Just wondering what everyone thought of the build quality of the new fabia.

Sills seem a bit scruffy, brakes rusting a lot, even when brand new. the door seals seem like they won't last very long and can be easily damaged. The accelerator pedal is a plastic joke. This is the 3rd skoda I have owned (old VRS 06 Octavia VRS) and quality seems down. On the plus side I am getting 54mpg combined and have only done 900 miles of mixed driving.

Edited 6 August, 200817 yr by Steve R

im fairly happy with the build quality. not too keen on the door seals, look rather flimsy. but compared to most other cars i looked at before buying (ford fiesta, new corsa, clio) build quality is miles better. was really shocked with the ford. cant believe people still buy them! the 1.4 fiesta i looked at and drove felt like it had been built by monkeys

Depends on what you had before as you imply. My previous was 2 X A classes and both were indeed very good build quality. The fabia seems OK after 3 months maybe it is a little fragile or seems to be. Our other is a Mini Cooper it is good but even if you look close enough there are one or two weak points that were not sorted out with the Mk2 Minis. So far I think it seems fine and after 2700 miles it has been doing 58mpg with mixed driving.

Build quality is pretty good. I've done over 3000 miles on mostly country lanes and that shows up every rattle or squeak a car might possess. I had a Vauxhall before and I don't feel like I've gone down market at all.

Ford aren't reknowned for solid build, neither are the offerings from the French makers, Fiat too has its critics. Skoda are as good if not better than much of the competition.

The Fabia is a good car.

Steve,

Only had my new Fabia 1.4 TDI PD 80 Estate for nearly 4 weeks. However, have covered 700 miles and she goes a treat. The build quality is in my opinion excellent...with no rattles and nice clunks from the doors when you close them. General fit and finish is the best I have experienced on any car. Mind you...most of my cars have been Fords and Fiats. My last Punto was particularly flimsy regarding build quality, and it was that sort of thing I wanted to get away from. We want (hope) to keep our Skoda for many years since we are a bit fed up of changing cars every 5 years or so because something is about to break or go wrong!

Here's hoping....

Build quality is pretty good. I've done over 3000 miles on mostly country lanes and that shows up every rattle or squeak a car might possess. I had a Vauxhall before and I don't feel like I've gone down market at all.

Ford aren't reknowned for solid build, neither are the offerings from the French makers, Fiat too has its critics. Skoda are as good if not better than much of the competition.

The Fabia is a good car.

here here

Steve,

Only had my new Fabia 1.4 TDI PD 80 Estate for nearly 4 weeks. However, have covered 700 miles and she goes a treat. The build quality is in my opinion excellent...with no rattles and nice clunks from the doors when you close them. General fit and finish is the best I have experienced on any car. Mind you...most of my cars have been Fords and Fiats. My last Punto was particularly flimsy regarding build quality, and it was that sort of thing I wanted to get away from. We want (hope) to keep our Skoda for many years since we are a bit fed up of changing cars every 5 years or so because something is about to break or go wrong!

Here's hoping....

Thumbs up from me also, my first Skoda following a diet of Japanese.

Hondas and Toyotas in particular - at least their equal if not better - certainly beats the Civic.

here here

Do you mean "hear hear" :P

Speaking of Japanese my sister has a 14 r old Micra and apart from a hole that needs welding on the underbody and a few rust spots appearing its a pretty solid car that just keeps going.

Can't comment on newer Skodas but my current Felicia hasn't missed a beat.

Well it clunks now but is still well screwed together and feels solid.

Pretty happy with mine.

Had a couple of minor rattles from the glovebox and top centre vent area. Glovebox lid replaced by dealer which improved it slightly. Since then, I've wedged some strips of grey foam in between some of the panel gaps and around the upper glovebox. This seems to have pretty much shut it up on all but the worst roads.

Still miles better than anything I've had recently (Zafira, Matiz, C-Max, Megane, Primera and a number of Fords).

My wife's recent cars have included two 3-series, and Astra twintop and currently a Mini Clubman. Only the first of the 2 BMWs was better put together than the Skoda. The 2nd BMW and the Mini use very nice materials but also rattle quite a bit.

As far as I'm concerned, I wouldn't buy another Ford or Renault (cars are put together by people who don't care and the dealers care a lot less than that ) and would have to think carefully about Vauxhall (not badly put together but dealers were pretty useless).

I almost bought a C4 before the Fabia but the likelihood that something would go wrong and the dealer wouldn't fix it put me off.

Skoda's success in the JD Power and AutoExpress driver power surveys probably helped me choose in the end.

I admit some of the trim could be of better quality materials but for the price range of the car, I don't think you can get much better elsewhere.

Another point of interest. I paid £399 for my wife to have her new Cooper treated with wax clean by BMW (56 reg). It is coming up for 2 years old always outside unless at work, often covered in aviation fumes in addition. The Fabia about 4 months old gleams after a wash as does the Cooper. Is or does the Fabia receive any special coating to maintain the show room appearance after washing as standard?

I paid £399 for my wife to have her new Cooper treated with wax clean by BMW

I had the same put on my Fabia (Supaguard) and so far have been very impressed with how easy it is to clean and how shiny it is afterwards. Especially good with it being a black car.

I think my wife has the same on her Mini (ex-demo so don't know for sure but seems to have a good wax coating and it's easy to clean).

Same...had Supaguard treatment inside and out. Impressed with how easy to wash and how clean the vehicle stays inbetween washes. I don't think Skoda apply more than a good coat of wax at PDI unless you state you want the Supaguard treatment.

I asked the same question in comparison to Audi/Volkswagen cars.http://briskoda.net/general-car-chat/build-quality/118410/

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