NorthernSoul

Love the new steering wheel design, but there's no chrome 'VRS' badge on it. :(

Mine has done 8500 miles too, I've put 2 litres of oil in so far, so I guess that mine is ok (for now at least). It's going for it's first service on Friday at Faintree Garage in Telford. I've been very happy with the car so far, there are a couple of minor issues that need some attention, but otherwise all is well.

My wife had the same problem with her Fabia, so I guess it could be a known issue, the dealer had to make some kind of adjustment to the catch - it still doesn't feel '100%' when compared to my estate version though.

I briskly pulled away from traffic lights this morning, I wasn't even trying particularly hard and certainly didn't go anywhere near the 60mph speed limit, but upon reaching a traffic island further up the road, the guy that was behind me at the lights attempted to swerve in front of me - I had to slam the brakes on to avoid a collision. The look on his face was one of sheer fury Sometimes I wonder if the vRS creates a certain amount of resentment in some other drivers. (The guy was in a beat-up van that looked as if it wouldn't pass an MOT test) It happened on the A38/M5 island in Droitwich.

1. Date of purchase, where purchased and mileage to date I bought it new in March 2012 from Faintree Garage in Bridgnorth (now in Telford) and it has covered 5600 miles since then. 2. How the car was driven from new - gentle or like stolen or anything inbetween It has been driven 'normally' from day one and in fully automatic mode 99% of the time. I've never driven it like it was stolen. 3. Oil usage history, whether massive or nothing, what oil (5W30, 0W40 etc and brand) Across the 5600 miles I've covered, I've used 750ml of the dealer/manufacturer supplied oil (Castrol Edge Professional 5w30)

Great review Martyn – As always, your thoughts are very interesting and reflect my findings about the car – overall it’s great. I took my vRS estate for its’ first long run to Newquay in Cornwall on holiday last week - We (me, wife + two children), always take far too much luggage than we really need with us, but the boot managed to hold it all. Averaged over 42mpg on the trip down, which is pretty good given the car was fully laden. I achieved 38mpg on the way back – I drove quite briskly (232 miles, door to door, in 3hrs 20mins). The car was great to drive on the Motorway, although the wife did comment on the heavy ‘thump’ upon hitting the cats-eyes when changing lanes in order to overtake – A combination of the weight in the car, low-profile tyres and the suspension set-up I guess. The DSG works like a dream in every situation – I rarely use the paddles, maybe I should make the effort. On a different note, for those that are interested, I did find that you can only get standard 95 RON petrol in that part of Cornwall.

I don't 'care' about other peoples lack of knowledge about modern cars at all, other people's opinions aren't really important to me either - My original post was a light-hearted one, I was having a bit of fun, a laugh, a joke - nothing more. Rest assured, it has not caused me to question my choice of car whatsoever.

I brought this subject up a couple of weeks ago...this was my recent experience. http://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/241983-yes-my-fellow-skoda-owners-there-are-still-a-few-of-them-out-there/

As it happens, it was the Sport model. Even that model appeared cheap inside. I was somewhat surprised though that a guy that drives a Suzuki could be so predjudiced against the Skoda brand - I blame his parents.

I didn't really get the opportunity to say anything more - I was stunned into silence. It's not as if he was joking with me, he was deadly serious. He was clearly impressed by what he saw, but the fact it was a Skoda meant that he would never put one on his driveway!

I've had quite a few positive comments by friends and workmates about my vRS estate, but this occurred on Friday afternoon on the car park where I work... A colleague, a guy in his early forties, was telling me about his car, and how, after only one year of ownership from new, a hole had been worn into the cloth of his driver-side "bucket seat" as he called it, due to him rubbing the lip of the seat when getting in and out - I was showing vague interest, so after work had finished, he took me outside to have a look... I said that my seats were of a similar shape to his and as he happened to be parked next to my car, I opened my driver door and showed him. He rubbed his fingers across the edge of the seat and commented on the nice quality of the cloth. Looking deeper inside, he went on, " Hey, it's not bad inside is it..." I responded positively, "I'm really pleased with it - best car I've ever owned, decent sized boot for carrying stuff,180bhp, it's fairly decent on fuel and it goes like a rocket" He looked towards the gearstick, "Is it an automatic?" "Semi-Automatic." "Eh?" "Yes, twin-clutch DSG, with gear-change paddles on the steering wheel - you can drive it in manual, auto, or a combination of both". Taking a look at the nifty little paddles, he enthused,"Wow, I've never seen that on a steering wheel before - it's a nice car you've got there and it looks really great in white" "I couldn't be more pleased with it", I said with a proud smile, "Glad you like it" "Yeah....but.....erm.." "What?", I asked. "It's just....well....y'know...erm....that badge....I wouldn't want to be seen driving a Skoda". With that, he jumped into his Suzuki Swift and drove off....

Due to the numerous threads about oil consumption on this forum, I've been nervously checking my car for oil usage on a weekly basis. It's done 2000 miles since March and it doesn't appear to have used any oil at all. On the advice of the dealer, I've driven it 'normally' (for a 49 year old) from day one. I haven't been for a long journey in it yet - I've only really used it for going to work, a 12 mile each-way trip. For me, 'Normally' = Running it in Drive, 95% of the time and in Manual for the remainder - I've not taken it over 4500rpm. Maybe I should soon?? I tried using Sport mode a couple of days ago, but I got a bit anxious so knocked it straight back into Drive. (middle-aged driver) I generally appear to be getting between 34 and 38 mpg. I'll be doing a few 200+ mile trips to Cornwall in the next couple of months, so I'll see what that brings in terms of fuel and oil consumption Overall, I couldn't be happier with the car, sometimes I get the impression I'm in the minority, but I suppose people are more likely to express a complaint or disappointment on a public forum, rather than scream their joy about what a great car they are currently driving.

Don't use Autosol Metal Polish on your interior plastics! I use this product at home for cleaning/restoring pinball machine legs and (metal) ramps - It will permanently damage plastic because it's very abrasive. For plastic parts I use this product: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Novus-1-Plastic-Scratch-remover-polish-237ml-bottle-/250823031611?pt=UK_Video_Games_Coin_Operated_MJ&hash=item3a6637bb3b It is great for all plastics and glass - especially delicate/fine plastic - trust me, I've been using it for years on cars, pinball machines, vinyl records, ipods etc.

I bought the estate because I needed the extra boot space - Having owned it for a month now, I think it has the edge over hatch looks-wise too. A friend who owns an Audi A5 was genuinely impressed by my vRS estate - you get a very versatile and fun car for a relatively small outlay. The gloss black roofbars enhance the cars appearance in my opinion. Incidentally, the dealer reckoned that the vRS estate is very likely to be a rare car - no bad thing really. I was also informed that Skoda are very unlikely to 'push/promote' the Fabia vRS with any 'VAT Free' offers in the near future, partly due to the fact that the DSG is in short supply and is causing long delays at the factory...

My wifes 57 plate Fabia 2 has an air-conditioned glove box, but my 12 plate vRS does not. The May 2010 vRS brochure makes no mention of an air-conditioned glove box in the list of standard equipment.