Skoda Fabia - What goes wrong with 'em?

[gtd2000]

Well the quest for a new car has turned up a 2003 Skoda Fabia Estate - this is despite the Honda Jazz still being in pole position for selection.

 

Reviews look pretty favourable but anybody with real life experience care to comment on the problem areas?

 

I undertstand that Skoda are statistically more reliable than the VW's they are based on but is this good enough?

 

Going to have a look tonight, weather permitting....

[willswitchengage]

Parts dead expensive, those plastics may look nice but are often poorly fitted and on mine loads ended up snapping off (or the glue had gone) - especially plastics in the engine bay (light covers etc). I had the 1.9DI which was great and frugal but the transmission was quite noisy and felt a little "loose". A leaky rad hose briefly plagued me.

 

Also had rust appearing in the rear wheel arches and the drum brakes had an awful tendency to stick. VAG starter motors are crap, too.

 

Other than servicing costs it was cheap, reliable and quite a nice place to sit.

 

(This is a mk1 Fabia btw)

[messerschmitt owner]

They sound just like a Golf!!!!!

[Barry Cade]

Front suspension bushes and anti roll bar bushes are a common failure on them. Seem to have done a lot of rear wheel cylinders and shoes on them too.Seen a few gearboxes dying early, Plugs are a pain to get to as well, and some garages just change the outer 2

[Polystratus]

Door and boot seals know to leak.

If it's a pre 2004 1.2 cam chain tensioner known to break up, check that oil has been changed regularly, like the Polo, some owners didn't bother so the engine was running on a thimble amount of oil in the sump which caused the tensioner problem.

Water pump - can break up.

Piston ring problems in 1.4 petrol engines.

 

Well had mine now for seven years and apart from routine service all I had to replace was the front console bushes and a water pump (That was due to a worn bearing).

[ruffgeezer]

The 1.4 engines are shit and really don't take the usual abuse, and you struggle to find a replacement because they are shit and don't take the usual abuse.

 

The front arm rear bushes are made of spit and seaweed, oh and if the front anti roll bar bushes go, well that is a new anti roll bar sir, and we have to drop the back of the subframe to get it out.

 

It's like a golf in that it's overpriced and not as good as it's reputation would have you believe.

 

Everything has it's foibles, just with a VAG you pay extra for them.

 

Edit: this post seems overly negative, so I'll part on this; buying an older second hand car, there is bound to be problems irrespective of mileage/service history etc.

These days, people expect to buy miracle cars that never go wrong. Buying an older car and expecting it never to break is like inviting the mother of all fuckups to your kid's party, then acting surprised when she ends up drinking too much and throwing up on the bouncy castle, nobody wants it to happen, but it is inevitable. Only invited her to see if she'd flash her norks...

[Lankytim]

The wife's grandparents have one, a 1.4 W reg. Its quite nice altough the engine doesn't seem that powerful (nowhere near as fast as their previous Rover214Si). Its comfortable and pretty reliable though. Problems include the engine management light coming on and going off when it feels like it and dodgy electric window switches. Also someone kicked all the doors in one night.

[Rocket88]

i don't agree that bits are expensive for VAG stuff, if you compare prices against Jap stuff. TPS are bloody reasonable, and stock genuine VAG parts.

We deal with all VAG platform stuff, and Skodas tend to give less trouble than anything else, [especially Seats] Like anything else modern, skimp serviceing, and it'll end in tears. We've got 3 Octavias, with a combined mileage of 597,000 miles, and they're all pretty much trouble free.

[HBR]

With regard to the front bushes that have been mentioned, the rear-most ones on the front arms are the problem, but if you buy genuine VAG (and they aint dear at least through TPS, dunno about the main dealer) they have been up-rated to a stronger design.

If the front bush on the bottom arm goes then aftermarket are available but I'm buggered if I can see how to fit them on a DIY basis! I know split bushes from the likes of polybush can be fitted or replace the whole arm.

Handbrakes on drum brake ones can give bother where the handbrake arm pushes on the expander rod across to the other shoe, often too big a gap between the arm & the rod means you loose much of the arm's travel before it does anything useful, a pop of weld in the rod & file back to shape to take the gap up makes all the difference. Handbrakes on disc are bother too, but just as many & VAG in particlar are prone to.

I also agree with them seeming a bit gutless with the smaller petrol engines.

But every car has its weak spots, I reckon they're not bad, would've bought one myself if a Polo hadn't turned up first at the right money.

[gtd2000]

Well it's a no for that Fabia.

 

Had impact damage on the nearside wing and door which was emphasised with a mismatched wheel and tyre as well as missing wheel trim.

 

Had also undergone timing chain replacement and was in generally minging order internally.

 

Was supposed to be a two owner car but had three previous on the V5 and he'd sent off one part to get his details on the docs that makes four owners in my books.

 

I'd have taken it for £500 but he was looking for £995.....

 

Honda Jazz is still in pole position but a wee Daihatsu YRV has appeared so that might be worth a look too as It's based on Toyota Yaris mechanicals.

[gtd2000]

Sorry, forgot to say cheers for all the feedback on the Fabia....

[gtd2000]

Well the Honda Jazz was picked up today.

 

So far all seems well and it's getting 54.5 MPG according to the computer which is pretty impressive to me

[Morgan84]

Well the Honda Jazz was picked up today.

 

So far all seems well and it's getting 54.5 MPG according to the computer which is pretty impressive to me

 

Try the 0-60 'sprint' - you may be gone some time !

 

Good build quality,and great styling

[kinkersaab]

I rate tha jazz, good cars, and clever folding rear seats. Check for water leaks, I sold one and it has been a nightmare, the back end is like a seive, i *think we have it all sorted now, but what a hassle, it seems to be a common issue, and seldom an easy fix.

[gtd2000]

I rate tha jazz, good cars, and clever folding rear seats. Check for water leaks, I sold one and it has been a nightmare, the back end is like a seive, i *think we have it all sorted now, but what a hassle, it seems to be a common issue, and seldom an easy fix.

 

Actually, I did notice that the unused wheel jack was almost welded to the floor with corrosion!

 

Need a bit of nvestogation there!

[gtd2000]

I rate tha jazz, good cars, and clever folding rear seats. Check for water leaks, I sold one and it has been a nightmare, the back end is like a seive, i *think we have it all sorted now, but what a hassle, it seems to be a common issue, and seldom an easy fix.

 

Actually, I did notice that the unused wheel jack was almost welded to the floor with corrosion!

 

Need a bit of nvestogation there!

[kinkersaab]

If the one i sold was my own car, i would have drilled a wee hole at the lowest point and fashioned some barrier from silicone sealer to stop the water running into the rear footwells and lived with it........

 

The first place to look is on the rear roof guters, lift the rubber trim up and check the seams, they seem to crack, next place is the rubber grommets for the tailgate wiring, they seem to leak too, you will then be sure you have cured it, and might be lucky.............. or, like me, you will still have water coming in, strip out all interior trim, and watch water run in form various seams........... BASTARDING thing.

[gtd2000]

It looked to me that the water has just run down the back of the door into the rear most part of the spare wheel area of the boot.

 

I had been giving the internal door surround a good wash out at the time due to verde gris etc and just assumed that was why I saw water but the corrosion on the jack made me think otherwise.

 

I'll get the points you mentioned looked at to see if any water ingress is obvious.

[gtd2000]

Try the 0-60 'sprint' - you may be gone some time !

 

Good build quality,and great styling

 

I thought the car was pretty nippy when you floored it - but then again it's no race car.

 

It's only a general runabout and hopefully it will perform that task well