FAB59

On this occasion, this is actually irrelevant to the steering lock. I always park my cars with the steering wheel dead straight, and certainly in the Fabia, the steering lock is never engaged at that position. On hot days, the extra heat must be causing something to expand inside the ignition barrel (obviously a design fault), making it rather stiff when you try to turn the key. On normal (well, cold here in Britain) days, it's never an issue, at least not in my Fabia. I just wiggle the key for a bit (not the wheel) and eventually it will free up. Sometimes, when it's really hot outside, it can be very stubborn. You just have to wiggle it a bit harder. The key, that is...

Same here, only on hot days. Has been doing it since brand new. Was thinking about taking it to the dealer when it was still under warranty, but as I gradually realised how useless their mechanics are, I decided I wouldn't let them touch it and just live with it. As has been said already, just needs a bit of a wiggle.

When you take out the pen holder bit, make sure you pop it out by pulling from the bottom, because it sort of hinges into the dash at the top.

I've got the lowly 1.2 60ps. The slickness of the gearshift was actually one of the reasons I got the car, one of the best boxes I've had in any car. And it has always been the same, since brand new. 54.5k miles at the moment and it's still a joy to use. If I were you, I'd make the dealer aware of this as soon as possible, just to be on the safe side. The longer you leave it, the more room you give them to come up with excuses that this is normal. Notchiness is definitely not a trait of these boxes.

I used to have a Kenwood headunit in an old BMW with 4 channels. After a couple of hours of loud music on long trips, the headunit would overheat for some reason and start deforming the sound. At some point I realised that if I cut off the rear speakers (using the fader), it wouldn't overheat any more. I guess 2 channels running instead of 4 means half the load. Well, I only used the front speakers after that, and honestly, I never missed the rear speakers one bit. At least in that car (with surprisingly decent factory speakers actually), I couldn't tell a difference from the driver's seat.

^ That is a good point. Unless you have people sitting in the back regularly, you won't really notice much difference from the driver's seat.

I believe you can also try resetting the car's window control module. You do this by sticking the key in the driver's door, turning it to unlock and holding it there until the windows open. Then lock the car and again hold it in that position until the windows go up. Might help, you never know.

I also have the Dance headunit. Even though my car did not have rear speakers, the unit itself did have 4 channels, and the fader function obviously. I actually added wiring myself to the car's original loom for 2 rear channels, they just go all the way back to the boot to give signal to my subwoofer. No coding required and no need to buy a new headunit.

The CV boot is completely torn, as far as I can tell. You WILL need a new one I'm afraid. If you do drive it, take it easy, go VERY slowly, have your window down and listen for noises, and stop every now and again for a quick inspection. This just adds to all the horror stories I've heard or experienced so far from utterly incompetent garages, main dealers included! I cannot stress enough what a difference it makes to work on your own car, especially if you're an enthusiast. It's really not that hard, with all the information available to us nowadays, online or elsewhere. I do however understand that many people just don't have the time or space. I'm feeling your pain newbie69. Hope it'll all be sorted soon, without too much hassle.

Mine has always been doing that exact same thing. Although I've had it from brand new, I can't remember when it started doing it, or indeed if it has been doing it all along. I guess I never paid too much attention because other cars I've had in the past have done the same thing. Never been a problem in any case though. Well, my Fabia is now four and a half years old and has done 54,000 miles. The gearbox is still as slick as it was when new and a joy to use. I wouldn't worry about it, as long as it goes completely silent once it has warmed up. And don't forget, sound-proofing in the Fabia leaves a lot to be desired, which is probably why that particular rattle is so apparent.

You're welcome. Let us know if you have been successful.

@xman: Sorry to hijack this thread, but why have you crossed off Honda? Vauxhall and Fiat I totally understand, these 2 were never on my list to begin with. Just asking because if I were to get rid of my Fabia, my first option would be a Jazz.

Here's how I got rid of the front door rattles in my Fabia, once and for all. Got me 2 metres of self-adhesive velcro from ebay. First, I took the rough side of the velcro and threw it in the bin. Then, I stuck a strip of the smooth side along the vertical edge of the door on the side where the lock is. That way, when you put the door card back, its edge will rest on the velcro, so no more plastic on metal contact, and obviously no more rattles. My car only needed this on the side of the door where the lock is. If that fails, try the hinge side, or even the horizontal edge at the bottom. I did that several years ago and my doors are still rattle-free. I must point out however that this will only stop rattles caused by the vibrations you get while driving on bad roads. Don't expect rattles caused by the speakers to disappear after doing this. It will help slightly, but it won't stop them completely.

I can't help but be amazed at the popularity of the fiesta. I've driven a couple, in fact we have one in work that I drive regularly, and yes, ride and handling are significantly better than the fabia, and it is a handsome car, but the steering feels very artificial (very little feel), gearshift is rubbery and the brakes are way over-assisted. For what is praised as a really good driver's car by the ("allegedly" honest) press, I am very underwhelmed by it. Please note I haven't driven the ST though, just comparing a normal fiesta to a normal fabia. Am I alone in thinking that? Or is it just the good looks and hefty discounts from ford that sell sooo many fiestas?

If it's any help, I've got the 60hp one and I get about 280 miles from a tank by only doing very short trips (less than 2 miles), whereas on long journeys I get anything between 450-500 miles.

Glad to have been of help.

Assuming you mean the passenger's airbag, then yes, as long as you turn it off with the key from the side of the dashboard, you'll be fine. I've had to remove mine once and never got any warning lights or fault codes. No need to disconnect the battery.

The AC/heater controls trim and the two small trim pieces either side can easily be pulled out with a screwdriver. I wrapped some insulation tape around the tip of the screwdriver when I removed mine (to fix some rattles), to avoid scratching them. I pulled on the lower edge. Unfortunately, the centre face vent above these needs a special tool from VAG to remove, as far as I know.

It should not make any noises at all. If I were you, I'd creep under the car and make sure everything is tight. Have they installed the bushes correctly?

Moving the wheel along the splines on the column to get it centered is plain ridiculous. But it doesn't surprise me one bit that a dealer has suggested it, only an imbecile could come up with this solution. The spacing of the splines will probably never match the exact angle of correction needed, but worse still, you will end up with a steering system that will have more lock in one direction than the other. You must insist that they don't do that marky.

Keep your current Fabia. You've cared for it over the years and know it's going to serve you well. Why risk getting a newer used one that you don't know about its past? What if it gives you trouble and you have to deal with the morons at the dealerships? I can't tell you how happy I was when my warranty expired! I was literally ecstatic!!!

You're very welcome. My father's thoughts exactly... He was wrong.

It's an '08 Merc C180K. Trust me, they're really not a great tyre. If you also consider how expensive they are, they're not worth it at all. For what it's worth, my mother has an '05 BMW 116i on Dunlop SP Sport 01 tyres, and it feels (on the same stretch of road) positively planted! They're both pretty even in terms of power and speed, since the Merc is automatic and the BMW a manual. It's not like the Merc is overpowering its driven wheels, or anything like that. These Michelins are just a sub-standard tyre when it comes to grip. For all I know, you may even get 5mpg more using them, but like you said, I agree that when going round corners, grip is a priority.

My father's car has Michelin Energy tyres on. With it being rear-wheel-drive, they're great fun because their grip is abysmal, so you get a lot of sideways action. They will also probably last for 100k miles, they really are THAT hard (their compound). They are quiet and (supposedly) improve fuel consumption, but their grip is terrible, so I would avoid at all costs! I too have only good things to say about Barum tyres, have had them on a previous car. They are considered a budget brand, but they're worlds apart from the usual chinese stuff. I am currently running Falken ZE914 tyres on my Fabia, a good tyre at a fair price, very pleased with them. Definitely quieter than the Turanzas they replaced.

This has to do with a hands-free kit. It may or may not be fitted to your car, but it's in the menu regardless.