Before I begin, I just want to state this is not an attack on the Fabia II or it's owners, it's a perfectly nice car and I'm not out to start some kind of flame war or trolling fest. Nor am I claiming the MkI to be superior to the MkII, however...

My dad's motor had an unfortunate run-in with a badger at 70 mph last week, needless to say it's costing £1000 to put right! Anyway, I'm a Fabia MkI owner and ADR have given him a Fabia II to use for the duration, so I was curious to see how much the game had moved on and had a potter around it, but curiously it seems to have regressed in a few areas:

• Bonnet release not relocated to driver's footwell
  
• Fuel filler flap no longer lockable, now has finger hole instead of posh internal release. To compensate, fuel filler cap now lockable with key.
  
• Interior door handles now plastic, not metal.
  
• Upper part of dashboard and instrument binnacle made from cheaper/brittle/shinny plastic.
  
• No insulation under the bonnet.
  
• The world's cheapest looking gear knob!
  
• A quick look at the Skoda website revealed apparently no option for Xenon HID lights? and...
  
• No windscreen washer fluid low-level warning.
  

I should state for the record that my car is a MkI vRS and ADR have given him the 59 bhp 1.2 MkII S which has absolutely no equipment, so I'm not comparing like for like entirely. I'm hoping the SE/vRS models have better sound insulation and a nicer dashboard material. Never the less, most of the above items seem like stingy things to withdraw.

Has VAG/Skoda intentionally turned the quality/features down on their newer models to try and put some distance between VW and Skoda? Or have VW got lazy too as regards filler flaps and bonnet releases etc? It still feels well built, just from cheaper materials.

PS: Oh my gosh the S model basic, no lid on the glovebox, manual mirrors, (didn't know cars were still made with those!) and the 3 cylinder 6v is incredibly noisy and sounds a bit like a diesel. And it looks comical in the engine bay, it's tiny! Plus the cabin is a sea of grey, there's no highlights to lift the cabin at all.

Having done the swap from a MK1 vRS to a MK2 vRS I can tell you its a good move. Better material as a whole, apart from the door handles...

Fuel filler is a bit poo but I guess it saves money. Don't forget the new vRS comes as standard with DSG which is £1500 option on other cars isn't it?

Just a small point but a good one that suits me.

The Fuel filler cap locks without a key.

(it can be back in your pocket.)

Obviously you need the key to open it.

Glad it is that way, and the old flap was easy to prise open.

The Bonnet opening is a pest on the passenger side, well the passenger side for us, the main market for the car does have the wheel at the side of the bonnet pull.

george

I gotta say, as much as I love driving my mates vRS, we noticed the exact same things. Mainly the fuel flap, door handles, boot release & no xenon option is a biggy for me personally. However, its a fair bit cheaper than the polo/ibiza and the savings have to be made somewhere. Not knocking the car at all, i`d still have it over the others all day long.

There has been a rise in fuel thefts from cars and the flaps have been prised open to try and get to the fuel, causing damage. Lockable cap could be seen as a sensible option.

Bonnet release, yes annoying but realistically not that bad!

Plastic door handles are poor!

Having run a mk1 Elegance for several years before getting the mk2 vrs I agree the build quality does seem to have got cheaper. That said for the money not sure what you would get with the options and performance the fabia vrs gives.

The Fuel filler cap locks without a key.(it can be back in your pocket.)

Obviously you need the key to open it.Glad it is that way, and the old flap was easy to prise open.

There has been a rise in fuel thefts from cars and the flaps have been prised open to try and get to the fuel, causing damage. Lockable cap could be seen as a sensible option.

You know I hadn't considered that aspect of it and it's very good point (and I am now paranoid about someone syphoning fuel out of my car when previously I hadn't given it much thought). The raised bit on the fuel filler cap for you to stick your finger in still looks cheap though, reminds me of French cars! They could of made it one of those where you press the flap in and it pops open to reveal a conventional locking filler cap, at least then you don't have to spoil the lines.

I accept the bonnet release is a minor annoyance, but it still smacks of cost cutting, although I do agree savings have to be made somewhere! The unforgivable sin IMO is the door handles, they're very visible and obviously they get handled a lot. Surely it can't cost more than a couple of quid to put some nice tactile metal ones in? (out of curiosity is it possible to swap them for metal ones?) Oh and the dashboard material (I wonder if that's just the S model tbh), plastic is so cheap they could stuck some nice soft touch plastic on the upper areas of the dash.

Don't forget the new vRS comes as standard with DSG which is £1500 option on other cars isn't it?

I know it's very good value for money, can't think of anything as fast and practical as the Furby vRS for the same money. Having said that I'd probably rather keep the £1500 and shift the gears meself; whilst I haven't used a flappy paddle box I quite like shifting gears, I find it sorta therapeutic lol.

Edited 21 April, 201214 yr by ckyliu

I seriously advise you to go out and get a Test Drive in a vRS with DSG, or try Seat or VW to get in a Polo or Ibiza Twin Charger with DSG.

You will hardly have time to think about gearchanges, ( & less time to think about inside door handles)

and i doubt very much you will get manual changes in any better than the box in D or S.

Remember the very poor MPG.

35 will be normal, 42 if you drive like a granny. 25 mpg around town on short journey's, and when you really boot it 22 mpg.

You can get over 50 mpg if you hypermile it, but that is bl00dy boring.

The oil takes at least 5 minutes to 10 minutes, maybe it will never get to temp before you park up again

(more than 5-10 miles when out of town)

to get up to running temp, and that is why the fuel consumption is so poor or short trips in town.

Not a car to buy for economy with petrol at £6.50 a gallon.

Best try the vRS and see what you think.

Maybe a Golf/Passat PD 130/150 would suit you better.

george

Edited 21 April, 201214 yr by sk4gw

I have driven Mk2 Fabia (Elegance, SE, S) as courtesy cars and all bar S have soft padded dash (not soft moulded like the Mk1).

Edited 21 April, 201214 yr by My_Yeti

I do think the M2 feels cheap inside, the vrs is a pain to get out of at night with the drab door handles you cannot see them!

lol that's what the light is for...