range torque is brilliant, pulling lovely from around 2k I did what I always told myself not to do and bought the car via eBay :eek:, I'm sure some of you would have seen it listed on there. It was a Cat C which straight away has the potential to get some good car for your money, provided you don't get a dud. Which where you guys came in, I trawled the forum for know faults, common problems, areas to look for and put together a comprehensive list to check off. I was pleasantly suprised when I got there, it was much better in the flesh than in the photos. So, four grand later I was on my way home, and with it a big smile on my face I've had to apply for a logbook, and did some further research to discover it has had FDSH so it would had been rude not to get a new service book stamped up too. I didn't get any history with it either, but I will be keeping every receipt to build up some history from my ownership.

I have a few plans, mainly to get her tidied up:

Bodywork - The grill colour needs matching and the front bumper needs finishing off as it doesn't fit very well and the extra fog light hole is not 100% secure. It also looks a little rushed, I think if I can carry the silver horizontal divider across this will make it look much more finished. Needs a new passenger mirror and there are a few scratches around the car which I intend to get fixed and a couple of dinks in the alloys.

Mechanical - I'm tempted to do the PD160 intake mod (more so since its remapped) and replace the clutch when required to Spec items (SMF flywheel too). Initially, I'm happy with the brakes and suspension although there is always room for improvement so a rear ARB and bigger brakes will be sourced if the opportunity arises for some cheap ones! I think some new grooved discs and good pads will suffice for now. One thing thats got me mixed up is this console bush, is it just another term for a front wishbone bush or something different altogether?

For now, I've got some new mats, given her a good clean inside and out and polish. its brought the paint out lovely and gave me the chance to discover scratches and chips. So while the weather was nice this morning I thought I'd take few photos before it rains. Enjoy and thanks for reading

For 4K you can't really go wrong there!

Especially when you sort out all of the minor damage. And that foglight surround is most unusual. For the bumper there may be some blanking plates available for the lack of front headlight washers, though i wouldnt be surprised if there aren't any as that bumper was intended for a car fitted with xenons. My 1st job would be sorting out the dings on the wing and the bonnet, which sadly could cost a few hundred.

Oh, and your tax disc is on the wrong side

You bought THAT one.

Apparently the extra foglight hole was to increase airflow to SMIC.

As for the headlight washer holes, I think it was devonutopia who bought some covers at the dealership and fixed them over the hole. Looks fine now!

Whack a whole new front bumper on and sort the grille.

Job done

and it looks like a different tyre per corner, that would bug the hell outta me, I'd be tempted to get a new set of boots, and sell the others on ebay

£4k has to be the cheapest I've seen one.... lets hope its doesn't let you down!

edit: oh, and enjoy your car

and it looks like a different tyre per corner, that would bug the hell outta me, I'd be tempted to get a new set of boots, and sell the others on ebay

£4k has to be the cheapest I've seen one.... lets hope its doesn't let you down!

edit: oh, and enjoy your car

And the OSR tyre appears to be a directional tyre that is on the wrong way

Well spotted on the tyres (and the tax disc )! Yes, it bugs me too having four different tyres I will have to investigate the OSR one.

I'm going to see about some headlight washer covers, I'll ask tomorrow, hopefully shouldn't be too expensive. I was going to do a 'priority list' as sad as it sounds so I get the most important bits done as I find it too easy to start investing elsewhere

Aye, the seller informed me the extra hole was to improve airflow to the IC. I think it looks a little odd but I'm going to try and disguise it a little so it isn't so obvious, maybe refit the fog light too. I would get a whole new front bumper but I doubt I can afford one of those too!

Damn metallic paint, you have to do the whole panel and then blend

Mine was a write off too, got it for about that price too.

Saw this advertised, there was a thread on here about it im sure.

Few minor things sorted and youve got a minter!