A Skoda Fabia bought at auction cost me £316.40 all in – it was stated as a category C recorded car after having being dented across the offside by what could have been a truck tyre which the traces of rubber and mostly unbroken paint seemed to indicate. Surprisingly, it including all handbooks with a part stamped service history and two key fobs. Better still was one former keeper from new and it had done only 52,700 miles with fresh golden oil and pink coolant at the appropriate level.
My job was to change the front wing and then to reauction it as I didn’t want to be burdened with the arduous task of sourcing replacement doors then repairing the rear wing that would have to be outsourced as there was no way that I could do it. Aftermarket wings may be cheap but sometimes don’t fit unless they are Thatcham approved – a lesson learnt then as when I fitted the said wing to the Fabia, some holes would not line up and the bumper didn’t marry into the wing for a perfect flush fit. So back into auction then, to reveal according to their records, that their checks showed that it was unrecorded salvage despite being purchased by them as a category C recorded vehicle. Worth more money then? Two matching doors were found from a 06 model but windows had to be swapped from the original doors as two of the donor doors windows were smashed. Windows can be changed easily provided that it had been lowered so that the clamps can be accessed for their nuts to be released with no need to drill out the rivets that attached the inner door skin, as I did.
Remembering to swap the driver’s door lock is important too as is ensuring that you don’t entirely remove the locking screw – mine dropped to the bottom! Then off to be MOT’d which it passed first time with two advisories – one for that bumper. Another vehicle check done to verify that it wasn’t recorded as a category c car then off to its new owner. It does beg the question – was it the insurer who didn’t input the correct data in ?
Words are copyright of Sotiris Vassiliou
April 2018
