C.T

bought mine when I was 21, I pay 642 Pounds fully compwith Norwich Union In Dubai though...

I put below average. Not compared to other drivers but compared to my perception of what a good driver should be. MY car control is ok, I've never crashed. I keep a safe distance from the car infront (Usually) I don't speed when it's busy (And I haven't had a speeding fine in years) However, there are times when I don't drive appropriately but the RS doesnt help with that. It get's up to indicent speeds without much fuss and I'm usually cruising along at about 160Kmh when I should be doing 120... I blame the car for reducing my driving standards... It also encourages you to corner at much higher speeds than is sensible. Especially when the ESP is off.

HI, Thanks for the info. I'm in Dubai, where earlier fabia's are a bit thin on the ground. The car belonged to the Skoda dealer here and at about 40K Kms it had an accident which nearly wrote the car off. The body was repaired completely but when they put the car back on the road the engine was found to be damaged. So they took it out and found the block had cracked. It was where the water pump mounts I think, so they gave up with the car and just let it sit. I was hoping to get a polo engine and fit it but it seems that's not possible because it's the 68 hp engine I need. I don't suppose it made an appearance in any Seat models did it? Otherwise I shall have a long trawl around scrapyards ahead of me....

Hi, I'm buying a 2002 Fabia Combi which has a 1.4 mpi engine. It needs a new engine because the block is cracked. Some one told me this is the same engine as in a VW Polo of '99 my or so. Is that true? Thanks

Are they the mono-block capilers from an S2/Turbo or are they the sliding ones from a standard 944. If they are the sliding ones then I doubt you'd see any benefit. In fact the brakes would be worse I think because the 944 is a bit lighter than an Octavia. To fit the mono blocks would require some sort of adaptor because they have mounting holes in different places I think.

How about the foot rest? Would that fit the previous generation cars because I need something like that to stop the white carpet from turning brown...

I've got one (51/100) de-stickered, and having see pictures of the car with the stickers on it I'm glad. I wouldn't have bought it if they had been fitted. I think they are just a mess. Especially what they did to the bumpers.... Having looked about a bit I'd say that a WRC is no better or worse than a normal VRS (unless it still stickered up) and certainly not worth any more money. as an aside When cleaning the car the other day I was wondering. If the passenger airbag were to explode out of the dashboard you would surely need a new dash board. Since the number plaque is on the dashboard, you'd lose it wouln't you?

Yes I'm in Dubai. The sad thing is that the car has to go back in again soon. When they fitted the new tyres the man doing it obviously was blind and had only one arm because he scratched the freshly painted wheels really badly. And forgot to balance them. But had a fun weekend tearing around a new road I found in the mountains Saw 220Kph at one point... (and yes, I had the wheels balanced first) Out of interest; is the rs supposed to have a full engine undertray. Mine doesn't have one but look like it should. Dealers says otherwise. Can anyone back me up?

Finally after nearly a month in the garage I'm going to get my car back today. Thought some may be interested to know what was done. This was the list: Arm Rest Rattles (New one fitted) Gearlever Lacquer coming off (New one fitted) Drivers seat starting to fray? ( Not worth bothering with yet) Rear Window Isolator doesn

Driving home from work the other day, which only takes 5 mins. I saw 3 Rolls Royce Phantoms, a Bentley GT, and 2 new 911 C4S's. Trouble is that people don't look after their cars here. My Octavia will see more love in it's lifetime than any of those "Supercars"

I had a defective hazard switch when I got the car too! (along with a whole list of other things) And my drivers seat is starting to fluff up after only 4000Kms driving. Is that a record? The car is currently sitting in the dealers awating parts... :thumbdwn:

If your in my way, and you don't need to be and choose not to get out the way, then I'll flash until the cow come home (or you move over) I'll stop flashing if it is no longer safe for you to move over and I'll never drive up you ****. However, when I was thundering along in the Octavia RS the other day (at about 160Kph, the road was 4 lanes wide and empty) some prat decided to pull out in front of me from the third lane. Brakes (They're very effective it seems),Horn, headlights, gestures nothing.... Then I passed him on the inside at about 120Kph, he didn't even notice me because he was on the phone! No one respects Skoda here at all, you may as well be invisible. On another note, I never new that the indicator thing actually meant something somewhere. I'd only ever seen it in China were they do it but since they don't seems to have any road rules I though it was just something they had invented themselves. Live and learn

I had a 928 before I bought a Merc 560SEC before I bought the Octavia RS. And before th 928 I had a 944. Reliable is not a word that I would use to describe it. It was an early one. I had to rebuild the gear box, brakes, change the radiator, most of the ignition system and interior trim and then ran it for about 10K Kms. Then the gearbox input shaft bent when the engine mountings broke going around a roudabout at 60Kms per hour. No one could accurately diagnose this problem here (Dubai), so I had to fix it myself. The gearbox is four feet long and at the back of the car. You have to remove the rear suspension to get it out. To change the engine mountings (190 Pounds each btw) you have to remove most of the front suspension, the engine crossmemeber, steering rack et all. Even then it's not easy. Bear in mind this was a "Simple" early car (1980 model) You cannot buy a 928 on a whim, you have to be prepared for it. When I finally got shot of it, I could only sell it for 1/2 what it had cost me in total, despite it being one fo the best early 928 in the country. Nice looking car though That GTS will be lucky to sell for that price.

The car has definately not been badly bent, if at all. The damage is a result of the dealer removing the body graphics in an attempt to make the care more saleable.... but it didn't work