andyhurley

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For what it's worth I have standard Thule bars on my Fabia Estate and it is surprising just how often they are useful. Just yesterday I found myself strapping a flatpack to the roof that didn't QUITE fit inside as expected. The bars are old as I have moved them between every car I have owned for the past 20 years and have locks to prevent said scum from nicking them. They make a small noise at high speed but I have made fuel calculations with and without and not been able to measure a difference. That's not to say that it is not there, just that it is so small I can't tell. I did experiment with Thule Aerobars a few years back but I could't get any of the accessories to go round them which made them almost useless (roof box, bike carrier, ski carrier etc) so I sold the Aerobars on.

Ok, lonely thread but in case anyone comes across this in the future I thought I should post my update. The part arrived on Saturday and took all of 5 minutes to fit and most of that time was trying to get the base of the old one out of the release mechanism. Basically to fit it you need to fold the seat down which can be done by inserting a fairly broad flat headed screwdriver into the hole just above the metal loop behind the seat. This is fiddly as most of the loop is obscured but it can be done and once you have the knack it is easy - I had already tried this when trying to fix it earlier so it only took a couple of seconds. Then you need to remove all the bits of the broken handle which in my case meant getting the little split plastic head out of the metal hole in the release mechanism. It was in there pretty tight and I had to use a pair of needle nose pliers to pinch the parts together whilst pushing up for all I was worth and using the screw driver above the latch to stop it just going up into the seat too far. Finally the new part was installed by sliding down from the top of the seat, guiding the new split head into the hole and pressing down whilst using the screwdriver again to prevent the latch moving down as I pressed. That's it! New handle installed and working as well as ever. I love a cheap fix and I will be more careful in future when trying to fold the seats down with anything pressing against the seat from behind (a bag of bark chips in my case).

Just in case anyone finds this thread in the future and has a similar problem I eventually managed to get www.skodaparts.com to supply the part. I'll update when it arrives. The part details are: FABIA BACKREST RELEASE ROD LEFT 2000-2010 Item Number 6Q0885643A47H For the princely sum of £1.61 (plus 4.99 postage). Beats the breaker price I eventually found of £12 (with postage).

Interesting, I have had something which sounds similar with my 2009 petrol version. Happened the first time over a year ago and sounded really bad, like something falling off and getting trapped in the wheel arch. I eased off the accelerator and it stopped and didn't come back. It was then fine for months then happened again a couple of months ago (just before a scheduled service & MOT) which was followed a few days later by a refusal to start from cold so I asked the garage to check it out. They found no problem and put the start failure down to something in the fuel line which cleared itself. I'm left wondering when/if it will happen again but it is behaving perfectly the rest of the time and fuel use is as good as ever (48-50 mpg on most journeys that aren't mostly motorway, 44-45 when on motorways). It hadn't considered it to be fuel related but given your assessment and the start failure maybe it is although we have very different engines so I doubt it is the same exactly. Like you it has been for service (and 2 MOTs in my case) without anything being identified.

Anyone know where I can get a replacement seat release handle for the Fabia II? I have trawled the net and not found anywhere that has the Left side rear seat handle though I have found the right side and ones for the Fabia I/Jetta. I found a useful guide (actually for a VW but the mechanism is almost identical) which showed me how to fold the seat without the handle and how to replace the handle but I can't seem to find anywhere with the required part. Thanks.

On a related note, I just had the passenger side headlight go on my 09 Fabia II Estate (16v - pre facelift) and could only find 1 H7 bulb which seems to service full and dipped beam. This seemed a bit odd to me as it is just a single filament bulb. Anyway, I put a new H7 in and both full and dipped beam came back to life - looking at the old bulb I cannot see any sign of a break in the filament but I guess it must just be one of those tiny fractures invisible to the naked eye. Just taken receipt of a pair of Lucas H7s (which seemed to be what was fitted before) as we are off down to Cornwall tomorrow in it and if one goes the other is likely to be not far behind - and the replacement I fitted was one of those from a kit which is likely to be very short lived I guess.

I tend to keep my Thule bars on my MkII estate all the time, they make it easier to spot the car in a car park, look quite good and are frequently useful when unexpectedly transporting bigger loads than expected. I have checked the MPG with and without and cannot spot a measurable difference. The Thule bars are great, had them on every car I have owned for the last 18 years.

Well, I got mine regassed on Saturday at my local ATS. They did not find a fault but said there was no oil in the compressor and no gas in the system, both were rectified and it is cooling nicely now - only question is how long for.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense, things are beginning to fall into place. I will check what the data sticker says tonight but I am thinking maybe the 154 figure is correct after all - which is good as it will save me hassle. Also encouraging that I should probably not worry about putting 95 ron fuel in as that seems to be correct after all. Thanks again for the comments guys, this place is great.

Thanks for the comments. Obviously it is the V5 that says 154 and that is what I am considering querying. All I know is it was first registered in August 2009 and says Fabia 2 on the back. How can I determine if it is Euro 4 or 5? Maybe I can look under the bonnet for something? That 154 figure doesn't seem to tie in with either of the engines you list which is what got me thinking there may have been an error at registration. Maybe I should just quit fussing and just live with it - after all I am pretty happy with the car. I had it towing 850 kilos of sand/cement a week ago (spread across the rear axle and a trailer and, apart from the compression to the suspension, you would hardly know it was there.

Sorry if this is a sill newb question but I have been trawling the net and not able to find an answer, or at least not one I trust before I contact the DVLA. I have been driving a 2009 Fabia Estate of the 1390cc petrol variety for about 2.5 years and I have been puzzling over the tax band. The DLVA have it listed as 154 g/km on the emissions which put it firmly in the higher (£180 per year) bracket. My experience of driving the car is that it is very frugal with petrol, consistently averaging 42-48mpg and frequently going over 50 on local (flat, non-motorway) journeys. This has pleased me but I was puzzled by the seemingly high 154 figure on the road tax. The only quoted figure I could find was on wikepedia (yeah, quite) which suggests it should be 139: 1.4 MPI 63 kW 2007-2014 (EA111) 1390 ccm, I4, 16V, DOHC, MPI, naturally aspirated 63 kW (86 PS; 85 hp) at 5000 rpm 132 Nm. (97 lb•ft) at 3800 rpm 5-speed manual (MQ200), FWD 175 12.2 5.9 / 47.9 / 39.9 139 Am I looking at the right engine spec there? Should I be contesting the DVLA rating? Thanks, and sorry if this sounds like a stupid newbee comment. Oh, and I have heard it said on these boards that this engine should always be fed super unleaded, I was not aware of this when I bought the car (2nd hand) and have used a mixture but found the MPG to be almost identical with regular so it normally gets that, should I change this behaviour at once get the engine checked out thoroughly? Andy

Hi, I'm new to this forum though I have had my 2009 Fabia II Estate for a little over 2 years now. I have had a series of problems with my aircon, originally taking it back to the dealer when I found it failing during the first summer (2013). They regassed it and said they could not find any leaks and it worked fine for many months. Then last spring I noticed it was not working again (I HAD been using it during the winter for demisting purposes so I noticed when it stopped working), they took it in and worked on it 4 times during the spring and once again it worked fine throughout the summer (2014) but failed again in the autumn. When I had it serviced by my friendly mechanic in January this year I asked his advice regarding the aircon and he suggested it is unlikely the dealer would be able to fix it at any reasonable cost (note, this is not a Skoda dealership but a well trusted family firm we have used for many years). Since we are going on a road trip in a couple of weeks I have booked it in for another re-gassing but this time just at a local ATS while I wait - worst case it doesn't last the fortnight while we are away and I lose £45. I've never had trouble with aircon in any previous car but I gather from reading around that I may have just been lucky. Clearly there is some slow leak that the garage were unable to locate despite replacing a few hoses and doing extensive pressure tests over several days.