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Skoda Fabia?

So...thanks for the Yaris..and all that Jazz...and the 911.. :D I'm sure they are very fine cars. As it is Mrs Mull liked the Fabia in question. which is from a dealer I've done business with on and off for almost 40 years. No bodywork issues, all original kit present and correct. Everything works except driver side switch for passenger side window will drop, but not raise it. To be fixed before delivery. 'Just a switch' apparently. No other faults visible. Slight visible creasing to driver seat. Nothing worrying for a 10+ year old car. Extensive service history and it looks like may have been 'Motability' for at least part of its life. Not sure what that says. Rest of interior and boot spotless. Looks like a car used, but not abused, by one person. And it's been local all its life. It will do.
Sounds good. Buying from a dealer gets stuff like the window fixed. Yes, it may be "just a switch" but my pal's Polo with a non functioning window ended up with a new mechanism and £200 so better the dealer picks up the tab on that one. It's why you pay a premium, after all.
 
My Fabia 1.2 petrol 12 valve 3 cylinder (no turbo) is a well put together car and has a good size boot for a small car. It does however have a rather noisy engine when accelerating, quite the noisiest of any car I have owned. It is also rather under powered and only suitable as a local runabout. I once drove 150 miles in it and wont be repeating the experience.
 
Mrs Mull's longest trips are usually to our daughters' homes. Both in Salford. (The posh bits obviously..;)) About a 40 mile round trip on the famed 'East Lancs Road.' Mrs M has also declared that she no longer wishes to drive on M'ways since the introduction of 'Smart' M'ways, with no sensible refuge in case of break down. I can certainly see her point. I've only 'broken down' once on a Motorway. Exhaust snapped in half and I was in danger of losing the catalytic converter. I was somewhere south of Manchester on the M6. Had to use one of those emergency phones and could barely hear the chap on the other end due to traffic noise. In the end, despite instructions to the contrary I was forced to sit in front passenger seat while I called the AA. Only way I could hear anything over traffic. (Had to join on the spot)
AA bloke tied it up and followed me to Knutsford services, where he did a more secure job and I continued my journey without trouble. But all that was using a traditional hard shoulder. Dread to think what would happen now. 'Smart' Motorways are seriously Dumb.
 
Good Morning All,

We've had a Skoda Fabia Estate (1.6TDi) for 3 1/2yrs now, it is a 2013 year model. No real issues.

I do need to get some lubrication of the clutch shaft mechanism though as it has a habit of 'sticking' and I have to get my foot under the pedal to bring it back to where it should be.

Driver's door window switches are 'iffy', I suspect some contact cleaner might be required. This might be partly due to lack of use as it is our second car and only tends to get used when a journey is beyond the range of the Zoe or to drag the trailer to the tip.

We get 46mpg out of it on average.

Regards

Richard
The 1.6tdi is developing notoriety due to EGR failures caused by the emissions "fix" which causes it to operate so much that it wears out... and is very, very expensive to replace. I have one in my Seat Ibiza... And the DPF gets bunged up over time, more quickly if you don't get to do longer distance, higher speed journeys over 2000rpm.
 
Sounds good. Buying from a dealer gets stuff like the window fixed. Yes, it may be "just a switch" but my pal's Polo with a non functioning window ended up with a new mechanism and £200 so better the dealer picks up the tab on that one. It's why you pay a premium, after all.

And as an absolute minimum, three months warranty.

@Mullardman - I hope Mrs Mull enjoys it.
 
Is that the 1.9 diesel which has appeared in everything from Skoda/VW/FIAT etc..through to Vauxhall and Peugeot vans etc? Certainly a good motor.

Probably - on all VAG cars at the time. Certainly capable of huge mileages and 130 bhp in the Fabia always makes for a responsive drive. My wife absolutely loves hers (why she’s never changed it!) and I really wnjoy driving it too.
 
Probably - on all VAG cars at the time. Certainly capable of huge mileages and 130 bhp in the Fabia always makes for a responsive drive. My wife absolutely loves hers (why she’s never changed it!) and I really wnjoy driving it too.

A good friend of mine who is lucky enough to have a Dino Ferrari used a Fabia VRS as his daily driver and loved it. His VRS did eat brakes and discs but that was probably down to how he used it!
 
Probably - on all VAG cars at the time. Certainly capable of huge mileages and 130 bhp in the Fabia always makes for a responsive drive. My wife absolutely loves hers (why she’s never changed it!) and I really wnjoy driving it too.
I think we underestimate the mileage capabilities of modern cars, especially diesels, if maintained. My car is on 174k miles, it's a 3 litre V6 Audi and the engine is perfect. Previously I had a Jag V6 2.7, 200k miles, the engine used in Land Rover s. Again the motor was perfect, the rest of it was rusting away under me. I've found petrol cars can start to get a bit tired around 150k miles, but I think that the modern extended service intervals have a bearing on this. The thing that kills old cars in the UK is that old cars are very plenty and cheap, so when a 12+ year old car hands you a bill it's often easier and cheaper to buy a better example than repair the old one.
 
I think we underestimate the mileage capabilities of modern cars, especially diesels, if maintained. My car is on 174k miles, it's a 3 litre V6 Audi and the engine is perfect. Previously I had a Jag V6 2.7, 200k miles, the engine used in Land Rover s. Again the motor was perfect, the rest of it was rusting away under me. I've found petrol cars can start to get a bit tired around 150k miles, but I think that the modern extended service intervals have a bearing on this. The thing that kills old cars in the UK is that old cars are very plenty and cheap, so when a 12+ year old car hands you a bill it's often easier and cheaper to buy a better example than repair the old one.

It’s often down to luck I think. My Octavia VRS died at 182k miles, was expecting it to last for ever. My 57 plate BMW 535D Touring is on 140k miles and feels as fresh as a daisy.
 
A good friend of mine who is lucky enough to have a Dino Ferrari used a Fabia VRS as his daily driver and loved it. His VRS did eat brakes and discs but that was probably down to how he used it!

They definitely don’t eat brakes, normal wear on ours. A friend had a range of sportscars (Griffiths, Exige S1, 340R etc) and had a Fabia VRS as his daily. Reason we bought one as I was so impressed with his!
 
They are basically the same as Polo’s, Golfs, Passats etc. in terms of their running gear but lag behind in on interior build quality and sound dampening. For instance, a Passat or Golf is a lot more refined - well the older ones anyway.
 
It’s often down to luck I think. My Octavia VRS died at 182k miles, was expecting it to last for ever. My 57 plate BMW 535D Touring is on 140k miles and feels as fresh as a daisy.

Hmmm. That doesn't sound right. Have you removed the swirl flaps? Everyone the Internet knows that all M57s engines will grenade themselves as soon as you drive them off the forecourt because swirl flaps. :D;)
 
It’s often down to luck I think. My Octavia VRS died at 182k miles, was expecting it to last for ever. My 57 plate BMW 535D Touring is on 140k miles and feels as fresh as a daisy.
There is as you say an element of luck. It's going to be a bell shaped curve for all correctly assembled and maintained cars. If yours is one of the 1% that is well worn at 120k, unlucky. However this will colour your experience. I've had 3 Vauxhall Opel "family" engines . A 1992 Cav 2L that was unbursta ble and like new at 200k miles, a 1994 1.4 Astra that was perfect at 120k, and a 2002 1.8 in a Vectra that was getting smoky and burning oil by 120k in spite of having been serviced.
 
Hmmm. That doesn't sound right. Have you removed the swirl flaps? Everyone the Internet knows that all M57s engines will grenade themselves as soon as you drive them off the forecourt because swirl flaps. :D;)

Swirl flaps removed, Forge blanking plates, EGR delete, DPF still fitted and remapped. 345bhp/510lb.
 
A good friend of mine who is lucky enough to have a Dino Ferrari used a Fabia VRS as his daily driver and loved it. His VRS did eat brakes and discs but that was probably down to how he used it!

Braking too much instead of changing gears ? Shame he has a Dino.
 


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