The missus and I ordered a Fabia 3 1.4TDI estate at the end of April. It had to be a factory order 'cos we needed the 3rd headrest seeing as we have three kids!! We decided that seeing as we would be paying the same as the "reliable" Renault Scenic we had at the time for a new car with lots of toys that we would go for a factory order in Black Magic with those fancy headlights , and the list goes on!! We have been told that it goes into production this week, yayyyyy!!! Only 3 weeks ish to wait!!!!

Can't wait we look a bit daft at the mo because we are running my Fiat rollerskate round the countryside as a family car. Hoot if you see us and laugh along its hilarious!!!

I waited about 12 weeks for my Fabia, I was using my Fiat Panda as a family car for three months.

The estate is a brilliant car. You will be very happy. It's all those neat little touches in the 3 that make it really brilliant. Here's my favourites list:

The boot: the Fabia isn't a big car, but that boot is superb. It's a useful shape, has good access, and the side pockets and the semicircular thing to contain smaller items are very useful.

The driving experience: Controls are light, precise and a joy to use. Everything is well positioned too.

Check out the variable intermittent wipe, the neat spectacle holder, the brilliantly designed stereo that displays the stored station name alongside the button that selects it. The parking sensors are very useful too.

Enjoy it when it arrives.

ooh don't!! Speaking on Chris' behalf neither of us can wait let alone the kids and the dog! We have a Greyhound who keeps trying to get in the boot of the Fiat and she is really fed up! We've also ordered a stack of bits to go on it because its so much cheaper than the Renault which by the way would have given up the ghost in this weather today!

Well, I've been driving Vauxhalls for 17 years and my hubby has driven many different makes and models over the years both as a private motorist and as a company driver. The Fabia 3 package is as good as it gets for the money. Whoever designed the car lives in the real world and it really shows. The brilliance is in the finer details.

I waited eight weeks for mine, it seemed like the longest eight weeks ever. I've had the car for 3 1/2 weeks and have enjoyed every one of the 985 miles covered to date. Your greyhound will have space to curl up and go to sleep in comfort.

Actually as a dog owner, if you want to protect your investment against the rigours of the four-legged friend, you may want to look at what this company offers:

Custom made Boot Buddies

It's a custom made boot liner that you can specify to meet your own requirements. They include a non-slip mat option and you can have an extension that covers the rear of the back seat when the rear seats are folded. You can have it designed so that all of the boot is protected too. There's even a neat flap to protect the rear bumper.

I got the rear bumper protector (dealer fit option costing £30) fitted to my estate. It looks good and does offer some much needed protection, but you may find that the boot buddy will give you a level of protection not offered by other products.

I hope this helps.