Done my 1000 miles in the Fabia TDi in less than 2 weeks! The oil is still wel into the safe zone, but seeing as I couldn't find any 505.01 anywhere I decided to get a litre from the dealer when I stopped by to pick up some mats.

Trouble is he's given me a bottle of 505.00. I thought about querying it with him, but then remembered a proverb about grannies and sucking eggs. Checked the handbook, and it states that this oil is not suitable for the engine. Even the ACEA specs. on the bottle do not meet the specification for "if no other oil is available".

If I top it up with this oil, will it cause damage? More to the point, should I think about finding another dealer to service it as it seems possible they are using the wrong oil!

Some general observations on the Fabia:

Great fuel economy, ususally. Can cruise at 70 and get nearly 59 on the averager. 80-85 mph and I get between 51 and 55 mpg. Then sometimes it seems to have a bit of a brain fart and the economy goes to pot. This morning I drove Nottingham - Coventry - Cambridge and it was doing under 50 mpg. The MPG display that updates every few seconds was struggling to get much over 50. In the afternoon I did Cambridge - Nottingham, and it did 55 - 65 all the way (driving between 60 and 80 mph).

Perhaps I should stop worrying, did Marlborough - Nottingham the other day on 1/4 tank!

Am I right in thinking that the economy will improve as the engine loosens up over the next few thousand miles?

Folding the rear seats. This is the only thing I am disappointed with. The seats themselves wont go fully upright unless the front seat are well-forward and near vertical. The rear seat backs wont fold down unless this is done. The seat backs don't fold down flush because of the sculpted sides. All in all, the Escort I had beats the Fabia estate hands down in this respect. I guess next time I shall have to remove the seats, which is easy but assumes you are returning to your origin (not likely due to my work requirement to move every 3 months).

Everything else I love (with the exception of the 1 touch indicators!).

Any advice re: oil appreciated

Cheers,

Robert

Hello bud,

When dropping the seats ,remove headrests first, tip up bases with front seats forward. Drop backs into the wells Then push fronts back. They are pretty squashy. Dont use that oil! Get some millers xfe-pd see http://www.millersoils.net/index2.html

Halfords sell Castrol SLXII longlife oil. (this is what i have for my car- i refuse to use halfords own brand.) its 506.1 for cars on variable servicing, its the only oil i could find. but youll find after the first 5k it wont drink oil.

yes the economy will get better as the miles pile on, im just about to hit 20k now and my record for a run is 68mpg - and usually get around 600-650 miles to a tank of fuel (including expansion tank)

You also have to understand that enviromental conditions can affect fuel economy too, from using aircon, having windows open.. and driving at night with the lights on will all have an impact. especially as the weather gets hotter and the car starts holding back the power to avoid damage.

Re: the oil. Don't use it. Take it back. If they don't have the right stuff drop into your local, friendly VW dealer and get some off them.

My wifes new Polo TDi came with a litre of the stuff and good job too because it's used nearly all of it in 4k miles. (99% motorway driving)

Thanks guys. Mooched around the local Halfords a few days ago and didn't see anything suitable, might try one of the independants or look harder next time!

I know air con etc affect perfromance, but what I was trying to describe was that sometimes I am straight and level at a constant speed and all of a sudden the mpg drops for no reason. I *think* it may be because I'm not used to driving something with a turbo - there have been times I've been aware of "fighting" the turbo rather than feeding in the revs smoothly to give it a chance to spool up.

I think I'm just panicking I haven't run it in properly and am imagining blowing piston rings etc. I can get a bit anal about these things!

Cheers,

Robert

PS One other thing I've noticed is that the odometer in the speedo states, for example 1021. It was at zero when I picked the car up. If I look at the stored milage on the computer display in the rev counter, it says 1085 - 64 miles more than the odometer. Why is this? Surely it hasn't done 64 miles at the factory - was the salesman telling porkies when he said it was trailered up from another dealer?

PS One other thing I've noticed is that the odometer in the speedo states' date=' for example 1021. It was at zero when I picked the car up. If I look at the stored milage on the computer display in the rev counter, it says 1085 - 64 miles more than the odometer. Why is this? Surely it hasn't done 64 miles at the factory - was the salesman telling porkies when he said it was trailered up from another dealer?[/quote']

If I remember correctly, up to 200 miles the odometer can rezeroed, which looks like has been done, only they forgot the other half of the memory. I might be inclined to return to your dealer and place him in a very delicate situation as to why the 2 readings dont marry up. Sounds like a free service may be the order of the day.

It can be zero'd twice but not if its gone over 100km iirc

Usually used to reset any delivery mileage that may occur during transport of the vehicle from origin.

mine had a difference of 10 miles - dealer had pre warned me that they can come with upto 50 miles on them due to all of the final checks they do b4 handing over (looking for squeaks/rattles etc) .don't necessarily think theres anything sus going on there - think positive, theyve given you a headstart on the running in !!

Make sure you only use 505.01 oil. Even 506.01 longlife is not suitable due to it's lighter viscosity according to Castrol's helpline.

Make sure you only use 505.01 oil. Even 506.01 longlife is not suitable due to it's lighter viscosity according to Castrol's helpline.

Yep, just got a litre of Millers XFE-PD from an independent motor store. Halfords didn't have anything suitable - in fact their oil guide said to use 503.01 (whatever that is), which they did sell but I didn't trust. Was 3 quid more expensive than the oil I bought too!

Is it best to check with the engine warm or cold?