Is the Fabia 1.4 tdi a major flop?

[chasefreak]

i have seen a lot of people have similar problems...

to much noise

left side a/c blower motor making a lot of noise on bumps and even when shifting the gears

cannot drive over speeds of 55KMPH with rear view windows down( makes a lot of squeaking noise)

suspension too stiff.. does not ride the bumps well

there is also a braking issue. a lot of fabia owner haev complains taht the braking is on the weaker side

when brakes are applied on bumpy roads the ABS kicks in..( they don't have the best ABS in the marker

cost is abt $20,000( with taxes)

this is year 2008 and we still don't get a top quality hatch back car from skoda

i live in india and the fabia at the moment is the most expensive hatch back car in the country

when the car was launched in the country .. the ad said feel special... now i know that they meant by saying feel special

so whats your take on it people

[daveclayton]

guess it depends on what you mean by bumpy roads with regards to the ABS. going down a steep hill whilst braking over a speed bump my ABS would kick in. so dont think it is just limited to the 1.4

[cjb]

ABS will kick in whenever the amount of braking force exceeds the grip available. It's that simple.

[HZ123]

I have had mine over a year now and I agree the brakes seem weak. I have yet to use them in anger?

[chasefreak]

I have had mine over a year now and I agree the brakes seem weak. I have yet to use them in anger?

i have used them in anger and had both the air bags pop out and was able to explode the front right tire . the front axle was bent and the bonet

the car does not respond to sudden breaks.... the car is to heavy and has to much power where the breaks don't meet the required stoppage power

[HZ123]

Chasefreak; It is not just me then. Before I drove an A class with discs front/ drums rear annd it was a heavy car, but the brakes were comparable with my wifes Cooper which is discs all round. The Fabia reminds me of cars of yesteryear Viva's & Escorts with all round drums when sudden breaking was in the lap of the Gods.

Do you still have the Fabia, after repair?

[Tailhappy]

I have always been impressed with Fabia brakes. They pulled me up so sharp and sure when a car stopped unexpectedly in front that my passenger commented on the powerful braking force.

TH

[chasefreak]

Chasefreak; It is not just me then. Before I drove an A class with discs front/ drums rear annd it was a heavy car, but the brakes were comparable with my wifes Cooper which is discs all round. The Fabia reminds me of cars of yesteryear Viva's & Escorts with all round drums when sudden breaking was in the lap of the Gods.

Do you still have the Fabia, after repair?

yap i still have the car .... the car is just 8 months old... for 3 months the car was in the workshop.....it was a new car to the indian markets so parts had to be ordered from the international market.

TBH i'm actually feeling bad to sell a car that has so many defects.. i not in mood for someone else to suffer the way i'm doing right now

i'm planning to take skoda to the consumer court in india....

[chasefreak]

I have always been impressed with Fabia brakes. They pulled me up so sharp and sure when a car stopped unexpectedly in front that my passenger commented on the powerful braking force.

TH

at low speeds the car brakes work well ... but as u exceed 70KMPH there is where the problem kicks in... btw i have lost total faith in it's braking system

Even if u hit a pot hole and then try to brake the ABS kicks in .... i have tried the same on a Suzuki swift and the result was total stability.......

i was given the option to buy a swift or a fabia but i really don't have a clue what made me buy the fabia.... i think the name SKODA And the values that ti follows were the main factor

[Guest]

My Fabia 2 is a 1.4TDI PD80 Estate. No problems with it at all. Brakes are the best I've ever experienced on any car. Loads of feel through the pedal and lots & lots of stopping power. No noise from the discs either. I've driven other Fabia Hatches both petrol and diesel and found the brakes to be superb on those cars too. I don't think there can be any sort of intrinsic problem with them. It must be a glitch you guys have experienced or something.

[Guest]

Chasefreak, I'm sorry, but speaking as an ex motor techy, I can tell you applying the brakes hard in 'anger' will not bend your axle and bonnet, and pop your tyre...unless you hit something! What aren't you telling us? Even if you did this on quite an uneven surface everything should be ok. That is...unless you are driving it fast on unmade very very bumpy roads for which the car was not designed for.

[Fab Estate]

I would agree that opening the rear windows at any speed above walking pace is a no no. I am not sure if it is the boot cover that starts flapping making a lot of noise.

[chasefreak]

Chasefreak, I'm sorry, but speaking as an ex motor techy, I can tell you applying the brakes hard in 'anger' will not bend your axle and bonnet, and pop your tyre...unless you hit something! What aren't you telling us? Even if you did this on quite an uneven surface everything should be ok. That is...unless you are driving it fast on unmade very very bumpy roads for which the car was not designed for.

lol...... i applied brakes in anger ........i was at the speed of 70-80kmph

the car had to stop over a distance of20meters..... but as soon as i hit the brakes the abs kicked in and the road surface was clean....just that the car refused to stop ..... to avoid collision i had to take a sharp left turn and banged into the pavement and then into a shop( actually the shop was on top of the pavement...the shop was not a permanent one......and before this to i have had instances where u hit the brakes and the ABS kicks in ...when it is naut suppose to do so

[Kentish]

LOL.....you're complaining the car didn't stop in 20 metres when travelling 70-80 kph (circa 50mph)? Change your car pronto. There must be something wrong with it..

According to most guide lines, at 50 mph there is a thinking distance of 15 metres, followed by a stopping distance of 38 metres which added together makes 53 metres. Either slow down for the prevailing conditions or learn to read the road. There is nothing wrong with your car's brake's, it's the driver.

HTH's

[Guest]

Got to agree with Kentish Chase! ABS won't perform miracles, just stop you from skidding. You still need the correct stopping distances. The fact the ABS was pulsing (engaged) means there was no shortage of stopping power from the brakes...just a shortage of stopping distance. Sorry you had an accident. Hope you were not hurt.

[skoda1982]

with ABS you are to keep the presure on the brake if the ABS kicks in the pedal goes nearer to the floor making you feel if the brakes have failed this is normal. if you brake going over a pot hole the front wheel leaves the road so no grip ABS will kick in.

[stevearcher]

I'm quite happy with the brakes on mine (but I specified ESP and got discs all round). The pedal is a bit squashy but no worse than most Ford's I've driven in the past. I hired a new Focus last week while on holiday and the brakes on that felt very similar to the Fabia. Then I hired a Zafira and nearly sent everyone flying through the windscreen. I think it kind of depends on what you're used to.

The non-ESP (disc/drum) Fabias I've driven definitely seem to need a stronger shove on the pedal than mine.

With regards to the rear windows, mine make a loud tweeting noise when open above 30mph. Dealer says they can't do anything about it.

I did start another thread asking if anyone else had this problem as I was going to contact SUK about it but no one else said they had the problem!

Must be a design fault. They have managed windows on other cars without this problem. I'll try again - post below if you have the tweeting from the rear windows and if I can get a few, I'll contact SUK about it!

[chasefreak]

okokokokok u ppl think that i am the all wrong and stuff

i have a honda civic and trust me i have stopped at a similar distance... and i guess i was a bit faster

at the skoda workshop .... this i am really honest

hey and one more thing i did take a sharp left turn so u can add abt a 20 more and i still had the impact

out of every 10 fabia owners there will be atleast 7, that complain abt the brakes... the workshop workers have also admitted that the brakes are weaker

and with the a/c blower making noise even when u change gears..... the car becomes undriveable

[cjb]

Either slow down for the prevailing conditions or learn to read the road. There is nothing wrong with your car's brake's, it's the driver.

HTH's

Is the correct answer. I've driven a Fabia II TDI, brakes were fine. No brakes can break the laws of physics.

Is the OP trolling?

[Kentish]

My wife has a Fab 3, 1.4tdi with standard drums on the back. IT STOPS PERFECTLY WELL FOR A FAMILY HATCH BACK. Suggest you need to reassess your driving skill's.

[chasefreak]

these r some pics

[chasefreak]

Is the correct answer. I've driven a Fabia II TDI, brakes were fine. No brakes can break the laws of physics.

Is the OP trolling?

the op saw me and stopped dead in the middle of the road

my dad has also had trouble with the brakes..and he is 65... now he wont be fast and i can bet on that

[Sainted]

Chase, first about the ABS kicking in.

Please remember, that Fabia is not a very heavy car, so it doesn't have a lot v kilograms pushing it into the tarmac. Which means, that driving on bad roads leads the car to "jump" a tad more than say, Octavia or Superb. Naturally, when the wheels unload, they lose grip, begin skidding and the ABS tries to prevent this.

Secondly - stopping distance

I guess if you want to stop from around 80kph in 20 meters, you need a) a reaction of a computer, a car like Lamborghini Gallardo or Porsche Carrera GT3. You're asking for unreal things. It's not a problem for Skoda to make a supercar-level brakes, it will just pump the car price through the roof.

And finally - difference between India and Europe

I potencially see Skoda's fault in not adapting the car to the weather you get during summer. I once drove my Audi A4 to Ukraine, where we had around 45 degrees of heat in July, and after some active serpantine driving, I literally cooked the brakes. Maybe I'm a better driver than you are, and I felt this right away, but... Learn to drive a car, mate. ;-)

[Adrianh1]

:)

"Maybe I'm a better driver than you are, and I felt this right away, but... Learn to drive a car, mate."

[chasefreak]

guys i'm a good driver....i'm a kart racer... i may nuat be the best but i'm really good at driving.......

it took me sometime to get used to the brakes ... cuz the fabia brakes are very different compared to most of the cars that are in india...

and saint u may have a point that the fabia is not a heavy car and it does jump a lot

but when i drive the car i use a lot of gear breaking and i seem to be more at ease using gear braking on the fabia

in india skoda has model called the LAURA, i don't know what is it's international name... and that model had something called EBD..Electronic Braking Distribution... i had asked the workshop to add that to the car if possible but then they told me that the LAURA comes with a whole different electronic chip set..