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Bangernomics isn't working out for us so we are after a newer car to keep for at least the next 5 years- we will run it until it is dead. It needs to be less than 5 years old, be a small hot hatch, ideally take a bike and be no more than £6.5k.
We can't go for a big car like a Golf or Focus due to garage space and insurance costs for two of us in our mid twenties. We also don't need the extra space. I don't like the old Fiesta nor the Suzuki Swift at all (based on experience of each).
For us the Fabia VRS mk2 is the most tempting option. We already have a Fabia and like it, it will fit a bike in it, its comfortable for long journies up to Scotland and, most importabtly for us, has been completely reliable. We are willing too forgive the relatively dull drive compared to, for example, a Fiesta, because it is ruthlessly reliable. This, for me, is the only downside to it. The auto box doesn't faze us, especially as my wife is from the US. It is also less hardcore than the Twingo, and as my wife will be commuting in it that's no bad thing. I also already have a set of winter wheels that will fit it.
The Twingo looks fun though. Evo prefers it. It is marginally cheaper to insure and supposedly a better drive. It is slower than the Fabia, which matters ever so slightly to me. The two big stumbling blocks for me are that it may well be too small- it is likely that there will be family expansion at some point and having seen how much crap small people need it doesn't look practical. I'm also concerned by reliability. As an aside I don't like the interior and it has much less equipment.
The Renault, with all its apparent downsides, is a bit of a wildcard. Bearing in mind that practicality and reliability are important and that, until current Fiesta STs drop in price, driving experience has to fall behind them which option would you go for?
I'd imagine that the Fabia is the slightly more grown up practical option, being slightly bigger(more comparable to a Clio than the Twingo really), also it will almost certainly have better residuals.
That said I reckon the Twingo is probably the more fun car of the two so It depends whether you are prepared to take a hit on residuals and compromise on size for the occassions when you want to 'rag' it for a bit.
Regards reliability the Skoda arm of the VAG family are supposedly the best performing, I know french cars have a bit of Stigma for this but having owned 2 older Renaults over the last couple of years(Kangoo Van and currently a Modus) I'm still waiting for the ticking timebomb to go off neither of them have been any more unreliable than my previous cars(Audi A2,Merc A-class,Seat Ibiza Cupra)
Isn't the new VRs DSG only? The later 7 speed box hasn't proved to be as reliable as the older 6 speed box with a wet clutch. The early 1.4 TSi engine has also had its issues, and isn't a paragon of reliability.
The Twingo is a great little car and in my experience they're pretty reliable too. Not sure if the RS Twingo is built in Dieppe like the Clios and Meganes which is a separate factory to normal Renault. The RS cars tend to be a bit more reliable. In the family we have had two RS Clios that got thrashed and never complained, a Laguna V6, three scenics and an Espace. Only one of the scenics gave any issues.
I had the mk2 VRS. The cassis number starts with four letters. The old engine code was CAVE and they had a habit of drinking oil. The CTHE cars are a LOT better.
The gearbox takes a few weeks to "learn" and for it to learn about you. Mine learned I was an idiot. Once we agreed upon that, I realised I'll never buy a manual car again...
It's quick. Really quick.
Rachel
Fabia VRS estate MK2 owner here. Great car, loads of boot space in the estate if that's an option for you? Ours had the oil consumption fault but I understand this has been an issue with all VW derivatives (polo, golf etc)? There was no issues with Skoda in getting it fixed, took it in for a consumption test and the engine was swapped out within a few weeks no questions asked. Great car.
As @unovolo says a Twingo isn't a direct comparison. I been driven around in Twingo's quite a bit (friend has one in Paris) and its a great little city car but its more like a big Smart Car or a VW UP than a Fabia. They do drive it long distances (eg 7 hours to Alps from Paris) but its not the car's forte. Given how light and flimsey they are I wouldn't want "hot hatch" performance in one (p[erhaps just personal bias). Of the two go for the Skoda or try and find a Polo given you've discounted the Swift and Fiesta and I don't think there is a "hot" version of the Yaris.
I really fancied a Fabia VRS, but the fact that they don't have a towing weight, and I use a towball mounted rack, and also a trailer for logs, meant it was a non starter.
So, opted for a Fabia estate, the monte carlo model. Then realised after I'd bought it, that it too cannot tow either. d'oh.
Got a towbar fitted anyway, in the hope that an eagle eyed, over exuberant traffic cop doesn't spot it. Insurance could be an issue too, but I'll take the gamble....
Get some test drives booked!
If you are considering the Fabia - perhaps give the Ibiza Cupra a look too (or the Bocanegra).
Same engine/gearbox etc. but perhaps styled a little less erm, podgy.
Bocanegra is just a styling exercise on the Cupra, really.
On a side note where are you finding the Mk2 Fabia vRS for £6.5k as a quick scour of ebay shows the cheapest ones for around £7.5 upwards, the older Diesel version is available for a lot less as to are the Twingos.
What are the residuals like on the Twingo? I'd love one of these.
I'd say drive them back to back. Going on previous reviews etc the Twingo would be tiring on longer journeys but then again if you are looking at two cars like this you aren't thinking about diesel driving to London and back on motorways.
How much does a twingo weigh?
Twingo is 1050kg is. A Clio Cup is much mor, beyond our budget.
Nobeer, we have an MC with a towbar. I spoke to a lot of places about it and they all said if it isn't a Vrs then no problem. So I will have that for towing and the bike rack.
Plenty of cheaper VRSes on briskoda.
HELLLOO.Twingo is 1050kg
Kinda OT.... I remember the Aygo being abit lighter. Why its fun to drive IMO- but someone then went and added a supercharger onto one
http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1330402&nmt=Supercharged+Toyota+AYGO
HELLLOO.Twingo is 1050kg
Kinda OT.... I remember the Aygo being abit lighter. Why its fun to drive IMO- but someone then went and added a supercharger onto one
http://www.pistonheads.com/Gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=1330402&nmt=Supercharged+Toyota+AYGO
On a side note where are you finding the Mk2 Fabia vRS for £6.5k as a quick scour of ebay shows the cheapest ones for around £7.5 upwards
There's a lot of very optimistically priced ones that aren't selling. I sold my 61-plate, 36k miles, lots of options (cruise, climatronic, bluetooth, parking sensors, black roof, diamond-cut wheels, etc) for £7200 over a year ago. There's plenty of older, higher mileage, lower spec cars out there.
Don't get the diamond-cut wheels, the lacquer lifts and the bare aluminium underneath oxidizes and looks terrible. They're eye-wateringly expensive to refurbish to the same. If I'd have kept it, I'd just have had them done silver.
I liked my vRS, but not sure I'd want to run one out of warranty for 5 years.
If you happen to mean a Mk2 Twingo, this:
[IMG] 
[/IMG]
fits in easily!
150L Tank plus ?200L? Vol stand. Rear seatback unlocked, but not folded.
We really like ours. OK it's not sophisticated, and ours is a Freeway with a whole 60BHP, but it's agile, turns sharply and predictably and even I have managed to drive it for 5 hours straight without getting too tired.
In our model the front seats are a bit squidgy, but that's a personal thing.
http://twingo133.net/ is the forum.
NB - Don't eat our herbs 😉