I have a 2004 Fabia 1.2 6v (AWY). It has just passed the MOT. In previous years I would have taken it to Skoda for an annual service, but last year I had a bad experience with them. My post dating back to then might still be on the site if anyone cares, but suffice it to say I was told what appeared to be "material untruths" (aka lies but for the lack of proof of intent). They probably still bear a grudge about me only canceling a £450 service a day in advance (done by a small independent instead for under £250 ish). That service would have been in addition to the £400 ish "regular" service bill :-)

I think I would prefer to again use the same independent garage, partly because they did a good job the last time, and partly because I can watch and get an idea of how difficult it is to do things myself (previous experience: it turns out that the £50-odd in labor Skoda wanted to change a coil pack pays for under 5 minutes of work, but of course they advised me not to drive the car. Instead I was to leave it with them and travel about 20 miles to work some other way so they could work on it. After all, I would not have felt I got my 90-odd quid worth if I could see how much effort it really was.).

I was hoping someone could help me with a few questions:

i) the car has only done about 8k miles over the last year. Shall I change the oil now, or give it another couple of thousand miles? Either way, I have a 4.5l can of Magnatec 15w-40 that mentions WV50101 on the label and that I bought in about 2006 for to-ups, except the engine just does not seem to need any ever. Would anyone advise for/against using it, and is 4.5 liters enough? (50101 is mentioned in the service book, and a google search suggests I need just 3 litres). Interestingly, Skoda seemed to use 10w-40 the last time and wanted over £40 for it (probably about twice what my oil cost for probably a 50% larger amount). Can someone please tell me if that is better or worse (really, I have no idea what the difference between 10 and 15 might be)? Many thanks.

ii) I noticed that in addition to an oil filter (clearly a must) I can also cheaply buy a cabin air filter, a carbon cabin air filter, a fuel filter, and a ("plain", so presumably engine air intake) air filter. Do I want to change any of these, and would there be a non-trivial labor cost involved? I vaguely recall that a carbon filter was an expensive option when new. Can I just buy one (£14) and swap it for whatever is there now, or is there something that would prevent that? (Assuming it's worth doing at all). It seems Skoda did not change any of them last year.

iii) the gearbox is a bit noisy, though it's only audible after releasing the clutch in idle. Should I do anything about that given the car has done 60k miles?

iv) anything else I should not forget (brake fluid got changed last year).

Many thanks in advance!

Edited 17 May, 201115 yr by jeremiah

i) the car has only done about 8k miles over the last year. Shall I change the oil now, or give it another couple of thousand miles? Either way, I have a 4.5l can of Magnatec 15w-40 that mentions WV50101 on the label and that I bought in about 2006 for to-ups, except the engine just does not seem to need any ever. Would anyone advise for/against using it, and is 4.5 liters enough? (50101 is mentioned in the service book, and a google search suggests I need just 3 litres). Interestingly, Skoda seemed to use 10w-40 the last time and wanted over £40 for it (probably about twice what my oil cost for probably a 50% larger amount). Can someone please tell me if that is better or worse (really, I have no idea what the difference between 10 and 15 might be)? Many thanks.

I would use 10w-40 oil, there is really cheap genuine GM( vauxhall\opel) oil on ebay, I think around 16 pound for 5 liter.

ii) I noticed that in addition to an oil filter (clearly a must) I can also cheaply buy a cabin air filter, a carbon cabin air filter, a fuel filter, and a ("plain", so presumably engine air intake) air filter. Do I want to change any of these, and would there be a non-trivial labor cost involved? I vaguely recall that a carbon filter was an expensive option when new. Can I just buy one (£14) and swap it for whatever is there now, or is there something that would prevent that? (Assuming it's worth doing at all). It seems Skoda did not change any of them last year.

You have to change all filters, petrol filter does not matter so much but is cheap so why not. If you have 60k miles done check if spark plugs were changed at some point if not think about it

iii) the gearbox is a bit noisy, though it's only audible after releasing the clutch in idle. Should I do anything about that given the car has done 60k miles?

Probably release bearing is on a way out, not to worry about for now, I've seen them in such a mess that it was louder then the diesel engine and still worked fine, it's rather costly and if you want to change it I would recommend to change whole clutch with it.

iv) anything else I should not forget (brake fluid got changed last year).

Cooling fluid should be changed every few years

Many thanks in advance!

I have a 2004 Fabia 1.2 6v (AWY).

I was hoping someone could help me with a few questions:

i) the car has only done about 8k miles over the last year. Shall I change the oil now,

ii) I noticed that in addition to an oil filter (clearly a must) I can also cheaply buy a cabin air filter, a carbon cabin air filter, a fuel filter, and a ("plain", so presumably engine air intake) air filter.

iii) the gearbox is a bit noisy, though it's only audible after releasing the clutch in idle. Should I do anything about that given the car has done 60k miles?

iv) anything else I should not forget (brake fluid got changed last year).

Many thanks in advance!

Even if you do less than 10,000 per year for servicing, the oil and oil filter must be changed every year regardless!!

The "carbon" cabin filter is much better if you get caught behind trucks or suffer from hayfever, change every 20,000 or 2years

The engine panel filter, fuel filter and spark plugs must be changed every 40,000miles or 4years.

Brake fluid must be changed ever 2years.

Coolant must be changed every 5years.

If the gearbox oil is over 6years old then change that as well..remember to adjust the cables afterwards as well!!

These are all simple jobs, 3 out of 5 for difficulty...just require a few tools and a Haynes manual!!!