Unfortunately I have to agree with james riley! Recently taken delivery of Fabia 2 with function pack having put up with a terrible Corsa 1.3ctdi (57 reg) for 2 years and a fantastic Mk1 Fabia before that (my son has that now).

I am very disappointed with the Mk2 Fabia. It is totally underwhelming and I regret not trying other cars now.:rotz:

Main gripes

Road noise - lots - could be the Bridgstone Turanzas but somehow I think not.

Bouncier ride - what happened to the superb ride of the Mk1?

Internally the design is a mess - I dont know who the design is supposed to be aimed at, but it clearly doesnt appeal to my kids or myself

Radio - its just carp

The quality is there in the build, but the design quality is all about penny pinching.

No, the design doesnt grow on you - thinks I will be getting rid or giving it away next year.

Sorry Skoda, the sooner you bin the current Fabia, the better!

It's true the Mk2 Fabia isn't a fashion model... but I much prefer the Fabia's shape to that of the i10! The Fabia is also much better quality-wise. You have to look at the rattles and noises after a couple of years for that.

I had a Fabia before I joined this forum, so no bias here. I chose the Mark I Fabia as its one of the best if not the best build quality supermini you can buy. However the Mark II isn't as good quality with the materials used but it's still a well built car. The road noise can be sorted if you spend £90 to sound proof the car. The stereo isn't bad for a factory unit - just upgrade it if you're into Hi Fi.

Fabia; I have a F 3 and that has some sound proofing. Have you spent the £90 and would it be much better than the compnay fit and a worthwhile investment. I have used the fitting kitd s few times so I am sure it is easy enough?

true... what does the 90 pound sound proofing consist of? is it in the engine compartment or somewhere else? how does it reduce the noise of the tires hitting the road? or is it aimed only at the sound of the engine?

£90 can get you a bulk reel of Dynamat Extreme (don't go for the original Dynamat as its heavier and not as effective. Brown Bread is another good one amongst others) which should be enough for the doors, the floor, the boot and possibly the roof, but that's the cost of the material. If you can't fit it yourself then it could be another £90 at least on top for labour. For difficult to reach places you can use spray but it can get a bit messy.

It doesn't reduce tyre noise, it just helps to block out the noise so there is a method in our madness, At the extreme one may strip out the whole interior and soundproof the whole cabin.

I actually like the sound of the 3 cylinders the 1.2 makes.

James, Skodakid, understood. You are not happy with the looks of the Fabia. Don't forget though, the way a car looks to someone is a very subjective thing. Like most, I love the way my Fabia Mk2 Estate looks. It's perfectly proportioned to me and couldn't be better. The build quality may differ from the Mk1, I've never owned or driven that model, but I have worked on the Mk1 and it does have some problems that the Mk2 has eradicated. Mk2 is more reliable. It's the tyres that you are hearing Skodakid, the Mk2 is not noted for road noise and the Fabia Mk2 level one does have a lot less sound proofing than the level 2 & 3. Dunno about your radio, but as a music freak (errr...make that just a freak!) my Dance with it's eight speaker system is just superb and comparable to some of the best I've had in very high spec cars.

James...and I respect your opinion, but surely you've got to be kidding about the i10 Hyundia being a better car than a Skoda Fabia. Forget looks, and look at how small it is, how slow it is. I've driven one. I have a Hyundia dealer just up the road. It was uncomfortable and clearly designed just for town work. The door panels appeared to be made of alcan tin foil. It's not a bad car by modern standards, just not in the Skoda class for quality of any kind eg build (Hyundia uses thinner gauge metal than other manufacturers for body formation) etc. The car I took out had just 1000 miles on the clock and already rattled like a good un! Look at the attachment below...you'll see what I mean. You will need to be logged in to see this, it's copied into the main post so it just appears as soon as you login.

Edited 14 July, 200916 yr by Estate Man
I carnt speel!

I admire estateman's enthusiasm. 1st time skoda owners usually are over the moon when they get their first skoda (as I was). Theres no doubt that Skoda build quality is usually up there with the best.

But following a super success like the Mk1 Fabia is difficult, especially when the parent company insists on more profit, and fitting into a specific non-competing market.

The dance radio is a peculiar design, arkward and clumsy, it does have its good points - the speakers are good and performance on CD is powerful, if somewhat boom box quality. However, the CD player (maybe I have a poor one) doesnt tolerate even the slightest scratch and radio reception is poor and the radio sound flat. I don't expect to have reception problems on Radio 1 - but I do. Maybe it'll get sorted at the first service. I understand that several others have also experienced problems with the Dance radio.

More on the road noise - yes an element is tyre noise, but a lot is a combination of gear/final drive roar (was there on the Mk1 but considerably less so) and road noise transmitted to the body through the suspension. The Mk1 I had, had panels covering the underside of the car, these are no longer there and looking under the car reminds me of the Corsa (spits into bucket) - that too had some road noise problems (less than Fabia). Just an anti stone coat.

I will be trying some soundproofing, but I will not spend more than about £20 on it. Its just a Fabia after all.

To be honest, Estatemans 1.4 Tdi engine would drown out the noise I am referring to here. THe 1.2 engine is miles quieter than that old lump. (Yes I tried it, and I even drove a Mk1 in the distant past that had a remarkably quiet 1.4 TDI engine - but that was the exception - all others I tried are "bag o spanners" noisy)

May I stress, the build quality is fine, its the detailed design that smacks just a little of "we saved a little here" etc - the classic being "by removing the engine shroud, we saved 4 euros"

Maybe I've just tired of small cars.

PS the (somewhat dubious) JD power survey appies to 3 year old (I think) cars - i.e. the Skoda Fabia Mk1. Take a look at 2009 survey and you will see the Fabia has slid several places down, and thats before the Mk2 came along.

Edited 12 July, 200916 yr by skodakid

PS the (somewhat dubious) JD power survey appies to 3 year old (I think) cars - i.e. the Skoda Fabia Mk1. Take a look at 2009 survey and you will see the Fabia has slid several places down, and thats before the Mk2 came along.

The Mk2 is fairing better than the Mk1 with fewer warranty claims per 1000 vehicles, apparently. Whatever you may think about the J D Power surveys, they are the only ones that really matter in the boardrooms of the manufacturers and have proven immensly powerful in getting manufacturers to get things right. I don't know where the Fabia Mk2 is currently in the survey but my attachment was refering to the Manufacturers Survey...something a bit different to the actual car model survey. Remember, just because a manufacturer or particular model has moved down the scale in the survey, it doesn't necessarily mean the manufacturer has produced more troublesome cars...it's usually because others have improved, changing the positions. It's immensly encouraging that Skoda has improved it's position and maintained it over the last decade...which actually means in reality it has improved along with other manufacturers, allowing it to stay ahead.

I've not experienced any problems with Radio 1 but it could be two things...maybe your location you are listening in, the signal is not great in many parts of the country for Radio 1. Secondly, you may have something as simple as a poor aerial earth to body, or poor connection somewhere at the back of the set. These are common problems for any manufacturer. Sometimes anti-corrosion body wax is wrongly put around the aerial hole, this doesn't conduct electricity very well and provides a poor earth. Worth checking Skodakid as this used to account for around 40-50% of the radio problems we received in the workshop. Hope you get it sorted.

Edited 12 July, 200916 yr by Estate Man

Just to keep you updated...I've ordered a new car.

Its a fabia and its the cheap one. I only need a run-around and at 5995 its a bargain. I need something that can take a roofrack for my canoe and the skoda seemed to be the best bet. Best resale thrown into the equation there too. I appreciate the noise contributions and may investigate soundproofing but it must be better than my old S reg fester. I'll let you know when it arrives.

And for the girls...red one with the charcoal interior!

If I were to consider a cheap new car i would definately look at the Perodua Myvi which is basically the same as the more expensive Daihatsu Sirion (and I think Subaru Justy). It has the same 1.3 vvti 86bhp engine as fitted in Yaris (both old and the new shape until recently replaced by a lot more expensive 1.33 stop/start)

Standard equipment has air con, 5 doors, elec windows, etc.

With £2000 scrappage scheme should be able to pick one up for around £5000 with haggling (or no more than around £5600)

edit: just noticed too late to post this