davidrhodes

Thanks everyone for the input. You learn something every day. Apparently this is called "comfort control". If you press the unlock button for 2 seconds the windows and sunroof open to cool the car down before you get to it on a hot day. (It might be full of cats or other people by the time you get there.) Pressing lock" for 2 seconds will close everything again. We just spoke to the dealers - didn't ask them first because we don't necessarily believe everything they tell us. However, just tried this out from within the house and - eureka - it works! It would be helpful if one was told this when picking the car up. It's bad, particularly from a security point of view, if you don't know. I'm still amazed, though, that it was triggered from within a large supermarket building. On a positive note, the Yeti's the best car we've ever bought. The only black mark I would put on it is the rigid parcel shelf, which is a fiddle and a nuisance to remove and takes up space even when not in position. The Fabia had a roller shutter which was infinitely better. Also the fabric on the rear seat back panels marks very easily when used as luggage space with the seats down. The panoramic sunroof is brilliant.

Came out of the supermarket today to find all the windows open as far as they could be and even the sunroof was part open. As I was deep inside the building, I couldn't have activated the remote at that distance. I was very lucky the car wasn't raided and that it wasn't raining. Can't imagine the insurance company would look very favourably at this situation if I had been forced to make a claim. Any ideas please?

It's a Fabia 3 Elegance model combi first registered in May 2010. Therefore, it's top spec. You're probably right about it being the wiring circuit or light stalk. I just thought that maybe other members had had this problem. Shall talk to the dealers tomorrow and see what they come up with. Thanks for your input and interest. Best wishes, David

I thought I would ask whether members have had any problems with their headlight dipping system. While driving along a pitch black country road the other night I dipped the lights for an oncoming car only to find the headlights went out altogether. Thereafter I could only use mainbeam, much to the annoyance of oncoming traffic and my embarrassment, not to mention the safety aspect. When I called the RAC, the problem refused to manifest itself, yet on both occasions when I have driven the car at night this week, the fault persists. Has anyone else suffered this or are there any useful suggestions please?

Have recently taken delivery of a Fabia 3 TDi combi (1.9) and it doesn't seem to be stuck together quite as well as the original Fabia. Have any other Briskodans noticed an intermittent rattle from the music console? Of course it won't do it to order and just depends on the road surface or engine pitch. It's very annoying and shouldn't be on a brand new car. I thought they were manufacturing Happy Drivers and wondered whether this is a common fault?

Thank you everyone for your input. RainX is the business and it's good to solve such a problem for less than a fiver. The points made about the difference between right and left hand drive wiper setup may indeed be causing this British problem! When I asked about rain deflectors in my first posting, I was referring to the plastic fix-on jobs and their effect on rain dispersal. However, as long as this RainX lasts a while, it's a much cheaper wy of fixing things than spending £32 on an unknown quantity.

Can anyone please tell me whether these wind and rain deflectors work in keeping the side windows clear? It is alarming to suddenly find you can't see in the mirrors when trapped in motorway traffic.

Does anyone know where I can get a strong waterproof liner which covers the boot area when the rear seats are folded away? There seem to be plenty of rubber mats available, but nothing that protects the sides. We had a brilliant one for the Volvo, but these don't seem to be available for smaller Skodas. Suggestions appreciated please.

That's good to know! Thank you. Happy New Year.

Thanks for your response - glad I'm not alone in thinking that a temperature gauge is reassuringly necessary. Happy New Year, David

Sorry for my delay in responding, but thanks for your input. It's just one of those things - I intensely dislike the Fabia2 instrument panel, particularly having realised too late that the Fabia3 had just what I wanted. Serves me right for penny pinching I suppose, because I'd always bought the Elegance model before. As you say, I'll just have to live with it. Happy New Year, David

Thanks for that Jon. See my posting to Briskodian. Best wishes, David

Thanks for your help. Can't help about the toolkit because of course mine didn't have one! So far I've just got a spare wheel, which I'll get the RAC to change if it comes to it. I simply couldn't go around without a spare wheel because punctures always happen at the most inconvenient times and places and you could guarantee it would be Sunday evening and a major tyre problem rather than a simple puncture. What do Skoda expect you to do if it's more than a simple puncture? It really narked me when I got the car and discovered when I got home that there was no spare wheel. Skoda's glib excuse about saving the environment didn't make a happy driver! They're the ones who are making the saving by not having to have the expense of wheel, tyre, toolkit etc. with thousands of cars. I also agree with another contributor's comments that the new type Fabia doesn't feel as well put together as the previous one. There's just something about the Fabia2 which feels disappointing and I wish I hadn't turned in my early type tdi estate. Hope you find a wheel soon. Is this shortage indicative of everyone voting with their spares?

While on the topic of spare wheels, I got mine from Skoparts of Poole and they were very efficient and quick. However, it has since crossed my mind that the wheel nuts for the Fabia's alloys might not be compatible with this steel spare. Can anyone advise me please? Just think, this is all so that Skoda save on exhaust emissions! And if you believe that propaganda, you'll believe anything.

[ I traded my early model (07) Fabia Estate for a Fabia 2 estate (1.9tdi) last August. I should have paid the extra for the Fabia 3 because I absolutely detest the digital dash panel on the Fabia 2, with its digital fuel gauge and lack of temperature gauge. The mpg read-out seems quite haphazard too. Why, oh why, did they fit such an inferior panel? The earlier Fabia panel was just right. The question is, does anybody know categorically if the wiring looms on the different Fabias are the same and therefore would it be possible to change the Fabia 2 dash panel for the one in the Fabia 3? Any other comments on the dash panel? - I'd be interested to hear. Right now, I wish I'd kept my earlier Fabia.

Sorry to hear of your rotten experiences with Skoda dealer. We bought our first Fabia 6 years ago from the main dealer because of the supposed comprehensive VAG check and warranty. Big mistake. The back window exploded for no apparent reason the first evening we had it. Skoda wouldn't cover the cost because it's deemed as glass, therefore it had to come out of our insurance. They did at least give us a courtesy car while they did it. The saga with this car just continued and the majority of things I found out later went wrong because it hadn't been taken back on recalls.However, the last straw was its thirst for oil and coolant when taken on a motorway run. Skoda just would not accept there was anything wrong with it, despite an RAC inspection by us which found other major faults which any dealer's inspection should have picked up. In the end they were adamant there was nothing wrong with the car, so on that basis I said they wouldn't mind it back as a trade-in. How could they refuse? and since then we've had 4 others which have been absolutely fine, but we don't use that dealer any more.

Have a look at the postings by Fabia owners - we are all as angry about this ripoff. Tell Skoda by emailing [email protected]. They might get the message if we all complain, and at least you get rid of some angst.

Sorry, Xrt-mart, for not being clearer and saying 'subscribe' when I probably ought to have said that I think Skoda's excuses are b*******. Thank you Vanagonjon for your explanation. Although Skoda would probably not change their minds about this spare wheel ripoff, I feel strongly that everyone who is angry at finding the spare wheel space empty should contact [email protected] and make your feelings clear. They can't say nobody told them, and at least you get rid of some of your angst. Have you seen the postings by the Octavia owners about this? We're not alone.

Further to the posting about Skospares, we contacted them and bought a second hand Fabia wheel and tyre for a spare for our new Fabia 2. Cost was £42 delivered and it arrived less than 24 hours after order. It's good quality and, much as I didn't want to pay for a spare, it's worth it for the peace of mind. I contacted Skoda Customer Services and their reply was: "... Skoda has eliminated the Spare Wheel as a standard feature in order to make savings to pass on to our customers and also to save weight to help reduce CO2 emissions and improve fuel consumption figures. Your Skoda Assistance policy is in place to recover or repair your vehicle should you be unable to personally attend to a puncture...." I personally don't subscribe to this, but I think everyone should make their feelings known. I've also made my feelings known about the ergonomics of the instrument panel on the Fabia 2, which is inferior to the very clear one on the old model. Had I realised that the Fabia 3 has clearer instrumentation when placing the order I would have gone for that. Surely it would be simpler to have the clearer version on all models from a production line point of view. It's illogical that they should go to the trouble of changing a dash panel when the older and better one already existed.

We collected our new Fabia 2 combi 19tdi last week. Lovely car, handles better than old one, but was horrified to find no spare wheel, just some gunk and a compressor. Might be old-fashioned, but I would prefer to have a spare in the boot (the cavity is there) and have had a look for a plain steel one. Do the wheels from the old-shaped Fabia fit the new one? It would also be interesting to hear of people's experiences using the gunk and compressor. Cheers.

Thanks for your advice - that's reassuring. Our present Fabia is brilliant, so we're obviously reluctant to trade it in for something less good. Do you get the Fabia effect when you pass other motorists, i.e. they start to race, thinking it's a shopping trolley.

Having run Fabias for the past five years and being very pleased with our present 1.9tdi estate, we are about to trade it in for a Fabia2 1.9tdi. However, I have heard from a number of sources that the Fabia 2 suffers from water ingress around the door seals. Can anybody advise on this or whether this is just a rumour? I should hate to change our lovely Mk I in for a sieve.