george brann

I have virtually given up with my local Skoda dealer, I bought my Skoda Fabia 2 1.4 TDI from new in 2007. I had a good deal and was pleased by the car. I felt the old service manager was ok; some of his staff were far from satisfactory. Since Chichester has closed down (and the service manager has left) and they have moved everything to Fareham it has gone from bad to worse. Staff are very unhelpful, rude and don’t do what is agreed. There seams no ability to correct any of these faults, I get the impression customers are an inconvenience. You are treated as if you are either a 2 year old or 90 years of age. They are so rapped up in their rules and routine they can’t adjust to this century. I will not purchase another Skoda while Sparshatt’s have the franchise. I am also strongly considering having my car serviced by an independent and not by Sparshatt’s in the future. I had the normal Skoda boot leak problem, which the service manager said “I cant guarantee this being fixed, but the mechanic said there would be no problem” During the time in the garage they put a nail in my tyre while driving it around, I did not have a spare in the car as the boot was being fixed, I had some idiot ring me on the last day thinking it was funny the fact the tyre was constantly deflating on a daily basis, despite them pumping it up. I was not impressed if they had told me I would have taken the spare to the garage immediately. Recently I have had the lockable fuel cap go faulty. They would not order one until their mechanic had seen the problem! He confirmed the fact it was faulty and one was ordered but could take 6 weeks to arrive! Skoda UK said it could arrive within 2 days if ordered properly, Sparshatt’s said they would try to push it through quickly. It arrived but as normal no one rang me. Remember it was only a fuel cap a child of 4 could put it on, the fuss made to fit it was ridiculous. One customer service representative asked me “what can I do to make things better” I listed some areas but he just seamed either unable or not interested, I wonder why he asked in the first place. The mechanic seams to know his stuff and has always fixed the problems. I also had the problem with the hand brake, that most Skoda owners have experienced. The mechanic said this was normal but funny when I got it back post boot problem it actual now holds and you don’t have to lift it to the roof of the car for it to do this, not funny when I was on a car ferry in February. It’s a shame Sparshatt’s treat their customers with such contempt, I have given them the best part of 3 years to improve and despite phone calls and letters things have actually got worse.

Had the same problem with the boot as well on my Fabia 2 1.4 TDI - boot filled up twice nearly to the top. Also the lockable fuil cap needed replacing. My biggest problem is the Skoda dealer, to say they are jobs worth is an understatement!

2 queries please: I own a Fabia 2 1.4 pdi Reg Nov 2007. 1. I was in the car park at work this week someone close to me in a different car (not Skoda or VW) unlocked my car when they used their remote to unlock their own. I was under the impression that there were millions of combinations and this should not have occured. He was as shocked as I was. Please comment. 2. You may have noticed some of the threads on Briscodia regarding steering issues, I am not overly woried but noced that when I have full lock on low reves there is the same knocking odd noice. Do you know of issues with the steering on full lock and is this something I should get investigated looked at during my next service?

Many thanks one and all for your 1st class advice: "Zebra. I assume that your maxidot told you it required a service? MY 1.4 tdi Is on 7000 @ 16 Months old and still indicates no service requirement till 8700 miles. I assume that this is normal as I was always under the impression that diesel cars were a year about?" Yes the maxidot (which is most helpful because I now drive to conserve fuil only whish it was standard on all cars and versions of Skoda's) told me leading up to the year - didnt quite get to the 10,000 miles around 9,400. Actualy the reminders became a little anoying but I expect that is what it is ment to happen.

Many thanks

Hi, Last month just had my 1st service on my Fabia 2 TDI 1.4 PDI The oil was quite dark when I checked it but full - after only 700 miles its the colour of ink. I take it this is correct and an oil change took place rather than just a top up of oil. On previous cars its always been clear or brown in colour not jet ink black. They gave me a chit which said what VW oil was put in. George

I have been there and had the same person behind the desk twice - I worked in the NHS and had staff who had similar bad customer service skills. It reflects very badly on the garage and on Skoda - either they are in the wrong job or should be re trained - senior staff must know they are like this. Perhapse they have got used to their attitude, however as a customer its very difficult - I found it aggressive and challanging/not helpful at all. Not happy and pleased to help or give assistance.

I notice the price difference of my Fab 2 TDI 80 pdi 1.4 and the green is £2,400 you will never get the money back on fuel saving - I now get 54.4 and sometimes 59 mpg and I dont drive always slow. The best you are going to get is 10 mpg on the green!

Just a quick one - my skoda horn will not work without power! Is this the same for you all? Thanks George

I use sticky cable ties as well - presume its there due to rear passenger asses to the 12V sorce. My TOMTOM works fine with it as it is. But like you was a little suppriced it was so far back

I wondered if anyone had the same problem as me - I have a new fabia 1.4 TD PD 80 I washed the car on the weekend and lifted the bonet. I noticed that the bonet release is held on by two pins (base mettle) they are rusty! I have greased them up in the hope this will be ok, the worse problem that could happen is in the future these pins rust away and the release mechanism on the bonit itself comes away from the car. What do you think? Rather suppriced myself not even galvanised mettle George

I have a 1.4 pd tdi 80 best millage is 57mpg using maxi dot total avarage rather than avarage as you drive. But its working out on a weekly bassis of 50 mpg. Quite happy with this but as one reader wrote you will not recoop the cost of the Dieso in your mpg and as its more expensive at the pumps as well. Still very happy

Hi everyone - just wanted to mention a quick thing. Also with reference to others who have mentioned regarding the alternater. I have a TDI 1.4 80 PDI even when the glove box light was on for 3 months undetected (now fixed) the battery light went out straight away when I started the car. Now the car starts but does not have the feeling of a powerful start and the battery light remains on for 2 or 3 seconds but then goes out. Would this be a sign of some future failure on the alternator? What do you think. As always many thanks. George:eek:

Many thanks for all your points and postings - just on the full rev mot test can anyone tell me why they do this for dieso's and not petrol's? and what purpose does it serve to do this test on dieso's? Many thanks

Not sure about this but very keen as my wife is intrested in a FAB1 - could I ask you ask a question. With just central locking can you open the boot on its own or do you only have the drivers door that then opens all doors?