Skoda Fabia vRS 1.9 TDI PD

This little car is simply amazing. The drive, the reliability and the comfort are all outstanding. 50-70 MPG on all journeys is remarkable, considering the power available.

The Fabia vRS is also extremely practical. There's loads of leg room, tons of boot space and having 5 doors means it's suitable for carrying family or friends.

It's very difficult to find fault with this car, considering the great value for money it offers, particularly when compared to its class rivals.

I am one very happy Skoda owner!

furby 1.9 tdi vrs - uses the excelletn vw 1.9tdi 130bhp engine and chucks it into a light weight body. They look good and handle very well. I have owend this for 2 years and the performance is excelletn but the build quality lacking..

Plus points:

cheap to run and tax, mpg i get is easily 58

looks sublte yet will leave many sporty cars i the shade

0-60 is ok but in gear acceleration using 3,4,5 gears is AMAZING and close to that of serious sports cars.

Bad Points:

BE WARNED: if buying check rear carpets as most of the fabia's rear doors leak and need resealed. do yourself or look at paying a garage £200 for all doors to be done.

Suspension issues: these cars are very clunky with loads of known issues. However the hardest to spot is the gearbox mount that wears and leaves you with a terrible noise that needs fixed my a confident mechanic.

Overall I was very impressed with performance but less so with build quality. I have had a mk 4 golf gt tdi 150 and it is a better car all round for me over the fabia.

Cambelts need changed every 4years and please change water pump also: this sets you back closer to £375 from skoda/VW who do offer fixed price for this service.

Their more like a swimming pool than a car the mount ov water they leak in won't ever buy another skoda your just throwing good money away

I've never been a badge-snob so was very keen on the Skoda Fabia vRS when in first appeared in 2003. I was smitten and bought a brand-new Black-Magic vRS in Sept 2004 and was astounded!!

There hasn't been a small car since that offers this amazing blend of value, performance, economy and practicality.

Its understated but brutish appearance is perfectly to my taste and despite working in the car design and manufacturing industry (and experiencing many other cars from many different manufacturers) I have kept it completely standard and owned it for over 7 years. It's so good that even when I lost my job and times were hard, I refused to sell it, and I have only just sold it due to a change in family circumstances. Despite its high mileage it has always been solidly reliable and I have no worries about having sold it to a close friend.

The vRS regularly returns over 55mpg (often over 60MPG), can out-accelerate most of the rep-mobiles, and 4-cylinder BMW cars, with its sledge-hammer-like punch, cruises superbly on the motorway and, whilst not being a true hot-hatch handling car, it is immense fun on the twisty stuff as well. Even the exhaust note is quite pleasing considering it's a 4-cylinder TDI.

I have three dogs and the 5 door layout is hugely practical with a great amount of interior space for such a small car, and the 'trademark' Skoda parking ticket clip in the front window is the best gimmick of any car I've driven (honestly, it's invaluable!)

There are some minor draw-backs, which pale into insignificance in the whole package: The light-grey seat coverings mark easily (although they also clean easily) and the seats would benefit from some adjustable lumber support, also like most torquey FWD cars it can eat front tyres if you're not careful. The only real niggle I've found is the poor paint quality on the rear roof spoiler, which has caused the clear-coat to peel off over the years, but its an easy fix, and doesn't effect anything else on the car.

In fact the only disappointing thing about this car is that I've had to sell it, and I regret that very much!

Had two weeks had a BMW coupe previous and this skoda would munch it up . By far most suprising car ever

I have driven all kinds of cars and have been a long term Audi fan. My wife has had three Octavia TDi's, all of them faultless as main family car. However, I have given up my beloved 4 rings for a Fabia VRS 1.9TDi Special Edition and I am gobsmacked! I cannot get my head round what a superb car this is. Even with the special paint, leather interior and all the gadgets, it's still pretty understated. I know many people still can't see past the badge but those days are long gone. The 1.9TDi engine is very much tried and tested and this 130bhp version is, quite simply, amazing....no it's AMAZING! The power is secondary to the torque, all 310NM of it. If you want to be lazy or puddle around town, it will do so without a murmur. However, push the accelerator a little more and it literally shoves you back in the seat. This is a diesel after all so you have to make use of the smooth 6 speed box but cross country in 4th gear is nothing short of incredible. Yet despite this performance, even spirited driving will return over 40MPG and on a steady run making the most of 6th gear the high 60's are possible. On one easy run I even averaged the low 70's - incredible. It takes a special car to put a big smile on my face and this one has.....every time I drive it! Thank you Skoda!!

had this car from new and of all the cars i have had this one tops the list.just cannot fault it and price wise great value waiting with great antisipation for next edition

Not a day goes by without me smiling in this car! My other car is an MX5 and the VRS knocks spots off it! It goes like grease lightning and I still get 550 mls to tank and 58mpg. Up and down the M5 M42 eating up the miles and the acceleration still blows me away after 4 yrs.Apart from tyres ,oil ,cam belt there have been no trips to the garage at all. I have converted so many skoda phobics- VW and Audi driving relatives who aftewr a quick burst up the motorway said in unison " It's like **** on a shovel". Just wish I had the time to polish it back to its gleaming black shine.Love interior grey but does get grubby.

Having been familiar with vw's tdi engined company cars for many years,i was looking for a vehicle on a budget that had similar performance as golf gti/focus 1.9tdci. I purchased a black fabia vrs with 19000 miles from a car supermarket and found it a fantastic allrounder , hot hatch,tourer,family,city car all in one. With minimalist styling and no tacky body kits (vrx/st's/evo's) i would recommend this car to anybody no matter what age. Great value for money, couldn't find any other car that's as good on fuel, performs, and not bad to run and insure for the price. Fun to drive with brilliant usable power, skoda badge makes it even more fun when it leaves other vehicles behind, the people in the know have a cult car that doesn't shout but has the last laugh. Although this isn't the fastest hatch out there it is a complete package and resale values should reflect this. I'm thinking of getting mine superchipped ,just researching pro's and cons. Advice anybody? Without badge snobbery this car is just brill! p.s the only snag is the light grey seat colour marks easily ,seat covers would be highly recommended.

i,ve had my Skoda Fabia vRS 1.9 TDI PD two days, the mid range tourque is unbelievable, great fun to drive and very fast .its an 05 model in silver , it looks fantastic everybody should have one