nta16

Polaris, I know near enough sweet FA about mechanics and car computer programs but going back to basics if you think of the car battery more like a fuel tank than an engine then it can get depleted regularly regardless of age. Obviosity a newer battery with a newer alternator and newer engine and ancillaries should run more efficiently and be more robust to use and abuse but there are limits. I've no idea if the battery is causing any of this but if you're used to old cars you'll know how important a good battery in good condition and state of charge is - well it's even more so with these modern cars with their computers and programs and loads of active(passive?) drain when the car is used and not. I've no idea about the Fabia computer programs but others have interaction with engine and braking and the braking could be mixed in with the electronic stability controls. I'm fairly new to this errors codes and the numbers, which are only pointers that require further diagnostics, which has usually been the case even with deeper levels scan tools, which normally might only point you in the correct direction rather than give you the 100% absolute answer. I always first like to try the simple easy and often very low cost or free solutions if they don't work you've lost next to nothing and always you can rarely progress efficiently and successfully without first covering the basics. Most cars and particularly modern cars are no good at lots of only short journeys.

When did you change the oil? Unless it's placebo kidding ourselves, and even if it is, that if it feels a little smooth it's an improvement, if only in mind, and changing the oil means its 5 years newer in age and use so an inexpensive improvement. Sorry I didn't make myself clear, I meant let anyone else drive your car (subject to legality and trust of course) and see if they think it feels notchy to them. Ideally of course they'd be a regular driver of a car the same make, model, age, mileage and use as yours and if they were you could perhaps also drive their car to see if theirs feels the same to you. But if not, as close as you can get or anyone that drives a similar VAG car with the same transmission - or even really anyone that drive a modern car. The thing is you're now fixated by this so really notice it whereas someone else has no real vested interest so could just say how they find it. I don't find the Fabia box great but it's not bad and as an average ordinary car driver I doubt I'd notice anything about it

Yeah from what I've seen things are even more heated in USA with new cars that are available selling well above recommended prices and people selling out of contracts to cash in so s/h prices rising. Can't blame anyone for jumping if there's a gain but there will be knock-on effects later. Some will gain full-stop, some with have short or medium gain and will always be the ones moaning later at the overall loss of that gain. Think of the children. 🤣

I don't know but I could imagine that situation. From what little I've been told we-buy-any-car I think start with a price then at actual inspect knock points (Pounds) off. Obviously some people think their car is in a certain condition when it's not, anyone that has been to see a few s/h cars for private sale will know this, people see a value given to car like theirs and immediately think theirs is as good or better when very often it's not. That's why some many people don't buy privately but will go to a garage yet that s/h car could have been from private owner. If prices are high now is a good time to sell but obviously conversely not to buy, unless perhaps a distress sale that needs to go quickly so at a good price.

Yes I can see just getting an existing customer in might help lead to another sale but buy back to me would mean different to trade-in. Best to make certain with the initial phone call and when going in what the situation is. I don't blame a salesman doing his job but any dishonest would not be rewarded by me. Delays with chips as cars now have so many computers in them. My neighbour collects cars at ends of contracts, all sorts, but he's not back at work yet.

Domiix, no need, just PM pab567 Cheers.

I get the idea that it might be a buy back rather than a trade-in, these are very unusual times. When we bought my wife's car 5 years ago I could believe how inept the Dealership was at preparing the car for test drive, sale, and then collection but I couldn't believe how long the simple sale took, and over two visits. First visit we were literally stopped as we were driving out of the customer parking because after lord knows how long trying to sort the simple sale the salesman didn't know to check with his manager to get over a simple negotiating sticking point so we literally walked away from the sale. No way would I now have enough lifeforce left in me to waste so much time and remain so polite whilst being offered stuff I said at the very start and repeated each time we wouldn't buy. Unless things have changed in the last 5 years generally car salesmen remain a certain type that I for one find very difficult to get along with and certainly wouldn't fully trust and I can assure you it does NOT have to be that way with sales of anything.

Hi, welcome, you might also try posting on the following thread to increase your chances, god luck with either here or there. -

Hi Polaris, my neighbour hasn't replied yet, I don't know if he has Carista as he has a few, but don't think so. I'm no help on this technical or mechanical stuff and only know a bit about my wife's model, the 1.2 TSI. but I do know about not having or really needing all of this modern stuff but some of it can be nice on occasions. I am a bit more confused than usual though as you put an engine type code and I took "ECS" as a typo for ESC Electronic Stability Control, I know there can be links but ECS got me. I'm very much in to if the car battery is low, but it could still start the car and lights seem fine, the battery could still be too low for all those computers and they throw a wobbly and all sorts of random lights and actions might follow. Very interesting that the Dealership should want to buy it back, is it that they have sales for it or other reason(s) do you know? To save you repeating your car details you could add them to your name thingy that appears on every post, I've put the route to do so in my previous post. As my only car for the last 14 years has been a 1973 MG Midget, a basic car even by the standards of the 70s so I never have to worry about the state of battery charge, I can relate any modern stuff you don't fully follow to old stuff we're used to, often only once I've found out what the modern stuff is. 😀 Cheers.

Polaris, just looked at your other posts - I've been driving 1960s and 1970s cars as dailies for the last 30 years so I can understand your frustration with modern cars so may be more on the same page with you, but like you, I hope, I expect a certain level of driver input to the driving and driver maintenance so if you're neglecting the basics just because its a modern car I will moan like an old man can. It's easy to do as I've managed to do it - you could help yourself and others by putting more car info on your profile like the model (e.g. 1.2 TSI, 5-speed manual) and the year.** Having a code is only a start to diagnosis it how that's interrogated and interpreted that matters, I could have a book on prostate surgery and read a page from it but you wouldn't want me anywhere near, same if I had a scantool! ETA: ** I've just added 1.2 TSI to mine to check how to do it - click on your site name (at top right of this page) drop down menu appears - click on 'Account Settings' on that page - click on 'Edit Profile' (in 'Other Settings' box) on that page scroll down to 'Car Info' and add details bottom right of page - click on 'Save'.

The efficiency of the gearbox oil drops off within 5,000 miles if you believe Redline (see attached PDF). Modern oils are so much better than they used to be and the range so much wider and the relative cost so low that you might as well spend more and get better. Always difficult to say which is best for any particular car/box/axle/engine/environment/driver but a good oil is a good oil if correct to application. I'm not an expert in anything and not mechanical or technical just have experience and don't always believe pub/internet or traditional wisdom. I was told not to use Mobil 1 in my classic car engines, by people who did fractions of annual mileage in their classics compared to mine, and then wouldn't believe GL5 spec oil was going into some rear axles from years back and finally that some (many?) modern GL5 gear oils could be used in boxes with "yellow metals". I think you might be overthinking the gear selection and changing it then, just do it and then once you're used to it let "muscle" memory take over I've got to cool myself at the mention of difficulty with getting 5th gear as I went to and checked out some "specialist experts" in 5-speed conversions for my car with recon box and shorten remote and had them fit it and other work, and to cut a long story short they were con-men and did a very poor job (I've deleted the rest). Anyway 5th gear remote is slightly out of line so a real notch shift. If I think about changing up to 5th it's awkward, if I don't think about it its just notchy. Same with changing beam on the (one and only) column stalk the other night first time I've used the headlights properly in ages and I was getting headlights momentarily off between switching as I was thinking about the action rather than just doing it. See how you get on over the next week and let us know. redline-mtl-redline-mt90.pdf

That's why I asked my neighbour as he has a selection of "cheap" scan programs and it'll test what code lists he's transferred or backed up elsewhere. ECS to engine had me wondering - but it's computer stuff so if it can it will, I'd always go with car battery condition and charge as a first anyway. 😄

My wife's previous car was diesel the only one we ever had and I rarely got to drive that, less so than Fabia, but it was 5 years ago and I can't remember that far back. I've also driven mate's company diesel cars but again too few times and too long ago to remember any differences. Other than my first Spridget and an MX-5 I'm more used to slow old boxes that don't like to be rushed, even with quickshift slaves and levers and so I'm used to taking my time. Perhaps your foot is moving quicker than your arm, (or other way round(?). Get someone else to drive your car and see what they think. If you've got stop/start the battery condition and charge is even more important as is if the engine (and gearbox oil) is warmed or cold. I change rear axle oils too (not on Fabia, so far 😄), I know some think as oil is in the ground for millions of years that's how long it lasts in the gearbox and axle, I've drained stuff out that been in for decades, and looks like it has. Having put all that don't dismiss it if you think something is wrong, it's your car you drive it, internet is marvellous of course but still no good at actually feeling what's going on.

Good spot I read it as P2093.

I've asked a neighbour but I think also there's a thread on here with codes, perhaps it's on Freedom I'll have to look, and I'll try Google too as I can can be hit - but also miss with it.

Quick thoughts as they drop into my brain, could be you're expectations are too high, you're gear change technique or rushing/too quick clutch pedal going all the way down, no doubled up or rolled mats did you drive petrol engine cars before or now also something wrong with the car (I always blame computer programs first, apologise later, if required). I loathe working on cars and until this year never touched the Fabia but the first job I did was to change the gearbox oil as the car was over 5 years old and had lots of short journeys in its 38k-miles. My wife said the gear changes were better after this and I thought so too, still a bit notchy. I always recommend timely lubricant changes and to use good or better quality oils to give better margins of protection and for longer, I'm used to old cars where something fails and then puts more stress on other parts and components, I like the strains to be within the margins of the lubricant/coolant so that the car can fall apart when I get back home rather than at the roadside. I used Millers TRX Synth 75W80 GL5 as I like Millers because it's a local blender and has good products - and it was on special offer at a good price at the time too. I always do a hot drain and leave to drain for as long as possible to get as much existing oil and contaminants/muck/crud/bits out as possible leaving the least amount of such still in the box which not only cleans more but also dilutes the new fresh oil less. I also like to tip a small amount of warmed fresh oil through as a small flush but it's not worth it with this box.

I don't think you'll like what some of what I put then. 😄 I'm sure you would agree that the first part of tuning is full and regular servicing, maintenance and repairs for the whole car - fiddling with things comes after. Once that is fully sorted you might move on to better lubricants for additional protection margins for the extra push at and/or passed the usual car's parameters. You always sort your brakes first along with the suspension (tyres come into both of those for safety as well as performance), get the geometry checked and sorted and adjusted with any changes you make each time to suspension, wheels/tyres. Always last is anything to do with the engine check that no changes are required to clutch and transmission from engine changes if you're going far with the engine. The engine should never be beyond anything else on the car, you want all in balance. Many "improvements" can turn out to be not necessarily so in real world (legal) driving on public roads particularly if they take the overall balance out of the car. Modern cars are already generally oversized wit wheels and tyres and over lowed and over-stiff suspension can often on some road make things worse rather than better. Here's the bit you would like, the best tuning you can do is driver training, the benefits can also transferred at no extra cost to future cars and sometimes negate the need for more extreme tuning on the car. Gone are the days when it was just go-faster stripes and later an 'i' badge on the boot and if you wanted more noise you stripped out all the sound insulation, carpets and trim from the car to be a rally (or Rallye). 🤣

Hitting a brick wall feeling - no it's not normal, is this for all gears?. I find the Fabia (5-speed) gearbox on my wife's car a little notchy feeling and on a rare occasion 1st and reverse a little sticky, best to have car fully stopped on handbrake so it doesn't roll and revs fully dropped with clutch fully depressed (all as I should do anyway). Normally with older cars thoughts would be about gearbox oil level (and oil age) then on to clutch operation before the less palatable thoughts on the gearbox itself. The 24k-miles wouldn't necessarily mean low use (or abuse) of the clutch and gearbox, if fact possibly the opposite, but if the clutch is in mint condition it suggests there might not have been over use and abuse. Did you also try dropping some transmission oil to see what it's like and if there are any bits in it (or you could send it off for analysis). I'm not sure what if any interference the computer programs have but I always recommend that your car battery is in good condition and good state of charge so as not to upset them, being able to start the car and lights seeming bright enough aren't a good test for this. Have you driven other Fabia Mk3s or someone else driven you car as points of reference?

No way is it just VW, the car trade has always been a bit like the tobacco trade, deny it for as long as possible then move the lies to a different market territory and get promote more sales there. Things have swung back towards when Ford allowed it to be cheaper to pay lawsuits for people burnt than sort a build issue and company (and other) doctors told people smoking was good for your throat. The diesel scam publicity probably helped distract from a few other issues being widely known about. Any international company that trades in USA or worst still based in USA knows the cost of litigation and how to avoid it. Motor trade, and tobacco and sugar, have very powerful and very well resourced lobby groups so over very many decades they got used to how to pull the strings to their benefit.

Wow, how's that fit in with dates of recall and why was that customer and car missed(?). That person. like you, picked up on a fault as the driver of the car which the experts missed and dismissed so in that respect in this matter you both where better than the experts, which some experts can accept and acknowledge but not the Billy-big-*******s types that litter the car trade. You had a great deal to complain about but you persisted with solving the problem and have solved it. You learnt from the issue and process and have also passed on information to others from here, well done. If you're anywhere near lucky with cars, unlike me, you'll remember all this as unlike me you' won't have so many problems with cars and the car trade you can't remember what solved what the previous times the problems arose. 🤣 Good luck.

Thanks for reporting back Martin, and for the info and warning. I've never really understood the system of recalls and how they operate (or don't) With manufacturers generally there seems to be a lot of reluctance sometimes (often?) about admitting to the need for recalls, advising of it, and how it's categorised. The information isn't as easy to find as it should be, and that's for the ones admitted to. At least this is now finally sorted. 👍

Good one, as a follower of the good book I can't go against that. But it is just a calculated estimation as each vehicle has so many variations in its use, treatment, environment, ect.. It could often be that a vehicle might benefit from a service sooner than the x-days/year or x-miles, as you've put the last 18 months have seen totally different use at least of the car to what would have been expected. The fact that it can be turned off shows that basically it's just a reminder otherwise it'd interfere with other requirements. As owners expect the vehicles to do more for them and a button solves anything reminders and warnings about this and that are required more as the owners get more remote from the car's driving and preparation for driving in changing circumstances. A sticker with the date or mileage of the next service date could possibly do the job. Like MoTs, you don't need one until the car is three years old but I'm sure you've seen cars less, and a lot less, than three years old with things about them that wouldn't pass an MoT, which is why there are other legal requirements relating to cars but some will only address them when the MoT comes around (not suggest you btw). I do share your frustration with the garages (generally), it seems there are far too many Billy-big-*******s men working in all areas of the car trade who can never admit to making a mistake so it's beyond them to think of a way to try to make things better for the customer and company - not that all customers are angels - but if a mistake is made it should at least be sorted even if admitting to it is beyond comprehension.

Softie42 - you can ask the dealership for a paper print-off of the vehicle's service before and after any service. As both my wife and I are now in our 60s we don't even have to ask for a full paper printout of the service wok done and a the vehicle's full service history after the service as they know us old folk want "hardcopy back ups" for our records or just out of habit.

Sorry, I've put in some confusion there, I should have put 10,000 or (9,400) miles - but I'm sure (as much as I can be with my memory) I saw years back on some other make & model 20k/year - so typo and/or Freudian-slip - or just typo (and poor memory now) - I'm a confused old man.

As with previous post, VW agent's balls-up they should sort it, if not I'd be on to Skoda UK or the Dealer Principal or whatever they call themselves now. The (fixed at least) servicing reminder is just that a reminder, it may or may not relate to when the car actually needs a service. Prevention is better than cure so it's better to have preventative servicing (without going ott) rather than, as many would do, waiting for error codes or warnings. If they can't change the date then a free oil & filter change and inspection with service date reset would do, then you can have full service next time in Feb 22 with MoT and get back on schedule. Changing the oi & filter at 2,315 miles wouldn't seem strange in the USA where they have "shops" that do oil changes every 3,000 miles, I often wonder what they'd make of our 20,000 10,000 miles or 12 months.