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I hadn't either until the guy I bought a set of wheels off for my first XC40 gave me one. Those wheels are very heavy and an alignment tool would be essential for most of us. I'm 6 foot and nearly 15 stone with little fat but a few months over 70 now and have definitely noticed over the last 12 months or so that muscle has reduced and I think twice now about lifting and carrying things as am definitely weaker. I could probably manage the Fabia wheels Ok but wouldn't take the risk of not using an alignment tool now unlike when I was younger.

Not arguing with your observations Martin but when my wife test drove a Fabia with me in the back I didn't really notice that the interior was poor and I've had some quite expensive cars. Didn't look at any other cars as we like the look of the Fabia and Ibiza (gone off the Polo with the new corporate front end) and the relative simplicity of the engine, as many rivals have gone hybrid, and the intention is to keep the Fabia for a few years. Son's got a Mazda 2 and the interior is very nice in that but we wanted more space in the back and I've had many VWG cars over the years so I was being drawn to another one! I'm sure it will be fine for what we want it for.

What are you replacing it with?

Had a call from the dealer today and was told that the car is scheduled to be built mid -August and should be available for collection in September. That fits with what we were told when ordering in May so that's good.

I'm an Audi and Volvo driver but I'll let you off just this once! 🙂 Unfortunately drivers of many makes don't know how to use indicators and many drivers of German cars are very aggressive. Their ranks are being joined by powerful EV drivers. Anyway, enjoy being able to turn things off whilst you still can. I hate stop start as well and Collision Avoidance (with its false alerts and sudden braking). With my first XC40 my starting routine included turning them both off but with the new one I can't do that - partly due to it being a mild-hybrid with coasting function. The SS is better and quicker reacting as it uses a combined starter and generator but I'd still prefer to not have it. I get round it by using "Manual" which keeps the engine running or heel and toeing to restart the engine when coasting and wanting engine braking. In city driving I find it so annoying and frustrating with it's frequent and unnecessary operation. At least the Lane Assist isn't too intrusive as it just vibrates a warning rather than tugging the steering. As I mentioned elsewhere this was one of the attractions of the less complicated Fabia and still being able to turn off the SS is great!

I've got a few years on you at 70 but still riding motorbikes as well, can't beat it!

Thanks, that's good as I like the look of them. Stuck with the 16" as less vulnerable to kerb damage.

@Tintowellfan - do you drive something else as well as 800 miles is very low? We haven't ordered one for an exciting drive but just to do a job, did you expect more then? To be honest most modern cars are pretty boring to drive. One reason I've kept my 10 year old Audi TT roadster which does provide enjoyment.

Are those the 16" Proxima wheels? I'd already checked the configurater for the SE L and told the salesman I didn't want those horrible aero covers but he looked and said no they don't come with them. I didn't see any mention of them in the configurater and they aren't shown when building a car. If they do come with the car I will be telling them not to fit them and they will be going in the bin! Edit: Whilst posting I see that Willie says they have been dropped, thankfully!

They are dead easy to drive in some ways but you have to put some effort in if you want to get the best out of them, well you do if you have any mechanical sympathy or consider yourself to be a good driver. My first "auto" was a 2008 Passat estate 2.0 Tdi and having plenty of torque it was fine being left in Drive for most of the time and the only time I used Manual was towing my trailer in hilly areas. This was followed by an Audi A6 Avant with CVT. Great car with lovely smooth transmission but I was never happy with the disconnect of engine speed to road speed and due to lack of use (another story) I changed it at one year old for a manual TT. Next auto was the first XC40 which is the point of this post. It had an 8 speed torque converter which was fine on the relatively flat roads around where I live but further afield on hilly winding roads it was a bit slow changing down and was in danger of lugging and usually revving lower than if I'd been driving a manual so I'd often use the paddles or Manual mode. I can better judge the road ahead than the car, well it can't (!), though I believe that some cars like BMW use GPS data to select gears? Current XC40 has a 7 speed DSG/DCT box and is better because of the help of the electric shove from the starter/generater but I use Manual mode quite a lot to limit the engine stopping due to the stop/start, which can't be turned off and sometimes when climbing hills and overtaking. I never use kickdown as I think it is too abrupt. On another note we had a Kodiaq for 4 weeks when away in NZ recently. Fine most of the time but when climbing steep hills it would hang onto gears for far too long. I just had to knock it into Manual and take over the gears. Autos can be good and easy to drive but they aren't clever enough.

Blimey, I thought driving autos was supposed to be easy! I doubt that drivers of most autos (and I won't be sexist) would ever put their car into neutral in traffic but would just stop in Drive and let Autohold do it's thing or just hold it on the footbrake. I use Manual mode for various reasons quite a lot but my wife refuses point blank to use it.

@Ootohere - good point about if at end of queue, I press the footbrake in that situation as following vehicles approach, particularly on a fast road. @DerekU - that's similar to the XC40 mild-hybrid system. It does have benefits as the battery helps on pulling away and acceleration which is very noticeable over my previous one which wasn't slow with getting on for 200 bhp. As a package the MH is very good, as well as the performance the economy is very good for a quite big SUV. It will do 40 mpg easily and on a run approaches 50 mpg, it's a 2.0 turbo petrol. The additional cost of MH in a bigger, more expensive car isn't such an issue as in a small car. What concerns me is the complexity and reliability as there are even problems with new cars. No way am I keeping one without a warranty, but the only way to have a full manufacturers warranty is to keep buying new and most folks can't afford to do that. As I've said before, government legislation and hence manufacturers ever more stringent regulation thinking is only around the initial buyer with no thought for subsequent owners without the financial means to repair such complicated cars with the result that they are scrapped prematurely which makes no sense in the bigger picture. It will be a real shame if the likes of Fabia and Polo do disappear as they are forcing folks into bigger cars. They are not exactly small cars anyway now as they have grown to the size of earlier Golfs. I'm approaching the end of my car buying now at 70 but it will be a real quandary if and when I do come to change. Not ready for electric and the types of ICE will probably reduce and be even more complicated.

I assume that it is so that a vehicle behind is aware that your car has the brakes on whether footbrake or Autohold and therefore not to anticipate you moving off as could be the case if you applied the handbrake. Over time I guess that manual handbrakes will disappear. Once when I had the Yeti (manual) I was stopped at lights and the lorry driver behind tooted at me. I realised my high level brake light was blinding him so applied the handbrake instead. You won't have that option as more and more cars are fitted with Autohold.

Interesting thread, particularly as I do sometimes use both feet and heel and toe in the XC40 which is a DSG or DCT as Volvo call it. Reason being that I sometimes want to restart the engine when stop/start has activated at traffic lights etc. (it can no longer be turned off) or restart the engine when coasting to provide engine braking. I can understand it is not good to do this with a DSG when the engine is already running as there will be conflict between the brake and clutches. I understand that some VWG cars have a coasting function, does the engine stop with these or tickover? The Volvo is a mild-hybrid which I guess will be introduced to VWG cars at some stage? It does make for very complicated drivetrains though which I'm not a great fan of and one reason for going for a Fabia now before they adopt it.

Yeah, got that, it's part of the Convenience Package, we find it really useful in the Volvo, though that has the 360 degree cameras as well. I've had experience of DSGs already (including my XC40 with Volvo's equivalent) and my wife test drove a Fabia and the DSG performed well so I'm expecting good things on that front. Makes me smile when I keep reading Simply Clever. My Passats from the 2000s had the receptacle for an umbrella in the end of the door so that's nothing new and the other things are hardly rocket science!

Yes, as I found out, but rear disc brakes only show when you complete a build with the 1.5 engine not when you're looking at the Standard Equipment when you are browsing the specification - Explore the Models/ View Standard Equipment.

Specification decided on in the end was: Skoda Fabia SE L 1.5 TSI DSG Race Blue Metallic Safety Package Light & View Plus Package Convenience Package Winter Premium Package Simply Clever Plus Package Spare Wheel Tow bar preparation 5 year extended warranty Service Plan - 2 Years Delivery expected in September.

Just checked and I can see it on my tablet but I probably ignored the Standard Equipment once built as I didn't expect it to change! It could be argued it's standard equipment for the 1.5 TSI but in that case it should be shown as I stated above before you start a build. Certainly easier on the PC for things like this.

Got there in the end! I don't think I was seeing My Equipment when completing the build on my tablet, will check shortly. All I was seeing was the standard equipment right at the start before building my own and that changes once you have built it with the 1.5 TSI - so that's not really standard equipment is it! What a poor web-site, why didn't they mention in the standard equipment before you configure your own that if you choose the 1.5 TSI the rear brakes become disc, such basic stuff to get right - they could have put it in brackets after Rear Drums. Anyway, got the answer. Thanks for your replies guys.

Something weird here. I've checked again and it's still saying disc brakes front and drum brakes rear! Wonder if it's because I'm viewing on my tablet rather than a PC? Will try that when I get home. Sounds from what you are saying it's rear discs though which is good.

Tintowellfan - followed the link but couldn't see the text you posted. I'd checked the spec for the other cars with the 1.5 and couldn't see rear disc brakes anywhere. Wouldn't make sense just to have them on the Monte Carlo?

Derek - thanks for that. I had that option on my first one but not the current one as Volvo have gone backwards with driver choices. As Ootahere says there is a way to disable it but it's not as easy as not applying a traditional handbrake and the car would need leaving in Neutral and chocking. You can stop the engine in Park without the Parking Brake but as soon as you take your seatbelt off and open the door or even leave it for a few minutes the Parking Brake automatically applies. Volvos manuals get increasing vague on some things as well. I couldn't even find what the various lever positions are when looking for Neutral description. My TT is 10 years old now but will keep it for a few years to enjoy the relative simplicity! The Volvo is lovely but the tech is getting so frustrating nowadays especially some of the questionable safety features.

Volvo have changed the steel used in their discs and they rust more readily now and sometimes I have to move the car forwards and backwards to get them to release and when they do it's with a loud crack which doesn't sit well with my mechanical sympathy. This can be just after one damp night. I was away for 4 weeks earlier in the year (when it raining!) and was worried about what I would find when I got back, especially as I read on a Polestar forum, which use the same brakes, that some owners had experienced pieces of brake pad being ripped off! Fortunately they released without much drama much to my relief! As said, the trouble with a lot of modern cars is that the brakes often aren't worked that hard, mine being a mild-hybrid, to dry them off or remove surface rust. Also you can't leave the " handbrake" off as it is automatically applied when you stop the engine. As regards the Fabia I did find a document online from Skoda that did state that brakes for all engines are disc front and drum rear but I'm not sure if that is for the UK? I've also asked the salesman to check with the service manager what is fitted to the latest ones. Ultimately it won't really matter but I would prefer discs but it's looking like Hobsons choice.

Nice find and as you say too good to pass on. Weren't the Yetis the same with the digital readout? Seem to remember some guys using the Australian diagnostic setting to get round it. Which was strange as my Yeti and my TT were/are both 2014 and the TT showed in mph fine. Coming back to me, I think it was because the Yeti only showed mph on the speedo.

I did an oil flush on an old car many years ago but have never had one done on a modern car. As long as the oil is replaced at the recommended intervals there is absolutely no need. When the TT was in for a service once I was offered one of those engine cleans. Given that it was low mileage, it was always serviced by them and ran fine I said I hope you are joking! They really try it on sometimes.