greenline 11

Exchanged my Greenline 11 diesel about six months ago for a Kia Rio. Greenline after 20K plus miles = 50 mpg and five stays in Furrows, Oswestry to discover what was wrong with car. ****all! What? Kia now has 9K and doing 66mpg, a marvelous 32% improvement on performance!! Some one asked if I would get back? Then here you are! The Rio mpg is still climbing!

I got rid of my 18 month old Fabia Greenline Diesel 2 months ago purely on the grounds I could never get more than 50 MPG. It went in and out of the dealers four or five times to be told there was nothing wrong with the car. Rubbish! I now have a Kia Rio and getting 65 MPG and still climbing by the day. The quoted figures for the Greenline are total nonsense! You have been warned!

Better view my threads before you give up your car. Owned a Greenline diesel for 18 months, similar mileage to your own as in annum, and couldn't get more than 50 mpg. Got shut and now own a Kia Rio doing 60+ to the gallon and climbing by the day ... caveat emptor!

Hello Estate Man, Yes I forgot to mention that one, the Rio has a seven year guarantee from bumper to bumper excluding consumables. The sales people told me the radio and battery only, come with a two year guarantee as these are the only items on the car not made by Kia. But surely that is fine? Anti-perforation is a whacking 12 year guarantee! You always did insist there was something wrong with my Fabia but after five visits to the dealer I simply gave up. If you recall the local dealer even downloaded the engine signature back to VAG in Germany and they too said nothing amiss! But 50 miles to the gallon, where the heck are they coming from? Some weeks ago another poster suggested I was off my head swapping as I would need to keep the car for fifteen years simply to break even. Not at all sure on what figures he was working? I have done some maths this morning and at present pump prices and and the difference I paid for the car then I will break even easily in 6.6 years but that is based on what the car is returning now. It really does seem to be improving by the day and as I said earlier, summer is on the way and my experience is that returns on MPG zoom upwards plus some more loosening of the engine should by all accounts give me some fairly lively figures to witness just now? If the Rio went as far as say 70 to the gallon, who knows, then slash the break even term by half again. I have not of course vectored any figures in that I have renewed my car within 18 months nor have I tried to imply the 7 year warranty would prove substantial in the long term. I've had the Rio four weeks now and has climbed from 50 to just over sixty to the gallon and that was just about the worst weather we could experience this last month and driving half the time at night, you know the thing, lights fully ablaze and the heater blasting while the tyres were certainly for the first fortnight of its life displacing hundred of gallons of surface water each time it went out in the rain, rain, rain! All takes a lot of energy out and hence a drop in MPG in anyones' experience! It has been amazing watching the onboard computer shoot up the MPG figures after about 10 miles of a 35 mile journey. A warm engine is an efficient engine. My journeys are identical to when I drove the Fabia by the way. True MPG is configured from tank to tank fill up. My experience so far is that the onboard computer is only a couple of miles optimistic. Perhaps someone will buy my old Fabia and be delighted with it. I notice the dealer has it up for sale describing the MPG return as 83MPG [combined] on his advert so the trade aren't afraid to quote the manufacturers published figures to sell their cars. Thanks for the info regarding bio. Had a look at Wiki to discover as you say, all diesel sold in the UK must have at least 5% bio by law. Now how does that square with Skoda who say absolutely NO BIO in their Greenline 11 diesel? Remarkably Wiki report that bio is excellent for diesel engines protecting them from wear and prolonging the life of the fuel system and engine. Perhaps the fuel companies have a huge lobby with the car makers not to encourage bio as we can all, at the moment at least, get the stuff a lot cheaper than fuel at the pump. I will leave that for another day ................ Ta again.

Rapeseed oil is considered one of the better bio oils by some manufacturers. If not full diesel fuel, Kia recommend B7 bio fuel which is 93 parts diesel and 7 parts bio oil. It doesn't really seem a lot and more a gimmick I feel, as said in my post but works out to be 1 litre of bio oil for every 14 litres of diesel or thereabouts. ALL diesels will run on SVO but in the case of rapeseed oil the ambient outside temperature needs to be over 15 C or the oil becomes too viscose so not really a go in British winter months if using straight. In the case of the Fabia, Skoda advises no bio whatsoever as this will ruin the DPF, they say and in turn, invalidate the warranty. I remember when I owned a Punto diesel, Fiat advised I could use 5% bio though there was no DPF to consider so expect they may have been particularly cautious. So Kia allow no more than 7% bio but although there is a DPF on the Rio it would seem it is far more robust then the Fabia version for them to allow its use. Using straight vegetable oil i.e. 100% bio, will invalidate the warranty and cause damage, so Kia claim so a no go with that one with the Rio. It might be useful also to know, that the Customs and Excise people now allow individuals to use 1100 litres of bio per annum without paying duty. After that figure if you are to use more you must inform them and pay the regular duties as one would pay for petrol or diesel. I haven't a clue how they police this policy but regard 1100 litres as a damn fine allowance if only the car was allowed to burn it by the manufacturer.

Some of you may recall I owned a Fabia Greenline Diesel until just over a month ago. I had bitterly complained about the car not giving a better MPG and had, had it into the dealers five times for them to say nothing was wrong with the car! One or two members here suggested I was driving it all wrongly and presented a method by which I should be driving it albeit contrary to how I have driven motors all my life and would also mention contrary to the 'change gear' prompts on the maxi-dot dash. I certainly don't want to engage in a flame war so please accept my comments on a non personal level. Much of the advice and comments in this forum were either useless or complete nonsense. The last straw so to speak, regarding my getting rid of the Fabia, came after a trip to the Midlands from North Wales when I managed a mere fifty to the gallon for the round trip! That was it! It's going! I picked up my new Kia, Rio MK 111 version 2 from a major dealer in Cambridge swapping the Fabia and handing over some money. As it happens I got a hell of a deal through Carquake online if anyone is interested. There were 9 miles on the clock when I picked up the new car. Coming home my heart sank as I had done a mere fifty to the gallon on the trip home, yes, just like the Fabia. Next fill up, low fifties, then next mid fifties. Today, nudged over the 60 MPG and the returns appear to be improving day by day! Now the Kia Forum members are telling me to do about 3000 miles and then really see what to expect from a gallon! Already the Kia is ten miles to the gallon above the Fabia and truthfully climbing each fill up! Now also bear in mind we in North Wales, have had the most foul of weather with extreme low temperatures over the past weeks and this car is already outshining the Fabia as far as returns are concerned. So with another couple of thousand miles to loosen the Rio up and with summer diesel just now then I'm confident we're going to get very close to the published figures for the Rio! Don't worry, I don't do bull, I will tell it as truthfully as I can. Out of interest, I believe the Fabia was a very stylish car and had it delivered some economy then I would have stayed with it for many years as I drive about 20K a year. As you see I went for the version 2 Rio and now wish I'd gone for the version 3 as I really do miss the cruise control on the Fabia. Build and comfort wise the cars are very equal though I would say the suspension seems a lot firmer on the Rio, hard even?. I thought I might have a problem with six gears, a first for me but soon found it fun and wouldn't do without it now. Talking gears the space between gears on the Rio are a hell of a lot more linear whereas the Fabia could improve their ratios for a better feel to the drive. Again style wise, little between the cars. I thought the steering on the Fabia was a dream but the Rio really is superior with a mere stroke to keep it level and straight. Also another one up for the Rio, it will take bio fuel. I happen to think it a bit of a gimmick as the makers suggest no more than 7% bio but slightly helpful on a tank full as that means I can put, say three litres of rapeseed oil, for three pounds instead of £1:45 a litre for diesel so thus saving £1:35 each time a fill up. Every little helps, as the saying goes. For some reason I miss the outside temperature displayed on the radio as with the Fabia though I can hop about for the information on the Rio. Most of the rest of the bells and whistles are similar for both cars. I actually drive the new Rio in the style I've always driven and already finding it out stripping the Fabia in terms of returns! So much for all the advice meted out in this group as to how one should drive a car with a three pot engine, sorry folks! I can't guess where the MPG will level out on the Rio as I have only done 1,300 miles but said, it seems to improve by the day. Already doing just over 60 to the gallon which is 20% more than the Fabia and of course 20% less fuel to buy! Who knows with summer coming and loosen up the engine somewhat in a few more miles what claims I can then make. I will keep you posted. It might well be I had a bad 'un with my Greenline Fabia and wouldn't let it detract if some of the members are deliriously happy with theirs. Mine didn't work for me but the Rio does and I'm so happy I done the swap. Wish you all well.

............................... I have to say Igloo and without any meaningful malice to other posters on this subject, my own findings more or less correlate with yours. Far better mpg in 5th gear than 4th gear at the speeds you describe. What is also very pertinent is that the test is very, softly, softly. There are constant instances in the Wiki account 'gently accelerate' which sort of throws a spanner in the works of the notion we should be permanently accelerating the arse out of these cars! I made a mention last week of a long journey I did on fast A roads and motorway and keeping within speed limits and taking the advice of keeping my revs up whatever gear I was using at the time I achieved 50 mpg rather than the usual 55 mpg which I think is very poor return anyway! But where does that leave us all now. Surely the whole idea of the figures published by manufacturers is to help us all make wise and informed decisions in what car we should buy. If Skoda publish a figure of 83.1 mpg for combined and then my car for example then gives a return of 50 mpg why the hell do we need to know about figures when so far out of sync' with reality! For my car there is a shortfall of 45.7% !!! Now if the figures were say 5% out or 10% if one drives like a bloody maniac one could put it down to the driver, but 45% short of target for **** sake is manifestly taking the ****! Skoda will have my car for a couple of days now as they are conducting an in depth test in liaison with VAG to see what is causing the engine to 'hunt'. If a fault is found and remedied and then I discover I get far better mpg then I will keep the car, I should have the car back in a few days then that gives me a fortnight to check mpg's before deciding on my option to trade it in March 6th.

Hi, Estateman seems it could be a malfunctioning injector. I will give it one more try as my local daeler has asked for the car for a few days indicating to me they are going to give it an indepth. As EM suggests a half decent tech might fault find it easy but time inhibits them so they tend to look for codes instead. Let's see what happens. I'll post which ever way it goes. Be nice if it was fixed, it's an otherwise nice car!

.................................. Hi Estateman, I now have a small dilemma. Yesterday, out of the blue, Skoda phoned me and I wonder has someone been following my rather caustic comments about my diesel Greenline not achieving good mpg over the past weeks here in this forum?. I put my point of view over to them and invited me to wait a bit and see what can be done. If you have read my posts, last week I had my car in again with the dealer because when on tickover my car engine sounds as if it is searching and not the regular rhythm one would expect. After having the car a day, the dealer informed me that as there were no fault codes then they hadn't a clue what was wrong though they acknowledged there must be something as their technician had heard and reported on the searching sounds himself. I left the garage with the fault still present. Two hours later yesterday, I had a call from my dealer who wanted the car in again and this time they WILL give me a courtesy car as they plan to hold my car for two or three days while they investigate the problem more in depth. Last time I was with them, they suggested they would record the 'signature' of the engine and then download the details to VAG for a more in depth analysis. Now you may wonder what exactly is my dilemma? As you know I have a £500 deposit on a Kia Rio, which I plan to pick up on March 6th! I've always advocated if this bloody car of mine would get off its arse and give me a few more miles to the gallon even if only the lowly urban figure supposed for this car, I would be happy to keep it as it is comfortable and stylish. As it happens I haven't seen the car I'm buying and ALL negotiation has been done over the phone and emails. Apparently, under the Distance Selling Act, I can cancel the deal I have made with Kia and get my deposit back up till seven days from when I pick the new car up. Under the Act one does not have to give a reason, merely changed ones mind is suffice. I would be delighted with Skoda if they found a fault to remedy if it genuinely gave me some half decent returns on my mpg. But at this moment I'm rather loathe to cancel the Kia contract if say, I'm still bitterly complaining about the poor mpg on the Fabia in two weeks time! Views anyone?

................... But there you have it in a nut shell ... your Fabia Greenline is the first car for you, where you also, can't get anywhere near the published figures, yet half the group have been screaming at me for weeks now the figures are merely subjective and I haven't got a clue how to drive anyway! I really don't think so, Skoda somehow, somewhere have managed to doctor their figures! Even an absolutely poor driver couldn't possibly 'waste' 30 miles to the gallon!

.................... There seems to be some merit in Estate Mans' contention, for some, that if we drive keeping our revs up at 2000 rpm say, then consumption will improve. The other day I drove to the Midlands from North East Wales using fast A roads, dual carriageways and motorways and keeping within speed limits at all times and using the technique of keeping revs up throughout my gear changing I actually dropped a further five miles to the gallon with an output for the journey of 50 mpg! I'd really had enough of bloody Skoda!! Do you know I was nearing those returns in a petrol Fiat 128 thirty years ago! That evening I done a deal over the phone and put a £500 deposit down on the Kia Rio. Apparently the engine is a three pot affair as with the Fabia but slightly smaller at 1.1 though same output more or less at 74 HP. Claimed combined figure is far more conservative than the Fabia and is 76 mph. One guy claims he's hitting this figure [measuring brim to brim he assures] and many others are claiming high sixties and low seventies and climbing. Someone has said I may keep the new car till the end of its' life to break even but I do 20K miles a year and with fuel probably going up more in the near future, God bless our high prices, then I feel it will be a lot sooner than that. Plus the fact I will have a seven year full guarantee. I bought the Fabia under the no VAT scheme 18 months ago and the Kia dealer has given me a hell of a deal so I don't feel too hit in my pocket, in fact pretty pleased with myself. I have gone through Carquake if you are interested and looking for the deals and it is they who put me in touch with a dealer who had over two thousand pounds off the Kia price just for starters! I'm not here to plug Carquake but this is my second car through them and they really do seem to sniff out the deals. I haven't a clue what their fees are as all is taken care of by the dealer. In other words, whatever deal the dealer quotes you then that is it. As I've said to Igloo in an earlier post, I hope to hell I don't end with egg on my face with the new car but I will definitely let you all know how I get on. Don't worry, I won't 'flog' the figures after all, that is why I'm going after my thoughts on Skoda the LIARS! Pick the car up March 6th so give me a week or so after that and I'll post something back in the forum.

......................... As I've said elsewhere, I have owned over thirty cars in my lifetime and the Skoda Fabia Greenline Diesel is the first car for me not to better the published fuel returns. If we are to be conservative in our expectation then I should at least expect to hit the 83.1 mpg 'combined' claimed for this car even if once in a while but my returns are a MASSIVE shortfall of about 30 mpg and that is why I'm so disgruntled. Surely my returns should be far better than an equivalent petrol driven motor and here in the UK we pay a kings' ransom for our diesel! Yes of course I will let you know how I get on with the new car and hope to hell I don't end up with egg all over my face again. I don't pick the car up till March 6th so give me a week or two after that.

............................................. I have finally resolved my very low mpg returns on my Fabia Greenline 11 Diesel. I'm part exchanging it for a new Kia Rio 2 Diesel. My new car will be ready March 6th. I've never had more than 55 mpg out of the Fabia since new and driving it on a long journey yesterday was the last straw when my trip showed 50 mpg. I've done my homework properly this time and their cars appear to match more closely the published figures on fuel returns so hope to gain another 25 mpg at least! And yes, it is true, Kia give a SEVEN YEAR full guarantee on their new cars AND offer a fully comprehensive insurance package for one year for £99. I bought the Fabia on a no VAT deal so the depreciation hasn't been too bad and coupled with a great exchange rate from the Kia dealer I am very happy to be going. I hope to give you all some feedback after next month.

I have finally resolved my very low mpg returns on my Fabia Greenline 11 Diesel. I'm part exchanging it for a new Kia Rio 2 Diesel. My new car will be ready March 6th. I've never had more than 55 mpg out of the Fabia since new and driving it on a long journey yesterday was the last straw when my trip showed 50 mpg. I've done my homework properly this time and their cars appear to match more closely the published figures on fuel returns so hope to gain another 25 mpg at least! And yes, it is true, Kia give a SEVEN YEAR full guarantee on their new cars AND offer a fully comprehensive insurance package for one year for £99. I bought the Fabia on a no VAT deal so the depreciation hasn't been too bad and coupled with a great exchange rate from the Kia dealer I am very happy to be going. I hope to give you all some feedback after next month.

There's one sitting in the museum at Cosford