I am about to buy a 1999 Felicia for

Welcome to Briskoda, Fulham Fan. If you haven't owned a Skoda previously you will be very surprised by how good they are. I own a 1996 Felicia 1.6 GLX which is a reliable and solidly built if uninspiring workhorse, plus a 2002 Octavia 4X4 Estate which is a remarkably competent car. The Felicia needs power steering. Mine doesn't have it but yours should.

Time to find out what the dog is up to today.......

Good choices definitely!

Check the prices on Parkers before you commit to them though. And try and

wangle a bulk-buy discount

Rob.

Thanks Denis - yes the Felicia does have power steering - the dealer says a skoda engine 'influenced' by VW. I think its a good deal but I'm not a very knolwdgable car person. I want it to go and not be a hassle!

Yes I did that Rob - Felicia looks expensive but its low mileage. Octavia looks about right.

I thought the Felicia looked alright on

price, but the Octavia possibly looked

a bit pricey. Depends on if it's pre-/

post-facelift though, the trim level and

if it's the turbo or non-turbo diesel though,

and if you've checked it then it'll be right

Rob.

My thoughts precisely Rob. Felicia OK Octavia a bit +ve.

BTW what does the facelift consist of - I don't even know if mine is pre or post .... ?

Nick and Fulham Fan

2 easy ways to check if its a facelift,

1) the headlights on prefacelift models have the pattern etched into the glass, latter ones have clear plastic.

2) the rear light cluster, on latter models the indicator and reverse lights are clear, on earlier models only the reverse is clear. the lights are also arranged differently in the cluster.

Waaaaaahhhhh! I am pre-facelift then - how disappointing :cussing:

parker says

I dont know what mine is - I'm 30 miles away from it at the moment...

So the diesels are holding their value much better than petrols then:

Yours - 1.9TDI GLX 2000W original price 14494 price now 7105 (A1) 34000 mls

Mine - 1.8T SLX 2000X original price 17294 price now 6825 (A1) 36000 mls :eek:

grrrrrrrrrrrrr

Originally posted by Fulham Fan in this post

I dont know what mine is - I'm 30 miles away from it at the moment...

I'd guess it's got to be "pre" as well, being older than mine .... sorry!

I don't mean to be negative towards Skoda but the felicia curtesy car I had while mine was in the garage wasn't exactly 'the car that turned it round' for Skoda. I hated it and was glad to have mine back that evening.

Obervations were;

1. Average build quality with very poor controls

2. Serious lack of power

3. Very poor brakes and steering

4. Very poor wipers, they looked really cheep.... and this was a T plate with 30000 miles. The dealer may not have looked after the car very well which didn't help matters.

As for the Octavia and Fabia it's a whole different experience again, and one I can gladly say I really enjoy. Quality is good; all cars are willing abate the 68bhp SDI which suffered from lack of power.

Just my oppinion though

Mike

I think the pre-facelift models also appear to have shorter front bumpers

than the post facelift. Or maybe I'm just imagining it.

Of course, AFAIK the big giveaway is the trim name - if it's got an X in it

(ie. LX, GLX SLX) it's definitely pre-facelift, if it's Classic, Ambiente or Elegance

then it's post. Though I might be mistaken.

Nick - there's not much in it!

Pity mine is pre- , oh well.

Mike - I'd like to have bought a Fabia but the Felicia is cheaper and we just need something that won't let us down like the 1992 Peugeot 106 did that we have now scrapped for

Wasn't intended as an insult - just a likely pointer....

... and of course you can console yourself with the fact that yours is worth more !!

My previous Octy was a W (2000) reg SLX TDI estate; chopped it in for the vRS (last Sept) and got

Not sure if the diesel's residuals are high due to a lack of supply,

or whether it's because people are willing to pay more for

perceived lower running costs...

Rob.

Originally posted by robmawer in this post

Of course, AFAIK the big giveaway is the trim name - if it's got an X in it

(ie. LX, GLX SLX) it's definitely pre-facelift, if it's Classic, Ambiente or Elegance

then it's post. Though I might be mistaken.

Yup, that's the easy way to tell! The new names came in with the facelift.

Thanks for the info everyone. I'll have to do some work soon!

The dealer says you have to have deisels serviced more frequently. Why, and does a standard diesel service cost more than a petrol version?

I think diesels require more frequent oil changes, as they burn

more of it.

This is what I mean by perceived lower running costs

Rob.

A lot of diesels nowadays have similar service intervals to petrol cars - although of course those are extending apace. This always used to be the counter to the lower fuel consumption and (once) cheaper prices for diesel fuel. The AA still reckon diesel cars to be cheaper based on a quick comparison of a car like mine and a car like Fulham Fan's here:

http://www.theaa.com/allaboutcars/advice/advice_rcosts_home.html

I think there is just a bit more than percieved better running cocts with a diesel. Having just part-ex,d my 98 GLXI TDI estate in for

Thanks Kentish - I didn't think I'd be on a skoda website/forum so who knows - I might be logging fuel/mileage soon too!