Szek

The dealer was Willis. Following the responses has been an eye opener. I suppose I should have been more insistent re freebies. The problem is you are in the dealers territory and they have the upper hand. If there was another dealer in the vicinity I would have done a comparison.

not just me! I forgot to mention that the tax disc was not on the windscreen. We only noticed it the following day. On a new topic the handbook talks about running in but the dealer said it was not necessary. Apart from not over reving any advice from out there?

Well it arrived after a ten week wait. Yes it was worth waiting for. A blue 1.2 Auto SE. very nippy, good road holding. Highly recommended. I wish I could say that about the dealer. I had to ring for progress reports. No extras thrown in ie mats, petrol, mud flaps, flowers for the misses, free service. Just an offer of a coffee. The handover took about 15 minutes and we were told as we had Skodas in the past there was no point showing us the controls. We compared the purchase to buying a trolley load of goods at Tesco! Not very different. A bit disappointng as we had purchased three cars previously from the same dealer.

Thank you both for the helpful information

Hi Help please. I have owned a Fabia 3 Automatic for over 12 months. A friend has purchased the same model and cannnot find a reference in the handbook to a set button to the left of the handbrake. I must confess that until I looked today, I did n't know it was there. I would appreciate any information on its purpose. Thanks

Thanks all for the advice. If you see a grey haired chap a bit slow getting away at the traffic lights in West London or the Forest of Dean in a black Fabia - it is me. Szek

Hi Thanks for your posts. We have now driven some happy 1,000 miles in the Fabia 3. Driving an automatic is very pleasant, we still not have got to used to the creeping forward when at traffic lights. Not too happy about using the foot brake at lights so we go into P plus handbrake. Our friends with automatics tell us not to bother to go into P. I just curious what the driver behind thinks when for brief moment the reversing light goes on when changing P to D. A small niggle is on hills the automatic gear is often in 4th when 3rd might be better. Luckily there is always the manual option or giving the accelarator a nudge for a lower gear.. We use the car for both town & country driving and is ideal for this purpose. It cruises quite happily on Motorways. At first we thought there was quite a bit of road noise compared to the Octvia. Maybe we got used to it or the tyres have bedded down. Our greatest loss is the boot space of the Octavia. Regarding the rusty clip. I went back to the dealer. Other Fabias in the showroom were rusty. I understand the clip cannot be ordered on is own. A replacement petrol cap unit has been ordered.The dealer may take out the clip from the new unit and treat it with anti rust agent. Szek

I have 'downsized' from an Octavia to a Fabia 3 Triptronic. I'm very happy with the Fabia, good road holding. Never have had an automatic before and slowly getting used to Triptronic gears. My only concern is the retaining clip inside the petrol flat. This has gone rusty. I took the car to the local Skoda garage, they sprayed the clip with grease and told me not to worry. I wonder if I should have been more insistent and asked for a replacement clip. I am also curious to know if any other new Fabias have the same problem? Szek

Thanks for the responses so far. My next query was going to be about the Triptronic gear which Martin has answered Peter

Dear all It not often that I intend to buy a new car. I currently drive an Octavia 1.6 FSI which I find on the large size. The new Fabia might be what I need for local shopping and the week end trip on the motorway. My local Skoda dealer tells me the automatic version is not due until 2008! I checked with skoda and was advised that the automatic version is also due to be released this month. My feelings is that my dealer in their allocation of 30 Fabias have not preordered automatic versions. Am I correct this is the way dealers work? If so does anybody know a dealer in the London/Bucks/Gloucester area who may have preordered an automatic version. Thanks in advance for any advice Peter

Welcome Which part of the Czech Republic/Slovakia did your father come from. Mine came from Buchlovice (Southern Moravia). John Thanks for your note, my father came from Zilina now in Slovakia. Never been there but we did go to Bratislava earlier in the year. A very peaceful city compared to Prague. We have friends in Croydon who are from Brno which I believe is in Moravia. Regards Peter

Hi I'm grey haired and the proud owner of an Octavia. (not quite true as the car is in the wife's name) This is our second Octavia. However we did have a MB1100 some years ago followed by an Estelle 105. In between times it was Nissans. It may be likely that my late father drove Skodas as he comes from what was Czechoslovakia. We were members of the Skoda Owners club at the time of owning the Estelle and recall looking forward to their newsletter. I raised a query this morning re the driver's mirror on a forum and was pleased to get a quick response. Seasons Greetings Peter