After much research I decided I liked the look and spec of the new Fabia and a test drive in a 1.2 sel 110ps confirmed it was indeed quite impressive. After getting a quote from carwow And talking to my local dealer I was informed a new build would be up to 3 months but after checking there was actually one that almost matched my desired spec sitting at Sheerness in Kent only it didn't have smartlink.

Having done all my research and read almost all of the threads here ( which were extremely helpful ) I did understand all about the mirrorlink fiasco and what smartlink now came with but as I very rarely use my phone and didn't want to wait 3 months I was very interested in the car.

My only concern was how long it had actually been sitting at Sheerness as I understand cars without smartlink were built before the middle of May, but after apparently checking I was told only a few weeks so I went ahead and ordered the car with the only extra I needed, a spare wheel.

I picked the car up 12 days later and as you can imagine was very excited at the prospect of driving a new car and having examined the outside of the car as well as inside I noted the spare tyre was missing, which the salesman promised to order in. I proceeded to drive the car home where I straight away checked the tyre pressures and fluid levels. ( A friend once had a bad experience with a brand new car having barely any oil in it )

Whilst checking the tyre pressures I had to kneel down and upon further inspection noticed underneath the seals were extremely dirty with dried mud and when I opened the engine bay that too had quite a layer of dust and a couple of cobwebs ! The car had obviously been sitting somewhere for alot longer than a few weeks !

3 days later when I got in the car to drive to work I saw a plastic " rivet" laying on the floormat and upon closer inspection it appeared to have broken off of something.

I called back at the dealers after work, having noticed the clutch felt lighter than before and after some investigation it was revealed the clutch pedal clip had snapped off and it was unsafe to drive.

The car was fixed the next day and I was told the newly arrived spare had now been put in the boot so I collected the car and went for a drive and it seems ok again now. Unfortunately when I checked in the boot the spare has indeed been put there but now the boot floor doesnt lay any where near flat as the tyre and toolkit are much too tall. Does anyone know if this is normal for a spare that has been ordered after taking delivery of the car only I can't believe it is !

My daughter has had a moan at me for not going off on one at the dealers but unfortunately I'm apparently too soft and non confrontational but I have to say overeall I'm very dissapointed with the whole "new car experience " and I definately won't be buying from this dealership again and I'm not sure if this may be my last skoda as well, which is unfortunate as for the few days I've had the fabia it has been a joy to drive.

I too, from my point of view, had a bad new car experience. Apart from one young sales executive who I dealt with mostly, the customer service was shocking from everyone else, to the point I was lied to on a phone call as they stupidly didn't put the phone on mute. I actually have a list of how badly I was treated to bring up with skoda.... That's another story.

I will also never return to my dealership if I can help it. I'm on finance and if skoda indeed do phone me in 18 months/2yrs for another offer to keep me on the books - they'd have to make me the deal of a lifetime to keep me, which is a shame as I really like driving the Fabia.

With the car itself however - I am pleased. Mine was post week22 mirror link issue but as yet have not had a chance to test it as my iPhone 4s is not compatible as its too old. I shall let the briskoda forum know about that when I get a new phone.

With regards to your story, I too had the spare wheel option (although it should be standard in my opinion) and in my car it's totally flat as it should be. Yours sounds wrong and unacceptable.

Remember, these dealerships guys are not your friends - they're only nice cos you're giving them money one way or another. Behind lawyers and estate agents, they're pretty low on the "giving a ****" scale....

Amongst the other things you mention I'd be raising hell at it all. I think the only reason my car (so far at least) is perfect is that I was a massive nuisance to them during the ordering process. I at times, had to chase them and keep up the communication and details. I'm pretty sure they hate me lol.

The fact that you as you stated may not like confrontation etc or maybe too laid back might bite you in your arse with this.

Take it back, state politely and firmly what is wrong and make them sort it. Do not be a doormat. They sound like they need to be put in their place a little bit.

Apologies if I sound harsh at any point to you personally, I don't mean to be, I just don't want them ripping you off and not caring. It's disgraceful. Get it sorted to your satisfaction, then if it isn't take it further until it is. Don't let them stall, don't let them fob you off at all.

Don't take any crap. I say again - they are not your friends it's ok for them not to like you. It doesn't matter. Get what you want.

Know just how you feel kinda takes the shine off a new car when Its delivered with a poor PDI and a salesman who don't care !

Been there done that but just leave some feedback in dealer reviews and move on if you can.  Look in that section for Dealers who get good reviews near you and use them in future for servicing !

 

Not sure about your spare wheel but I expect its just been thrown in and if you take it all out and refit it yourself with a bit of care all will be fine.  Clean any dried mud off underneath with jet wash or hose and dust under-bonnet.

Take all dealer Key fobs and stickers of car, why promote a rubbish experience and this is good therapy !

 

Last but not least enjoy the new car get out and drive. Skoda's are great cars !

Rear window sticker removal is the first thing I do to any new car. Vision is everything and why would I let any free pr for the weaker block my view.

I wonder if it is a full sized, ie exactly the same as on the car, spare wheel that has been placed in the boot - or that a different "tool kit including insert" is used when no spare wheel has been specified. I'm only saying this as wife's new Polo SEL comes with 16" alloys but a 15" steel spare wheel which is also narrower - as standard, tool kit sits in an insert that is contained within the space inside the spare wheel.

 

I think that we all want a new car to be correct, the front wipers were not aligned correctly, the +ve battery terminal was exposed, the manual locking points on the front doors had their covers missing, the A/C pipes heat reflecting cover was not fitted in a way to protect the pipes from the turbo heat - I sorted all that out quickly without letting the dealer workshop near that car.

Edited 1 November, 201510 yr by rum4mo

Have just taken my factory fitted spare wheel out of my 1.2 SEL90 its a Bridgestone 175/70 R14 on a steel rim with big yellow speed restriction stickers 50 MPH/80KPH

 

The tyres fitted to the car are directional Dunlop SP Sports MAXX 215/45 R16 on alloy rims

 

Putting the tyre back into the well the sticker side goes to the bottom and tool kit in the centre and strapped down, it did look as if it may be possible to put it in the other way round but then the floor would not fit properly.

 

Try ringing a different dealers spare parts department and ask what tyre size comes with the spare wheel kit and will it fit your tyre well so the floor goes flat. If its different (smaller) than you have been given speak to skoda customer services if you don't want to go back to the dealership. Best wishes Joe 

 

PS I am enjoying my car the only problem I had was the pre week 22 Bolero fiasco 

Have just taken my factory fitted spare wheel out of my 1.2 SEL90 its a Bridgestone 175/70 R14 on a steel rim with big yellow speed restriction stickers 50 MPH/80KPH

 

Try ringing a different dealers spare parts department and ask what tyre size comes with the spare wheel kit and will it fit your tyre well so the floor goes flat. 

 

 

 

175/70/14 is the correcy size for a spare, the wifes SE-L has a spare the same size and it fits flush.  Wheel goes in upside down and the foam insert fits inside the wheel and is flush with the wheel

 

All is good

Thanks everyone for taking the time to read my post and then to answer it as well. As I mentioned before I have been visiting this website frequently ever since I decided on buying a skoda and everyone seems really helpful and friendly and it has certainly kept me well informed about the new Fabia.

It certainly seems Im not alone in having a dissapointing car hand over and I find that very sad especially considering the amount of money we have to pay for them.

Their probably was a time when I was younger I would have flown off the handle but age does seem to have mellowed me considerably and probably made me soft and too keen to avoid an argument but life seems simpler and easier that way ! Lol

I did try wiggling the tyre and moving the tool kit a little but to no avail so in the morning I will try taking it completely out and as suggested above, check what size the wheel is to see if its a space saver or not. If this fails I was planning to visit another dealer anyway ( gives me an excuse for a run out ! ) and to have a chat with them about future servicing costs and about the spare I've been given.

Anyway thanks again for everyones help,and advice and I will post back how I get on.

.. but unfortunately I'm apparently too soft and non confrontational but I have to say overeall I'm very dissapointed with the whole "new car experience " and I definately won't be buying from this dealership again and I'm not sure if this may be my last skoda as well, which is unfortunate as for the few days I've had the fabia it has been a joy to drive.

 

Because of these 3-4 minor problems you really think this might be the last Škoda you'll ever buy? That's a bit crazy. It's time to realize that a couple of stupid or lazy guys working at the dealer is not affecting the quality of a Škoda in any way. You should go and talk about the problems you had to the guy who's in charge at dealers, maybe you'll even get a good discount later when buying some accessories or getting your car serviced.

I actually had a not very cheerful experience at dealers last week too, I wanted to change my existing car for a new Fabia but they offered me around 50% of market price for my car, bunch of idiots I would say. I'll sell my car and return to them and I plan to ask for a 10% discount for a new Fabia (they offered me 6% now) and use their idiotic bid for my current car as an argument. Interesting to see what comes out of that.

 

Tõnu

Edited 2 November, 201510 yr by MantaOwner

Right, I checked the size of my spare wheel but it isn't a 175/70/14 as some of you kindly checked and stated but a 185/60 R15 so I phoned the parts department at the dealers and the guy there checked for me and apparently the spare wheel part number has now changed and you get a slightly larger spare so that it is more in line with the actual wheel size on the car but a consequence of this is that its too tall for the well in the boot hence why my cover doesn't sit flush any more.

It seems I'm going to just have to live with it now but on my drive out later I will call in at another dealer and just check.

Thanks again for everyones help

That in one way is handy, though a bit of a nuisance, as I said that is the size some of the equivalent Polos get supplied with as standard, but it fits into the allocated space okay, and I would think that in general, the spare wheel well for Fabia/Polo/Ibiza is the same to save costs.

 

The real reason that the 1.2TSI 110PS Polo gets that size of wheel will be down to the size of the front brakes, they are 288mm with ATE callipers, it looks like quite a few 1.2TSI 110PS Ibizas and maybe Fabias are still being fitted with the smaller 256mm with FS111 callipers - with these brakes, a 14" fits okay, so that is what tends to get supplied.

It's what I like about this site if you have a problem lots of people try and help you out Please try and enjoy your car and hopefully you will find a decent dealer to service your car + you now know from the last post why you probably got the spare tyre you were given Joe

With some help from the parts gentleman at the dealers finally sorted the spare wheel issue. The tool kit that comes with it and fits inside the wheel was what was stopping the cover from laying flat and after alot of fiddling around it turns out the jack had been put in upside down at the factory and neither they nor the mechanic at the dealer had noticed ! Turned up the right way it now fits snug

At least with that sorted and being able to drive it now I'm beginning to forget about the handover and am getting more and more impressed with how the car drives and the stereo system especially.

You have a full size spare wheel and not the space saver spare wheel

..

I actually had a not very cheerful experience at dealers last week too, I wanted to change my existing car for a new Fabia but they offered me around 50% of market price for my car, bunch of idiots I would say. I'll sell my car and return to them and I plan to ask for a 10% discount for a new Fabia (they offered me 6% now) and use their idiotic bid for my current car as an argument. Interesting to see what comes out of that.

 

Tõnu

 

Well I sold my car at market price, went back to the dealer, told them my story and got a 8% discount, I'm cool with that. They told me that 10% discount is available only for bigger wholesale customers.

 

Tõnu

Ordered on week 33 told 10 weeks start to finish, made week 45 (12) weeks. 46-47 in transit to port,

Fine 10 weeks, how long now I wonder.