georgef

I had similar issues when I first started using Android Auto. I discovered the usb socket on my phone was "iffy" (technical term) and that the phone/car setup was very sensitive to cable choice. I don't know whether the fine conductors in cables break or become detached or whatever but I found changinging cables helped. Also, "not optimising" battery usage also helped - this is not a problem cos the phone will be charging via the cable anyway.

I have a spare steel wheel with an unused tyre and an unused toolkit I will sell. Where are you? Both from a Fabia III and original kit.

Ah - the insurance woes. I seem to recall the premium difference between the 110PS and the 95PS was marginal although my daughter is now 23 and that might have a bearing. Interestingly, when I learned to drive the Mk1 Golf GTi was the hot hatch and had about 110PS - no one would have let a 17 year old loose in a MK1 GTi but my daughter drove my 100PS 1.9Tdi fabia 1 and the 1.2 110PS that I replaced it with. Mind you, the Mk1 GTi was probably a lot luighter and more nimble but still.

Sorry. Slow to the discussion. I have a 110PS SEL with the 6 speed gearbox. My daughter has a MKIII with the 95PS 5 speed gearbox. Round town I don't notice much difference. On the motorway I would rather be in mine than hers. The extra gear makes for much more relaxed driving at motorway speeds - lower engine speed, lower noise and much less of a rushed feeling.

I am confident it is not the cable. I use Android Auto with a Samsung phone, an ancient Sony and my wife's new Nokia 5.1. All phones work well. My daughter uses a Huawei phone and when we got the Fabia we tried to use AA on her phone with the car. It simply wouldn't work. Research on the interweb reveals that there is an issue with AA and car head units. Google and Huawei know about this and both have been promising fixes for a couple of years and neither seems to have made a breakthrough. Oddly, AA works on my daughter's phone if used a stand-alnoe device - that is not connected to the car but it will not work when connected to the car. I am delighted that you have got your Huawei to work but you must be one of very few Huawei users who have succeeded.

I use Waze on my Samsung A3 (2017). The voice control does not seem as good as Google Maps (and the car is fitted with voice control). But, for me, the huge real world advantages of Waze are the reporting by other "Wazers" of hazards on trhe road and the visual appearance of the mapping. Waze appeals to me more than the Google Maps. However, Google Maps' lane guidance is fantastic.

I know the Huawei P9 is not compatible with Android Auto. I rather suspect the P8 may not be. Google and Huawei have known about this problem since about 2016 but so far have failed to resolve the issue. Both blame the other. A quick internet search will result in numerous people reporting this incompatibility. The easy solution might appear to be to buy a second but cheap Android phone to use in car, but Android Auto requires a data connection so a cheap phone is not the easy work-around solution it first appears to be. That said, my wife's Motorola E works perfectly well in my Fabia as an Android Auto "server".

See PM

I had a 1.2 tsi 110 and this year changed to a 1.0 tsi 110. Leaving aside the physical differences, the 1.0l has a noticeably different engine noise - I hear similarities in the characteristics of the noise with the 1.4 3 cylinder diesel. The petrol engine is plainly less noisier than the diesel but there is a similar 3 cylinder note. The 3 cylinder engine feels less torquey than the 4 cylinder engine despite the figures. My daughter thinks the 3 cylinder isn't as fast as the 4 cylinder (despite the figures) but that may just be the 3 cylinder engine is not yet run in. I tend to agree with Gerrycan's observations. In truth, the differences between the two engines is, to me, for practical putrposes, very marginal.

I quite like Android Auto and the voice commands seem reasonably effective (the car is equipped with voice control) although a previous Fabia without voice control could handle AA just as well. I like the Waze interface and the principle behind Waze but have not found the voice control as good as Google Maps itself. One thing I do like about Android Auto is that it is always up to date - unlike the satnav in my other cars. I would have no hesitation in recommending Android Auto (providing the phone supports it - my daughter's Huwei P9 lite doesn't support AA and that can be a pain - so check that your phone, or the phone you are thinking about, supports AA before you take the plunge.

My car has a full size steel wheel with a 185/60 x 15 Nexen tyre fitted. The wheel has a yellow sticker on it indicating a speed restriction.

I am not sure from the V5 that you can tell what the car has been used for other than VW were the registered keeper. It could well have been a demonstrator or a management fleet car or a something like that. You cannot tell from the V5 how many drivers have driven it. If you are anxious about the history, maybe this is not the car for you.

I think that it is a not uncommon phenonemon whereby one doesn't notice things until there is "a reason" to notice them. In this case, you have the Fabia and now you notice others. That said, I think there are more on the roads than there were when I got mine 15 months ago - which is hardly surprising.

Very nice. It looks exactly the same as mine. Enjoy it. We Quartz Grey owners are a select minority.

Ok - I bought a Samsung A3 (2017) model. 4.7 inch screen. 2GB Ram, 16GB internal storage and capacity for a 256GB SD card. Should do me. The screen is nice and sharp and it works with Android Auto. I am getting used to the Google Maps (not as good as Here Maps on windows) but as Windows isn't compatible with the car, beggars can't be choosers. Thanks for all your help. I will give flac files a go.

Thanks Phil. Sounds like a good spec. I don't want such a big phone. The A3 looks fine (and I like the Samsung screen) but the Motorola E also sounds like it will do the job.

Well done. Good they sorted it out. That is always a good measure of a business - how they sort out a situation that seperates the wheat from the also rans. Hope you enjoy the car. What trim level is it?

My SEL came with car mats. I would be asking for something else other than car mats. Even if you had to buy them for £45. What about the first service thrown in as a gesture? That would save you more than £45?

Phil, That is really helpful. Thanks. I will need a phone with capacity for a large sd card if I am going to keep my music as FLACs. I am not convinced about audiophile quality in the car given one sits to one side of the sterero image and there is wind, tyre and road noise. But that is a debate for another place. Meanhile, I need to get a half decent android phone but the Motorola E appears to do all that is needed of it.

Rick, the windows media player - is that some sort of storage device on your home network or do you carry it in the car? I suppose the advantage of a media player is you can have FLAC files rather than mp3?

Many thanks, Rick. I shall see if I can find one of those to have a play with.

If the Amunsden costs £500 I would rather have the standard unit and put £500 towards a phone/data and use Android Auto - if the only benefit of the Amunsden is sat nav.. At least that way you are fairly sure of getting up to date maps the whole time and the benefit of a decent for use away from the car.

Many thanks Coopy - the S7 Edge is way over my budget. Your experience though is the very similar to my old Sony. The AA seems to work ok but the old Sony phone is hopeless. I really want a small, compact phone. I suppose I want the android equivalent of an iphone 6SE. My daughter has a Huawei P9 lite which seems a reasonable phone but it is not AA compatible and it is huge. I don't want a phone that thinks it is a small tablet. The Samsung A3 looks like it might do. I may buy one of those online to try when the 2017 model is available.

I wonder if getting an SEL (which would include the extras you require) and then getting 15 inch wheels/tyres might be a better option than an SE and adding on all the extras? You would always have an SEL to sell on if you had to whereas optional extras tend to add virtually nothing to re-sale values. I haven't done the sums but that might be something to think about. You are likely to find a buyer for the 16 inch wheels/tyres to offset some of the purchase costs. You never know, the dealer might even do the swap for at no cost or little cost (particularly if it was deal breaker). Or someone here might be willing to swap.

Has anybody any experience of the HTC One A9 and android auto? I need to get an android phone (currently using windows). I have used an old Sony phone in the car (Fabia III) and android auto works fine but the phone is hopeless. I have found one 2015 report on the web suggesting the HTC One A9 gets very hot when using android auto to the point when android auto becomes unreliable. I really don't want to go there! All help appreciated.