Avalon

I did 2,000 miles a month in one for years, certainly not quick, (Fabia's are quite heavy and 68bhp of NA power isn't going to help), it's still capable of three figures without issue, but that chain driven mpi engine is well proven (derived from the Skoda 1.3 mpi) and virtually bomb proof. Yes I did do a lot to the one I had, as it was easier to do it and know it never needed touching again than to mess about. The 1.2's on the other hand are like ticking time bombs, the 16v was more reliable, but also had issues. Ironically it was parked next to a 2.0 PD140 Leon DSG Sport and I ran both, the mpi got used daily, the Leon at the w/e begrudgingly. I could take the mpi anywhere and had nothing to loose.

Padgid, Brembo and Bosch are what you want to look at for OE quality. Do not use Eicher - it's ECP's own brand and basically gets subbed out to whoever is cheapest, that may be a decent OEM who does good work to a high standard, or the nastiest and crappiest thing that just meets the standard. CarParts4All is ECP's online division and are generally cheaper, ECP always have a discount code/sale on and are more convenient. Call your local parts place and ask them what they can get - you'll sometimes find they offer things from known brands at better prices than ECP. For example my local parts guy is great and i'd rather know I was supporting someone local. Pay your money and take your pick.

It can be as cheap or as expensive as you want to make it. Several people on here have the correct kit to extract the SKC, buy a used key (ebay/breakers), don't worry about the badge, best advice is to stick with the same p/n, then spend a fiver on a *new* transponder, have the blade cut by your local key cutting place and code in using the SKC with VCDS or find someone local who can. If you have the software and are lucky enough to have the SKC in your paperwork then it can be done with change from a tenner. If not then £10-15 for a used key or £20-30 for a copy with new transponder, £3-5 for a blade cut + software (VCDS alone now pushes £280 delivered!), so remember that when offering beer tokens.

Fabia's tend to go through certain things quite often. Drop links (buy Mielle HD's), console bushes (buy Powerflex or at a push cupra solid versions), ARB bushes (Powerflex again), wheel bearings - whoever you buy, they need to use the proper tool to put them in - pressing in = it'll die sooner rather than later.

The mpi chains have no interval and are basically run until you can't stand the noise anymore, it's a very different design to the 1.2 and much less prone to failure.

The problem is now that so many variations exist even in a single brand setting that dealer mechanics do tend to rely on computer aided diagnostics rather than skills developed over time. This is dumbing down the trade rather than moving it forward. Best example I can recall was a Rav4 I had, the mpg display would die after 15 minutes, they sent the HU away and it was tested and worked fine (probably tested for 5 minutes). Same issue when installed in the car so they swapped the full cluster/ODO out resetting the miles to zero. They even pulled in a chief Toyota tech to auth the work as it was expensive, it didn't fix it. I drove back and insisted they nicked a different HU out of a stock car of similar age, magically it fixed it and took all of 10 mins. If they'd thought about it they'd have done that in the first place at near zero cost rather than send the old one away and then have to replace/code the full cluster and the HU while saving me weeks of running back and forwards, but the computer didn't suggest it.

Dropping you a pm (private message) for more details

Irony: 2 months after posting the above i'm confronted with the same fault, £180 in parts at cost, plus time and it'll be done on stands :( My car did pick the day both the car and bike insurance were due to do this to me so i'm calling that a low blow On the up side I have looked at what else is about in the sort of price bracket to replace the whole car and decided i'm probably better off sticking with the furby.

I know this is a slight revival but meh. Thermostat is fine if it sits dead center within a few miles (will take longer in the winter obviously), keep an eye on the mpg as that's really bad, my lifetime average on the mpi is 42mpg over 30k+ so I expect up to 380-400 miles out of a non vented fill unless i've been driving in an enthusiastic manner or doing a lot of country lanes stuff. When was the last time it was serviced (plugs/oil/filters?).

The issue isn't the bushes, you try rubbing two pits of polybush together to make them creak, it's not going to happen. The issue will be your suspension if it's a genuine creak or drop links/arb/top mounts if it's a click/clunk.

While I agree with the logic you're wrong. ANY incident that you declare can and usually will be used against you, a recent media report cited a case where someone had £100 added to a renewal price when they mentioned on the phone an incident they hadn't notified the insurance company about as it was very minor and had been resolved privately.

The smell is normally a build up of ammonia, a charcoal filter will help, re-gassing won't normally, it's not related. You can buy an antibacterial gas treatment to put through the system but in all honesty a can of antibacterial spray and the a/c set to recirculate will have a similar effect, just make sure you're not in the car breathing it in at the time.

Idle is lumpy on the mpi, it's been suggested that it's due to the size of the air intake as a number of people have reported things are a lot better if more air is allowed in, this may have been due to trying to get an ancient (well 1960's) engine through more modern emissions regs. Before you go any further, did it do it again?

Before you do anything, ask your insurer how much extra they want for you to upgrade the brakes and map it, with any luck that'll put you off spending your money on JOM's, at least for a while.

If you fit Powerflex it's a much easier job, the only potential issue is if the wishbone bolt won't Come out or the top nut on the ball joint but I'd rather pick a fight with 1 large top nut than three small ones on the ball joint and it's easy to see if the wishbone bolt will shift.

He is having a laugh, they're like an hour to an hour and a half doing it on stands if you're a total noob and stop for a cuppa, a hell of a lot less if you have a lift. Look in the technical guides section.

To check the bush do it the easy way, steering on full lock to the right and check the opposite side, if the bush is torn it will be obvious. Knocking over uneven surfaces is usually drop links if it happens in a straight line, i've changed a few sets now and either use OE or Meyle up-rated versions. They can look fine but when you get them off they are well loose, also check the arb bushes while you're looking.

Use a tester who does no mechanical work, they don't care about the result so it's down to the car, and I'm yet to have a fail. The guy I use is honest, he was slightly perplexed at the 'loud and proud' Power Flex bushes but after 2 minutes under the car the first time he complained that I'd replaced everything he would normally look to fail it on but he was going to find something as he didn't like the colour. After three tests he's managed to give me a single advisory for a worn TRE, as I had a new one in the foot well ready to go on a car that's over 13 years old I'm happy with that. As for not giving a monkeys I knew of a few testers like that, one who didn't need the car, another who had substitute cars for emissions work, they got away with it for a while, but non of them are testers any more.

Or the puller will bend, the end of the shaft mushroom/deform and you're then talking angle grinder and ball ache or skip the lot and spend £30 on a hub from a scrappy and £60ish on a new shaft. Having done as you suggest with a blow torch, two pullers and a full garage I'd suggest my way was worth it, I'd have saved more than the cost of the parts in tools/time if I'd followed my advice.

Give the fan power directly and if it spins, if not then check the wires and sensor.

The cleaning affects over 1000km have been shown by BP for petrol iirc, have a look on the BP site.

Undo the ball joint top nut, drop the wishbone, remove the rear bolt that clamps the hub to the strut, remove the shaft at the gearbox and then drop the hub from the strut. Now you can spend a stupid amount of time trying to abuse it out with a blow torch, deform a socket by brewing it with a hammer or skip straight to buying a used hub (they're universal over polo/fabia/ibiza over the usual years) and replace the shaft, hub and bolt/nut. It's the process I've followed recently.

It's a carbon/charcoal filter, if the smell is ammonia then change the filter, if it's not then investigate further. If the a/c doesn't work a re-gass is not normally going to fix the issue, it'll need vac testing and the source of any leak resolving and then re-gassing.

4.5 ltrs for £12 for oil that 'meets or exceeds' the required standard means it's not actually been tested to the correct standard, but the base stock has at some stage before additives and packaging. It's costing you £0.0025 a mile for 5l of genuine 507 certified oil of a higher grade from VAG's own oil brand, your option is £0.0012 per mile. Personally I'd go genuine, but you can put what you like in

Surely by now the garage have read the fault codes? Again it sounds like classic angle sensor failure. Check fuses, battery and pump voltage, earth and the type of angle sensor fitted. Plastic cap = old, metal cap = new.