Hello,

 

We're a small family in Austria thinking of buying a used gas-powered Skoda Fabia Combi II, as it seems to be a good and economical fit for us. Both the 86 hp, the 90 hp and the 105 hp versions have the 1.2 TSI though, which I've read so many bad things about busted cam chains, at least when it comes to VW.

 

Is it the same problems with the ones in Skoda Fabia? Is it better after a certain month/year?

 

Is the 1.0, 75 hp version more reliable?

 

Are the engines in Fabia III more reliable?

 

Would be very thankful on some insight in what model to look for. Thanks!

 

Edited 22 June, 20187 yr by klash

3 hours ago, klash said:

Hello,

 

We're a small family in Austria thinking of buying a used gas-powered Skoda Fabia Combi II, as it seems to be a good and economical fit for us. Both the 86 hp, the 90 hp and the 105 hp versions have the 1.2 TSI though, which I've read so many bad things about busted cam chains, at least when it comes to VW.

 

Is it the same problems with the ones in Skoda Fabia? Is it better after a certain month/year?

 

Is the 1.0, 75 hp version more reliable?

 

Are the engines in Fabia III more reliable?

 

Would be very thankful on some insight in what model to look for. Thanks!

 

 

The 84,85, 86 & 105 versions are the earlier cam chain EA111 (8v in 1.2) engines (lift bonnet oil filter is on the left at high level) where SOME earlier versions had cam chain issues but later engines sorted

 

The 90 and 110ps versions have the later(circa 2015 in the Fabia) cam belt EA211 16v which is a totally different design (oil filter at sump level, exhaust/turbo at the bulkhead side of the engine. This is a good engine.

 

The tsi's are all great to drive.

 

Edited 22 June, 20187 yr by bigjohn

Thank you very much for that informative post John!

 

When you say ”later engines sorted”, from when is that? I’ve been looking at 2011 to 2014 models roughly.

I am sure the last "recall" or Service Bulletin for the camchain was 2012.   So 2013 onwards are good. My 2014 1.2/105 had no chain issues in 50000km from new.

 

 

Edited 23 June, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

Thanks! Anyone else who can confirm that 2013 onward is safe?

 

Sorry, but just want to make sure.

Only time will tell if the 1.0TSI engines are more reliable.

You can not know how engines will be longevity wise after 3 years until there are enough 3 years old.

It is not as though VW really do that much R&D or admit issues until forced to so you will see first on social media.

 

Built from 2013 1.2TSI should be safer than built from 2009-2012 1.2 TSI, but as with everything VW they discontinue engines and could then not care less.

At least in Australia you have better Consumer Rights than in Europe where VW tell Governments what is what. 

 

?

Are you getting a Manual, the DQ200 DSG with the Mk3 Fabia is another story with 'some' having issues with those.

But all the stuff you want to see will be in the Mk2 & MK3 Fabia Sections of this forum.

Plenty members never have issues as obviously failures are only small as a percentage, and as people say, people come to forums to complain.

Skoda wish, people come to forums because Dealership employees dismiss their concerns and pith them off.

Edited 23 June, 20187 yr by Offski

Thanks Offski. We're looking for a normal manual transmission. And I'm aware that only a portion of the engines might have this problem, but it's such a serious one that it it feels like you want to avoid the gamble.

 

Will look for a 2013 onwards then!

One more question though: There's also a 1,2 12V 69 hp option. Anyone who has some experience with this? Enough power? Mileage compare to the TSI? Insurance is pretty expensive and heavily based on horsepowers here, so the fewer the better for us, as long as it's not too weak.

I have a non turbo Ibiza (same as a Fab2) with only 85 bhp and it's painfully slow so I'd avoid the really low power petrols. There's no payback economy wise either, They're worse on fuel than TSIs.

Edited 23 June, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

Makes sense camel, thanks.

 

Thank you so much for the help everyone, that really narrowed down the search quite a bit!

If I was buying again I would have a TSI 1.0 in the mk3 Fabia.

 

I have the 1.0 MPI with 75bhp in the estate, it’s not a bad engine for being in a estate and spends its time hopping around town and returns 42mpg, when I do venture out of town it copes, it’s no rocket ship accearation wise but it does put a smile on my face. I think it could do with a extra cog as 70mph at nearly 4000rpm is a bit noisy.

 

Davy

I swapped from a 1.2 TSI to a 1.0 TSI and the really poor torque band still frustrates me after 5000km.

 

The 1.2 (or 1.4/122) is a better choice as economy is almost exactly the same as the 1.0 and it's a much better drive.

Edited 23 June, 20187 yr by camelspyyder

On 23/06/2018 at 07:50, klash said:

One more question though: There's also a 1,2 12V 69 hp option. Anyone who has some experience with this? Enough power? Mileage compare to the TSI? Insurance is pretty expensive and heavily based on horsepowers here, so the fewer the better for us, as long as it's not too weak.

 

I have 2 fabias, a 2009 1.2 htp 69hp 3 cylinder hatch and a 2013 mk ii 1.2 tsi 85ps estate. The 69hp is far noisier and is a lot less economical than the 1.2 tsi. The low powered hatch is great however for nipping to the local shops and around town, very responsive and easy to maneuver. It is pretty useless and tiring at long trips and if you have any hills/mountains then forget it. It is underpowered for that or lugging a full family or load around.

The 1.2tsi is on the other hand a is much better engine ,far quieter, quicker, pulls very well and the estate is more versatile. However, lacks a bit of "character", I think the small bit of throttle lag from idle is behind this.

Don't buy any tsi engine before MY2013, the camchains in earlier cars will all give you expensive/disastrous problems sooner or later. I know from personal experience - search the forums.

Thanks xman, that's great to know. We do live in Austria, so yes, there are mountains...

 

Is there any simple way of telling of the car is manufactured before or after May 2013 (as I guess you mean)?

He means Model Year 2013, which started production mid-2012, I seem to recall week 22 is the changeover but someone here will know for sure.

Yeah model year 2013, so after June 2012, however as stock engines would still have been in the pipeline, better to stick to anything built in 2013+. In England we go by 1st registration date on the registration document though the car could have been built a lot earlier. Engine number wpuld be a better check.

 

But to be honest, I would avoid the MK2 and get a mk3 1.2tsi. Different  newer engine with cambelt (which needs to be replaced every x years xxxxxx miles). Safer bet than the old camchain model which still has problems if its not had regular 10k miles/12 month oil changes. It does not like the extended variable regime which I believe is more common in mainland Europe.

Ah, I see!

 

I also think the Mk3 looks a lot nicer and would prefer it, but the price difference between them are a bit too much for us at the moment. But I will look through what's available and see what we end up with.

 

Again, thank you so much for the help everyone. I think I know all I need to know at this point!

Rather than create a new thread I thought I'd pick this one. I've had the MkI (TDI) and MkII (VRS). Both served me well but I got an engine issue with the VRS a few years ago that was unresolved and is now seemingly fatal or not worth the cost of lengthy investigation and speculative repair. I consider myself lucky I got a further 3 years of near perfect motoring out of it really otherwise it would have been an expensive failure.

 

I'm looking at a petrol MkIII with BHP around 95-110, probably '17 or '18 plate and after my MkII experience and historic headlines around VW group TSIs I'm a bit once bitten, twice shy. So a few questions:

 

- 3 years after this thread is there still optimism around the reliability and performance of the MkIII TSI engines (for the '17-'18 era in particular incase there were any further modifications)? 

- Any above average rate of issues with the TSI DSG and does it permit manual shifting like the MkII TSI?

- my MkII VRS would have max acceleration kick in in normal mode if I floored it. Does the MkIII TSI do the same? 

- is the general consensus still that the 1.2 TSI has an edge on the 1.0?

 

Any insights gratefully received. My backup plan is a Suzuki Swift from before they phased out the fun engines - are they VW engines too? (VW have 20% stake?)). 

 

A 110ps 1.2 or 1.0 TSI DSG will behave just as your Mk2 vRS 1.4 TSI Twincharger did but just with less power.

It is the same DQ200 DSG as your 2010-2012  (then from 2012-2014 after Global Recall excluding Europe) had but with less possible problems.

The newest 1.0 TSI's will have a GPF. 

 

I think you will like i Suzuki Swift and @skomazmight see this and help you on those.   They do not have VW Group engines.

Edited 14 January, 20215 yr by e-Roottoot

Looks like my name was mentioned...

 

Not sure what you mean by 'phased out the fun engines' in the Swift but I'm guessing you mean the naturally aspirated engines in the Mk 3 Swift to 2017 and the 130bhp Sport?

 

If so then I can reassure you they definitely haven't phased out the fun engines or the fun!  And it's all Suzuki's own design which means great reliability and lots of knowledge gained from small capacity bike engines.

 

As George has said I have a new model Swift (2017 SZ5 version) with the 1.0l Boosterjet triple Hybrid and it's a great package.  112ps and 170nm from the petrol engine plus 3ps and 50NM from the electric starter generator.  That puts it well ahead of the old Swift Sport and almost on a par with the non-hybrid current Sport in terms of torque, all in a package that is only 925kg that handles like a go-kart.

 

OK the interior may not have much in the way of soft touch materials but it looks good, works well, is comfy, has stacks of tech and, design-wise (IMHO) beats the Fabia hands down.  I also got mine for a very good price...

 

There are a fair few discussions on tehSwift on here:

 

Have I just seen a pretty good VRs substitute? The new Suzuki Swift Sport....WOW! - Skoda Fabia Mk III - BRISKODA

Suzuki Swift Sport - General Automotive Chat - BRISKODA

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/448432-2018-suzuki-swift 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/444067-suzuki-swift-or-fabia 

http://briskoda.net/forums/topic/436099-2017-suzuki-swift-rs 

 

By the way - VW don't have any stake in Suzuki any more - that was 'bought back' just prior to Dieselgate with a loan from Toyota who Suzuki are now sharing cars with (the new Swace is a Corolla and the Across a RAV4).  VW originally bought into Suzuki for their small engine know-how...   but clearly may not have learnt much...

 

Edited 14 January, 20215 yr by skomaz

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

Not sure what you mean by 'phased out the fun engines' in the Swift but I'm guessing you mean the naturally aspirated engines in the Mk 3 Swift to 2017 and the 130bhp Sport?

 

Sorry, probably misinformed on my part but I'll be aiming more at the mid / lower level of the ranges of Fabia and Swift (aiming for the cheapest 90bhp+ option) and had read that while the 2010-17 baseline Swifts had the punchy engines the later baseline models were more sedate. I could just be talking out of my exhaust pipe and obviously this is not applicable to your Boosterjet or the Sport.  I'm not a petrolhead or a driving connoisseur, I just find a minimum bit of oomph very reassuring and allowing decisive manoeuvres when overtaking on country roads or joining motorways.  

 

Thanks very much to you both.  Decisions, decisions.  I think it will just be a coinflip between the two cars depending on what offers are available locally within my sub-£10k price range at the time my VRS gives up the ghost. Second hand the TSI and the Swift seem pretty evenly priced based on age and mileage and the consensus seems to be the Swift edges the fun and handling and the TSI edges the refinement (plus my newly found preference for shifting gears manually, but without a clutch).

 

Both your replies have helped keep both cars on the top of list and given me a bit of reassurance.  So mercifully I don't have to go back to the drawing board and cast my net wider.  Cheers!

 

1 hour ago, skomaz said:

 

 

 

34 minutes ago, Brucemagoose511 said:

 

Sorry, probably misinformed on my part but I'll be aiming more at the mid / lower level of the ranges of Fabia and Swift (aiming for the cheapest 90bhp+ option) and had read that while the 2010-17 baseline Swifts had the punchy engines the later baseline models were more sedate. I could just be talking out of my exhaust pipe and obviously this is not applicable to your Boosterjet or the Sport.  I'm not a petrolhead or a driving connoisseur, I just find a minimum bit of oomph very reassuring and allowing decisive manoeuvres when overtaking on country roads or joining motorways.  

 

Thanks very much to you both.  Decisions, decisions.  I think it will just be a coinflip between the two cars depending on what offers are available locally within my sub-£10k price range at the time my VRS gives up the ghost. Second hand the TSI and the Swift seem pretty evenly priced based on age and mileage and the consensus seems to be the Swift edges the fun and handling and the TSI edges the refinement (plus my newly found preference for shifting gears manually, but without a clutch).

 

Both your replies have helped keep both cars on the top of list and given me a bit of reassurance.  So mercifully I don't have to go back to the drawing board and cast my net wider.  Cheers!

 

 

 

He he no worries.

 

If you are aiming middle of the range 90bhp plus then you have on choice in the swift...   The SZT with the same boosterjet triple but no hybrid element - at least post 2017 as the only other option was a N/A 1.2 that's rather feeble.  The SZT is still a good spec though and doesn't miss out on much.

 

However, bear in mind that if £10k is your budget both the SZT and SZ5 should be in budget for low mileage second hand examples (I didn't pay much more for a 1year old car with 800 miles on the clock that at that point in time had sat in a showroom for the best part of its life.