Well I have had my Elegance 1.6TDI 105ps for just over a year now. For those of you who might not know the Elegance replaced one of the first GL2 Fabia’s in the country that was supplied with a faulty engine and many other breakdowns with the new engine and bits.

So what has happened over the year, the oil level sensor broke one week and 7 hours after delivery, then the car ran reasonably well until I got into it and my youngest daughter said dad my seat is wet followed by the same thing from my eldest. The rain had come in through both back doors (ruining the rear seats, the rear doors were reset and the seats cleaned -yes the stains came back. About a month later in the afternoon of a very hot day I get into the car and the mirror switch is hanging down the door popping out due to the heat? The switch was replaced by the dealer – I wonder what will break next.

I did add extra options to the new car and one of them shows the true view of Skoda and its customers the top of the range Elegance does not come with electric rear windows, rear parking sensors you have to option them. The under seat storage is next to useless, ESP with hill hold (had to order the dearer ESP with the Elegance, the GL2 has ESP as standard) Bluetooth and tow bar.

I added the tow bar because I wanted to stop having to borrow my father in law’s car as well as his trailer and it was cheaper to add it as an option than have one fitted afterwards. I will say the tow bar is neat and tidy but comes with a euro plug and you need to by an adapter to use it with a UK trailer. The Bluetooth I thought was great but has just decided not to recognise a voice command I used a lot - call home.

I do a lot of varied driving with a lot of it around 10 miles and under, my work run is just under five miles one way, I am now going to tempt fate and mention the DPF and DPF issues, I have had a couple of smelly regenerations and not seen the DPF light which should only come on when there is a fault/full filter requiring an active or forced regeneration. Now down to the MPG question I manage to clock up 13500 miles a year and am I happy with the MPG no. I have never driven a PD engine and my previous two cars were 2.0ltr common rail diesel engines and the last one was in a Berlingo with the aerodynamics of a brick. While I do measure MPG I prefer to use percentage of book allowing urban and combined tanks to be measured equally. The Berlingo averaged 90% of book the GL2 66% and the Elegance 77%.

I have now driven a Skoda Fabia for nearly three years and have never been able to drive without wondering what will break next. For me buying Skoda has not is not a cheap car, I lost money on the first rubbish car due to poor quality and I have lost money on the second car due to poor build quality.

Anybody that asks me about Skoda I do not tell them they are rubbish etc. I just tell them my story and let them make up their own mind.

Skoda’s motto Skoda makes happy drivers? No they do not, have they bothered to contact me and find out if I am happy no, do they and their dealer really care no.

why did you buy another one if the 1st one was so poor for you?

I sympathise with you. However I think people need to do more research when buying a car, I know a lot of Diesels have been missold to people in the past. A modern DPF Diesel especially is only going to be a source of aggro to someone who only or mostly does urban runs. Any diesel, even a pre DPF needs to be given a good long run and more importantly given some real stick (flat out through the gears) a couple of times a week to blow all the soot and crap out. I would not write another Skoda off but I would recommend a 1.2 TSI perhaps with the DSG next time as I think that would suit your type of driving much better. I think luck plays a big part too as there are "friday afternoon" cars from all manufacturers.

I must admit that the fit and finish of the Mark 2 is nowhere near as good as the Mark one. My Mark 1 Fabia is nearly 8 years old now and is still as tight as a drum. I took a testdrive of the Fabia Mark 2 VRS recently and loved the engine and the DSG box but the general fit and finish inside was not as good as mine. I think

While I do measure MPG I prefer to use percentage of book allowing urban and combined tanks to be measured equally. The Berlingo averaged 90% of book the GL2 66% and the Elegance 77%.

I work that out as Berlingo=40mpg, GL2=50mpg, Elegance=47mpg

Shocking figures from the VAG "ECO stars".....

Thanks Dempsek for an informative review, free from "rose tinted" opinion.

Only comment I can make is surely these faults were all fixed under warranty at "no cost" (except the hassle, lost time, dealer visits etc). Having said that, the trade in price on newish Fabias (exc VRS) seems to be shockingly low.

Matt Bodycombe: your comments about the DPF are pretty irrelevant as Dempsek didnt complain about them. Asking him to try another Fabia with a petrol engine is maybe asking him to jump from the frying pan straight to hell......

Edited 3 March, 201313 yr by xman

@ above: read his review again and he does mention DPF.

"I do a lot of varied driving with a lot of it around 10 miles and under, my work run is just under five miles one way, I am now going to tempt fate and mention the DPF and DPF issues, I have had a couple of smelly regenerations and not seen the DPF light which should only come on when there is a fault/full filter requiring an active or forced regeneration."

I was merely pointing out in general that the kind of driving he seems to be doing is unsuitable for a DPF equiped diesel.It is up to him what he buys to be honest but the Fabia 2 with the 1.2 TSI engine has been well recieved. I will bow out now.

If I had a nightmare with a Fabia I doubt very much I would replace it with.... another Fabia!

Ohhh well: Ford Fiesta 1.0 Ecoboost then is a cracking little car. Not driven that engine in the Fiesta but drove the 125 bhp version in a Focus and it was terrific.

The dpf will be a nightmare for town driving folk, needs more than just a few miles to get engine warm it will just keep blocking, these days a petrol car around town is far more sensible, europhiles beaurocrats have rendered the derv car pontless for general use, you'll not get the mpg either much better off getting a petrol fabia

Sorry to hear of your problems, Dempsek.

I know it will be no consolation to you but my 2011 Fabia 1.2 tsi dsg has had no faults, ussues or problems to date. It is my first Skoda.

I have owned 3 SEATS. None suffered any faults, problems or breakdowns.

My dad has owned two VWs and one Audi. They suffered no faults or breakdowns either.

I owned one Citroen diesel. It is the only car I have ever owned that had to be towed - two days into ownership. It then spent three months in the dealers while they waited for a new ECU. I understand that there were many PSA and Ford cars supplied with faulty ECUs at that time so there was a long wait.

It was a nice car though - I'm not bitter.

Hi Demsek, nice review and honest! Might be better off with a petrol on those type of miles in urban area's though as Matt is mentioning. Just a thought. Sorry to hear you lost money.

Edited 5 March, 201313 yr by Estate Man

As expected some members are laying the blame as wrong choice of engine (diesel v petrol) and "urban" use of DPF

Read Dempseks post wont you?......

The first car was a complete disaster - New engine and IIRC tons of other bits! Nothing to do with DPF!

The second car bad - oil level sensor failure, doors incorrectly fitted resulting in permanent damage to seating, switch problems (I've had mirror switch problems too) , bluetooth (expensive option) packing in.......in one year!

He never said once that the DPF caused him any problem (apart from 2 "smelly" regens)

All cars ****poor mpg - way short of even the "urban figure" - (IIRC the "urban figure" is tested with a very short run.)

Why do some members always say its the owner's fault and not Skoda's?

Seesh.......

Edited 5 March, 201313 yr by xman

? Said that diesels with dpf is not a good choice for town driving ? As for blame ? I'd say vags not driver for town driving its simple petrol! The issue never arose from pre dpf cars

I am not blaming you.As i said it sounds like you got a real friday afternoon car. It is a shame as Skoda used to be very good at warranty claims and customer care but I hear that their care has taken a nose dive.A friend here had terrible issues with his Octy VRS estate and was treated like crap by Skoda. My car needed new front fishbones, a radiator under warranty and all sorted without fuss in 2008/9. My turbo also let go at 35k outside of warranty and Skoda footed the bill for the Turbo (about £900) but I had to pay for labout £250.

I think that Skoda in Czech are still very good at customer care and value their customers. It is the UK operation that is getting very shabby. With the turbo I did have to shout a lot and with excellent dealer help (was recovered to Murray Skoda Newton Abbot: brilliant crew) the UK referred it to Czech and they sorted it without argument accepting a turbo on a car with full dealer history should not go at that miliage. I know a bit off topic but maybe as Skoda increases its sales here it sees customer service and loyalty as less of an issue. I think that is a BIG mistake. Ask on general chat about a good replacement. Lot of the boys were saying good things about the Kia Rio...

Xman, I see you are still Mr Happy! Us regulars are well aware of Dempseks problems of past. Most unfortunate. But I'm with Matt and Seb on this. And I have every sympathy for Dempsek. He at least always tries to get to the bottom of his problems and has always been willing to have a good discussion and debate and to try different things. He has been of enormous help in the fuel consumption thread over time with his posts and observations. So no one here is blaming him for anything. Quite the reverse actually. He is a brave soul looking for answers in my book. Just lighten up man!

Edited 5 March, 201313 yr by Estate Man

Only comment I can make is surely these faults were all fixed under warranty at "no cost" (except the hassle, lost time, dealer visits etc). Having said that, the trade in price on newish Fabias (exc VRS) seems to be shockingly low.

Matt Bodycombe: your comments about the DPF are pretty irrelevant as Dempsek didnt complain about them. Asking him to try another Fabia with a petrol engine is maybe asking him to jump from the frying pan straight to hell......

Yes the faults were fixed under warranty, but it's the associated hassle that goes with it, for three months on the trot I had to find another £500 as a deposit for a hire car while mine was being fixed, until I complained to Skoda and asked them if they could find an extra £500 month, then the dealer supplied a courtesy car while mine was being fixed. Each month pay out deposit on credit card get refund next month pay out deposit on Card. Then there was the warranty fiasco, where the engine had been replaced in GL2 and the first injector failed on the new engine and Skoda initially refused to fix the problem and I was stranded in North Wales. No more Fabias.

why did you buy another one if the 1st one was so poor for you?

Financial reasons, I managed eventually to refuse the GL2 as not fit for purpose and a deal was done with VW finance, Skoda and myself put money in to another Fabia. Also when you refuse a car the provider is legally able to take the car straight away and give you market value (in my case it was for a poor car) but because of my disabled wife and daughter I was allowed to keep the car until a replacement was found. True to form the GL2 broke-down on the day I was due to change it.

? Said that diesels with dpf is not a good choice for town driving ? As for blame ? I'd say vags not driver for town driving its simple petrol! The issue never arose from pre dpf cars

Most people have got it wrong presuming I only do town driving when I do not In the winter I nearly exclusively do town driving (with some journeys being 35 miles plus on 30 mph roads) and have had no DPF issues and in the spring to Autumn I spend most weekends in North Wales a 75 mile one way journey inc the A55 dual carriage way. I was highlighting that town driving is not the doom and gloom for DPF that people say - may be fuel economy.

Will I get a petrol next? I do not know with the mileage I do and that I keep my cars for 6 or more years a diesel is best fit. If I could afford to change every three years its very close between the two.

For everything that Skoda did for me either forced or offered overall I have been left knowing financially I cannot change the car and constantly wonder what is going to happen next.

Xman, I see you are still Mr Happy! Us regulars are well aware of Dempseks problems of past. Most unfortunate.

I think I'll try that line when one of my customers complains that something major has broken in the warranty period leaving them stranded. I shall simply say, "Most unfortunate....."

@xman sorry I meant wishbones of course :p and thought you were the OP sorry about that

If things are as dire as you say I would have thought indeed about rejecting the car as unaccceptable quality :(

Edited 6 March, 201313 yr by Matt Bodycombe

I have now done 28000 miles in my Fabia and have been lucky to have had no problems with it with the exception of the tailgate lock playing up occassionally.

Sorry to hear of all your problems, this is my third Fabia and been very impressed with all 3

I think I'll try that line when one of my customers complains that something major has broken in the warranty period leaving them stranded. I shall simply say, "Most unfortunate....."

Xman, it might be nice if there were some purpose, some information of use in some of your posts instead of sarcasm and rhetorical drama!

Dempsek, sorry buddy, it was late and I had forgotten our previous conversation about your miles and usage. As I said earlier, you review is a good one and honest.

Wife and me are now only doing fairly low miles in a car (but huge miles by motorcycle!! such fun!!) and the diesel is just not good around our urban roads. It has legs that are too long if you see what I mean. It wants the open road and needs it often to keep the engine clean, and compared to petrol cars still takes longer to warm up and the wife is getting tired of that aspect. The warming up thing didn't bother me at all whilst I was working away as the car would get a good fast run straight away and would both warm up fast and give good fuel economy. Overall, I get about 55mpg in winter (mostly urban and town) and about 4-5mpg (59-60mpg overall in same driving conditions as winter) more in summer. That's pretty good with individual journeys giving me up to 70+ mpg. It meets all my expectations for fuel economy and that happens to coincide with the eu mpg figures which not everyone will meet of course for lots of reasons. So I get good economy from diesel, but there are still many advantages to owning a petrol car if it's a modern one. And I'm a total diesel head as you know and have been for years so saying that sticks in my throat. But I'm about to test drive the Citigo 75ps 5dr petrol. Petrol engines went off my radar years ago. But times are changing and it will be some years before diesels will be good alrounders again, at least 2019 by my reckoning. Dealers do not cover that fact up and are quite open about it as witnessed yesterday when at a dealer who was telling a customer NOT to buy diesel because they are doing too many town miles. Diesels still make sense if you are doing lots of miles or miles that don't encrouch on towns too much. But my recent ride in a Citigo as a passenger confirmed to me the cars capabilities and in fact it really isn't much different in size inside to the Fabia. Performance and ride comfort was brilliant with very low bump thump and big car feel. In fact I would put the ride comfort as better than the Fabia, but the car did have three of us in it. At 80mph on the motorway the engine was turning at an easy 3,500rpm. Max power is at 6200. The car is car of the year in several quarters. Nice finish too and solid. Anyhoo, still very unfortunate you've had these problems, and to reassure xman who seems worried we are making light of your difficulties, we have of course all discussed your problems elsewhere numerous times. I don't personnally know anyone else who has experienced problems like you have had with your Skodas. In my own enclave there are now 8 Skoda owners, all Fabia's of one flavour or another and all bought on the experience I had with mine and the good service I have had from my dealer. Guess I've been lucky but fairly typical of what happens to most Skoda owners. In saying that I don't wish to diminish in any way your poor experiences with Skoda. I would probably have given up on Skoda by now in your position or at the very least change to a really good dealer who could help you.