Does anyone know if the facelifted Fabia Elegance Estate can be had with "Light Assist" and Auto Windscreen Wipers? I have them on my Octavia and find them extremely useful, particularly Light Assist on a dark night. Also can the locking system be programmed to Auto Lock all doors automatically when you set off; again a great safeguard against car-jacking and opportune thieves. The car automatically unlocks the doors when the key is removed from the ignition.

Does anyone know if the facelifted Fabia Elegance Estate can be had with "Light Assist" and Auto Windscreen Wipers? I have them on my Octavia and find them extremely useful, particularly Light Assist on a dark night. Also can the locking system be programmed to Auto Lock all doors automatically when you set off; again a great safeguard against car-jacking and opportune thieves. The car automatically unlocks the doors when the key is removed from the ignition.

No light assist, no auto wipers. but I am pretty certain the central locking can be programmed to do the anti car-jacking thing.

No light assist, no auto wipers. but I am pretty certain the central locking can be programmed to do the anti car-jacking thing.

I do wonder why Skoda did not include these options on the Elegance model. Elegance is the trim people trading down from a larger car are likely to go for and the absence of these "nice to haves" could deter buyers in favour of other makes which do include these options. Cost of including them would be next to nothing to Skoda and could have made a nice profit as an extra option.

Ahhh but then you would steal sales from the polo which we couldnt have now could we . Although nice to have features it just depends how much you want the car to decide when to put the lights and wipers on.

Ahhh but then you would steal sales from the polo which we couldnt have now could we . Although nice to have features it just depends how much you want the car to decide when to put the lights and wipers on.

You are probably right but then why can you get all the "goodies" on top range Octavia, Yeti & Superb? Don't they steal from Golf, Tuaran and Passat sales?

If VW's view is that the Fabia would steal sales from the Polo then I think their marketing strategy is nuts because the more you range you can offer in your total market then the more car sales overall you will attract - after all there are Skoda, VW, Seat and soon Audi versions of superminis which quadruple their coverage of the segment.

However, leaving that aside I think the biggest omission is the lack of auto dipping rear view mirrors - a safety situation particularly with wing mirrors. I know that on my Octavia L&K the dipping wing mirror is great particularly with the bright Zenons now becoming increasingly common.

" know that on my Octavia L&K the dipping wing mirror is great particularly with the bright Zenons now becoming increasingly common. "

I have an Octy L&K (08) and while the rear view mirror is auto-dipping, the wing mirrors are not. The passenger-side wing mirror 'dips' on selecting reverse gear to show the kerb but it is not affected by headlights. The options list on the current Octavia brochure mentions auto-dipping rear view mirror only.

Nevertheless, I agree that auto-dipping rear view mirror is a very useful feature. The last thing you want to be doing is taking one hand off the steering wheel to dip the mirror when you are half blinded by some idiot with poorly adjusted lights behind you.

If VW's view is that the Fabia would steal sales from the Polo then I think their marketing strategy is nuts because the more you range you can offer in your total market then the more car sales overall you will attract - after all there are Skoda, VW, Seat and soon Audi versions of superminis which quadruple their coverage of the segment.

I agree. A sale to Skoda is still a sale to VAG. I think the idea is that they want to keep the posh bits for Audis and VWs to justify selling them for a higher price and make a greater margin, but I think this 'cannabalisation' is less of a problem than some like to think. Better than losing a sale to the opposition!

" know that on my Octavia L&K the dipping wing mirror is great particularly with the bright Zenons now becoming increasingly common. "

I have an Octy L&K (08) and while the rear view mirror is auto-dipping, the wing mirrors are not. The passenger-side wing mirror 'dips' on selecting reverse gear to show the kerb but it is not affected by headlights. The options list on the current Octavia brochure mentions auto-dipping rear view mirror only.

Nevertheless, I agree that auto-dipping rear view mirror is a very useful feature. The last thing you want to be doing is taking one hand off the steering wheel to dip the mirror when you are half blinded by some idiot with poorly adjusted lights behind you.

I have a (55) Estate 2.0 Tdi L&K and am pretty sure the drivers wing mirror dips ("darkens") like the internal mirror, I have never been blinded by that mirror when followed by the beam-up brigade anyway.

I agree. A sale to Skoda is still a sale to VAG. I think the idea is that they want to keep the posh bits for Audis and VWs to justify selling them for a higher price and make a greater margin, but I think this 'cannabalisation' is less of a problem than some like to think. Better than losing a sale to the opposition!

The craziest part of this is that the facelifted Fabia gets the 1.2 TSI engine with the DSG gearbox while the new Polo only offers the arthritic 1.4 with the DSG box. Querying this with VW they replied that it is "customary to offer one automatic model within this class of vehicle and that the 1.4 was suited to the DSG box" - or words to that effect. In other words we don't care that most of the excellent road tests published in the UK at the new Polo launch were praising the 1.2 TSI with the DSG box, we will tell you what you can have!! Frankly it is that " we know best" attitude that initially put me off VW products, only an excellent Skoda franchise convinced me to give my current Octavia a try.

I do wonder why Skoda did not include these options on the Elegance model. Elegance is the trim people trading down from a larger car are likely to go for and the absence of these "nice to haves" could deter buyers in favour of other makes which do include these options. Cost of including them would be next to nothing to Skoda and could have made a nice profit as an extra option.

I quite agree. I'd be very tempted to replace my Octy L&K hatch with the new Fabia Elegance estate if it could match the goodies I've become used to over the past years. Heck even my Mk4 Golf had rain-sensitive wipers, and they make it so much safer to overtake lorries knowing that they'll wipe the windscreen if it gets swamped by the bow wave as you pass. The Octy's tunnel lights are also a great feature to improve visibility as you enter tunnels or darkened roads. Going without would be like going back to indicators that don't self-cancel, or not having cruise control.

I'm all for sensible automation that helps you concentrate on reading the road ahead.

Chris

I quite agree. I'd be very tempted to replace my Octy L&K hatch with the new Fabia Elegance estate if it could match the goodies I've become used to over the past years. Heck even my Mk4 Golf had rain-sensitive wipers, and they make it so much safer to overtake lorries knowing that they'll wipe the windscreen if it gets swamped by the bow wave as you pass. The Octy's tunnel lights are also a great feature to improve visibility as you enter tunnels or darkened roads. Going without would be like going back to indicators that don't self-cancel, or not having cruise control.

I'm all for sensible automation that helps you concentrate on reading the road ahead.

Chris

Does the ibiza have a similar level of spec to the fabia? I was trying to figure it out but they seem to have so many different versions.

Does the ibiza have a similar level of spec to the fabia? I was trying to figure it out but they seem to have so many different versions.

The more I look at this the more I am perplexed by Skoda's definition. They have adopted the "Elegance" definition across their range for the high specification model. That specification in all the other models includes Light Assist, Auto Wipers and auto dipping mirrors as standard PLUS a host of extras.

The Fabia not only misses out on the standard Elegance features but the options list is much leaner, in fact, it is much more akin to the mid range models of the other vehicles. I am wondering if this could be because the Fabia is based on the "old" VAG supermini chassis while the Polo, Seat and new A1 are all built on the newer chassis. That then leads me to wonder how long it will be before Skoda introduces a new Fabia built on the new chassis?

The more I look at this the more I am perplexed by Skoda's definition. They have adopted the "Elegance" definition across their range for the high specification model. That specification in all the other models includes Light Assist, Auto Wipers and auto dipping mirrors as standard PLUS a host of extras.

The Fabia not only misses out on the standard Elegance features but the options list is much leaner, in fact, it is much more akin to the mid range models of the other vehicles. I am wondering if this could be because the Fabia is based on the "old" VAG supermini chassis while the Polo, Seat and new A1 are all built on the newer chassis. That then leads me to wonder how long it will be before Skoda introduces a new Fabia built on the new chassis?

Doubt it has much to do with the chassis, but the Fabia3 will be along in about 3 years time!

I think it's quite normal for the lower end models (Fabia/Roomster) to not have the same kit available as the posher cars. The Yeti is after all not much bigger than a Fabia in terms of length but about 1.5 times more expensive accross the range.