Fabia Interior Trim Quality

[james]

Have any other Fabia owners been unhappy with their interior.

My 8 month old Fabia is suffering from numerous interior trim rattles, vibrations and squeaks. to date I will list the problems.

1 Behind Dash Creak, still unresolved and getting worse as the weather warms up

2 Drivers door handle (with window switches) vibrates continuously

3 Passenger and Driver door panels vibrate when speakers used at almost any volume.

4 Trim around headlight switch vibrates at any speed

5 Rear Head rests, rattle and knock whatever I do with them

6 Clutch peddle rattles

7 Drivers seat creaks when going around bends ( am a light 130lb's so not sure why?)

8 Externally - knocking coming from front, thought wa suspension, but now am convinced it's the engine mount.

The problems especially with the interior ar so that I feel akward going to the dealer because it just sounds like i am really fussy, but having had a fabia prior to this, was was virtually silent on the move, i get the feeling that Fabia production is rushed more than it was, and the strikes at Skoda probably havent helped.

Anyone else having similar problems with 2002 + model year cars?

Thanks

[Stimps]

James,

The dashboard rattle seems to be a fairly common problem for fabs. Search the forum and you'll probably find a few DIY guides for sorting it. I took mine to the dealer recently to have something checked - one of the mechanics took me out for a spin in it and noticed the rattle. When we got back, it was booked in for a few days later to have it sorted.

As your fab is still under warranty, get down to your dealer and insist they take it out for a drive with you in it, and then ask them to sort it - doesn't sound at all right IMO...

For the record, I've had mine for 18 months or so now, and apart from the dash rattle, it's been pretty quiet on the whole...

[Papa_Lazerous]

Hi,

On my second Fabia. 1st one was november 2000 Comfort 1.4 8v.

On the whole a very quiet car, picked up a sort of clicking noise (intermitant) in the dash a little while before I traded it in in Feb.

The new Fabia 02 reg TDI Elegance. Fantastic looking car, goes really well....but......

Rattles in the dash, lots under acceleration with the power of the diesel. (warranty??)

Both front speakers hate bass and vibrate (can I ask for these to be replaced under warranty?)

Got a slightly stange noise coming from the front intermitant and only happens at low speeds. Had the garage look at it and my Dad (mechanic also) , no one can trace it or hear it except me it seems!

One of the roof plastic trims is peeling off at the back (warranty??)

Just noticed today and yesterday that when its been left out over night int he very heavy rain we have had it builds up a small amount of water in the lower door seals which trickles into the car when you move it!!!! (is this fixable? Never noticed it on my previous fab)

Grrrrr

Suggestions for me too please!!! :confused:

And to top it all my battery in my remote key just died too. I can feel a trip to the dealer coming up

[Papa_Lazerous]

Hi,

On my second Fabia. 1st one was november 2000 Comfort 1.4 8v.

On the whole a very quiet car, picked up a sort of clicking noise (intermitant) in the dash a little while before I traded it in in Feb.

The new Fabia 02 reg TDI Elegance. Fantastic looking car, goes really well....but......

Rattles in the dash, lots under acceleration with the power of the diesel. (warranty??)

Both front speakers hate bass and vibrate (can I ask for these to be replaced under warranty?)

Got a slightly stange noise coming from the front intermitant and only happens at low speeds. Had the garage look at it and my Dad (mechanic also) , no one can trace it or hear it except me it seems!

One of the roof plastic trims is peeling off at the back (warranty??)

Just noticed today and yesterday that when its been left out over night int he very heavy rain we have had it builds up a small amount of water in the lower door seals which trickles into the car when you move it!!!! (is this fixable? Never noticed it on my previous fab)

Grrrrr

Suggestions for me too please!!! :confused:

[Dmac1969vRS]

Hmmm

Seems Fabia door speakers are indeed sh*te!

[TabsTaxi]

My Fabia combi is nearly 12 months old and 40k miles. It does suffer the creaking dash, but only when the sun is out, and in hot weather. Both of the rear door cards show water staining at the bottom. The door internals have been resealed by the dealer, but still get wet, so I dont know whether it's from the door seals, or getting in via the window. The clutch cylinder needs replacing because I can make the pedal 'sink' when stationary. The power steering has failed twice, but they can't find a fault. The drivers seat belt webbing is faulty because the staulk is fixed, so the belt is always in the same awkward place. Because of my high mileage I have to guess when it needs servicing, and book 2 weeks in advance. I dread the thought of a major problem because I will lose too much income whilst off the road. If I get someone else to do any work I may invalidate the warranty (which is only 2 years at my mileage). In future I will buy new via the internet, put the

[FabiaTDi]

I had the infamous dash creak which I managed to cure myself along with a few other minor creaks...

I have overcome most of these with carefully placed sound proof felt, pieces of sponge and sheer determination to locate the source of each rattle!

Now I only have the occasional creak from the headlining which I can live with!

[james]

Originally posted by Papa_Lazerous in this post

Hi,

On my second Fabia. 1st one was november 2000 Comfort 1.4 8v.

On the whole a very quiet car, picked up a sort of clicking noise (intermitant) in the dash a little while before I traded it in in Feb.

The new Fabia 02 reg TDI Elegance. Fantastic looking car, goes really well....but......

Rattles in the dash, lots under acceleration with the power of the diesel. (warranty??)

Both front speakers hate bass and vibrate (can I ask for these to be replaced under warranty?)

Got a slightly stange noise coming from the front intermitant and only happens at low speeds. Had the garage look at it and my Dad (mechanic also) , no one can trace it or hear it except me it seems!

One of the roof plastic trims is peeling off at the back (warranty??)

Just noticed today and yesterday that when its been left out over night int he very heavy rain we have had it builds up a small amount of water in the lower door seals which trickles into the car when you move it!!!! (is this fixable? Never noticed it on my previous fab)

Grrrrr

Suggestions for me too please!!! :confused:

And to top it all my battery in my remote key just died too. I can feel a trip to the dealer coming up

The noise from the front, does it make it too when you turn your engine off, mine has a knocking when starting and switching off, like the engine is moving more than intended. I shook the engine when switched off, which must have looked strange to passers by I know, but I got a knocking from the engine mount, I don't think any knocking should come from the engine mounting, which must get a lot more punishment thatn my feeble attempts to rock it? I know the 8v is a rather crude unit, but it doesnt sound like it's the engine itself, rather the relationship between the engine and the bodywork.

I mentioned this noise to the dealer when it was serviced, they cannot have checked it out because they told me they had replaced the "drop links"? they said Fabias are having problemns with rods and joints in the suspension, but this has had no effect on the noise, so I can summise it was not connected at all.

[james]

Originally posted by TabsTaxi in this post

My Fabia combi is nearly 12 months old and 40k miles. It does suffer the creaking dash, but only when the sun is out, and in hot weather. Both of the rear door cards show water staining at the bottom. The door internals have been resealed by the dealer, but still get wet, so I dont know whether it's from the door seals, or getting in via the window. The clutch cylinder needs replacing because I can make the pedal 'sink' when stationary. The power steering has failed twice, but they can't find a fault. The drivers seat belt webbing is faulty because the staulk is fixed, so the belt is always in the same awkward place. Because of my high mileage I have to guess when it needs servicing, and book 2 weeks in advance. I dread the thought of a major problem because I will lose too much income whilst off the road. If I get someone else to do any work I may invalidate the warranty (which is only 2 years at my mileage). In future I will buy new via the internet, put the

[FabiaTDi]

I think you might have already tried the method I mentioned before. In case you haven't here is the original thread Creaking dashboard despair

I used to think it was the air ducts making my dash creak but it wasnt!

I also had a creak coming from the left hand part of the dash which was actually caused by the door trim moulding rubbing against the dash (where they meet) I cured it by smearing a small amount of silicine spray on the two surfaces.

[james]

Originally posted by TabsTaxi in this post

My Fabia combi is nearly 12 months old and 40k miles. It does suffer the creaking dash, but only when the sun is out, and in hot weather. Both of the rear door cards show water staining at the bottom. The door internals have been resealed by the dealer, but still get wet, so I dont know whether it's from the door seals, or getting in via the window. The clutch cylinder needs replacing because I can make the pedal 'sink' when stationary. The power steering has failed twice, but they can't find a fault. The drivers seat belt webbing is faulty because the staulk is fixed, so the belt is always in the same awkward place. Because of my high mileage I have to guess when it needs servicing, and book 2 weeks in advance. I dread the thought of a major problem because I will lose too much income whilst off the road. If I get someone else to do any work I may invalidate the warranty (which is only 2 years at my mileage). In future I will buy new via the internet, put the

[devonutopia]

I've seen a Fabia SDI being used as a learner car in Exeter. Thats the only time I've seen a Skoda being used for business. I've not even seen a skoda taxi yet (especially not a vRS!) Oh! I have seen a bright yellow Skoda pick-up being used a builder though. I think that counts as business (althugh the pick-up looked bloody awful in bright yellow - I'm sure there must be better colours out there...?)

[Pete]

I have a Fabia as well....and it has developed loads of rattles...I am interested in that noise you have coming from the front end. I have had that develop recently, and was concerned it was an engine mount, but the dealer claims to be baffled? Seats also creak around corners, the handbrake rattles away when driving, and there is something, somewhere in the dash that is rattling about. Also, my door panels get set rattling away to the speakers as well. A rather annoying problem as well is the air circulation-heating system.....sometimes the fan seems to sounds like an aeroplane prop....I dunno if the bearings are buggered or something. And you know that little cubby to the right of the steering wheel under the light swtiches....when I open it....it just falls out. All of this, coupled with the strange engine behaviour I am having.....I think I am going to get rid of my car.

P.

[ncarring]

Octavia taxis are quite common round here - mainly TDi's

[devonutopia]

Well, all these squeak problems don't bode well for my Fabia in the future, do they? I only have a small squeak which appears to eminate from behind the main centrally positioned vents. However turning up the CD player normally sorts that one out :speaker:

Nothing else like the handbrake/seats rattle yet. The prop sound coming from the air circulation could be outside foreign bodies getting into it? I've heard leaves getting stuck in other car's fans sounding a bit like a plane prop (or when you stick a playing card in the spokes of a bike)

[james]

Originally posted by Pete in this post

I have a Fabia as well....and it has developed loads of rattles...I am interested in that noise you have coming from the front end. I have had that develop recently, and was concerned it was an engine mount, but the dealer claims to be baffled? Seats also creak around corners, the handbrake rattles away when driving, and there is something, somewhere in the dash that is rattling about. Also, my door panels get set rattling away to the speakers as well. A rather annoying problem as well is the air circulation-heating system.....sometimes the fan seems to sounds like an aeroplane prop....I dunno if the bearings are buggered or something. And you know that little cubby to the right of the steering wheel under the light swtiches....when I open it....it just falls out. All of this, coupled with the strange engine behaviour I am having.....I think I am going to get rid of my car.

P.

In Leeds there around 1 million Skoda Taxi's which admittedly has seen my street cred as a private owner go down the pan, try driving in the city on a friday night, and there are hands clawing at my doors thinking i'm a taxi!!!!

As for the rattles, I have just booked mine in again at the dealer for the front end noise, I too am convinced it's an engine mount, at the end of the day they are the only things that hold it in place, so when it knocks and bangs there must be a weakness somethwere in there.

The rattle in the Dash I am having looked at again, I mentioned the infamous creak and they immediately said is the centre of the dash, I said no because that one has been fixed, the one to the left of the dash seems much more perplexing, and now the weather is hotting up, even more excrutiatingly annoying than ever before! the terms blackboard and teeth spring to mind!

I love the Fabia, and I loved my first like no other, but these build quality issues, which is what they are when they cannot construct it not to rattle and creak, are seriously questionning my faith in the brand, there is only so long my sanity can put up with all these grating noises, as suggested by someone, I would turn up the CD player, but then the doors rattle! it's a no win situation.

I'll keep you posted on developmenets/cures.

[skomaz]

Well our 2000 model TDI Comfort Combi is just over two years old and has just had it's 50,000ml (over crap Sheffield and Peak District Roads) service and has NO RATTLES AT ALL!!!!.... It has had the dashboard rattle/creak but that has been sorted.

Have we just got a good one or is it that the newer models are les well made

[ncarring]

Apart from Rolls Royce does any car manufacturer make 100% of its cars without rattles or squeaks? Methinks not.... I've certainly never had a completely rattle-free car.

[james]

Originally posted by ncarring in this post

Apart from Rolls Royce does any car manufacturer make 100% of its cars without rattles or squeaks? Methinks not.... I've certainly never had a completely rattle-free car.

Point taken, and I agree, but in fairness, and I speak for myself here, the rattles to which I am referring are not what you would consider acceptable, perhaps rattles is too subtle a word to use but when those noises actually convince you your car is going to fall apart on, say, a motorway journey, then they become unacceptable.

I notice you have an Octavia, I used to have one and it had no such ailments, nor did my 2000 Fabia, which actually was a car with absolutely no rattles or squeeks whatsoever, as praised at the time in Autoexpress and Whatcar, it does appear however, that later produced cars, and especially 2002 models are suffering quality issues, it is evident from this forum that a number of people are experiencing identicle problems.

It is worth remembering that as it stands today, the Fabia is considerably more expensive than a lot of it's newer rivals, poorly equipped and suffering quality issues, I went for the Fabia again, because my past experience of owning everything from the estelle, favorit, felicia and octavia and fabia were all good, I expected my Favorit and felicia to rattle and shake and bang, and indeed they did, but at a no frills budget price i couldnt really complain. The Fabia is not a budget car, it's a very good car, not cheap and Skoda have no excuse, we want people to believe skoda are great, we buy them at the end of the day, if we don't pull them up on such issues so they can sort them out, then the jokes will continue.

IMO :cheers:

[devonutopia]

Hmm. I remember driving a felicia as a courtesy car when my Fabia was in for a service. Although it looks a bit of a dog, it was OK inside and I could even say it drove OK for a 1.3 - plus there were no rattles.

My Fabia is early/mid 2001 (Y-reg) - Perhaps it was when they started producing the 51 and 02 plate cars that the build quality has started to suffer? My "behind the dash" creak has been a small annoyance, yet when I turned my radio off on a trip yesterday to monitor it, it had gone. I was quite chuffed at this, but it could just be the weather (seems to be worse when its colder..?) :confused:

I agree that the Skoda is not a no-frills auto. I bought mine as a preference over Vauxhall/Citroen (quality & depreciation), VW/Audi/Honda (price) and Nissan/Suzuki/Mitsubishi (Japanese. Thats not racist, is it?) As such I have an expectation for my car to continue to outperform these brands on the relative criteria like depreciation, build quality, design,etc. After nearly two years I believe my car still satisfies all the above (how often are Fabias in the classifieds? - Locally, never down my way - and it still looks the dogs b***ocks)

All this talk about newer Fabias suffering from problems is making me more like wanting to hang on to my current car for longer, if trading it in for a newer model will leave with me with a lower quality vehicle. I reckon I'm going to wait a year for the warranty to expire, and just remap it and run it until it dies (hopefully when I'm approaching 40! )

[ncarring]

James - I wasn't meaning to imply you didn't have a problem, just that the odd minor rattle is to be expected, I think. My Octy does have the odd squeak and rattle too but not "that convince you your car is going to fall apart". I wish you success with your anti-rattle campaign.

As for koda being an expensive make, I wouldn't know - I've never bought a new car. I bought what seemed like a good value second-hand one, trim level and mileage being two factors which I hope will help to offset the impact of the mileage hit mine's going to get over the next year or so. Then I'll buy another 2 or 3 year old car, and so on ..... therefore I guess I have less cause for complaint about rattles.

[Johntomkins]

My motor is a '51 Fabia and to date, no build/trim quality problems - touch wood. I've had one techie problem with the rotary light switch and my only observation with regard to build quality, is that the fitting of the plastic moulding around the rear widow is a bit slack/lose.

So in my opinion, nothing to write home about.

That said, having followed this thread I am now starting to get paranoid, driving in near silence listening for every tiny little creak and squeek. Almost daring something to fall off - but so far, I am happy to report, nothing.

I'm sorry to hear about the problems you guys have experienced but surely I can't be only experiencing luck with my Fabia - can I :confused:

- I hope I'm not tempting fate with this note...

PS The dash of my old Favorit used to have an occassional squeek, when ever the mouse "woke up". I found that thumping the shade/moulding around the instrument panel would make it go away for a few days/weeks.

Just a suggestion

[flyingscot]

The only rattle I can get from my Fabia is the in dash tray which constantly rattles esp from acceleration in the diesel at low revs. It could be sorted by some felt but to be honest I can't be bothered! On the otherhand I have been hearing that the later Fabias are suffering from some quality problems

[stopan1j]

None of the Fabia's I have had on loan seemed to have any bad rattles or squeks old and new, however you need to drive one every day to pick up noises.

For interset My 99 Octavia slx has no rattles from day 1 to date it did develop a very very minor creaking noise after 2 years that was only noticable because the car lacked any rattles normally, It was traced to a rear door seal that had "dried out" Spraying/ wiping with silicon lubricant cured the problem this was fixed by the dealer in this way when I showed that pressing the top of the door from the outside produced a creak. The problem was solved fully however I now have a can of the lubricant and wipe all door seals periodically (The spray I have is clear and stainless and was given to me by a VW mechanic - it is NOT WD40 or a substitute . In the service manual for Octavias it states that the same lubricant is used for the sunroof rubbers at service time.

[r_holmes22]

I've owned a Y-registered (August 2001) Fabia 1.9TDi for just over a month now and, on the whole, am extremely pleased with it. Certainly a massive step up from the R-reg Fiesta 1.3 LX it replaced.

I was listening out for the trim rattle on my test drive (having read reports of it during my research) but didn't notice any. However, a couple quickly manifested themselves after I purchased it and come and go intermittently with no apparent rhyme or reason. The first is a 'clicking' sound from behind the dashboard, just above the stereo system and centre air vents. It sounds very much like plastic parts rubbing together. It has happened during hot weather and cold weather, and is evident both over bumps and even when just accelerating or breaking (even mildly). However, sometimes I can drive for an hour or two and it is silent!

The other is concerning me more at present. There is a more 'grinding' type rattle emanating from the back end somewhere. It sounds a little like plastic on mettle, and is also intermittent. It is apparent at both low and high speeds. At first I thought it might be the cover for the rear wiper spray, or perhaps the seatbelt buckle touching against something, but have since ruled both out. I've examined the entire back end and can't find anything loose. I'm now concerned it might be a suspension issue (although it sounds too 'lightweight' to be something bearing the load of the car to me).

I'm taking it to the dealers later for them to take a look at, but I bet the blasted things behave themselves while they are there! Other than those, though, the car is superb. I'm loving it!