How much to pay for this Skoda Fabia?

here's an 04 Polo comfortline with 21,000 miles from a dealer for €6,950

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Volkswagen/Polo/1.2-COMFORTLINE/1142777/

The Fabia isn't exactly a bargain, so knocking €1k off the asking price is quite possible

that's more to give you an idea of what alternatives are out there, there's no way a Fabia holds its value as well as a Polo, the Skoda may be low mileage, but that doesn't make it worth that much


There are better cars out there for the money. fair enough if you specifically want a Fabia. The Fabia isn't a bad car by any means, but one of the reasons for buying one over a Polo or Yaris is price.

There's a saying about Skodas: They're Volkswagens when you're buying them, but Skodas when you want to trade them back in.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I'd be thinking around €6k for that 04.

You would be hoping to get it for that but i think going in with a price 2k under the asking price is a bit much. I'd say if you wanted that particular one, depending on how the dealer works, i'd be expecting to pay between €6500-€6750. It might not be worth that, but i think with something which such low mileage, none of the "the car market is gone" crap is going to work on the dealer to get them down 2K.

Limerick-man wrote: »

You would be hoping to get it for that but i think going in with a price 2k under the asking price is a bit much. I'd say if you wanted that particular one, depending on how the dealer works, i'd be expecting to pay between €6500-€6750. It might not be worth that, but i think with something which such low mileage, none of the "the car market is gone" crap is going to work on the dealer to get them down 2K.

Agreed, but I wouldn't pay over the odds just so they wouldn't get upset! It's worth a shot, the worst thing that can happen is they refuse and the OP picks up an 05 for similar money.

colm_mcm wrote: »

that's cheap cos it's an estate. saloons and estate Fabias are not nearly as valuable as hatchbacks.

The one in the link I posted is a hatchback from what I can see despite the description and is the elegance model which has air con and alloys:

http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Skoda/Fabia/1.2-HTP/1142699/



Looks good value too compared to the earlier 04.

The Skoda Combi has a huge boot?
Is it also known as the Sports?

What the Golf comparable?

I''m very interested in this Fabia:
http://www.carzone.ie/used-cars/Skoda/Fabia/1.4-16V/1165223/

As there's no mention of FSH or warranty, the NCT is due and its not a main dealer, I'm a little concerned about handing over €3,000 cash.

If I test drive it and like it, how can I best protect myself?

Bring a mechanic to check it out?
Haggle for a warranty?
Don't touch it until it gets NCTed?

All advice welcome.

Thanks for the warning colm mcc.
Am I right in saying that the best way to check if its the 100bhp is by check the plate in the boot where it should read 77kw, or similar?

Where is this 'plate' in the boot?

I'm new to all this and would like to have a brief look at the car before I pay for a mechanic to come check it out properly. I'll call tomorrow and try to get a straight answer over the phone.

It seems to me many of you guys are way too polite for your own good !A brand new Fabia (is it even the same model?) starts at 13.8k list which you can be sure is a lot closer to 13k straight...now I know in these situations some will say (including the salesman) 'oh its not the same model -the high spec one is dearer', blah blah blah ...Rubbish!When YOU are trying to sell it on you can be sure most of your buyers will quote you the cheapest price for a new one ...Why on earth would you pay 8 grand for a 13 grand car with nearly FIVE years depreciation on it ?!I would not like my life depending on getting FOUR grand privately for this car in under a month ...The car sales market IS on its knees ...some of the dealers seem oblivious to the fact they should even be selling cars cheaper after July 1st let alone allowing for the recession ...And these guys are wondering why their sales have plumetted ....Just as an example I paid 11.4k for this car in Jan 2007

http://www.adverts.ie/showproduct.php?product=68504&cat=500

Its now down to 10815 list so not much over 10k straight I guess.I advertised from January to June at 6950 and got literally no interest worth talking about -3 timewaster calls max-no visitors...Its at 6500 now and no calls in last week ...taxed for year,new tyres,two services etc...
I know of someone trying to sell a 2007 17k car for 9999 all year who has had NO CALLS WHATSOEVER!Someone here on boards mentioned a trade in valuation of 21/22k given on a 2007 36/37k Golf GTi...I would not hesitate for a moment to offer 5k for this car ....The mileage is its only selling point and (not saying anything about this particular car or dealer) we all know how easy it is to alter digital mileage clocks...Beware too the 'professional mechanic's inspection'...Its not unknown for some of these guys to either NOT inspect the car when they claim they have (I once took a car to one of these guys to be 'passed ' for a customer of his on behalf of a garage I was working for at the time and he literally walked round the car for about 40 seconds (I had a stopwatch running for the laugh)and didnt even lift the bonnet or drive the car )OR they sometimes ask for/get money from the SELLER to 'pass' the car (OR BOTH )
Sometimes for the sake of the premium in price dealers are asking you are as well buying from a 'respectable' seller in the Buy and Sell etc eg 'little old lady' type ...While many 'traders' are decent sellers also you do need to be more alert when dealing with them(always do the "Im calling about the car" line to see who you are dealing with -their stock is often stuff the main dealers wont sell ...
While the second hand market may have improved in quality in the last couple of years its not so long ago that the majority(80%?) of second hand cars would have been at least one of the following -clocked/damaged repaired /stolen recovered/crashed etc
Good luck!