heners54

You could well be right, I'm not saying you aren't.I'll be sure to let you all know how it progresses. Eta: If I have offended you in anyway then I am sorry. If there is underlying damage then that would be a bit of a blow, and I feel silly that I have not noticed the blemishes forming when I do try to keep the car looking nice. I value all the comments that people have made and their relevant experience. It's something I will want to get sorted properly and will play on my mind till I do.

I wouldn't expect them to, I am unsure it has had any though. If someone can confirm that blobs like this are not on their fabia's boot in a similar way then it's likely it may have done. However, even if it's had paint, I'm confident it will have been for minor scratches to edge of the boot; the tallest part where it opens. I can't see why there would have been filler or even the need to spray in the area of the rust spots in the case of a smart repair. Here are some pictures now I've properly cleaned up the area: The most visible blemish, in context now with a larger area of the car shown The right light, I can't see the dent very easily, it's quite tiny, the paint looks even and smooth apart from the blemishes. They are more concentrated in the areas surrounding the light fittings. Basically, I'm not going to bother trying to prove what caused it, although I think the pictures show where any rust was introduced into the panel. It may have had some paint, it may have not. There isn't obvious signs of filler or panel damage, any imperfections there now are from the rust that has set in around the tailgate. Until the paint began to turn like this, I would have had no idea there was rust forming behind the lights, and it's something that people need to check, there are other topics for other models of Skoda (Mk2 Octavia Springs to mind) and other VAG cars suffering this. It will get fixed in time (I'm not yet 21, so can't have a hire car, nor can I be without it), and when it gets looked at I should find out the condition of the panel; you never know goneoffSKi, I could be the one fitting a new hatch!

The rust is from the numberplate light holders rubbing and holding water against the metal, VAG call this a 'mechanical' defect from what I've read, and as such is covered by the 3yr warranty not the corrosion one, which has to be defects from the inside of the panel out. The filler comments are from one small dimple, which the magnified picture highlights. I can't see any real signs of filler, I might even sit and polish it up to a decent standard and photograph again to get a better perspective.

The only sign of a repair is small blobs of paint along the bottom edge of the boot on the inside. They are nearly uniform in distance on the panel, and without another Fabia boot to look at foolishly assumed it was from the manufacturing process. I take it the rust from the numberplate light holes is an issue others have had, and this may well be the cause of the rust in my case and not be related to any previous paintwork, I'm purely speculating the paint may have been bad also. The blister on the visible part of the boot has appeared in the last two weeks, I generally just rub the unseen bit with detailing spray and don't get under and stare at it, so I'm not sure how long it has been there.

Yeah it seems to have had paint on the boot at some point, if you open the boot and look at the seam on the inside there are some paint blobs where it looks to have run, will have to take a picture when it stops raining. The old dear who had it before me seemed to like opening the boot onto the garage door/roof as there were touched up scratches on the boot when I got it, not far from the blemishes. She must have had it sprayed at some point but still managed it again which I wasnt aware of till now. Suppose I feel a bit better that it seems to just be a bad smart repair rather than a big prang I'd missed when buying it. I still double checked the rear bumper and anywhere else I could get access to again, everything else looks original. I knew the bodywork wasn't mint when I got it, there was a scuff on the front ns, crease on the rear ns wheel arch and the scratches on the top boot ledge, but never thought it had been repaired and damaged again! Feel a bit silly for missing it but without staring at the boot release handle area you wouldn't really know.

Right, I've took the numberplate lights out to inspect the paint, and pretty much straight away found the likely cause of the problems: It really was quite rotten at the edges of the metal, had a good look with a torch and poking around it looks to be cosmetic only. Once again though, not very impressed at the use of foam/sponge being used to protect the metal from the plastic numberplate light holder rather than rubber. Rubber seals, foam absorbs and holds water.... Anyway, I took half an hour cleaning and coating all the rust I could see in some 'Kurust' rust treatment that we had tucked away, leaving it all looking as if it won't get much worse before I get it taken care of properly.

Having had a look carefully at the boot as a whole, you could well be right. Will take some more pictures when I have time. I will pop the number plate lights out as well and have a proper poke about. The paint isn't broken so that is some good news, although I take it that previous damage means I'll be paying for any repairs. Luckily I know a man who preps cars for Manheim auctions so I will have to give him a bell and have an eye cast over it.

Not while I've owned the car (2 years next month), I can't honestly say if it has had any previously, although there isn't over spray or orange peel or any other obvious signs of a repair that isn't up to scratch.

Hi all, Not very impressed really, having washed my car a few days ago I noticed a small rust blister to the right of the Skoda badge on the boot. It looked to have a small chip at the centre, so thought it's just one of those things. Having had a closer look though, under the sill where the boot release and number plate lights are there are many of these blemishes, none of which have broken through the paint. The car is an 08, and has covered a mere 40k. All servicing done at main dealers, regularly washed, polished and waxed as it's something I enjoy doing. So from the pictures below (they hide the imperfections quite well, poor phone camera and reflections), do I have a chance of a corrosion claim? Or am I going to have to grumble my way to a paint booth/ smart repairer to get it touched up: On the boot lip, very visible Underneath on both sides of the sill

As does my HTP, sort of a rhythmic tapping/slapping in neutral, more pronounced when the engine is cold. Mine is on 40k, it has done it since I got in on 20k and is no louder, for me its just another characteristic of the car to embrace, I often make a little tune with the sound when sat at lights in the morning queue!

So the car had it's 40k service and an MOT last week, still keeping it within the main dealer network for the time being. No major issues, although there was an advisory for slight play in the console bushes, which seems to be very common at this sort of mileage on Fabias; I don't think I'll be paying their prices for replacements though! I planned on doing a suspension refresh at 50k, and might wait and see if it makes it till then and have our local mechanic do a job lot on the bushes. Had the air con regassed, which vastly improved the noises the system was making; a nice cheap fix compared to what I had expected. No new concerns really, other than when reading through the service notes it states 15w-40 oil, not 5w-30, and this was the same for the service last year! Hopefully just lazy admin, the car seems to be running spot on, but I guess I'll never know if they used the right stuff either time. Change in circumstances means I might be commuting around the Leicester and Loughborough area to work, meaning a 40-80 mile round trip at least once a week, and possibly that sort of mileage everyday come next year, so my little quips(sp) at doing 100k in the little fabia don't seem as far fetched!

Mine bothered me because it started rattling on poor road surfaces.... louder and louder... then it fell off haha

Blue light for cold coolant temperature? Think it has that on your car, just means its up to temperature when it goes off Edit: beaten to it!

I'm running Barum Bravuris 2's on my htp, having replaced the contis. Much quieter, much cheaper, similar grip, but softer sidewalls and they are wearing out quicker than the contis (think I'll get less than 20k even doing front to back, the contis lasted 27k). For the money though they are very good and have suited both sedate and progressive driving, I'd have another set on it next time if I don't try Rainsport 3's.

I run my HTP on shell fuelsave with a tank of vpower every month or so; it does run better on vpower (in my mind it picks up from a bit lower down the revs, noise is better and on my excel spreadsheet the mpg is better than with regular unleaded, especially when driving hard), but not enough difference to justify the cost, I do it on occasion for the extra detergents. Having said that the shell regular is much better than when I fill up at anywhere else, even Esso. As said above it can feel a bit bumpy at idle when I've put in other fuels. Only other that it seems to like as much is bp but I get shell cheaper by me.

Air con regassed as of yesterday and working well. It is noticeably better with regards to the sticking throttle but still hovers for a second or two at 1100-1500 rpm when dipping the clutch. Must just be one of those things.

Mine does this too, but only with the A/C on. Think my compressor is on the way out which may be contributing to it.

On mine (2008 no maxidot) you twist the trip reset button in the binnacle by the Speedo either left for hours and right for minutes or the other way round, can't remember, rather than pushing it. Hope that's helpful and clear enough!

I'm under the impression they're chain driven also, mines 2008 (08) and no mention of any cambelt work upcoming at dealer, happy to be corrected though.

Thought as it's the new year this would be a good time to do a bit of an update: Overall I'm pleased with how the car is running at the moment; We're now on 35607 or there about, with the car driving as well as ever. The engine feels much more punchy than when I got it on 20k even. Couple of things to note though, the battery died extremely suddenly around October, leaving the thing stranded on the drive and me walking and bussing my way to ECP to pick up a Bosch silver, and 45 mins scraping my knuckles removing the ruddy casing that surrounds the battery and plonking the new one in. Not too bad for 5 years on the original as Fabia's seem to be hard on their batteries when in cold weather with some short journeys. I've swapped the tyres front to back to even the wear out (it was frosty today so I'm already dead of course), but this has introduced some wheel wobble that unfortunately I'm pretty sure relates to a wheel that had been knocked and repaired when I got the car (no centre cap and scrape on the related part of the bumper when I first viewed gave the prang away); hadn't been an issue as it was on the back to this point. It's minor and can't be bothered to mess with wheels at the moment; none of them are perfect and may pick up another set if I feel inclined any time in the future. Other niggles have been the climatic getting noisy, don't know if it's the compressor clutch (most likely), the cold weather or low fluid but it's on the ignore list, at least till the spring/summer when it's warm and either stops or annoys me more; don't fancy throwing hundreds at it during the depths of winter when it's on for a few minutes to demist only. Also been chasing creaks and rattles round the car with the screwdriver set and it seems quieter as of late, again possibly worse during the weather the same as last year. In brighter news I got a karcher and foam lance for Chrimbo as well as my first clay bar set; the bottom half of the car felt textured and had never polished out, but I couldn't justify to myself spending £20 on a bar of clay, turns out the stuff works, and with a bit of touch up and attention the paintwork in general it's the best it's ever looked! Can see me wanting to spend some money messing with foam, but this is good enough for the time being And the state of the clay after removing 5 years of gritty crud: The finished product Still love the car, it is reliable and other than tyres, my radio, a battery and a main dealer major service it's cost me nothing, and with my initial aim of keeping it well maintained, but not costing the earth (worked it out ages ago and the cost per mile was pleasing considering the first year of insurance), I think it's doing ok! As long as the little Fabia is reliable then it's here to stay, now accompanied by mums Mk2 Octavia (in the pics above) and the old man picked up his Mk3 Octavia about a month ago now (both impressed with mine enough to leave Vauxhall, previously long term customers). Loving the brand and enjoy milling around on Briskoda, really can't see the car leaving unless there's unexpected issues, so watch this space!

Hi all, I've been watching the forum for a while now since owning my Fabia in June 2012, but haven't properly set up a running journal for the Fabia on here. I moved to Skoda from Vauxhall; a brand most of my family have bought repeatedly for many years. Having had a 2002 Corsa 1.0 to bear the brunt of my learning and 2 years overall service, I needed something that wouldn't throw £100-300 bills every few months. That lead to me looking through various models, and long story short I found my Fabia, which ticked the boxes for what I need at the moment. I've copied and pasted my most recent update from Pistonheads as a summary of the first year of ownership starting June 2012, and will add my latest update to bring it up to speed. Just a bit of an update, since I have now has the car over a year and have covered just over 11K miles in it. It hasn't really needed much maintenance from me, I've added some coolant (literally as smidge) as it seems to settle a little below half way, though now I'm happy it doesn't go any lower I think it will be left alone. It's used about 300ml of oil over 10K miles and averaged 40.2MPG . (The oil use is accounted for in one particular trip, no fault of the car and hasn't needed topping up since.) It went for it's service and MOT mid June and passed with no advisories, although it requires some age related work to be inline with the skoda health check: brake fluid change and rear drum rebuild, so the service cost was a fair bit more than I had expected! Although it looks like it should be fairly cheap next year all remaining well. Finally got round to taking some pics with the car properly clean and waxed, with the edition of a large PH smiley: |http://thumbsnap.com/W5ENVplk |http://thumbsnap.com/B6dN8kv7 |http://thumbsnap.com/YImGPuyx |http://thumbsnap.com/PtvZJ74o |http://thumbsnap.com/PYO1kD52 |http://thumbsnap.com/3r0K0qVH |http://thumbsnap.com/hrgSHGkQ The only real gripes I've had with the car is that the CD player broke, swallowing my disk; It's currently at skoda being repaired/my disk being recovered, and it has meant I could upgrade the head unit to a Kenwood Bluetooth one; |http://thumbsnap.com/tukijDj9 Overall it is better and IMO looks pretty OEM+, although the radio signal is not as good. Luckily I'm mainly using CD's and my Ipod so this doesn't bother me. The other issue was mouldy smelling air conditioning, which I used an air con bomb on a few months ago, only for it to return this week. This time I did the job properly; replacing the cabin filter which looked and more importantly smelt like the original :vomit: |http://thumbsnap.com/2uJnofGB After the new filter was fitted and another air con treatment used all is well! Just in time to cart a shed load of holiday gear and 3 of the family on holiday to the Isle Of Wight. Will try and get some picture of the car in situ this year Overall I'm growing more chuffed with the car, it fails to let me down in any aspect of my current requirements; space, refinement, image, reliability and I give it a second look every time I pull up at home, and curse at every mark it picks up. Really like the thing and just hope it keeps going and looking as nice as it is now thanks for reading! Henry

I had a bad battery and only got one click per attempt at starting, so its a possibility there is still something up with it. As said above check the terminals are clean as well.

My passenger wiper sits high, it's the original screen though. The reason is that the wipers are now amazon specials for under £10 instead of the Bosch ones I had before; Must be to do with the wipers' internal construction. Might go away with some better wipers?

They might try and void the warranty for anything relating to the fuel system and engine, I have heard of it happening when someone did similar to a Volvo, as for damage I'm not sure being honest, might be ok but you won't know for a fair while till something like the fuel pump does/doesn't fail early

Hi all, The top glove box on my car rattles over bumps, more so if it has stuff in it. I've tightened the two bolts inside to try and stop it but it appears that some of the noise was the lid itself rattling. Both the little rubber stoppers are present but I don't know if they deteriorate? If so would replacing them fix the issue? Also I know the glove box on the facelift models has a magnetic set up that seems better, is this an easy/cheap retrofit?