Skoda Fabia

No way! Whilst the rust did indeed dispose of most of them, no one who owned one actually wanted to throw it away! Best pocket rocket I ever owned. My biggest frustration with it was that the front pads lasted about 2500/3000 miles, and the front discs 4000/4500 miles - the booger about that was that they were mounted inboard.

 

Arn't Italian motors know for rusting away?
I think its only the plastic ones that survive.

 

The same reason that your Passat has aluminium suspension components - unsprung weight is the enemy of good handling and roadholding. Inboard brakes were a feature of one of the most iconic formula one cars, the Lotus 72........................

Not for a very long time - now they're infamous for their dodgy electrics!!

 

Now that's a great example of engineering a package for the express purpose of improved vehicle dynamics It takes more effort to design well, but the upshot is that the car gains from better weight distribution.

 

Thanks all for the feedback, seems like a good one to consider.
@fat controller = not sure about the variant as yet, but money will dictate somewhat. Think I will have to take one for a test drive both a manual and the DSG (have looked into the DSG but unsure whether they are well regarded or not or whether it would suit me though I would prefer an auto).

Have looked at options available and will avoid gimmicks/gizmos as they don't interest me. Frankly after driving my current car the standard Skoda bits seem a real step up for me and anything is going to seem like a luxury car My sister in law calls my car a Flintstones car, though it does have a radio
Am still a bit peeved that cash buying doesn't give you any advantages pricewise.

Will have to look around for similar car in the OTR price range to test drive as well to compare.

Cheers
GG

 

our 53 plate we have owned for 3 nearly 4 years now and have never had an issue with ( apart from water coming in on door seal but as jack mentioned a quick reseal job done ) no work needed for any mots or advisories apart from tyre nearing legal limit we love ours

 

Go on, You know you want to :-)



Jack McH

 

Right, that's given me a bit more info to go on. I'll have a test drive with the auto.
I see that my localish dealer has a couple of demo models with a few miles on them, so yes FC I'll look at that option too.

While I'm at it, anyone recommend another buying option at around the same low-end price for comparison's sake. I've done a bit of digging, but can't really come up with anything comparable.

Cheers
GG

 

I was too when I last bought. Only "money saving option" available was 0% finance, so I took that and chucked the money in Ernie instead - it might win me millions over the 5 years draw-down which will make for a fantastic discount ... or it might net me nought . I still don't understand how any company can do 0% financing and not be happy with some discount for a cash-sale ... sounds to me like same-old-same-old of bankers creating toxic debt to sell to some other unsuspecting bank as a time-bomb :(

 

Not sure if we are looking in the same places FC but a low mileage A1, I'd say c20k miles or below it seems generally £ 10-15k depending on age and sometimes plenty pennies more. To me is doesn't really make sense to buy a secondhand car for the same price as a brand new one even though the bells and whistles may be different. Also coincidentally one of the few other cars I've driven recently one happened to be an Audi, 12 reg and to be honest I hated the stop/start function especially where it started of its own accord (can't remember circumstances offhand) and also all the electronicness of it. I really prefer something less techy. Also drove a Mondeo recently and it wasn't my cuppa either.
Cheers
GG