Hi,

I've just bought Fabia 1,4 16V sedan year 2002 from a small dealer and have some issues with it. The car has 58.000 miles, 2 previous owners, service history.

Have been using it about the week, the car feels lovely when you drive it, but when you're getting used to it, more smaller or bigger issues you would find..

I knew that there are few things to check when you buy a second hand car, cam belt and service history is on of them.

I asked about the cam belt and the guy said that it will be about time to change it, so he got me on his side how honest he was with this.

He even promised to do complete service for 60.000 miles, change of cam belt and oil including.

So I bought the car, picked it up last Wednesday after the service and everything has just started.

I reached maybe first half a mile and engine orange light went on. So I turned around and asked why it is. Guy took the car, let me wait another day, returned car saying they did not find anything and now it should be fine.

Situation repeated after 20 miles again, I called him and he said the service guy identified faulty lambda sensor so I am going to the service again tomorrow for replacement.

Driving the car for about week, I found following list of smaller or bigger issues:

1. Brakes are dodgy when need to brake suddenly, rear of the car is being pushed to the left - I was in Kwitfit and they did the inspection for free, result - both front brakes needs to be replaced include the discs (slightly corroded), rear are about to go.

2. Rear tyres are about to go (1,4 mm left) - Kwifit found a screw and a nail in one of them, both are cracked like someone was driving it flat. I've had to put the air everyday from very beginning, front tires are perfectly fine.

3. Seat lift up doesn't work

4. The open button on the boot's doors doesn't work

5. Funny noise comes from the middle of the dashboard (work around - punch it )

6. Few more small issues proving that there is something wrong with that car - dashboard background light keeps going off randomly, the right window open button has about 1s delay before window goes down, wipers rather scratching the window then wipe(not a big deal)

The guy was almost angry when I told him about brakes and tyres, he said I should have not gone to Kwitfit, because there is full news papers how they cheat people and that he checked the brakes and tyres and everything was fine.

So I am in a doubt now, cannot trust that guy any more, I expect that he will try to do as least as possible, so will just replace the lambda sensor and won't fix the brakes even though I have 3rd party inspection report.

I don't know what to do in that case, what are my options if he refuses to do the brakes?

I don't feel in that car safe any more.

Thanks

1, 2: As it stands - it is not roadworthy.

I am not a lawyer. Talk to citizen's advice or just fix it, neither are difficult to remedy.

It would be worth asking for (in writing) what items he included in the 60,000 mile service.

3, 4, 5, 6: Small faults with a secondhand car are not uncommon, it's not a new car. Did the dealer describe the car as perfect? If so it is not as described, otherwise live with it or fix it.

I have to agree with not trusting Kwitfit, heard so many stories from friends and family who have been told to replace parts when they are not required. However, its not to say they are not right on this occasion.

Personally I would take it else where to a reputable garage or to a person you trust. Get them to write up a report - Most garages will probably refer to them as a PDI (Pre-delivery inspection)

Give the garage another chance, go down there in person. Try and speak to someone else. Just express your concerns. If they are not willing to entertain your issues give them the report from the other garage and get them to do the most serious issues and ask for them to come on a test drive with you.

Like bnjyn - a second hand car will always have a couple of small issues - most, if not all sound easy to fix.

Edited 19 June, 201016 yr by foey

I hate to be obvious, but have you checked the tyres? You don't even need a depth guage as there are little black bumps at the bottom of the treads. If the tread is touching the crossbar then the tyre is either on the minimum or illegal. If you can't see the crossbar then it's illegal.

If Kwik-Fit have measured the tyres at 1.4mm then they're illegal and the seller shouldn't have sold you the car with tyres like that.

If you didn't pick up the brakes at the time of the test drive, then that's a bit tough. The same with the seat adjust and the other small faults. None of those are actually covered by a service. For example, VAGs service instructions are to check the brake linings and discs and advise customer if they need replacing.

Your only real HONEST test point is to take the car for an MOT, which will cost you £40-ish and they will give you a long list of things that need doing, but aren't illegal, or give you the evidence you need to take the car back and either get it fixed or get your money back.

Sorry, used cars are a racket. Hopefully it wasn't too expensive. A couple of new tyres shouldn't be hideously expensive, wipers the same and the rest casn be fixed with a Haynes manual and a bit of effort I'd say.

I had concerns when I collected my car from the dealer. They had promised to change the cam belt, but ofc there was no way of knowing that they had. As mentioned in previous post, ask the dealer for the service worksheet, this will show all time and parts.

So I have just picked up the car and the result is as I expected.

Lambda sensor was replaced and the orange light has has been reset. Nothing else was accepted. I didn't bother him with wipers, dash board noise or the window open button.

He did not accept the brakes stating a service guy looked at it and brakes are in 50% of their life time. He even tested the car himself and brakes are working perfect for him.

I asked him for some report, but he said there is nothing he can do, his prove is his "45 years experience with cars".

He won't even accept another report I am going to do with MOT service center, I think that's bullsh*t. The guy is apparently a liar and I can't wait to prove it.

I agree most of those issues are small and I will deal with it myself, but if brakes are in the condition Kwifit says I am going to go back to him, even though it won't be easy to get him to fix it :/

But the truth is that Kwifwit could have lied with the report, so I will see when I get another one...

Thanks for your help

Well to say there is full newspapers describing the failings of kwikfit and going off on one is a bit over the top - but they are prone to doing work not needed and I would never go there myself. Remember it's legally *YOUR* responsibility (or the responsibility of the driver) to check the tyres are in a legal condition. The fine and points you could get if you were pulled over by a police officer (per tyre) will illustrate this more effectively than saying so unfortunately. It's not that difficult to check them yourself as described above, and I suspect a more thorough check prior to buying would have revealed most of the faults. If the fault is pulling to left when braking, I severely doubt Kwikfit replacing the discs and pads will help at all. It is more likely to be another fault such as the slider pin being stuck on one side, or a fault with the brake hose or something along those lines. Maybe try find a good independent garage that specialises in VAG cars.

If you've had the Lambda sensor sorted hopefully that's probably the most expensive fault sorted, and hopefully they used a half-decent sensor.

Another option if you feel that you have been ripped off is your local trading standards - if nothing else they can point you in the direction of the MoT stations that they use - it would be hard to argue with a TS approved / used MoT station's report.

i agree with most, dont take kwikfit as gospel. going on personal experience they always try to get the work and charge way over the top prices, even when the work doesnt need carrying out.

ive had lots of customers come to the garage i work at saying kwikfit have told them lots of problems, when we have looking theres nothing wrong with the car.

go get car checked my ind garage, see if they agree with kwikfit.

tyres u shudda checked urself before buying as its easy to do, when i bought mine i wasnt happy with the tyres, (2 were just legal) and 1 was about 3mm, i got the dealer to change all tyres before i bought,

good luck getting it sorted, my car always had dash noise but i fixed myself ( just punch it few times and it fine)

Try to find an independent SKoda or VAG centre and get them to check over the car fully. Pretty much same as what everyone suggests.

I had an issue when bought my Fabia from Vindis Skoda, Cambridge...they tried to con me by swapping my wheels around before I picked it up. The week before when i test drove it, it was sporting alloys in good condition and tyre thread with 3mm left. When I went to collect it, the tyres were down to 1.6mm. I complained and told them it was lucky to have passed the MOT they'd "engineered up"

they swapped the tyres on the spot for me, but i had to wait. I told them if they didnt then i'd only go and buy brand new tyres that same day to fix their **** up.

I have got to stage in my life where I don't trust anyone with my brakes, I always do them myself, so I suggest you do them yourself. Hopefullly you can weild a spanner and fix them yourself along with the other problems. There is always someone to ask on Briskoda if you get stuck or want some advice. If you can't do anything yourself then there are some trusted VAG specialists who we use, can't think of any in Surbiton myself but someone on here will point you in the right direction.

Thanks for an advice, I have another update, a new issue appeared.

I will definitely visit the independent service center to get report I can trust and mainly know if it's safe to drive this car. But I have to wait till my pay day to do that.

Unfortunately dash board started indicating another problem. ABS and Traction control lights both went ON last week while driving from work.

I found out that it could be a fuse issue on the battery, but all fuses are fine.

The next day both lights were still ON in the morning, but went OFF soon as the car moved. There is a pattern, every morning are both lights ON for a short while and every afternoon go back ON as soon as I the car is in motion.

I suspect that the reason the lights turning ON is that the car is staying whole day on the sun, so something (sensors?) get overheated and would be signaling failure until it cools down, but it's just a theory from a computer guy; me who doesn't know so much about cars but how to drive them : )

I've tried to press ASR button and the Traction control light goes ON, is that by design? Also I am not sure if ABS light is supposed to be always ON or if it comes on just in the case of failure (that I suppose).

It would be nice to get some service manual for a Fabia, would someone have some link eventually? I have to start learning the stuff so I can do myself as much as possible.

Thanks

EDIT: I found the user manual in the first post of this forum, so I know that all dashboard lights have warning function : )

Edited 28 June, 201016 yr by Victorius

I will definitely visit the independent service center to get report I can trust and mainly know if it's safe to drive this car. But I have to wait till my pay day to do that.

Try one of the local authority test centres - they don't do repairs, so they have no incentive to "find" faults:

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/travel/cheap-mot#full

I've tried to press ASR button and the Traction control light goes ON, is that by design?

Yeah, the light only comes on if it fails, or if it's switched off (as a warning). It also comes on when the ignition is switched on for about 1s (so you know the bulb hasn't broken, I guess).

Also I am not sure if ABS light is supposed to be always ON or if it comes on just in the case of failure (that I suppose).

It should only come on in the event of failure, or when it actually activates.