Hi Guys,

I have had 4 skodas all from new.

My fabia comfort estate, has only covered 6700 miles, YES, 6700 miles since i bought it new.

I have had to have the A/C compressor replaced, and it now shows the battery light, no charge from the alternator.

It is booked in at my skoda agent tomorrow to investigate.

I find it hard to believe that a low mileage car like this, has shown these faults, which are not cheap to rectify.

I would welcome anyones thoughts on this, could it be a "rogue" model etc.

Thanks in advance

Parts deteriorate over time, simple as that. A 9 year old car thats almost never been used is going to have issues. Unless its been kept in a sealed, environmentally controled storage area with all fluids etc drained from it you're going to find some parts that will fail for you. An alternator is one of those sorts of things, if it doesn't get used for 9 years its really going to get surface rust and have issues with contacts.

Don't worry too much about it, its very likely that it will be easy to refurb and should be good as new in no time. Cars aren't designed to not be used

ps. Make sure you get things like your Cambelt changed if its going to start being used. Thats another item that is limited by time as well as mileage.

The problem is parts will degrade over time as well as with mileage.

Not doing enough mileage per annum is almost as bad as doing too many miles per annum. Moving parts can seize or rust internally if they are getting very little use and services may be skipped as a result of low mileage but fluids etc also deteriorate with age as well as use.

I generally find Skoda's and indeed the Fabia to be at least as reliable as any other car, if not more reliable...

I own a motorhome as well as my vRS and it is a common problem with very low milage vans that are only three or four years old, it's known as lazy van syndrom.

It is speculated that parts that rotate ,need to be turned regularly, seals get brittle earlier as the plastisicers need to be spread around ,condensation forms internally all contribute to premature failure in all models.It is recomended to take the vehicle out at least every week or two and drive it far enough to get it to working temperatue.

Many Thanks guys

Yes, dealer has confirmed today the alternator is U/S

New one being fitted