Mk3 test drive *completed*

[skodaTDI]

Okay, test drove a new Mk3 Fabia.. it wasn't the same spec of car I'm getting, but it was good to get a guage of what it was like out on the road.

 

tested : 1.2 TSi SE (90PS - which equates to 87BHp).

 

Noise inside the cabin noise seems reduced over Mk1.  Ride was okay, it wasn't completely a smooth ride, suspension seemed quite stiff even for a TSi, probably expected it more to be like this on a TDi.. feedback through the steering wheel was good enough..  extra height in the wing mirrors is good addition.. engine noise was hardly noticeable.. gear change I wasn't massively a fan off.. not so much just very short shift compared to the Mk1, but when moving through the gears.. especially 1st to 2nd, it seemed as if it was like flicking a plastic switch up and down rather than a properly machined piece of metalwork.. hard to explain, but it didn't feel great - hopefully the TDi gearbox fares a little better.  Anyway, got it up to around 50mph and it seemed to move reasonably quick enough even with 3 people in the car for that spec of engine.  Brakes seemed to do the job okay, discs were a little on the small side I thought - I think the TDi will feature beefier ones.  Also, noted, if you have the Multi-function display / radio on but the engine isn't running.. after a few minutes the car will start the engine itself to stop drain.. quite interesting.

 

Inside: the MFD touchscreen is nice, DAB/FM/AM radio to select through the interface is nice - sound quality is good - plenty of speakers.  Seats will take some getting used to, but that's a personal thing.  The CAR button can list any faults on the car by the click of a few options - quite useful.. it tells you what's wrong, so you don't have to skim the manual.  You can link apps with the screen, so you can send Google Maps from your phone to the display apparently, which may be handy if you are wanting to track your position on the cheap without the need for a satnav.. there's an inbuilt microphone near the lnterior lights when handsfree on your phone is active.. dials and switches are pretty solid, more so over than the Mk1 - but then they should be for the money.  The boot is definitely bigger than the Mk1, a few more bags of shopping will fit in there, also a typical suitcase won't be as snug as in the Mk1.  Plenty of compartments for odds and sods in the boot, very good - you can even squeeze a little bit more where the spare tyre sits.

 

I didn't look under the bonnet, as it wasn't the best of weather at the time.. I do notice that some of the bulbs in the headlights have to be changed by taking off a cover which is underneath a wheel arch to get access to, which I'm certainly not a fan of - blame designers for being crap.

 

So, in the end I plumped for the 1.4TDi SE L 105 (which equates to 103.5BHp).. Colour is still to be confirmed, but I've asked for Pacific Blue with the Black Colour Concept (black roof and wing mirrors and black alloys).. they think it may be possible, even though its not an option of the Car Configurator on the Skoda website.  If not, it's looking like the Metal Grey..  The Racing Blue is okay, according to the dealer most of the orders placed have been in Racing Blue so that put me off.  NOTE: Rio Red is more orangey-red, so don't trust the online colours or the brochures.

 

I added about £1000 in options but got that knocked off.. Build time is around 8 to 10 weeks. 

 

 

[terakris]

 

I added about £1000 in options but got that knocked off.. Build time is around 8 to 10 weeks. 

 

So is that what you got knocked off, 1k? (if you dont mind me asking!)

[Furbytom]

Congrats on the purchase! I'm a little surprised you ordered an engine you hadn't test driven tho. Especially as you didn't like either the ride or gear change. A bit of a leap of faith there! :-)

[Yeti_Man]

Nice write up - looking forward to trying one myself in the near future. Brokers/dealers are already quoting £2200 off so considering its such a new model things should only get better over time - useful as I personally feel its over priced currently for what's on offer.

[threadbear]

Good write up. Also surprised you ordered an engine you haven't driven. As you said the suspension is quite stiff, I wonder what the sports suspension would be like on the SE L.

Not too sure about the colour concept options. A lot of money for something that is very much a matter of personal taste. Mind you seen some pretty horrific DS-3s!

Enjoy your new Fabia.

What dealer is doing a 2 grand discount?????

[Ootohere]

If you want to see 'Rio Red Metallic', there are a couple of members with Rio Red MK2 vRS and there are pictures in the vRS Register & 

the picture gallery.

Nice in the Flesh IMO.

 

The Bottom of the doors and sills will be the hard to keep clean areas on a Mk3, so Silver or Grey might be the easy looked after 

but not to touch up.

Solid Colours and good Mud Flaps might be the best options.

[cortina63]

myself and the mrs test drove one yesterday, se tsi 90, to replace her diesel montecarlo, big improvement all round compared to the mk2, we couldnt see the benefit of buying another diesel although she does 15k a year, as its 2k more to buy thats almost a years worth of petrol, added to the fact that the residuals on her pcp were almost the same for the diesel, her spec is 1.2 tsi 110,rally green black roof n wheels, sport seats and susspension, spare wheel, makes it similar in spec to her monte,

[skodaTDI]

Update: they can't do the colour concept with the pacific blue sadly.. so I went with metallic grey + black bits.. however, I may sleep on it and change my mind and just go back to plain pacific blue and lose the colour concept stuff.. I'm not really that bothered.. it's the wife who thinks the colour concept looks more modern.. but with every other manufacturer doing something similar at the moment, I think two tone coloured cars will be everywhere before long, so I'm thinking I stick with what I've had the last 12 years (even though I'll get called boring by the wife - LMAO).. the thing is metallic + concept + alloys = 535 + 250 + 150 - hmm.. £935 for a bit of black.. I've still got time to change my mind yet, nothing's set in stone.

 

The reason for purchasing even though I haven't test driven the diesel.. yeah, okay it's a fair point.. it will feel completely different.  It is a leap of faith.. but then, my current Fabia is getting on sadly.. I'll pass 218000 miles this week and I'm hoping my trusty Mk1 will last the build time.. so there's a bit of haste about getting the new car admittedly.  However, over 12 years ago, I road tested a Fabia 1.4 Saloon at the time.. and that was nothing like my 1.9TDi which I bought.

 

About the stiffness on the road test.. not sure what it was, but I could feel everything through the wheel.. too much, I would say.. you would have to just try it and experience it yourself.. the smallest uneveness in the road, you could feel it as you rode over it - perhaps it was like standing barefoot on a pebble.  The car didn't smooth much out - not sure what a sport suspension would do to it. Aside from that and the gear change feeling a little cheap.. (maybe because its new) I don't recall my gearbox feeling as naff when new though (it feels better than the test model even after all this time).. it was just a hell of a lot different to my Nissan Sunny!!!

 

Glad my brief write up helped a few people..

 

Oh and the website drivethedeal.com is giving about average £1800 off on the dealer price, but I've no idea what their fee is for using them..

 

and the really other disappointing thing was, Skoda no longer let people choose letters for the registration any more.. :'( 

[cortina63]

 

Update: they can't do the colour concept with the pacific blue sadly.. so I went with metallic grey + black bits.. however, I may sleep on it and change my mind and just go back to plain pacific blue and lose the colour concept stuff.. I'm not really that bothered.. it's the wife who thinks the colour concept looks more modern.. but with every other manufacturer doing something similar at the moment, I think two tone coloured cars will be everywhere before long, so I'm thinking I stick with what I've had the last 12 years (even though I'll get called boring by the wife - LMAO).. the thing is metallic + concept + alloys = 535 + 250 + 150 - hmm.. £935 for a bit of black.. I've still got time to change my mind yet, nothing's set in stone.

 

The reason for purchasing even though I haven't test driven the diesel.. yeah, okay it's a fair point.. it will feel completely different.  It is a leap of faith.. but then, my current Fabia is getting on sadly.. I'll pass 218000 miles this week and I'm hoping my trusty Mk1 will last the build time.. so there's a bit of haste about getting the new car admittedly.  However, over 12 years ago, I road tested a Fabia 1.4 Saloon at the time.. and that was nothing like my 1.9TDi which I bought.

 

About the stiffness on the road test.. not sure what it was, but I could feel everything through the wheel.. too much, I would say.. you would have to just try it and experience it yourself.. the smallest uneveness in the road, you could feel it as you rode over it - perhaps it was like standing barefoot on a pebble.  The car didn't smooth much out - not sure what a sport suspension would do to it. Aside from that and the gear change feeling a little cheap.. (maybe because its new) I don't recall my gearbox feeling as naff when new though (it feels better than the test model even after all this time).. it was just a hell of a lot different to my Nissan Sunny!!!

 

Glad my brief write up helped a few people..

 

Oh and the website drivethedeal.com is giving about average £1800 off on the dealer price, but I've no idea what their fee is for using them..

 

and the really other disappointing thing was, Skoda no longer let people choose letters for the registration any more.. :'(

 the cost of wheels is in the 250, going off our order for rallye green black roof,seen the met grey with black roof, she wanted it at first, but after seeing it the combi does not stand out, met grey on its own looks better imo

[terakris]

 

Oh and the website drivethedeal.com is giving about average £1800 off on the dealer price, but I've no idea what their fee is for using them..

 

 

Apparently they get around £250 for a referral, but its paid by the dealer... you never give them any money yourself.

[Yeti_Man]

 

Oh and the website drivethedeal.com is giving about average £1800 off on the dealer price, but I've no idea what their fee is for using them..

 

There's no fee but try others as dtd aren't the most competitive on Skoda - broker4cars were offering £2200 + discount on your spec.

[skodaTDI]

There's no fee but try others as dtd aren't the most competitive on Skoda - broker4cars were offering £2200 + discount on your spec.

 

nope broker4cars didn't list my spec at all.. it doesn't even seem to have the new Fabia, only the Mk2..

[Yeti_Man]

nope broker4cars didn't list my spec at all.. it doesn't even seem to have the new Fabia, only the Mk2..

Sorry to say but you are incorrect. They've listed them (including your model with the discount I quoted) for a couple of weeks now.

[skodaTDI]

Another update: went back to the dealer today.. I've now decided not to go with the black colour concept, grey metallic paint or black alloys.. just gone for plain old pacific blue in the end with the standard Rock alloys.. I can't justify an extra £935 for a bit of black colouring and some metallic paint.. especially as it was standard on my Fabia Elegance back in 2002.  So there we go.. I'm adding Smartgate though and some mudflaps (besides the other options which I'd already chosen).. there's an app for the car used with Smartgate, that will act as an in-built tracker, so if anyone does take the car, I can see where it is at any time and tell the plods.. that'll do.  Also, build times have slipped a couple of weeks due to demand (if you believe the hype!).. looking like 1st week in April now!

[bluecar1]

snip...

 

 Also, build times have slipped a couple of weeks due to demand (if you believe the hype!)..

 

looking like 1st week in April now!

Not 1st of april by any chance :)

[threadbear]

Build times. Quoted 6 months for a 5 door Polo yesterday.

[skodaTDI]

Build times. Quoted 6 months for a 5 door Polo yesterday.

yes I mentioned this in another post.. it's because they come from South Africa apparently.. bit of a joke really isn't it!?!?

[threadbear]

The salesman yesterday quoted 6 months yesterday and that 5 door Polos were built in South Africa.

[Ootohere]

So with the VW Polo Face Lifts,

 are there ones in the Country for near instant delivery before March and the 15 plates.?

 

What is the Story with the New Fabia,

will the Dealers start advertising the Ex Demonstrators for sale after the 1st February with 3,000 miles on them, and available in May?

[bluecar1]

so they started building in august last year apparently , so what did they build and where did they go?

[lol-lol]

The salesman yesterday quoted 6 months yesterday and that 5 door Polos were built in South Africa.

 

Some odd manufacturing places being so far from the market place ie Beetles in Mexico, the Amorak South America.

 

I think they use the make the RHD BMW 3 series in Zuid Afrika also.

 

Always a strong part of the attraction of the Fabia was 4 doors with no apparent financial penalty compared to the other VAG polo chasis variants.

 

The RRP, even with the Car of the Year acolade, just seems to high, still look relatively dull, no hot version, Clio RS looking like the direction from the Fabia VRS eventually and with a weakening Euro rather than CZ Koruna lot of headwinds and their attitude to some of their best respected dealer the future is looking less like a Skoda being the next car.

[Tim1631]

What makes you think the diesel will have "Beefier" brakes?

[skodaTDI]

What makes you think the diesel will have "Beefier" brakes?

 

Cars with bigger engines, more power and more torque, usually carry bigger discs on the front end than their lower powered, granny carrying, snail paced equivalents..  usually!   ..and I meant discs not brakes in my OP.

[skodaTDI]

and the new Polo arrives late 2015.. maybe that one will take 12 months to ship!

[Ootohere]

They just Face Lifted the Polo in 2014 & the A1 now for 2015, is there a new Polo announced.?