rank_amateur

The problem with a £200 repair would likely be that no attempt is made to deal with the underlying cause, meaning the problem would come back. The problem is rusting from the inside out. If you were to get a torch and look up inside the wheel arch, the cause of the paint damage on the outside would likely be all too apparent.

I'm thinking if the paint on the outside of the car is bubbling there is perforation. Absolutely no other explanation good paintwork would go bad if nothing has happened on the outside. Ok, full service, history perforation = car fixed by SKODA free or charge. Simple, bring the car in, courtesy car please, see you in a couple of weeks. Should be that simple, right? Watch this space, something tells me not.

In addition to the above, the other aspect to this is that the SKODA dealer that did all the servicing and sold me the car second hand (also sold it new) was the only garage to ever look at the car and I was assured that the car was serviced completely by the book. You would think that when a SKODA dealer is selling a second hand car, that a body inspection would be done.

Having spoken to the warranty guy at my local dealership I can certainly identify with this. It is obviously a standard attempt to convince you not to proceed. In my case I bought a car with full dealer servicing at a different dealership and had it a year now. Today, he was coming up with things like the car should have had the extended range service done, otherwise Skoda wouldn't touch it under warranty The thing is all that is required is a full service history and by law a manufacturer cannot even insist on dealer servicing, only that the car is regularly serviced. In my case the car is 7 years old and only has 15,000 miles. If a full service was done say after 3-4 years and the dealer didn't notice anything, then that is enough to satisfy the warranty requirements IMHO. Given the known issues, you would think the mechanics in the dealerships would have been warned to look. In any case, this is a known fault, so the cars could have been brought in for inspection by issuing a recall. I will definitely be pursuing this as far as I can. Had a Fabia before and otherwise good cars to be fair.

I was actually searching around to get information on the correct battery because my Skoda Fabia Mk 2 1.9 TDI may actually have the incorrect battery (bought used). The websites actually come up with differing information on whether it is a 96 or 27 code battery required. Came across this thread in the process, so thought I would contribute. I have had my battery out to charge a couple of times (live in a flat). I fiddled around for quite a while in the first instance. A long flat head screwdriver should take care of the plastic clip on fastenings on both sides and the back. It is a bit fiddly for sure. There is a part of the casing that slides off the top as one unit (has all the cables going into it) to the right as you face the car. I didn't realise this at first and was thinking I would have to undo a few more cables. This enables the cables to be slid out of the harness they are in along with the part detached from the top of the casing. The connecters to the terminals go over the top of the casing, so these will need to be detached before removing the plastic casing, and I think the positive lead needs to be further disconnected with a 10mm socket because the leads are connected over the top of the casing. To remove the battery retainer I used a longish extension on a ratchet with a 13mm socket (if I remember correctly, something like that anyway). I had an issue with power windows being deactivated following replacement. The owner manual gives instructions how to reset. Hope this helps anyone attempting a battery change.