Dazza95

My partner's 1.4 PD 80 has been very reliable for the last 7 years, unfortunately there is now rust around the front wheel arches and sills. The AC doesn't work and it's the not the most comfortable thing for long journeys so he will be selling it soon. Interestingly, examples of a similar age (55 reg. circa 178k miles) seem to be selling for more than I what I got for my 54 reg. PD 75 over 5 years ago with the same sort of mileage.

I’ve been more than happy with Osram Ultra Life and there aren’t any street lights for miles around here. Originally got them for the Volvo but found them just as good in the Fabia

I had the PD75 which was at around 175k when I sold it. My partner’s PD80 is on 120k. No major issues with either of them with regular servicing

Might be a bit too far for you but I was working for over a year in Shawbury and used to always use Hansons; they're not VAG specialists or anything but they never let me down with various bits of work I had done there. Friendly, efficient and reasonably priced. http://www.hansonsgarage.com/

I don't see why not, mine was on 177k miles when I sold it. I had the timing belt done twice in my ownership. The cars are solid and if well maintained should go on for a while yet.

I had a PD75 for 4 years and put over 90k miles in that time, it was very reliable however I can imagine it feeling a bit slow if you're used to a PD100. It used to rev at 2.6k+ at motorway speeds. I think the Audi A2 has the same engine with an output of 90bhp and VGT. My other half has the PD80 and this too has been faultless over the last couple of years. Good luck with your search though, when I last checked, finding one in good condition was quite difficult compared to when I got mine.

Check that they will be replacing the receiver/drier. Happy to be corrected but I'm pretty sure it's recommended that this is replaced when you change the compressor.

The Quantum 507.00 spec oil is more expensive and is the only oil you can use on some the newer VAG diesel engines with DPFs, it just happens to be backwards compatible with vehicles requiring the 505.01 spec. There is really no need to complicate things any further, the Quantum Platinum can be had for as little as £16 delivered from eBay and also on offer at TPS from time to time.

It does feel very well put together, in fact more so than an almost brand new Volvo I've been in.

After nearly 4 years, the day has come where I have had to part with my beloved Fabia, after nearly 4 years of generally trouble free motoring, I felt the need for a change. I was also beginning to find it a little uncomfortable doing long journeys everyday. I got the car when it was at 78k miles, it's now at over 170k but it never let me down. The replacement is a Volvo S60 D5, whilst I have my doubts that it will be as reliable as the Fabia given the increased complexity, it is amazingly comfortable and very smooth. I would like to thank everyone on here for the excellent range of information, I have saved a lot of time & money by simply reading up on things on here. I'll be sticking around though as I still have my partner's Fabia to look after.

Thanks for the replies guys, I completely forgot to ask for the old one to be honest. Hopefully this won't happen again and if it does I'll have a look myself before agreeing on a replacement.

Hey everyone, My car failed its MOT recently due to the OS headlamp beam being 'obviously incorrect' - too far to the right which could dazzle oncoming traffic. Now the garage tried to adjust the beam but it would not adjust enough to be within acceptable limits, they also tried a new bulb. Unfortunately none of this worked so the complete headlamp was replaced and the car subsequently passed. Purely out of interest, has anyone had this issue before? What could cause this sort of failure? The worst bit was that the headlamp was only a couple of years old as it was replaced after an accident. It was a genuine unit from TPS and the car passed 2 MOTs before. Sorry if if this seems a waste of a thread but I'm just curious. Cheers

Try Chriss Knott, they were the cheapest for me a year ago.

From reading on here the 1.4 TDI is not as reliable as the 1.9 TDI as it the chain driven oil pump can fail. Apart from that, I dont think there are any issues unique to the 1.4 TDI. I have had mine for over 3 years now and it has been pretty reliable, mileage is around 162k.

It automatically goes into recirc when you're in reverse, maybe that could be something to do with it?

I had some spare time today so before cleaning the whole engine, I removed the plastic cover and cleaned up the area around the oil cap with some degreaser and old rags, I then started the engine and within just 5 minutes I could see a small amount of oil seeping from where the oil cap screws in. I cleaned the engine anyway in case oil was also leaking from elsewhere. I replaced the oil cap as I had picked one up from TPS yesterday since I was there for some other service items. Ran the engine for a little longer after cleaning and fitting the new cap and no obvious leaks were witnessed. I shall be checking closely over the next week though. For anyone else with this problem, the part number is 06B103485C and cost me £7.00. The new cap came with the seal fitted. Thanks for the help all, hopefully that'll be the end of that.

I would second the Bosch aero.

Thanks guys. I'l have a go in a couple of weeks. I had a look under the bonnet today and it looks like my tandem fuel pump is also leaking as its damp with fuel :(

I do the oil and filter changes every 10k miles with all genuine parts. I asked the garage to check if there was anything obvious for me when it was in for some other work so it wasn't their priority.

Hello all. My Fabia which is now at 155k miles has a minor oil leak - initially it looked like the sump plug but it's actually coming from further up the engine bay. My usual garage has suggested it could be the oil filler seal or something else which I can't remember but it was more expensive, understandably they advised it would be hard to properly diagnose the source of any leak without cleaning the area first. I'm soon going to be changing car but I reckon I might as well change the filler seal when I do the next oil change, however could anyone confirm what the correct part number is? I was going to order this: http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/171097223116?_mwBanner=1 cheers

Possibly, one wonders if they could be held responsible if the car was involved in an accident soon afterwards as a result of oversteer, probably hard to pinpoint the blame though as there'd be loads of other factors.

I'm a little bit disappointed that the the tyre place didn't do this for me or even ask me what I wanted to do when I had my front tyres changed a couple of weeks ago. I'd have thought they would given the safety aspect.I have Bridgestone All weather tyres, I needed new fronts as they were worn after 38k.

I've only used genuine filters and they always come with the o-ring prefitted to the 'extension' on the end of the filter.

Argh beat me to it!

Check the carpets aren't damp, the door seals could be leaking Paste the text below into Google and you'll find plenty: fabia door seals site:www.briskoda.net Other things you can do is check the plenum drains and replace the pollen filter if it hasn't been done in a while.