Little Jo

The power steering in an electro-hydraulic system if I remember rightly. It's light to use, but gives good feedback. If you look in the manual, it provides decoding for the various warning lights. However, any warning light in that department has got to mean a prompt trip to the dealer. Steering is much too important to leave to chance. I hope you get sorted.

A very useful thread indeed. I just hope I don't have to change my sidelights too often! I do wish bulbs had to changable at the roadside with minimum tools. No wonder we see so many cars with defective lights! I have small hands and skinny fingers, but not particularly stong fingers, so I suspect I might have problems. :( Still, at least we know where to come for the know-how. Thanks guys!

I'd check your water pump. Sometimes the only warning of a water pump leak is coloured liquid dripping from underneath the car. A slow leak from the water pump would cause the sort of loss you describe and you would see little if the water pump is hidden behind a cover or other components. How old is the car?

I have a Fabia estate (08) with the 1.4 16v engine and I don't hear any clonking noises when changing gear. My car has done just over 3000 miles and is 3 months old. It is important to change smoothly, matching the revs to the engine speed of the new gear, so the gear teeth can engage smoothly.

Build quality is pretty good. I've done over 3000 miles on mostly country lanes and that shows up every rattle or squeak a car might possess. I had a Vauxhall before and I don't feel like I've gone down market at all. Ford aren't reknowned for solid build, neither are the offerings from the French makers, Fiat too has its critics. Skoda are as good if not better than much of the competition. The Fabia is a good car.

I had a bit of rubber trim come adrift less than a week after delivery, it was stuck back on by my dealer and there have been no more problems.

Bare metal rusts. That's a fact of life and our poor roads and bad driving by those around us doesn't help. I always check our cars regularly for stone chips and touch them in as soon as I can. It's harder in winter due to poor light and cold temperatures. If you don't want to have to spend out loads of dosh, why not seek out your local Chips Away guy? He will remove the rust, fill any uneveness and carefully respray the afflicted area and you will pay less than a dealer job. I've got my Storm Blue touch up set ready and waiting, just in case I pick up a chip. I don't get that many, but the ones that do appear get treated promptly. Jo

As others have said - the Fabia estate, particularly in 3 trim is really excellent. It has everything most drivers need in a fuss-free and easy to use package. We rate it more highly than the Astra it replaced. The road where I work was resurfaced over the last two weeks. A colleague with a Mini Cooper was complaining how uneven it was, but from the Fabia seat, it's silky smooth. Unlike many modern cars, visibility is excellent and the mirrors are more than just expensive decorative appendages. It's tardis like too. That boot swallows luggage without a problem. I got a floor net to stop things moving around while I'm driving. In this hot weather the climate control is ace too. It is one purchasing decision you will never regret.

When I bought my Fabia 3, I didn't get a discount on the car, but I got a very good deal on my PX. Not only was the price quoted when I first enquired well up with expectation, but that value was held for the two months it took to take delivery of the car and that included the new reg plate coming out. It was a factory order, and the first new Fabias were just starting to come through when I placed the order. We all like a bargain, but, if you want aftersales, then you pay a wee bit extra for that priviledge. I buy many items over the internet, but I wouldn't risk buying a car that way.

Happy Motoring!

Hi there I can only vouch for the 1.4, it is a good car and in estate guise is a tiny bit underpowered, but it's okay. I wouldn't want to use a 1.2 on longer journeys as it would have to work harder to keep up on the motorway. The gearing in 4th and 5th gear are longer than my previous car (a Vauxhall Astra 1.4 16v) and this means coming down a gear on inclines. Hopefully you will find a new job soon. Yes, unemployment is rising and many companies and individuals will feel the pinch, but there are still millions in work and still vacancies wanting to be filled. Fingers crossed for you!

Double-declutching was a method used to change gear before synchromesh gearboxes were standard issue. The gear was momentarily put into neutral while the engine revs were matched to the new gear before declutching a second time and engaging the new gear. The method was also taught by Police driving instructors as part of teaching police drivers the system of car control as advocated in Roadcraft, the Police Driver's Manual. It isn't necessary with modern gearboxes, though you should still match the engine revs to the new gear before re-engaging the clutch, ie. a blip on the accelerator when changing down. It will avoid clutch drag and with lengthen the life of the clutch and transmission.

If ther car has only done 22,000 miles, the dealer may well not have bothered to take the wheels off to inspect things that closely. Low mileage cars will often deteriorate faster than ones that are used more. Unless there has been an issue with the brakes (as we had on a Vauxhall Corsa), I wouldn't expect to replace disks until 80,000+ miles. Some modern asbestos free pads do wear out the discs quicker than the old sort, but 22,000 miles sounds a bit low to me.

Here's an interesting article for those who wish to save as much as possible in fuel costs. BBC NEWS | Wales | '£100 fuel save' for best parkers I have heard this before, but very few people seem to bother nowadays.

That insurance quote sounds very low - I pay over £300 for a 1.4 16v level 3 estate (now just over two months old). Are you sure that's not a quote to take you to the end of your current period of insurance. Okay, I don't live in an ultra low risk area and I stick with well-known insurance companies, no obscure internet offers. Not sure how your monthly outgoings are going to decrease that much - apart from the saving on road fund licence and a modest saving on insurance. The fuel economy may not be much better than your current car. When I bought mine, there was interest free finance. So, with a 30% deposit, I'm paying £253 over three years.

My calculated mpg and the computer version are usually pretty close. It is scary how fuel prices have shot upwards in recent months. What I want to know is why fuel in my area (Cheshunt) is consistently more expensive than either Harlow or Watford. We're not talking about a penny per litre either, nearer 4-5p/litre on occasions. We have lost many filling stations to developers, but I think a lack of supermarket competition is a likely factor. It was 121.9 p/litre when I filled up last Friday. In Harlow on Saturday morning, 116.9 p/litre. That's extortion! We have Tesco and that's it, a Sainsburys or ASDA might help inject bit of downward pressure on prices.

Skoda do a boot liner for about £50, but for the ultimate protection, you may want to check out this company. Custom made Boot Buddies They do custom boot liners, made to measure to your specification and you can have the sides as deep as you want, you can have an extension that protects the seat backs even when the rear seats are lowered. That'll do the trick!

Yes, the Fabia 3 estate is super! I opted for metallic paint (storm blue which looks fab in the summer sunshine on the rare days when we see any!), ESP for safety and the underseat storage. I also had mudflaps, rear bumper foil and rear bumper protection strip fitted by the dealer. The rear bumper protection strip is £30, but it provides a nice bit of protection during loading and unloading. It looks good too and doesn't look like something that has been glued on as as afterthought. I did get a floor net for the boot, it stops things rolling around and is really effective at restraining cameras, etc. Beware if you put metal framed specs in the spectacle holder if it's hot though, they warm up and burn your nose if you aren't careful. I've had my Fabia for about 2 1/2 months now and it has been perfect. The use of space is brilliant and even tall chaps over 6 feet tall can make themselves comfy in the back. My second fav colour was satin grey. Storm blue does show up the mud, but I'm still happy with it.

The simplest answer I can think of is either lumber pad or some sort of seat protector that sits between your (tender? :eek:) behind and the seat. Several puns come to mind, but I'll spare you that.

That's good news. The estate is great, I love mine. It's tardis-like. It will be the longest 10 weeks of your life, but well worth the wait.

Just looked up the Skoda website and Barkers still exist and have a branch in Grimsby. GILBEY ROAD GRIMSBY NORTH EAST LINCOLNSHIRE DN31 2RP Tel: 01472 355558 Fax: 01472 352007

The first thing to do is to find out the terms under which the new owner of the dealership took over. Did the old company go into administration and the dealership sold off as a going concern, or was it simply bought out? There should have been some clear agreement on the fate of existing customers who had cars awaiting delivery. Without that crucial information, you have little chance of sorting this out efficiently.

This may be the organisation to go through - below is a link to a consumer information document in pdf format. http://www.smmt.co.uk/consumeraffairs/booklet.pdf If nothing else, they are going to be able to tell you where you stand legally and whether the new company who took over the original dealership had agreed to honour existing contracts with customers. I'd be surprised if they got away with leaving customers high and dry.

I'm afraid your car belongs to Skoda UK until they receive payment from the supplying dealer. When you order a car, you are indeed at the mercy of the dealer if the dealer is in financial troubles. If the dealer goes into administration, you potentially could lose your deposit. Isn't there a get-out in the contract that says if the delivery date slips by a certain amount, you can get out of the contract to supply your new vehicle? Read the small print on the back of your order form. It's probably a good idea to act before the dealer reaches the stage of going into administration. Some sound legal advise would be appropriate in these circumstances as the dealer is almost certainly breaching their contract with you to supply the car within the stated time. It's a horrible situation to be in and I do feel for you.

It very much depends how much stop/start journeys/short journeys you do. My 1.4 16v does a pretty reliable 42 mpg over a mixed cross country drive, the 1.6 shouldn't be that far short. Some of the extra engine capacity is compensated by the fact you don't need to push it as hard. It may surprise you that driving in too high a gear is every bit as detrimental to fuel economy as driving with higher revs. As you get used to the gearing etc and as the car loosens up, you will find the sweet spots and be able to use them to good advantage. Don't betoo despondent.