paully

On the Roomster, I presume the same on the Fabia...if you havent got fog lights fitted, pull off the outer grilles where fog lights would normally be and you can access the centre grille from there...In theory the centre one should come off but we couldnt get it off so be careful...

My sympathy...I take it yours is like mine under warranty...Faced with such a bill I think I`ll have a spurious part fitted by an independent and then get some of the mesh fitted..All the best

Thanks for the helpful replies, anything that can save someone a lot of money is worth flagging up...whatever it turns out to be damaged its going to cost more simply because the car is in warranty and the manufacturer has the last say on the parts you have to fit in order to keep the warranty valid..If it wasnt for this fact I`d have it repaired cheaply by a local garage, no problems, but you don`t buy a new car to void the warranty do you.. Thanks to Boss Fox and Phil E for your suggestions and hope it helps someone

I`ve just put an item on the Roomster thread but thought I`d bring it to attention here, as both models share the same front end. Mine suffered some sort of f.o.d. damage probably a stone which went straight between the gaps in the plastic grille, situated under the number plate, and put a hole in what looks like the radiator, but I`m led to believe is the A/C condensor (expensive)..Has been patched by Skoda assist on call out. Now looking at some threads on the Octy forum its seems to be a quite common fault there as well, as Skoda have produced a mesh to fit behind the grille to protect the radiators etc from this kind of damage.. Just interested to see if any MK2 Fabia owners have suffered the same incident....Ran a MK2 estate in the past without any incident..More info on the Roomster thread..Many thanks for any help you can give

What looks like the radiator I`m told is in fact the A/C Condensor , although I`m no expert but thats what I`m working on

Thats what I fear as well, DM Keith raised this as a possibility as well, although the fact they were so swift in offering help leads me to believe this is a far from uncommon problem and both VAG and SUK are well aware. Fingers crossed

Last week was on the A1 near Peterborough when the water low level warning light came on. Pulled over and saw steam from under the bonnet..alarming..Anyway, to cut a very long story short, got it off the A1 into a safe place and Skoda Assist (AA) were there in 15 mins. What had happened was that some sort of f.o.d probably a stone had gone through the gaps in the plastic grill below the number plate and smashed a hole in what we initially though was the radiator. It turned out to be the Air Conditioning Condenser (£373). The AA were excellent, put a patch on it, refilled and sent us on a test drive to make sure all was ok..Only when they were satisfied did they let us go. Good service. Now obviously this is not something covered by warranty and is an eye watering repair. The main issue here IMO is the design of the grille, which affects both Fabia and Roomsters, but from looking at threads on here, appears the Octavia/Superb are even more at risk of this damage. Skoda have produced a mesh to fit behind the central lower grille to prevent this happening, but why the hell don`t they fit these as a recall and start to fit them at the factory. Appears to be a problem across the VAG rangae, although my research isnt fully done yet. To be fair, DM Keith at Wakefield have been excellent. Without seeing the car, yet, they have raised a request for a goodwill gesture with SUK , via their service manager and I`m hopeful of some news later this week. I`ll keep you all posted. There was one guy with a 3 month old Superb that it happened to and cost the owner over £600...Without modification, in theory, its something that could happen every week.. Have a look through the bottom plastic grille and the first thing you will see is the condenser and see just how vulnerable it is..Guys on the Octavia forum have made diy covers from 6mm mesh and fastened it with cable ties.. Hope it doesn`t happen to anyone else, but it does knock your confidence in a car when you know its this vulnerable especially on fast roads..might affect how long I decide to keep this Roomster.

I`m certainly going to have to get this sorted out on mine, unlocking all doors on one blip would be the greatest step forward...Its the single biggest dislike of an otherwise great car

Never seen any with anything other than factory fits tbh...I suppose its because Roomsters are mainly bought by people looking for a cheap to run practical car..Most will be more bothered by how much space there is to fit bikes kids and dogs in etc rather than anything esoteric

Interesting to read the difference in early and late model Rapids..I test drove one of the first Rapids and thought it awful, especially the numb steering and ride. Glad to hear that Skoda have made the required changes to later models. Thanks for the info guys I`ll certainly have another look when I come to swap..Do I take it correctly that the Space Wagon came uprated from the start?

My Roomster was a YM 2014 and MDI cables were still a factory fit option then..I think that was standard across most of the range unless you went for elegance trim..Not having a clue what such a fitment does, I went for the heated seats instead

Just been away for a jolly and treated the Roomster to a warm stay in an indoor garage at the airport...Hired from a Vauxhall/Opel fleet while away..Jeez I dont think I`ll do it again..Got `upgraded` to an Astra (wish they hadn`t bothered)..It had 115,000kms on the clock with a steering that was too light and refused to properly centre, while the gear selectors were so knackered, you needed both hands to force the change of gear..Took it back and was given an almost new Corsa..This one had` pimp my ride` alloys, cornering headlights, Sat Nav and that stupid stop/start thing..Now if ever there was a pointless addition to motoring its got to be that ..Thank God the Roomsters arn`t afflicted..Couldnt get used to it. All bells and whistles true,but honestly, after a Skoda the build quality on these things was shocking .The seats were very hard and uncomfortable,certainly I wouldn`t want to drive one too far.Apart from fleets, I can`t help but wonder if anyone actually stills buys Vauxhalls..No wonder they are discounted so heavily..They don`t appear to age well.Someone else of my acquaintance hired from the same fleet and was left stranded in the middle of nowhere with his `upgrade` Anyways back to the lovely Roomster this morning, got in and like an old friend, was welcoming, comfortable and handled well in the somewhat monsoon conditions we found ourselves in over the Pennines..It was good to be reminded just what quality and reliabilty Skoda cars are. not to mention comfort..Lovely bus, not yet old and still in love with it :love:

and the Superb gives one oodles of space in the back, should one ever have the need for it...I `m thinking of a Superb next due to the number of Grandkids that have suddenly started to appear

Well done and Congrats..Sorry for the delay but on holiday at Mo and havent logged on..Back at the weekend and i`ll PM you for a meet..Have got a Corsa on hire at the moment, please folks dont buy Vauxhall, coming from Skoda the build quality is truely shocking!!..happy ride Jim

Congratulations Mike, hope you like it...I remember about 5 years ago on the Fabia forum, we both got 105`s about the same time and couldnt believe how fast they were.Scalded cats :sun: .Happy days (I`m on a Roomster now) keep us posted re what you think of your new one..

Getting closer........soon be here and worth waiting for

Such Honestly good luck and you are right with your letter. But before you go any further, if that is required, I really would go and seek some legal advice. If it goes to court they will fund Counsel (and smart ones at that) which you could end up paying for if it goes pear shaped..You`ve said, on here, your car had some marks previously. Believe me a smart barrister will make a meal out of that and as the case will be judged on `the balance of probabilities` who knows the outcome..Forgive me if you are already clued up legally, but otherwise I would seek professional advice first. I`d hate to see you in worse position than now..Good luck

Guys..Don`t just accept ok it will be here when its here...I bought from the big Yorkshire dealership and I was told (and they did) they can ask that the transport order be expedited..The dealer has a lot of say on when they get delivered from Grimsby..Please don`t accept the shrug of the shoulders. Your money is as good as anyone else`s..pester pester pester and don`t be shy.....you want them to do their best for you, not marry them

Many years ago I had a Honda in black..Although I had a choice of colours, black looked wonderful on the display..Marvelode until it went through its first puddle and the next and so on...Unless you like washing cars I really would wait for the silver..Thats what mine is, doesnt show the dirt as much and looks lovely when it does get cleaned :sun:

Forgot to say, dont bother with Skoda UK customer services..I tried them when I was waiting for mine,,spoke to a charming poppet who told me that my car had been on the ship for 10 days and would be arriving soon in the UK..true..I did then throw her completely by telling her that the slowest steaming time from Emden would be 36 hours...geography sadly wasnt her strong point..She didnt know where the car was being shipped from.. bless....SUK did have the good grace to admit they needed to invest in a little more staff training and sent me a voucher for £50 :clap:

Malcster I dont believe in E Mail at all for things like this...far too easy to ignore..Ring up and speak to the salesman you bought it off, or failing that the sales manager..If you do this on a regular basis, they will want you off their back, so digit usually gets extracted pdq...Keep at them, but leave the hi tec stuff alone in this case

The ex traffic cars are certainly the ones to buy...As others have said they are serviced regularly but more importantly they are only driven by advanced trained officers. Part of such training is yes, driving the cars fast, which is what they are built for,but never ragging them (never buy an ex panda car for that reason)..Long gone are the days when they were used for ramming!! Another reason is that the advanced drivers need to be sure that their cars are up to scratch when they are doing 120 plenty on a vile wet night..So if the car starts misbehaving its faulted and garage have it inspected and /or repaired. It cant be any other way, its their lives at risk..For the most part they are very reliable, especially the Skoda Octavias....used by every Police Force and taxi fleet in Europe :sun: ..go for it

Good news....next up we need some piccys

Have a look round various makes forums..plenty of anti views on stop start..all there to be read!!