are all the 1.4 8v's MPI's?

yes, they are. 8v = skoda mpi, 16v = VAG. unless I'm mistaken the petrol 2.0 is based on the same tech as well.

DaKKs_152 is correct on identifying mpi's, they're always 8v and the VAG block is always 16v.

How common are these faults, mate? I know a few fabia/polo owners with those engines. Never heard a bad word about them. I know about the ECU updates, they usually do that with the service.

Incidentally, I just got BBZ today from a bloke I know. Slightly damaged, but it seems salvageable.

While Tech1e is obviously better placed to answer that it seems to be the final outcome once or twice a month since i've started actively reading BS again. Of course you only hear about things when they go wrong and I don't know what percentage of Fabia mk1 owners on here have 16v's or how many of them suffer from any of the issues mentioned or have.

They aren't that common but with the age of the cars we still seem to get a fair few of them comming through when most garages have given up trying to sort them out.