Hi, I'm considering a Fabia 105 TSI Monte. Seen one yesterday and was very impressed. I'm training to become a driving instructor and want something that looks sporty without actually being TOO sporty! I'm a paid up VW Group member, having had a Mk1 Leon FR+, and recently two Gt sport TDI golfs (140 and 170).

I have seen some great offers from orangewheels, anyone used them? I am considering red, with sat nav, climate, mats, front arm rest and parking sensors. Do I not need maxidot if sat nav selected?

I was considering the deisels but am concerned about dpf failures as I will be doing lots of town driving. What are the TSI' s like?

Many thanks for any information given.

Have a Monte 1.2TSI 86 on order; went with ESP+, cruise and headlamp washers as the only options. Currently have a Elegance 1.2TSI 85, which will be traded in. The engine has proved ideal for the Fabia hence staying with it for the new order. Maxidot never gets used on our car and is a poor relation in functionality compared with the system in the Yeti, so we didn't bother. Likewise the arm rest; my good lady finds it a nuisance, so it stays in the up position.

TP

I bought mine 2nd hand so can't comment too much, as i got what was on the car.

But i've had my fair share of skodas and maxi dot is a must for me

I'd say get the 105 TSi, if options are your thing fair enough but I'd personally not look to throw too much on it as it'll be dead money.

Climate....looks nice but it really does no better a job of ventilating the car than the standard AC; standard controls will probably be better for you potential pupils anyway.

I think ESP+, head airbags and parking sensors would be good options as a teaching vehicle; also wouldn't bother with the 17" wheel upgrade as all your pupils will do is kerb them

Hi, thanks for the replies. I think the climate looks slightly better than standard controls but agree no more functional at all. I thought if you ordered sat nav then maxi dot came with that? Parking sensors are very handy for even experienced drivers and was just thinking of sat nav as for the money it's a cheap option (relative to other marques)! Plus with the vat off options are 20% cheaper too!

I think Maxi dot and climate controls are must if you want it too look the part.

I find the standard variants kind off spoil the mix so to speak. (Despite that perform anything different from the standard fit, well unless you have sat nav maxi dot is a must). Do check on the combination, as i remember seeing a bulletin from skoda stating you need to spec both (one doesn't come with tho other) best to check

Personally i wouldn't bother with sensors on a car of the fabias size, all though as stated its is handy for tighter spots.

One think i would of specd if i had ordered new is an armrest. I really mis having one :/

If choosing mine again, I'd have had the climate option as I find it tricky to find a constant temperature in the cabin and find myself keep fiddling with the temperature knob a lot. It does seem to vary a bit with the outside temperature, especially this time of year where it can vary 10 degrees within a few hours.

I have a totally standard Monte (86) as that's what was in stock and on a good deal.

The only thing I wish I had was the extra BHP to be honest, the 86 is nippy enough round town but out on the main roads wish it had a little more get up and go, yeah sat nav is handy but depends if you drive places you need sat nav much otherwise its bit of a waste. I prefer my aftermarket mats to the standard Skoda mats so glad it did not come with mats.

A very good point highlighted earlier is that the Monte comes with nice 17" wheels, not a great idea if the car is going to be used for driving instructor car as they will just get kerbed to death.

i ordered mine with fabric mats which are a lot better in my opinion than the rubber ones, i got bluetooth which can come in handy as it also meant i got maxidot included which just makes the whole speedo cluster look a lot better... it lights up white rather than the standard green which doesnt look very good in my opinion, i also got cruise control which is handy but not really necessary if youre teaching pupils to drive around town etc. i also went for the climate control which makes a lot of difference in my opinion, it will keep you at a comfortable temperature without any input from you apart from the temperature setting (which is also a lot better than just a hot-cold knob found on the standard unit)

as said, i dont think the 17" alloys would best suit your intentions for the car as they would probably meet the kurb on more than one occasion with your pupils

other than that im very happy with mine and it drives really well, steerings light enough to manouver easily and its quite easy to see out of when parking etc. i went for the tsi 105 as i wanted a little extra power and boy does it go!

andy

I order pretty much all of them, but the one that I definitely make sure the next car has is heated seats. I have back problems and boy they make life so much nicer.

The only thing I wish I had was the extra BHP to be honest, the 86 is nippy enough round town but out on the main roads wish it had a little more get up and go,

Surprised you feel the 86 is a little under powered :wonder: Our Elegance TSI 85 is regularly up and down the Wolds with no bother, often leaving the normally aspirated stuff well behind when it comes to a hill climb. Even used her on driving holidays to places like Scotland, which the car took in it's stride.

Oh as I found out with our own MC order, the sat nav does not come with maxidot, as stated by the on-line configuration system. Only comes with bluetooth other than ordering it as a separate option. Had thought of ordering the Amunsden but decided not to get too carried away with options, as they add little or no value come trade in time. Therefore cosmetic stuff like the maxi and climate did not get a look in, only useful stuff as listed above was added. Parking sensors came close but I did not want to push the budget any more.

Will not buy a new car without ESP, saved the bacon on a couple of occasions avoiding others careless driving, cruise is handy on long runs and speed camera infestations and the roads round here are very bad in the winter, light washers I wish I'd ordered for the current Elegance. Even worse at getting covered than on the Yeti, which does have them and they do work imho.

TP

I thought 17" were standard? Or is that just on the 105s? Mine certainly has 17" wheels and I sometimes wish it didn't, thanks to the jiggly ride...

I thought 17" were standard? Or is that just on the 105s? Mine certainly has 17" wheels and I sometimes wish it didn't, thanks to the jiggly ride...

17" are standard here; SUK have an obsessive fetish for large alloys. Other countries are more fortunate as they get a choice between 16" black Comets or the 17" Trinity rims.

So blame SUK if your unhappy with the ride

Oh ours (when we get it :wonder: ) will be on 15" Line alloys plus Avon winters for 5 months of the year anyway.

TP

Surprised you feel the 86 is a little under powered :wonder: Our Elegance TSI 85 is regularly up and down the Wolds with no bother, often leaving the normally aspirated stuff well behind when it comes to a hill climb. Even used her on driving holidays to places like Scotland, which the car took in it's stride.

Oh as I found out with our own MC order, the sat nav does not come with maxidot, as stated by the on-line configuration system. Only comes with bluetooth other than ordering it as a separate option. Had thought of ordering the Amunsden but decided not to get too carried away with options, as they add little or no value come trade in time. Therefore cosmetic stuff like the maxi and climate did not get a look in, only useful stuff as listed above was added. Parking sensors came close but I did not want to push the budget any more.

Will not buy a new car without ESP, saved the bacon on a couple of occasions avoiding others careless driving, cruise is handy on long runs and speed camera infestations and the roads round here are very bad in the winter, light washers I wish I'd ordered for the current Elegance. Even worse at getting covered than on the Yeti, which does have them and they do work imho.

TP

I would not go as far to say it under powered, its a great motor for what it is, but it is what it is though.

Dont expect it to pick up and go flying past when trying to over take a car doing 45 in a 60 zone. Just saying wish I had the option of going for the 105 at the same kinda deal I got mine for. Though even that is not going to be super quick either but every little counts.

Many thanks for the input. I was a little concerned about the alloys, I have 18inch alloys on my current golf and they don't look pretty when kerbed! If I ordered climate, sat nav, sensors and mats it still works out at what my dealer wanted for a standard spec car if bought via orangewheels though. This, perhaps, has lead me to increase spec'! Haven't ordered yet, I have looked at a Kia Rio 3, lot of car for the money and seven year warranty.

Climatronic on these things isn't that great at all. I acknowledge that it looks better than the standard controls but when test driving the car I found it very fiddly to use. Also once at temp the car fires out cool air to begin regulating the temperature and depending on the vent position it made me feel cold; turn up the heat to compensate then sweltered. Its actually easier to control the temp with the basic system and after all the car still has AC. If I bought a car that had it installed great but I wouldn't pay to have it as an extra. Same with the nav, in a few years time system will be dated and you'll end up with a dash mount device instead, I'd almost put money on it.

I would just stick to things you deem as essentials and make the most of the discount, if you must have climate and nav fair shout but that's your call

Sat-nav - Unless you're going to be using it every single day, I would not bother with it and keep a cheap tomtom in the glovebox.

Maxidot gives you a much nicer looking dash as well as analogue fuel and temp gauges, but other than the trip computer display being clearer, it doesn't have anything like the functions it has on, say, the Octavia or Yeti. At least it doesn't cost too much.

Arm rest - Don't bother, it's the most annoying thing in the world unless you are on the motorway. Mine was folded up out of the way for the entire time I had the car.

Climate control - The unit looks nicer, but I'm not convinced that it performed any better than the standard system would have. Then again, I simply set mine to 21 degrees and left it to it's own devices unless I needed demisting, and it does a good job. The fan is fairly noisy though.

I retract the statement about the 105ps being a must have. I've driven an 86ps and it was very decent with just about the right amount of pace for a learner driver. I'm a bit old school as most of my generation learned to drive in a slow supermini to then end up with a slow supermini as their own car; only exceptions to this was a mate had a 1.3 SR Nova which was rapid to us but still had only 70hp. I think nowadays where a lot of learners get to learn in moderately powerful modern cars doesn't really do wonders for their ability to drive as cars largely drive themselves nowadays and they don't have to take into consideration the knock on affect of making a mistake in a low powered vehicle. I'd say the 86 is actually the better bet.

There was a guy on here somewhere who used a vRS TSi as a learner vehicle which I thought was frankly mad; I consider myself a fair driver with over 15 years experience but with all that power available at a stab of the throttle even I could get it very wrong and crash the thing but my experience largely prevents me from doing so. That and the fact its an auto so massively limits the learner target audience. Would also serve to make most peoples first own car seem utterly poo :-)

I think the Vrs chap lives near me, don't know him though. I think you can only drive an automatic if you pass in that which is fine if that's what your after. I think I was thinking the 105 would be more for me as will be my only car. I have decided againt the Kia, just a bit too blah! Looking at a second hand mini as well. Between that and the Monte! New or used is the debate, both similar money and come with service inclusive packages and warranty.