Starship Fighter

I was wondering whether anyone else still encounters the ridiculous attitude that some people have to Skoda? It only took one drive for me to realise that the cars themselves are superb, and the modern styling is certainly to my taste, but some people STILL think that the cars themselves say something negative about the driver! A friend has recently crashed their 10 year old BMW 3 series and has been looking for a replacement. They want something cheap to buy, economical to run and with space for kids and luggage. I said 'that sounds like you need to have a look at a Fabia diesel. It ticks all of those boxes and mine is an absolute pleaure to drive.' The response was unexpected. 'I wouldn't be seen dead in a Skoda...' I was a little hurt by this - I love my car and everyone who has been in it has had nothing but compliments about it, but this person would, it seems, rather be seen in a clapped out Beamer than a brand new Skoda! I'm taking delivery of my Monte Carlo in a couple of weeks. I'm going to call round and see them when I've got it. I will be intrigued to see where they can find fault with one of the best looking hatchbacks on the road...

I think that the old switcheroo might be in order then... Just need to check that they're the same radius!

Thanks everyone! You've certainly given me plenty of food for thought as well as excellent advice! I've got to say that since owning Skodas I've lurked here quite a bit, but found that, in comparison to other owners forums I've joined, this is certainly the friendliest and IMHO the most knowledgable! I'll definitely be spending more time here!

I've been driving my 1.6 TDi 90 for 18 months and have been very happy with it. Economy is fine, regen is fine and it's a very driveable engine. However, I've seen a few threads on here regarding running in and driving style and as far as I can tell there seem to be distinct differences of opinion regarding the correct way to run them in. This was my first diesel and I tended to drive it like a petrol, as in aiming to keep the revs as low as possible, but experimented with my driving style after reading a few threads on here and discovered that I was getting better economy by keeping the revs a little higher and changing gear a little later! I've just signed to trade in for a 1.6 Monte TDi 105 and now I'm a little torn as to the best way to run it in. I've always been told that 'gently' is the best way to do it and it has always seemed to work for me, but could I get a better result by perhaps being a little more... persuasive with the new car during the run-in period? What have other TDi owners found with their run-in period? I'd be gutted if I discovered that the engine isn't performing at it's optimum and it was all my own fault! Thanks.

I've got a 1.6 TDi estate which came with the spare. I've just signed to chop it in for the 1.6 Monte and didn't even think to organise the spare for that. I was just thinking - would I be within my moral right to keep the spare from my existing car? I suppose it isn't without the realms of possibility that I'd used the tyre weld and lost the compressor... Whaddya think?

Hi there! Although I have only just discovered this board, i have been a 'happy driver' for a little over a year now. I started off with a 1.2 petrol Fabia which, although i LOVED it was a little bit of a drain on petrol resources. I traded up to a 1.6 TDi SE just before Christmas and, not only have I fallen in love all over again, but I have halved my fuel bills and I've got a bit of grunt under the hood. I honestly belived that after driving Fiats, Hondas, Fords and Vauxhalls that I would never find my car brand, but I can honestly say that it's very unlikely I'll drive anything else now. Unless Maserati suddenly release a Gran Turismo which costs £15K...