Chiselwizard

Maybe the steering column fault is a red herring. I could take the key out in any position, not just P. From what I can gather, failure of the microswitch knocks out the safety interlock. Again, from what I can gather, it doesn't affect the running of the car. I was happy to get it fixed for £300. If the quote had been for £1500 as some people appear to have paid, I would have put up with the error message.

Even after I'd given them the error message showing on the dash (Error: workshop! Only leave vehicle in Position P) they insisted that they would have to run diagnostics @ 140 quid. In the event they didn't charge me for the diagnostics so whether they ran them or not I don't know. Hope you get yours sorted.

Yes, they looked like the real deal. I was quite impressed. Ran me there and back to my nephew's place 5 miles away and washed/valeted it. You made me think though. I assumed that all Skoda repairers would fix the issue the same way, i.e switch rather than complete assembly, but it appears not.

Had the fix done today at Hawco, VAG dealer in Inverness. £37 for the switch and £220 labour. I'm happy.

Had it fixed today at Hawco. TBH I'm not unhappy with the outcome. I was expecting a quote of ~ £1400 going by posts on another thread, as the usual VAG solution appears to be replacing the entire selector assembly. Hawco charged £37 for the switch, £220 labour and waived the £140 diagnostics charge. Happily surprised.

Have the same problem. 2 months out of warranty and 20K. Skoda UK not interested - said talk to your dealer. Given the cost of the fix I'm tempted to keep driving it unless it will cause further harm. Maybe someone more tech savvy than me would care to comment. TIA

Errr, yes, don't know where that came from. I live in Wick. It's a 2 hour + drive to Inverness. Only 100 odd miles but much of it two way and bendy. Great fun before they invented campervans. Think I'm safe saying that on here, don't think Skoda make campervans.

Like you I've spent heaps on cars over the years. TBH it's more the hassle of a couple of 5 hour drives, but that's what you get for living in the sticks. C'est la vie, is the correct term I think. Just for the craic, I'll post my dealer experience.

Unfortunately, from what I understand, the dealer doesn't just replace the switch, it's the whole selector assembly, around £700 I'm told.

You're right, the Youtube video is very good and a few years ago I would have had a go but at 75 I'll leave it to the dealer. I called them today. They weren't interested in my thoughts on what was wrong. It'll be £140 for the diagnostics and we'll take it from there Sir, click. I'll have to suck it up I guess, though the thought of at least two 5 hour round trips doesn't appeal. I sold my much loved 2009 BMW 3 series to get the Skoda, thinking that a newish car would see me out, hassle free. Aaargh! Anyway, thanks for your advice, much appreciated.

Many thanks but I'm afraid my mechanical skills aren't up to a job like that.

Thanks for that. It's on charge now but from other posts it looks a if it's a problem with the selector. Anyway, thanks again.

Thanks for that Ken. Looks as if I'm in for a big bill as I'm just out of warranty.

DSG

This has started appearing randomly when I switch the ignition on. Started shortly after I had the car serviced, which may be a coincidence. Error: workshop! Only leave vehicle in Position P. Anyone any clues? TIA

I'd been looking at the CTEK CS Free jobbie but horrified at the price and thought that the Halfords one was a cheaper version. Realised it wasn't after posting the link. Duh! Anyway, many thanks for the inputs.

You're spot on. I do a four mile each way trip, 5-6 days a week, which clearly isn't enough to keep the battery charged. I couldn't care less about the stop/start as such but it turned out to be a warning. Got a charger in the garage but to save b---g about with extension leads thought about something like this. Many thanks for your advice. https://www.halfords.com/motoring/battery-maintenance/battery-chargers/halfords-advanced-smart-battery-charger-plus-238350.html?istCompanyId=b8708c57-7a02-4cf6-b2c0-dc36b54a327e&istFeedId=367c5610-f937-4c81-8609-f84582324cd6&istItemId=iwlrttqqw&istBid=t&_$ja=tsid:94971|cid:1034356518|agid:51236243736|tid:pla-1393979199789|crid:244691896474|nw:g|rnd:1966583497197087680|dvc:c|adp:|mt:|loc:1007385&src=3bpdp&gclid=CjwKCAjwx8iIBhBwEiwA2quaq9l6FzbOcoxAxaxohT-B86QZVsQUcbrOeNQKr-DOKDo957Wj66B87hoCoH4QAvD_BwE

My local mechanic checked the battery and alternator, both of which were fine. He advised me to 'hammer it down the road for a while' and after 15 miles at 3000/4000 revs the infotainment screen told me that start/stop was available. Clearly. 40/50 miles a week ain't enough to keep the battery in a sufficient state of charge for start/stop to function. Happy Days! Thanks to all who responded.

Thanks for that. I'll try charging the battery. If that doesn't work I've got a 200 mile round trip to a Skoda dealer. As you said, leaving it isn't an option. Cheers

Thanks for the response buddy. The car is April 2019 so I would have thought the battery would be OK, but maybe not. Temperatures up here have rarely climbed above 18C in the last few weeks, so I doubt it's that.

When I first got my Fabia a few weeks ago the start/stop function worked for a few days then didn't. When I drill down on the start/stop function in the infotainment system it tells me that power consumption is high - this with no a/c, fan, lights etc. I'm not bothered by the start/stop not working - I find it annoying - but I'm worried that there is an underlying issue I should be concerned about. These days I'm only doing about 40 miles a week and I'm wondering if that isn't enough to keep the battery charged and this causes the message. Any thoughts from those better informed than myself are welcome. Cheers.