Hey guys, as some of you may no. I picked my new car up tonight!

2001 Skoda Fabia Classic Estate 1.4 MPI

Full Service History (Jan 12 the most recent)

11 Months MOT (Had bushes, wheel bearings and ball joints renewed)

6 Months Tax

As i left the guys house (calls himself a trader) half way up the A47 my friend who is driving the Fabia, flashes me over. He tells me that the Oil light is flashing and beeping. I check the documents the guy gave me with the car to check service history, MOT's etc.. I realize, not only has he gave me the various Skoda bits and pieces but documents for a Ford Mondeo 1.8 (Very unprofessional in my opinion) So i phone him up and he meets me where i had pulled over (Bringing what i imagine is his son who seems to think he is a mechanic) So he takes the Mondeo doc's, while his 'partner' checks the oil and pushes the accelerator down with his had to 6000 rpm for a good 30 seconds (Great way to **** my new car up)

He comes over to me in the drivers seat and says "The dip stick wasn't in properly so there isn't enough pressure' .. I must look like a mug? I no he is wrong but thank him as it had been an extremely long day (Finishing work and heading straight there). I then pointed out to the seller that my friend is finding the gear change very difficult, especially 3rd gear. He replies with ' It has had a new spring so it may need to bed in'

These so called 'car dealers' must no nothing about cars!

So we set on our way home, while the Oil light continues to flash and beep throughout the journey.. Once getting it home (3 hours later, after a crash on the Acle straight and massive amounts of traffic heading through Caister) I decide i'l have ago round the block to try it out. Changing gear is like shoveling **** with a tooth pick and the brakes were very spongy...

Once home, my brother came out and gave the car a quick once over giving me advice on the various problems. He is going to be getting it up on ramps and giving it a proper look over. He has a few idea's of what they could be so we can go from there!

To summarise;

-Stiff gear change

-Oil light (Only happens when the car slows down?)

-Spongy brakes

What kind of solutions can people come up with for the stiff gear change and oil light. My brother gave me the following

(Stiff gear change) Gear box fluid change, may have been disconnected during busher change, may need tweaking.

(Oil Light) Change oil as it could be the wrong solution, blocked pump, new pump, electrical fault, Oil sensor

(Brakes) I don't really need advice on these lol, i will check them at the weekend to see if it needs new discs n pads but it certainly needs a brake fluid change!!!!

Also i'd like to add.. Never buy a car from a private trader on School Road in Holme Hale. Because in my opinion he is a con artist! I paid £1000 which to me at 18 years old is a lot of money. My naivety with buying cars didn't help as he 'test drived' it, so i never would have known the problems. Plus he made it quite clear it was a 'buy as seen' deal. I'm not best happy but hopefully with a few quid i can have it running lovely

Oil light on the MPi is usually the sender close to the oil filter. It's a single wire connection and if it's gone, there will be oil in the plug. The gear change is by way of cable, it may need adjustment or it may need lubrication at the gearbox end.

When you do the brake fluid change, if the car has ABS, do not let the reservoir level drop below the minimum. If you get air in the ABS block, you may well need diagnostic equipment to bleed it.

Firstly, I've come to the conclusion with the Oil light either.. Oil Sensor or electrical problem (Earthing) as the lights on the car have a tendency to dimmer now and again aswell.

As for the gear thing.. I had a quick run round the block in it today and the gears were perfect?! You would never have thought it was the same car as last night.. My immediate thought is low/nilch gearbox fluid.

Im going to get 5w 30 fully synthetic oil tomorrow and do a change.. also going to get a oil sensor so i can swap that over (While the oil 'tank' is empty. If this doesn't make impact i shall be following your advice above with the *sender*

As for the brakes, i had a look today and the pads are almost had it, so i shall get a full new set up when its on the road in April; Disc's, Pads and new brake fluid!

Anyone no how much Oil i will need to put in after completely emptying the old stuff?

Am i correct in thinking its shy of 4.5 litres?

4.5 should be more than enough. Put 2 in check the add it in half litres til it shows on dipstick. Then just add a bit at a time til between the marks