Hi

We've got a March 04 Fabia VRs and it's got a very noisy rear brakes that squeals like mad when you reverse - of course it's one of these annoying faults that only happens sometimes. I rang our dealer today to get the car booked in and I'm told by the service guy that he's had 3 VRs's and they've all done it and it is to do with no aspestos being in the brake pads and we'll have to live with it - I THINK NOT!!!!

Any fellow Fab VRs owners had anything similar??

Also got a rear wiper that only works when it wants to!! Service guy said he'll take a look but unless it's not working they won't be able to do anything!!

Is it me or do I get the feeling I'm being fobbed off!!!???

Believe me I won't be - going in Thursday so any thoughts before then would be very welcome!

Love the car apart from these little teething problems.

Cheers

MD

One other thing!! Best cleaner for the brake dust, boy those alloys get dirty very quickly!

A number of other people have reported this problem, but I'm not aware of anyone getting a permanent solution.

It seems that stripping the brakes down, cleaning them, then lubricating with CopperEase will cure the problem temporarily. There has been a thread on this before, but I can't find it at the moment.

As for cleaning the wheels, you won't go far wrong with Wonder Wheels. It has been the AutoExpress award winner for the last several years, and always seems to do a good job.

Bagpuss.

I have to say that Wonder Wheels has seriously impressed me. I tried all sorts on things before but none came anywhere near close.

Yes, fog-horn like rear brakes are very common - never had it on the old Y-reg Fabia, but quite a bit on the 04 vRS (March as well).

Dealer 'cleaned' the 'build up' of brake dust which helped a bit by making it intermittent.

It affects other VAG group cars (Audi etc) as well according to other threads on here - there was mention somewhere of their being a shim for VW or Audi that was supposed to help sort it.

We all need to keep complaining and moaning to dealers and taking their workshop time to 'clean' etc and then perhaps something will be done... or contact Skoda en-mass. Or Watchdog etc like the VAG coil packs (although that was a bit OTT with people with diesel engines demanding they be changed - doh!)

By the way, asbestos isn't used in brakes anymore (it's a bit nasty) and was outlawed for use in brake components back in 1999.

Rear wiper - it is an intermittent action, not continuous, but you probably realised that from when it does work - a faulty connection perhaps or control stalk?

Search on here for 'MC2' to clean your wheels with, much better than the more agressive Wonder Wheels. Might even be a group buy on it (haven't looked for a while myself as I already have some!). Then buy some Mer Wicked Wheel Wax (Halfords etc) and apply that as per instructions - this makes it much easier to get rid of the dust in the future.

Yep mine does it too, usualy when trying to look cool, with lots of girlies watching.

They think it's most amusing. :(

Jonno(should be old enough to know better).

Yep Jonno that sounds familiar!!!

It never does it when there's no one around but get a crowd and boy oh boy does she squeal - that's the car and not my wife Kate!!!!

Cheers

MD

Mine doesn't squeal?! Oh, yeah, I don't have a vRS... :P wonder what it is though?

Intermittent rear wiper sounds like a leccy problem - some Fabia's have similar intermittent problems with the windows too. Don't get fobbed off by them either. Is it "really" intermittent... silly question, but you know the pattern of the wiper motion already right?

Mulitclean 2 works well on the wheels, but to be honest I've found just running water and a good cloth gets it all off, given a little patience

Just remembered my brakes do squeal a bit, but thats under braking, and the uprated pads are to blame not a manufacturing fault

Yep Jonno that sounds familiar!!!

It never does it when there's no one around but get a crowd and boy oh boy does she squeal - that's the car and not my wife Kate!!!!

Cheers

MD

like the wife bit. No swmbo for me, but daughter thought we'd run over a sealion.

Off topic ...............vrs jonno ........I've looked at your avatar , with your back to front baseball cap for a while now , and thought that you were early 20's :eek: :eek: .............not early 40's

Perhaps , if I wore a back to front baseball cap , I might look early or even late 20's ...............but I doubt it very much !

Pete - I believe that to be his lad. And to be blunt I'm not sure there's any hope for you mate! :P Burberry clothes, reversed baseball cap? Oh, what an image!

Just thought id mention that my rear brakes very rarely make a noise. This may be due to several factors.

1. I dont actually have Fabia vRS rear calipers (I didnt want to paint my green ones red so used a new set of calipers I aquired).

2. My car stays in the garage overnight, also i leave the handbrake off as I have to roll the car back once ive bolted the garage door so I can get out of the garage.

3. When I changed my rear brake calipers I refitted the pads with copper grease on the edges and used the later spec chamfered pads with the sticky backing.

Might help, might not.

Perhaps , if I wore a back to front baseball cap , I might look early or even late 20's ...............but I doubt it very much !

1920's maybe :P

39yrs 27 months actualy.Tis me indeed, Don't usualy wear baseball caps though i have been known to read max power(Ducks for cover)

cheers

Jonno(mumble..mumble bloody max power mumble)

Mine does the same - been back to the dealer twice in the last month, cures it for a couple of days and then the squeal returns with a vengeance :thumbdwn: - has anyone tried kicking up a real fuss with the dealer ? I've been told basically that is v little they can do.

I'm afraid that there is only one answer ......................buy a REAL vRS ....................

All these vRS Flabia owners moaning about their noisy brakes .............when will they realise that they should have bought an Octy vRS ........

Yep - mine too. I have found a way round it - Drive it hard - they never squeel when hot!!

I think we should have a mass complain to Skoda, it is ridiculous that in 2004 they can sort out a simple problem like this. I'm not sure when abestos was banned from brakes, but I've been hearing the same (poor) excuse ever since I started driving - 26 years ago!

In reply to our friend above - we do drive real VRS's - ones that go fast and do 50 MPG!! - whilst I really don't want to get into the "mines better than yours" bickering - this ribbing does get tedious sometimes - why can't we just respect each other - mine is different to yours and suits my needs, just like your suits your needs - that does not make one better than the other. Rant over!

Skoda technical are aware of the problem with the rear brakes and are working on a solution.

Keep checking with your dealer, as soon as they have a fix for it they will distribute a bulletin.

I'm afraid that there is only one answer ......................buy a REAL vRS ....................

All these vRS Flabia owners moaning about their noisy brakes .............when will they realise that they should have bought an Octy vRS ........

I've got a real vRS!

And it still does it, although it hasn't done it for a while.

I'm afraid that there is only one answer ......................buy a REAL vRS ....................

All these vRS Flabia owners moaning about their noisy brakes .............when will they realise that they should have bought an Octy vRS ........

My Dad's bigger than your dad

Skoda technical are aware of the problem with the rear brakes and are working on a solution.

Keep checking with your dealer' date=' as soon as they have a fix for it they will distribute a bulletin.[/quote']

i thought they already had a fix ,

Nope this was for the Polo and not the Fabia, apparently they are slightly different.

Wouldnt use Wonder Wheels again on any car, it gets rid of any shine & is so acidic, after the 10th time of using it, there will be no laquer left and you'll just have a steel rim & remember to wear gloves.

My Dad's bigger than your dad

had the same problem with the brakes said to the dealer they looked at it and said the caliper and pad were sticking, sorted 1000miles down the road no probs

Wouldnt use Wonder Wheels again on any car, it gets rid of any shine & is so acidic, after the 10th time of using it, there will be no laquer left and you'll just have a steel rim & remember to wear gloves.

Not so sure about that, I have been using it for more than 3 years on my octy vRS alloys, they still look like new with no laquer damage on either the wheels or the brake calipers, and I never wear gloves either.