I bought an 06 Fabia vRS 7wks ago from a used car dealer, traded in a Peugeot 307 for £3k & paid extra £2600 on top. In those 7wks it's been off the road for about 6 of them(!) For the following faults:

2days - battery died. Warranty wouldn't cover so the dealer agreed to reimburse me after I had it replaced. The mechanic that did the battery for me diagnosed some 'road noise' as front wheel bearings. Although 1 of them was worn, it didn't cure the noise. It ended up being a stepped rear tyre (as indicated by several replies to my previous post on here, thanks!

Wk3: power steering failed after a 400 mile round trip to London - turned out the fluid was leaking due to some corrosion & a previous bodge-job, & needed a new steering rack - another 10 days off the road while the warranty co eventually agreed to cover & my local garage did the work.

So, into wk 7 & have now discovered the soaking wet carpet behind the drivers seat (it wasn't like that when we bought it, one of the 1st things I checked for...) I'm guessing that's the door seal?

And finally, the idle is intermittently high, even when warm - a quick Google seems this is something to do with a sensor in the throttle? It did it this eve (cold start, revs at 1500 until I flicked the pedal from underneath then it dropped back to 900).

Other than all the above, the car does drive ok (fantastic mpg compared to the 307 cc that I traded in for it).

Everyone I speak to says I should take it back & demand a refund, & they're probably right; but a part of me is thinking if the door seal & idle are the only things left, shld I just try & get them done at the dealer's expense (I'm guessing their warranty prob won't cover the door seal as they'll give the old 'wear n tear' excuse) & hope that it settles down???

Ok, It's an 8yr old car with 80k on it so I know things will go wrong, but I'm at my wits end keep finding things wrong with what was described as a lovely car with full Skoda stamps in the book. Even if the dealer agrees to cover the repairs, I'm getting fed up with being without a car! The only reason I had to get rid of the 307 is a (prematurely) arthritic hip making it difficult to get in & out of it with the elongated doors, & having to walk every day the vRS is off the road is certainly not helping my aching hips!!

Sorry for the long post, just torn between what I know I should do & hoping it sorts itself out the easy way (ie without me having to get arsey with the dealer!!)

Keep it!

The main issue was with the steering rack and they have now sorted it out.

Get the sensor replaced yourself, won't be too expensive.

Same again with the water leak, something that you can sort out yourself, it's a very common problem and easily fixed.

Yep, seconded, as annoying as the leak is, its a common fault but relatively easy to fix

The throttle is also, my sensor temperementally did that but not as bad as your sounds, at its worst it hit about 1.5k but normally 9k-11k slight hike in revs.

I persisted with it then spoke to a dealers service mechanics who advised just to spray a wee bit of WD40 at the sensor ( not the pedal, obviously). It seemed to work as I haven't had it again.

 

Another minor annoyance/niggle you can expect to get is the expansion tank/heating light coming on due to corroded sensor - £12 to get the bottle to replace....and also the common altenator feed wire break. Both pence to fix, so you can make them into being a big issue, but they aren't really.

I think the worst thing was the rack and you fixed that.

Tiger seal works wonders on the door to seal it Had it in mine too!

FFS Gutted for you bud, looks like you bought one that hasn't been looked after too great! but i agree with everyone else, i would keep it as there isn't much more that can go wrong with it! lol

 

But for the price you paid i would hound the dealership until they fix the issues! lol

2 Consumable items (battery & tyre) and a idle issue. None of that says to me it hasn't been looked after in the slightest. If the issues listed are all the problems I'd get it sorted and keep it, could be far worse and none of that is too bad imo. 

Agree with all of the above, easy fixes now and you love the VRS log term. Brilliant car.

Hi.....Keep it....I just had my rear doors sealed and now trying to dry the carpets out, this my first skoda and will not give it up....Love it :sun:

So you paid ~ £5.5K for an 06 Fabia?

So you paid ~ £5.5K for an 06 Fabia?

 

 

my thoughts as well and 1 with 80k £1000 over priced

Thanks for the replies, you've all agreed with my gut reaction so just hoping that nothing else major crops up!

The car was advertised for 5,290 which seemed to be around what others were going for. However I needed to p/ex the Peugeot & this dealer offered me 5-700 more than 2 other dealers had quoted. Then when we got there they dropped the 'that price was for cash only'. Prob should've walked away then but it seemed like an ok car at the time!! Oh well, we live & learn..!!

Don't sweat it, IMO it's better to work through the faults and get it the way you want rather than going down the refund route which is likely to be frustrating and rather hard work.

 

They all seem like common faults, just a shame that this is your first experience of the car but get it sorted and I'm sure you'll love it!

Well the story continues...!

I'm not sure but think possibly have a clutch prob ???? (DMF?) the car runs really rattly, which at 1st I put down to just being a noisy diesel, but today when I dipped the clutch it quietened a bit? (Hence my suspicion it's the DMF). So I rang the garage & said I've had enough & want a refund. I've actually only had it 5wks, 24 days of that its been off the road. The dealer has so far refused (but he's yet to phone me back...) saying that after so many miles I shld expect wear & tear (I've done 800 miles since 25th Jan, 400 was one trip to London, & another 95 miles was just the journey home from the garage)

I've had a vRS before & had nothing like any of these problems in 2yrs when i was doing 500 miles a week! I think I've unfortunately got a bad one, & just don't have the money to keep throwing at all these things cropping up which have obviously been there from the start.

Not happy!!

Good luck getting your money back, I hope things work out.

I'd be going to trading standards with this mate. The car clearly isn't fit for purpose and the dealer should have given a 6 month warrantee. Whilst the warrantee wouldn't cover fair wear and tear, they are legally bound to sell a roadworthy car to the seller, which in my opinion it's not and has been sold knowing its a lemon. If it were me, I would get a full AA inspection on it then decide if its worthy of an MOT then go from there really.

It annoys me when i read things like this. As above really.

 

You would think a second hand car dealer would inspect vehicles to enure they are fully road worthy.

 

Hope you get this sorted.

Really hate to see this too so all the best mate. I'm sure you will get the result you want in the end, just a pain you have the hassle and no car at the end of it. Perhaps we should organise a group meet at the garage and block the forecourt until he gives you your money back! Lol

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Does DMF clatter all the time or just idle ? Mine developed that at maybe 70k or so only at idle, its done 40k since then and certainly hasn't disintegrated yet. Its just something you can only hear at idle on and off occasionally and doesn't faze me at all now.

 

Given the clutch is still solid and its not been mapped that would exhaggerate such issues I'm not exactly worried. I don't drive cautiously either, but I'm no boy racer either if you see what I mean. The clutch is still good and I've had this confirmed so I don't really need to change the DMF and clutch YET.

 

Then again I do feel where you are at when you are buying from someone at good prices and expect better. Just confirming it doesn't necessarily mean its likely to explode immediately - just that its worn and can get why you'd be disappointed. I was really worried when I first heard the idle clatter but frankly its not an issue for me.

If I was paying over the odds for a car from a dealer I'd want it to be immaculate and a step above all the other used ones available on the market.

If you financed the car, I think the finance company can help you too, because the purchase has to be fit for purpose.

Either way, I really hope you get your money back and go for a replacement Fabia.

There's plenty on here that have been looked after religiously and will be in tip top condition at a lesser price id imagine.

Once again, good luck.

I say keep it, mine needed a new turbo, intercooler, hoses and egr after the first 2 months...

I say keep it, mine needed a new turbo, intercooler, hoses and egr after the first 2 months...

Mine too! Lol

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