....baby, let's talk about 1,2,3 (sorry)

Looking at the RRP's on the new fabia, I find the price differentials difficult to understand comsidering the spec upgrade.

You can just about defend the price differential between the 1 & 2, but the 2 to 3 jump seems harder to justify. But is that extra electrics worth the money (maxidot, climate, cruise, reversing sensors). And when you look at the overall differential between 1 & 3....

What would be the ideal fabia spec/price?

1.9tdi or the 1.6petrol in level 3 seem to be the most common, as i have a 3 aswell i would highly recomend it.

the price difference between the level 3 and the price of a similar VW (considering they are the same car). is even harder to explain imo.

I considered Level 2 and Level 3 and ended up going for the Level 3. Search on the forum and I think you'll find that the Maxidot is recommended. Parking sensors are recommended with today's body coloured bumpers. Climate control - well considering the increasing trend for warm and wet summers here, I wanted that option.

Curtain airbags enhance safety if you're unfortunate enough to be involved in an accident. I also thought the trim in the Level 3 car was more pleasant. You also get a leather steering wheel, cruise control - nice to haves rather than essential, oh and we mustn't forget those 16" alloys. Not everyone's first choice, but they do look good.

Skoda expect to sell more Level2 cars than the other two, with the 80 bhp diesel proving popular - just look on this forum and many buyers are going for the diesels. I went for petrol as I don't do enough miles these days to make it pay and I'm not a huge oil-burner fan having owned two diesel cars previously.

Make a list of what you want in terms of features and take it from there. Whichever trim comes closest is your perfect car.

Jo

It's the seat trim that has always really put me off the 2 spec - I don't know who it's meant to appeal to - it's probably a European style thing.

The higher fuel prices go, and they have a LOT further to go yet, the more attractive diesel engines will be - I wonder what will happen to the resale values of petrol engined cars in a few years time?

I did look into the economics of the diesels. The 80 bhp didn't appeal, and the 105 bhp while it would have been very good in terms of performance, was too high a premium. Based on my normal mileage, I would have taken too long to get my money back.

Yes, petrol car residuals are weaker, but for someone just wanting a car for low mileage, it still a viable purchase. When I had my first diesel some years ago, the government raised duty on diesel faster than petrol because of the environmental impact, now diesel is over £1.20 a litre and rising faster than unleaded. Not so long ago, the price differential was just a few pence per litre, now it's 10p per litre.

I think cars over 1600cc will be hit hard, but smaller petrol car will always have a market.

Jo

Personally I was happy with the price differential between diesel and petrol, at 18k PA our pay back is less than two years. And we emit less co2 in the process. Plus the 80bhp is a great engine IMHO.

I only ever considered the 3, partly because I like my gadgets and partly because I was comparing it to a £19k 1-series, a £20k A3, a £17k Golf... in fact I think all of the other cars I was looking at were at least £16,500 so paying £13,800 for the Fabia including a load of options seemed like a bargain to me!

The other thing I was thinking about when choosing between 2 and 3 is the difference at resale. Assuming you get roughly 45-50% back after 3 years the real difference in cost between them on say a 14 TDI is about £600. If you spent that much speccing up a 2 you probably wouldn't get it back.