We've been disappointed with our new Fabia after only 5,000 miles. In the first year it's failed on us 3 times resulting in a 'push' to the side of the road when the engine cut out completely. There's been an annoying rattle from the facia since delivery, the offside rear door is difficult to open, and today we had to return to the dealer to sort out an engine rattle after the first service which has been diagnosed as loose brake control cables. The brakes have also starting making a grinding noise but have been re-assured they are fine. So different from our previous Fabia which was trouble free. Anyone else notice a deterioration in quality build from Skoda??

Very early days for us, our first Skoda (Fabia vRS estate) and have only had it 2 weeks. It has however got a slightly rattly dash binacle (gather this is common on all Fabia's) and has also developed some sort of heatshield rattle which is quite audible with the windows open when travelling across rough surfaces. The car has only done 270 miles.

To be honest these things happen with all mass produced cars. The Skoda was in our opinion was very cheap for the amount of car it represents so I can forgive it a few flaws. Our 08 reg VW Polo certainly wasn't the most reliable car in the world. At least its under warranty and can get fixed as and when required. However if it failed us mechanically after 5k i'd be very disappointed.

Skinns, welcome to the site. Sorry to hear you've had a problem or two.

In answer to your question about quality from Skoda, no...I haven't noticed a deterioration. But Skoda are definitely so popular now that it's inevitable that with much higher volume sales there will be some people (more than in the past) with a few glitches. Problems per 1000 vehicles sold, are how the manufacturers measure success and Skoda has almost the lowest problem count of any manufacturer and that's from every survey you can find. For a Skoda to stop by the roadside broken down is quite rare. My new Fords, Toyota's and Fiats used to do it regularly. Not had a single problem with my Skoda though in nearly 3 years. What caused your stoppages?

Oh...obviously I haven't heard the rattle from your dash but many TSI cars suffer from the air intake pipe at the front of the car rattling in it's housing where it joins the grill. This can be heard at certain speeds and revs and can be fairly loud and sometimes a bit buzzy. It echoes through the bulkhead and sounds as if it's coming from the dash board passenger glove box area where the airbag lives and you can be forgiven for thinking it's a cable or pipe in the dash rattling. It's fixed easily with a bit of tape around the end of the pipe where it fits into the grill housing!!! and you drive around in complete silence afterwards. The 1422cc TDI's like mine suffer from it too, or mine did but not any more. The grinding noise could just be some debris in the calipers and usually just goes away. Get them to adjust the rear door and your good to go.

Warning: don't apply tape to the pipe I mention above unless you do a proper job. You don't want the engine to suck tape into the airbox. You Skoda dealer may or may not know about this fix. Mine did and used a very sticky tape to fix things. It seems to be the official fix and although that may sound micky mouse, it isn't. It works and is permanent.

Edited 3 June, 201115 yr by Estate Man

Skinns, welcome to the site. Sorry to hear you've had a problem or two.

In answer to your question about quality from Skoda, no...I haven't noticed a deterioration. But Skoda are definitely so popular now that it's inevitable that with much higher volume sales there will be some people (more than in the past) with a few glitches. Problems per 1000 vehicles sold, are how the manufacturers measure success and Skoda has almost the lowest problem count of any manufacturer and that's from every survey you can find. For a Skoda to stop by the roadside broken down is quite rare. My new Fords, Toyota's and Fiats used to do it regularly. Not had a single problem with my Skoda though in nearly 3 years. What caused your stoppages?

Oh...obviously I haven't heard the rattle from your dash but many TSI cars suffer from the air intake pipe at the front of the car rattling in it's housing where it joins the grill. This can be heard at certain speeds and revs and can be fairly loud and sometimes a bit buzzy. It echoes through the bulkhead and sounds as if it's coming from the dash board passenger glove box area where the airbag lives and you can be forgiven for thinking it's a cable or pipe in the dash rattling. It's fixed easily with a bit of tape around the end of the pipe where it fits into the grill housing!!! and you drive around in complete silence afterwards. The 1422cc TDI's like mine suffer from it too, or mine did but not any more. The grinding noise could just be some debris in the calipers and usually just goes away. Get them to adjust the rear door and your good to go.

Warning: don't apply tape to the pipe I mention above unless you do a proper job. You don't want the engine to suck tape into the airbox. You Skoda dealer may or may not know about this fix. Mine did and used a very sticky tape to fix things. It seems to be the official fix and although that may sound micky mouse, it isn't. It works and is permanent.

i have heard this noise as well-thought it was the bunch of keys i got attached to the car key. i take it the air intake pipe is the pipe that runs from the grill between the battery and i assume the air filter. on mine it seems loose. i will tape it up on monday when i take it to work. we use the following tape on lv/hv joints and is great stuff. if u stetch it as u wind it on it acts like self algamating tape

http://www.3m.com/product/information/Scotch-Super-Vinyl-Electrical-Tape-88.html

Skinns, welcome to the site. Sorry to hear you've had a problem or two.

In answer to your question about quality from Skoda, no...I haven't noticed a deterioration. But Skoda are definitely so popular now that it's inevitable that with much higher volume sales there will be some people (more than in the past) with a few glitches. Problems per 1000 vehicles sold, are how the manufacturers measure success and Skoda has almost the lowest problem count of any manufacturer and that's from every survey you can find. For a Skoda to stop by the roadside broken down is quite rare. My new Fords, Toyota's and Fiats used to do it regularly. Not had a single problem with my Skoda though in nearly 3 years. What caused your stoppages?

Oh...obviously I haven't heard the rattle from your dash but many TSI cars suffer from the air intake pipe at the front of the car rattling in it's housing where it joins the grill. This can be heard at certain speeds and revs and can be fairly loud and sometimes a bit buzzy. It echoes through the bulkhead and sounds as if it's coming from the dash board passenger glove box area where the airbag lives and you can be forgiven for thinking it's a cable or pipe in the dash rattling. It's fixed easily with a bit of tape around the end of the pipe where it fits into the grill housing!!! and you drive around in complete silence afterwards. The 1422cc TDI's like mine suffer from it too, or mine did but not any more. The grinding noise could just be some debris in the calipers and usually just goes away. Get them to adjust the rear door and your good to go.

Warning: don't apply tape to the pipe I mention above unless you do a proper job. You don't want the engine to suck tape into the airbox. You Skoda dealer may or may not know about this fix. Mine did and used a very sticky tape to fix things. It seems to be the official fix and although that may sound micky mouse, it isn't. It works and is permanent.

i have heard this noise as well-thought it was the bunch of keys i got attached to the car key. i take it the air intake pipe is the pipe that runs from the grill between the battery and i assume the air filter. on mine it seems loose. i will tape it up on monday when i take it to work. we use the following tape on lv/hv joints and is great stuff. if u stetch it as u wind it on it acts like self algamating tape

http://www.3m.com/product/information/Scotch-Super-Vinyl-Electrical-Tape-88.html

Sorry to hear of your problem Skinns, I must be one of the fortunate ones, but so far so good, just a year old and hasnt missed a beat and no rattles........Fingers crossed

Paully, I would say you are the norm. Most people don't experience any problems at all...but not much comfort to the few that do suffer an issue!

Sorry to hear of your problems but i have had mine for nearly 12 months and 4500 miles on the clock as she has been running like a dream.

Dear all, first I would like to say Hello. I am owner of the Fabia 2010, 1,2 TSI with 86 HP Engine. Must say, when i bought Škoda, in October 2010, with TSI engine, i was very suprissed. Positively, of course. Small engine, plenty of power, small consumption. What more you can ask from a car. . But...on 30.000 km, i had to change Engine mounts. Warranty. On 36.000 km, i had EPC lamp on, and totally lack of power. I got EPC and Check engine lignt on, no power. After checking in with authorised dealer and service, they found that i have error code P334A, and P334B stored in ECU. Result: Wastegate valve malfunction. Turbo with wastegate valve need to be replaced. Warranty. Somebody would call me crazy, but i am about to buy antoher Skoda, Oktavia, 1,8 TSI...hope this problem with Turbo is unique ))