First of all I know nothing about the workings of cars so please forgive my ignorance if i get the odd term or part name wrong

We purchased our 2008 (27000 miles) skoda Fabia on the first of Nov this year For the first couple of weeks everything seemed ok except the car felt a bit sluggish to me, I took it back to the garage that we purchased it from and they said everything was ok and that "No warning lights" were showing, so no need to worry. Week 3 the Exhaust management light comes on so back it goes again, " great" they say "we now have something to go on" "We Will fix it in a jifffy" almost 2 weeks later its still at the garage.

They changed the plugs, coils, filter, and the timing chain - Didn't work, Skoda advised them it was a faulty valve in the engine so off it went to a engine specialist to be fixed - didnt work. Our garage were scratching their heads by now and counting the cost so they got in contact with Skoda again this time to be told that its a known fault involing the engine head and cat convertor that needs to be changed. my garage are now as fed up as I am and not at all happy with being sent down the wrong path by Skoda.

It now seems that my garage is trying to get Skoda to do the work on a good will basis and recoup some of the cost that they have incurred because of bad advice.

In the meantime I'm feeling like piggy in the middle and driving around in a very naff and ancient courtesy car whilst worrying if I'm going to get my car back in time for Christmas when I had planned to drive down to Portmouth and visit relatives.

I'm fast losing faith in the Skoda brand. When i was looking for a new car everyone was saying how reliable skodas are but after reading some of these forum pages and my own short experience I'm starting to think that I've made a massive mistake.

Hi and welcome aboard.

Sorry to see you are having problems with Skoda, believe me they are not all that bad.

We have 5 Fabias in our family including a 120,000 mile 1.2 of my son's. This car has had brakes, coolant fan switch and console bushes apart from normal service items like filters - that's all in 120,000 miles!!

The others are reliable and a joy to own. Hope they get to the bottom of yours soon.

By the way - did yours have a service record?

That is very unfortunate and I would imagine one of very few occurrences.

Of all the VW group's engines, the little 1.2 HTP is one of the strongest when it comes to reliability, probably due to its simplicity. Certainly one with impeccable reputation, from what I've seen.

I hope it all gets properly sorted soon.

I got a phone call from my garage today. Skoda are doing the fix this weekend but only agreed to half of the cost, needless to say my garage are not happy about this but have no choice as its under warranty. So I suppose I was lucky that the problem came to the surface so soon after we purchased the car

Yes awfabia its got a sevice record.

Roy, don't worry about Skoda reliability. It's tops...yes really it is. Also don't get worried by what you read on forums. It's the same for every car brand, only worse for other makes. Most of what you read here are not really problems but someone thinking they have a problem. Then of course there are some genuine problem too. But remember that 95% of Skoda owners don't go on forums and don't even know this place exists, yet everything is fine. Mostly it's people with a percieved or actual problem that seek out somewhere to post. Enjoy your car when you get it back. It's one of the best engines in it's class and completely bullet proof.

Now Skoda say the part is on order and is going to take 7 to 10 days. Might have to cancel our trip down to Portsmouth at this rate. The wife will go balistic when I tell her!

Now Skoda say the part is on order and is going to take 7 to 10 days. Might have to cancel our trip down to Portsmouth at this rate. The wife will go balistic when I tell her!

I know its an extra expence you could probley do without, but could you not just get a hired car for your trip to save you having to cancel it?

Update : Still without my Car, Rainworth Skoda have had it since last Friday.

They are not telling me much because the garage that I purchased the car from is "the client"

They did tell me though that other faults have come to the surface and they are in discussions with my garage about them.

On the plus side I know have a very nice courtesy car from Skoda.

But I want my Car back more than anything at the moment.