Okay following on from my thread in general car chat about buying a car for the Mrs for under a grand I have seen quite a few decent fabia's (mainly 1.2 and 1.4 petrol).

I have previously owned a mk1 Octavia vRS and now a Superb but don't really know much about the mk1 fabia.

I will be going to view and test drive a couple in the coming week and want to make sure I check for common faults if there are any?

Any pointers in the right direction are appreciated.

Thanks,

Check the rear carpets to see if they're wet. If they are you'll need to take the door cards off and silicone the seals. Very common problem.

Pressure in the coolant header tank when cold. Mine had that and was the head gasket.

Siren noise from the turbo. Could go pop if it's making that noise. Could go pop without the noise but it's something to listen for.

Sticky rear callipers. Rear wheels will feel warm/hot to the touch. Easy fix with return springs.

And check the battery light comes on with the ignition. Common for the load sense wires to snap.

If you end up buying the 3 cylinder, just be wary that it has some issues with misfiring which is the exhaust valves. Something I wish i had known before buying the car! 

Okay thanks for that very helpful when I go to look at a couple of Fabia's I will make sure I check the above points.

Thanks for the heads up on the 3 cyl I think I will be going for the 1.4 16v with 100 bhp which I believe is 4 cyl but the 1.2 is 3 cyl which I had also considered.

Okay thanks for that very helpful when I go to look at a couple of Fabia's I will make sure I check the above points.

Thanks for the heads up on the 3 cyl I think I will be going for the 1.4 16v with 100 bhp which I believe is 4 cyl but the 1.2 is 3 cyl which I had also considered.

 

 

I can't speak for the 4 cylinder engines, i assume they don't suffer from the same issues as i've only heard the three cylinder engines having this issue. Both mine (classic 1.2 HTP) and my friends 2001 1.4 MPI idle horribly which i thought was an issue to start with, turns out it's just the car! 

Good luck with your buy, let us know what you get

I'd check that all the doors lock and unlock in all the ways they're meant to. People (including me) seem to have had plently of problems with these and they can be a right faff to sort.

For the sake of completeness I will add to this thread that today I got the Mrs a blue mk1 fabia in very good condition, 2003 reg with only 83000 miles with 2 previous owners for £950. Had a 20 mile drive home (after a decent test drive) and I am very pleased that the engine and gearbox are as smooth as silk. Pictures to follow in the daylight tomorrow.

HI Danny6189,

 

The ignition warning light has failed on my March 2006 1.4TDi, Interested in your comment, do you know where I can find the load sensor wire?

 

My thanks in advance.

BGH. 

Just picked up my sons car he bought. 1.4 16v fabia mk1, 05 plate, it's got 49000 miles and a full service history, cost him £1400 and got a full years mot, was really surprised how great it was to drive, gearbox and steering nice and tight and handled great with a nice engine noise when you gave it some throttle and plenty of kick, considering I drive a 320d msport bmw I was more than impressed and think it's great quality for the money, even got a full tank of fuel lol, think I might be borrowing the fabia quite often, nothing like a small hatchback to make you feel young ;-)

Hey if the car has air conditioning so see if it also works in other areas as hot and cold . I mean, there are also the center position, the warm air . Flap electric motors problems this V68 postion motor very common proplem...
All so IF you wanna be sure  you do not get parts problem i hope your car uses TRW steering rack and power steering pump.

 

HI Danny6189,

The ignition warning light has failed on my March 2006 1.4TDi, Interested in your comment, do you know where I can find the load sensor wire?

My thanks in advance.

BGH.

Hiya, if you look from under the front of the car, there is a bracket on the front of the gearbox that has two plugs in it. Check all the wires going into and out of the plugs. That's where mine broke. I simply cut the plugs off and lengthened the wires and joined them.

Hope this helps.

And a few little pics...

Picture after a wash and the paintwork is looking very good for the age of the vehicle. The Mrs seems happy with the little Fabia.

Hi Danny6189

 

Thanks your prompt reply, only today had opportunity to look under car.

Yes, the wire had indeed broken!

But do you know what purpose the wire serves?

I can find nothing in wiring diagrams in Haynes.

 

Thanks

bgh

Hi Danny6189

Thanks your prompt reply, only today had opportunity to look under car.

Yes, the wire had indeed broken!

But do you know what purpose the wire serves?

I can find nothing in wiring diagrams in Haynes.

Thanks

bgh

It basically tells the alternator to charge. When mine was broken I noticed the wipers were slow on their first constant setting and the headlights were dim until I revved the engine.

Some people have experienced flat batteries over time but, mine never did go flat. Just the wipers and lights on initial start up.

When you do the repair just cut the plug off and join with longer wire. Make sure the broken wire has fresh copper as mine had corroded quite a way down the length of wire.

Hope this helps you out. If you need anything else send me a PM and I'll try and discuss it further with you if needed.

Danny 6189,

 

Have been running for about 4 months since ignition light failed, have not noticed anything else, no slow wipers battery keeps charge.

Thanks for your tip about rectification. 

Grateful all your help.

Regards.

bgh

If it's a 1.4 16v 100bhp they need to run on 98ron to get the most out of them...(VW designed them to perform on 98ron, use shell nitro)...........otherwise they tend to throw a piston ring............also Mobil 1, 0w-40 will stop them sound quite so tappetey on a cold morning.........

.....check it has the metal capped PAS angle sensor fitted as the earlier plastic caped one fails, check it has the later front ARB (with welded/formed) on collars as the early ones have the stupid glued on plastic ones which fail....................loads of stuff basically