Coffin Dodger

Do Jabba Sport no longer exist? I can't believe there was no mention of them in this post when they used to be the place to go to. I also think this got a little off subject, in as much as, it turned into a slagging match against Shark, when only two parties know the whole story. The original question requested recommendations as I recall.

I never found the Fabia lacking in cornering ability, ok, there were a few sideways moments but, that just made the ownership experience more exciting.

And now, the end is near; And so I face the final curtain. My friend, I'll say it clear, I'll state my case, of which I'm certain. We've lived a life that's full. We've traveled each and every highway; And more, much more than this, We did it my way. Regrets, I've had a few; But then again, too few to mention. I did what I had to do And saw it through without exception. I planned each charted course; Each mapped out step along the byway, And more, much more than this, We did it my way. Yes, there were times, I'm sure you knew When I bit off more than I could chew. But through it all, when there was doubt, I ate it up and spit it out. We faced it all but I stood tall; And did it any way. I've loved, I've laughed and cried. I've had my fill; my share of winning. And now, as tears subside, I find it all so amusing. To think I did all that; And may I say - not in a shy way, "Oh no, oh no not me, We did it my way". For what is a man, what has he got? If not his Furby, then he has naught. To say the things he truly feels; And not the words of one who kneels. The record shows we took the blows - And did it any way! Yes, it was my way. Ok admit it, who was singing it, lol?? After five years of fun and fraught moments the Furby has gone. She was 13 years old and it was getting to the silly stage trying to keep it immaculate. It had turned into a money pit sadly, and Swmbo has finally put her foot down as, I was spending more time in the garage fettling it than I have spent with her recently. If only they still made them, I'd have bought another but that time has gone. I'll be picking up the Swift Sport on Thursday or Friday (depends how quickly they can get the alloys refurbed), so I'll have a lump in my throat at the thought of paying for all that extra petrol. But at the same time looking forward to only having to worry about washing and polishing the damned thing, lol. I still be lurking in the background though and keeping an eye on my favourite forum.

I had been researching one for ages and then came the time to buy, suddenly, all the red ones and yellow ones that I had slevered over disappeared. I hunted for the right one for nearly two months with no success. Fortunately a silver one came on the scene at a garage 60 miles away, it was the best that I had seen that I could afford for quite some time so, the deal was done. Five years on, some 60K and four grand lighter I've replaced all the suspension, brakes, tyres, and done numerous repairs. It still pulls like a train.

Ok, no problem, in my defence if you don't ask, you don't get, hence the reason I asked. Knowing now that there is no damage, I would have been happy to meet the asking price. The carriage was my main concern tbh. However, that's neither here nor there now. Sadly, London is hardly a wee jaunt down the road, from here, it'd be a 20 hour round trip, if it had even been half that I would have collected. Ach well, GLWTS fella! All the best, Jimbo.

A couple of questions if you don't mind. Are the front and rear Octavia seats already modified so that they bolt straight in with little or no mucking about and, is there any damage to them (tears, scuffs or cig burns)? Also, do you know what sort of price postage or courier to KA24 4AR will be? Is there any room for negotiation on the price, and finally, how would you like payment arranged? Thanks, Jimbo.

Having just done a regulator on the front I can confirm Tech1e's figures as correct.

Gracias! every day's a school day. Very simple, very clever, the thought never even crossed my mind, as I said, iggerant.

Mine is a '54 plate '04 ASZ engine, if I drive super gentle, it will over read. I once had 72 mpg average showing on the computer, that was a trip spent at 55mph with very gentle throttle applications, brakes etc...totally focused on economy. Sadly it was total B.S, I was getting 63 mpg on my calculator using the brimming method. These cars all over read, it's just the way they are. You can get good mpg but, nothing like some of the rediculous claims of 70 plus that you see. You would need to strip every spare ounce of weight out of the car and drive on a rolling road to get these levels of economy, it's just not possible in the real world.

'Scuse my iggerance but, why/how does "the flap gets exercised every time reverse is selected, whether you want it to or not" please? The reason I ask is my cabin fan is rarely switched off, I have it set at position 2, blowing on the windows when cold, and turned to the feet as soon as it's hot. What's the fan got to do with you selecting reverse gear?

I'm on my fourth pair in just under five years. I blame the shocking state of the roads (and living out in the sticks). It doesn't seem to matter what level of quality I put on. The best lasted 14 months, the worst not even six, so, I allow for a replacement set each year just before MOT time just to prevent issues now.

My vRS Fabia (TDi) averages 45-48 mpg, granted I have a bit of a heavy right foot 'cos, when driven gently it's usually in the mid 50's. My on board computer tells me I am averaging in the mid to high 50's when I'm getting the 45-48 figure and low 60's when I'm actually getting mid 50's mpg. My commute is 20 miles each way along mostly country roads.

Bloody Hell, are you a pub landlord or something in the entertainment business? That's the sort of quotes those guys get.

Mucho swear words, my mate's lazy tongs were no use, they were quite a small set and didn't have a big enough nozzle (6.4) and I had to go and buy a set to finish the regulator job, bugger! £40 I hadn't budgeted for and for the sake of 10 rivets in all, feck, feck, feck! The worst thing is I'll probably never use them again. It breaks my tight fisted Scottish heart. Oh well, at least the jobs done now. If I can figure out how I'll put up a piccy of the sealant job I've done on the new regulator, just to be on the safe side. Sure as fate if I didn't the bugger would leak! No point in having to do the job twice, lol.

Everyone needs a holiday Alexandru, if only for a change of pace, plus it gives you something to talk about with your friends and colleague's, stops you getting boring, lol. I was stunned that it was a Gates belt that snapped, and with the wear rate evident. Gates usually do good quality gear, they are O.E. suppliers of alternator and timing belt kits to almost everybody, including the VW Group. To say I was stunned would be an understatement, tbh it almost looks as though the belt had never been changed when the alternator died three years ago even though I supplied a new one and paid for it to be done. I must admit I had a couple of issues with the garage that done it for me over other things so, it wouldn't surprise me, no wonder I no longer use them. If I'd had the time I would have done it myself but, I had to work that day and needed the car to get home so, was caught between a rock and a hard place as they say. Like you I suffer from the, if one thing breaks as soon as you fix it something else goes soon after, my cycle usually goes in three's and most often it's just before the holiday trip when you need the car. I suppose I shouldn't complain as it gets me to work every day I need it. Agreed that you never get bored with the MK1 Fabia, I find my vRS very entertaining even though it is twelve years old now, it still pulls like a train.

Agreed 100%. The most stupid design feature I've ever encountered, the person who thought this was a good idea needs a good kicking, my hands and arms are cut to shreds removing the old support plate. The electrical engineer who designed the door lock power supply also needs a swift kick in the chuckies, the access is a joke. You need hands and arms the size of a dolls to get in there.

I want to know why is it that, every year without fail, come holiday time, my Fabia gets sick? I don't care particularly but it drives Swmbo around the bend. She's cursing my car upside down but the weird thing is that this year she's been the only one driving it so, she can't blame me directly, only by association. Due to health issues I've not been able to drive since February and so she's been giving it a run every week to ten days just to keep it turning over. We went shopping the other day and God it was hot, so, when we got out of the shop and got into the car I rolled down my window, it got to half way down stopped, went sproinggggg!!!! then the window dropped into the door, fortunately without smashing. Bloody marvelous, classic regulator wire breaking, so we start to drive home and she says "why's the battery warning light just come on?" FECK, FECK, FECK!!! what next? There was absolutely no warning at all, no strange noises, nothing. So I tell her just to drive home and "for God's sake don't stall it girl" We make it home and I get her to drive it straight into the garage where, upon inspection, I discover that the alternator belt has snapped. Bloody thing had only done 34K and was replaced three years ago (at holiday time funnily enough, when the alternator and pulley went on the blink), the belt looked as though it had done 136K, lol, it was all cracks and little tears, weird, 'cos the pulley wheels all appeared to be in good condition and run smoothly when checked, very strange! I got the bits I needed and did the belt first this morning, a relatively straight forward job, took about an hour all in. The regulator was not quite as easy sadly, however, I'd like to take this opportunity to thank Tech1e for his guide, 'Removing the ancillaries' it helped enormously, the pictures were invalueable. I had originally decided to get one of the regulator repair kits off of e-bay but thought I'd wait until I'd stripped it just to be on the safe side and boy was I glad I did. I had to totally destroy the old backing plate and the window guides to get the window out, bummer. When the window fell down it left the release bolts completely unaccessable, I had to drill out every rivet on the support panel and take it too bits piece by piece. The only good bit was at least I managed to rescue the glass and I only broke two of the door card clips which luckily I had some spare, result. The thing that buggered me up was that the local motor factor didn't have the regulator in stock, even ECP were out out. I had to end up getting an O.E. one from TPS. Thank goodness my mate still works there and he got me it at a good price, whew!! When I was doing the rebuild if it could go wrong it went wrong, lol. If it was fiddly, I had to f*** about with it. It turned a 2-3 hour job into a 5 hour one and I'm still not finished. Eventually I had to stop because the rivet gun I had didn't have a big enough nozzle diameter for the special rivets shaft. I've got it all held it place with cable ties and tomorrow I'll fit and check the motor and then put the window in as well as the big speaker before I rivet it up. My mate said as soon as he finds it I can borrow his lazy tong rivet gun, so, all being well I'll have it finished tomorrow. (Hopefully, lol). Ah, the joys of motoring! Does this holiday misadventure happen to anyone else, or is it just me? :wonder:

Elegance was different from the vRS. Original Fabia vRS sun strip is almost black fading to dark gray like the one shown in the post above. The glass is green, mine still has it's original screen and it's a '54 plate and it's just like the one posted.

I know that they're handed due to the pockets as it were but, if one wasn't bothered about the pocket position (which never gets used on my car anyway), is there anything that you know of stopping the swop? The reason for asking is that the passengers seat never gets used on my car and it's cover and cushion are perfect, it would stop further deterioration on the drivers seat if I could swop the complete cushion/cover assembly on the back over. If push came to shove I could even use the pocket material to get a colour match repair on the damaged bolster, although I'd rather not as it will mean a total strip down of that seat back to do the job properly. I just wondered if there were any special fittings or anything preventing the cushion/cover back units being done? The bottom line is, I don't want to spend any money but, if I can make things more comfortable for me (the driver) while keeping the passengers side looking reasonable (although not perfect) it would suit me until I make up my mind over keeping the car and spending fortunes on it (hmm... not to sure how Swmbo will feel about that) or, get another car (yes, but what). So any info you can help with will let me get started (or not). Thanks Tech1e. P.s. Sorry for h-jacking your thread DougS, I thought my query was still relevent and would help anyone else in the same position though. (That's my excuse and I'm sticking with it, lol!) Sorry again.

Can this be done with the drivers seat back too? Can you swap the drivers seat back cushion and cover over with the passengers seat?

Sorry to question you Techie, but, 20mm out on the subframe? Would the subframe bolts not need to have broken or perhaps the OP's hit a humongous pothole to get that much of a difference? Surely the car would handle like a SOB?

Yep, self tappers, once done they can be forgotten about, they'll not blow off again.

Mine is twelve years old, it too, is getting to that stage, I've replaced almost all the suspension apart from the springs, front shocks, and the top strut mounts, last year saw all the calipers, discs and pads being done. The anti roll bar bushes are starting to knock occasionally again, and while doing the last service I noticed that all the intercooler hose connections are starting to weep slightly meaning that the engine needs Jizered and cleaned more often than it's usual bi-annual effort. If I'm honest I could live with and sort all that as she still pulls like a train but, and it's a big but sadly, the tin worm is starting to get beyond the surface variety. I've treated and painted both sills and the n/s/frt wing section at the sill. The problem area afaic is at the rear quarter where it meets the bumper. The paint is starting to bubble and it will be a major job to cut that all out and then repair and repaint, with it being Silver I reckon that the rear quarter would need to be painted to minimise the difference in the paint shading. Then there is the Fkn (sorry about swearing) drivers seat upholstery. That stupid silver/white material that was used has been cleaned so many times it's worn through and I now have a hole the size of a 50p peice. The padding is ok, as is the under cover but it just annoys me, and that's only the upright. The seat base bolster is beginning to crumble and I can feel the support bar underneath if I drive any distance. It's a shame as I still love the car and, it still does it's job of providing cheapish, entertaining transport. It starts and runs no problem (touch wood now that I've tempted fate by praising it, lol.), and there's not a hell of a lot out there that compares favourably so, the problem is, what next? 'Cos I'll never get my money back if I spend on it, and swmbo is moaning about what I do spend and the amount of time I spend on it as it is. Decisions, decisions....... Swmbo's running a Corsa CDTi 1.7 SRi which she's just got and I've been quite impressed by it as it's handling and drive characteristics, they are similar to my Fabia vRS but, it's a Corsa, they're as common as muck! I don't want to be confused with a wee boy racer. As I said before decisions, decisions.... My son has a Suzuki Swift Sport mk2 model and I quite like it too but I'd need to get the mk3 (six speed box, comfier seats and a better sound system) but, then you have to get used to the lack of fuel economy compared to the Fabia. The best managable in the Swift is around 40 mpg and that's driving sensibly I'd need to be driving like a loon to get that low in the vRS. Oi Skoda!!! why'd you stop making Fabia vRS TDi's?????

It doesn't get much clearer than that! Walk away (quickly).

Use item 11 for manual adjust glass and item 14 for electric adjust and heated mirror glasses. Your car will be the 6Y1 part number.