Hi - picked up a Silver 06 Fabia VRS last night from a dealer

If I had had more time I would have gone for a much better example, but time was against me on this - I needed a car quick (not a good way to buy a car I know).

Being an ex-company car, I think the poor thing has had a bit of a hard life, some worrying gaps in its history - from 30000 to 60000 there are no records of servicing. I'm hoping its just somebody forgot to stamp the book. The 30000 & 60000 were both at a main dealer.

Last service was end of last year 1000 miles ago at "Sparkdrill garages" (no phone no / address on the stamp) - cant find it on google other than a company that was liquidated years ago. Anyone heard of it? Most likely in North West or South East London - possibly Kent? Suspect if its not legit I might be running round on 2 year old / 14000 mile oil... Checking the air filter, it looks pretty dirty for only 1000 miles of use... I will probably get it serviced ASAP just for peace of mind.

Provided the car doesnt give up on me over the next few weeks - I should be keeping it for a while and hopefully fixing any minor issues & getting it back into a decent servicing schedule.

Any recommendations for decent independants in the maidstone / ashford area?

Can anyone share any opinions on Caffyns Skoda Ashford / Beadles Skoda Maidstone?

Cheers

Andy

Just noticed the dealer section of the forums...  Doh!

I will probably get it serviced ASAP just for peace of mind.

^^^this. Deffo this.

I bought a mk2 Ibiza from a main seat dealer with "full service history" and still booked it in my oil, filters, and plugs as soon as possible.I'd much rather have it serviced and KNOW that everything was up to date than take a punt and hope it's been serviced.

Especially being an ex-company car. I know some of our fleet that go years and years without being serviced (normally cos they get handed to a woman with no idea who just ignores the dash board warnings )

You don't say total mileage but if the history is sketchy I'd be checking for cam belt changes ASAP to make sure they've been done.

Biiiiig old bill if they haven't and that fails.

When buying a car from anyone you don't trust the history unless you have phoned the garage in question. The only exception would be a pile of receipts for consumables/work done at each interval and a man with a well stocked tool chest/garage who can talk you through everything he's done on it for the last xx years.

cheers guys, illl be booking it in this weekend. Hopefully they will advise if anything unusual is noted.

I dug the air filter out (apparently it was changed 1000 ago) and it was pretty dirty. I think the last service may well be BS as it mentions air filter replacement. Difficult to prove to the dealer though or to know for certain. Wouldnt it be nice if you could just trust these things!

 

Todays journey in the car didnt fare too well either...

Took it for a 90 mile journey this morning, left it from 9am to 4pm in a car park, went out to start it, would not start.

Engine turned, almost caught the first time then died. Then repeatedly tried to start, just turned over.

Tried to warm the glowplugs on and off several times, no luck, still turning and turning no start.

 

Put the jump starter booster (always carry one) on it, and it started straight away.

Had been starting fine until this point at other times.

 

The battery seemed to be turning it fine, I'm not 100% convinced its a battery issue.  Ill get a multimeter on it tommorow and check charging voltages etc. Any ideas?

 

We will see what happens tommorow...

 

I've seen issues on here with a duff wire to starter motor but its not that.

 

cheers

Do you have a battery light on the dash when you turn the ignition on.

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Sorry to hear about your bad luck regarding the new purchase :(

In regards to caffins skoda ashford... They're useless, unhelpful, never phone you back, all the service staff are not welcoming and incredibly miserable. That's not just with me, in the 2 hours that I waited there in the service department, twice, I watched the service department dealing with many customers, and their service was just

Appalling.

the service across the road at JCB VW has been really good. I now only order my parts from them, instead of going to caffins because I simply cannot stand the people in there. My friend also gets her VW fox serviced there and says they're more than helpful and top notch

So for a more pleasant experience, visit JCB across the road from Caffins skoda

Do you have a battery light on the dash when you turn the ignition on.

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From memory wasnt on initially, but after turning it over quite a few times when it failed to start, it came on (and sounded like it was getting flatter)

Sorry to hear about your bad luck regarding the new purchase :(

In regards to caffins skoda ashford... They're useless, unhelpful, never phone you back, all the service staff are not welcoming and incredibly miserable. That's not just with me, in the 2 hours that I waited there in the service department, twice, I watched the service department dealing with many customers, and their service was just

Appalling.

the service across the road at JCB VW has been really good. I now only order my parts from them, instead of going to caffins because I simply cannot stand the people in there. My friend also gets her VW fox serviced there and says they're more than helpful and top notch

So for a more pleasant experience, visit JCB across the road from Caffins skoda

 

Thanks for the advice; I guess as its a VAG car the techs in there should be familiar with it.. Ill either try them or Beadles over in maidstone.