I love the Mk111 Fabia..but what's happened to Briskoda?

[horkin]

I've had some enjoyable times with my Mk 1 on the Mk1 forum and Likewise with my Mk11 on the Mk11 forum. People genuinely seemed to enjoy their Skoda's and while Yes, the Mk 1 had it's leaky doors and the Mk11 had its noisy timing chains there was always cheerful banter and excellent reviews on the cars and how they drove.

For some reason I don't get the feeling the Mk111 is doing it for some and there are some pretty damning posts regarding the Auto box and VAG customer service.

I'm not sure whether or not the adverse posts are a true indication of the car or a few disgruntled owners washing their dirty linen on here. Whatever it is the Mk111 forum is nowhere near as entertaining to me  as the previous 2 were.

 

My own view of the Mk111 1.2 tsi 110 manual I own is that it's a great car and a huge step up on previous models.

 

I'd love to hear others views, there must be a few others on here that like the Mk111 as much as I do.

 

Harry

[teraja]

I love my 1.2 TSI DSG. A lot better to drive than any of the competition (besides Polo and Ibiza, which are awesome as well) and great economy in and out of town. The Fabia Hatchback is our primary family car, fits well 3 persons and a small dog. There's also enough space for luggage in the boot, actually the boot is bigger than most other same size cars have.

 

Really good features, usually only seen in bigger cars (ACC). Only thing I'm missing in my 2017 car is LED headlights but now they're available as well.

 

Would buy again!

Edited 13 August, 2018 by teraja

[Skodaboy1983]

Having owned every marque of Fabia from a mark 1 vRS, Mark 2 estate, I vowed never to buy another one as I found Skodas styling a bit bland and I never really geled with my mark 2 either. But after seven years away from the fold, I love my mark 3 MPI, I think the styling is spot on, it’s well equipped for the base model, I do miss cruise control and stereo controls on the steering wheel but it’s such a hoot to drive, you have to work it hard, quality in places is a bit cheap but overall I can see myself keeping this one till my pcp deal runs out and replace it with a face lifted estate, but with a TSI engine.

 

It makes a ideal family car in estate guise for my young family, ok if I had to take a fifth person then it would be a struggle as the child seats take up so much room and it’s more practical than my Astra I had before was swallowing up buggy’s.

 

Davy

[72monty]

1 hour ago, horkin said:

I've had some enjoyable times with my Mk 1 on the Mk1 forum and Likewise with my Mk11 on the Mk11 forum. People genuinely seemed to enjoy their Skoda's and while Yes, the Mk 1 had it's leaky doors and the Mk11 had its noisy timing chains there was always cheerful banter and excellent reviews on the cars and how they drove.

For some reason I don't get the feeling the Mk111 is doing it for some and there are some pretty damning posts regarding the Auto box and VAG customer service.

I'm not sure whether or not the adverse posts are a true indication of the car or a few disgruntled owners washing their dirty linen on here. Whatever it is the Mk111 forum is nowhere near as entertaining to me  as the previous 2 were.

 

My own view of the Mk111 1.2 tsi 110 manual I own is that it's a great car and a huge step up on previous models.

 

I'd love to hear others views, there must be a few others on here that like the Mk111 as much as I do.

 

Harry

hi Harry. i too have the mk3 in Monte Carlo guise. also 110 power and am to date very happy so far. working on some slight mods for now but a lovely car indeed.

[horkin]

Now I'm starting to love Briskoda again, do keep them coming guys.

 

Harry

 

Edit:  My avatar pic is of my previous car Mk11  1.2  DSG 105ps only because I haven't a clue how to change the picture!

Edited 13 August, 2018 by horkin

[rum4mo]

Personally, I think that VW Group are going through a bad patch, and I don’t just mean the derv gate thing which might have surfaced as being only VW Group who was involved in the motoring public’s eye - but has quietly spread out quite a bit further and probably into some brands that played shocked and horrified. while inside s******ing at VW’s bad press world wide. They seem to be moving very quickly into being a build them cheap and let the bonnet badge do the selling company, and that means some of us feel that we are being taken for fools. I run a 2011 Audi S4 and I care not one bit for the brand or it’s image, only certain of its products. I bought my wife a VW Polo back in 2002 as I had at that time a VW Passat, so effectively she was joining the same car “family” that car did not fully come up to my expectations of a VW Polo, and most previous Polo model owners would probably agree, my wife always ran Ford Fiestas prior to this and that model had always been an honest car for its money including resell retained value. By buying her a new Polo in 2015 I was stupidly hoping that VW had learned it’s lesson over the Ibiza and Polo unhappy owners over the intervening period and had sorted out more suitable suppliers and wised up on some design mess ups, I obviously did not do too much homework prior to buying her next car as more by luck than design I missed out on being landed with the early 1.2TSI 8V chain issues, then just, by months missed out on the later 1,2TSI 16V inlet variable cam timing pulley issue. I had not planned to be lucky when buying a new car, more I was just being trusting that commercial pressures or being honest/competent would be VW’s way to world dominance - I stand corrected. 

 

Currently the car car suits our use very well, moves well, has good brakes and steering and returns very high MPG, nasty gearbox noises though now that VW fixed the gearbox top mounting, coincidence or effect, I’m hoping that it is “effect” if not maybe a big expense is just around the next corner, and we should not have to need to worry about that when buying from a proper car manufacturer- should we?

[malcster]

I think the Skoda customer demographic has changed 

 

Fabia MK1 and 2 both had vrs models which is aimed at a youthful crowd so to speak and so are more.likely to post on here and generally mod cars 

 

Fabia 3 is different no vrs at all and a Luke warm 110bhp Monte Carlo so appeals to a different buyer 

 

Plus the influx of Korean hit hatches and other manufacturers in general have all offered a sporty hotish hatch to compete in the fabia segment 

 

And then the elephant in the room Skoda themselves 

 

At one point the vw pay masters encouraged a different product for a different customer with vw engineering for a fraction of the cost

 

Prime example was.skoda fun pick up Skoda roomster  or praktik 

 

Then the range became more controlled by the masters to the point the range is now intentionally under equipped tto prevent Impacting sales on other bag marques 

This will be more evident with the new rapid due to launch soon 

 

Them we move  to price and even that is more aligned with the group with the intention to appear more upmarket and the karoq and kodiak is further example of Skoda chasing a more upmarket clientele and is slowly dumping on repeat Skoda owners hence the slow slip down the satisfaction tables 

 

At.one point Skoda meant (to me ) fantastic value good reliable cars with a great friendly dealer network that image is slowly changing 

But that's just my take on it 

[horkin]

23 minutes ago, rum4mo said:

Personally, I think that VW Group are going through a bad patch, and I don’t just mean the derv gate thing which might have surfaced as being only VW Group who was involved in the motoring public’s eye - but has quietly spread out quite a bit further and probably into some brands that played shocked and horrified. while inside s******ing at VW’s bad press world wide. They seem to be moving very quickly into being a build them cheap and let the bonnet badge do the selling company, and that means some of us feel that we are being taken for fools. I run a 2011 Audi S4 and I care not one bit for the brand or it’s image, only certain of its products. I bought my wife a VW Polo back in 2002 as I had at that time a VW Passat, so effectively she was joining the same car “family” that car did not fully come up to my expectations of a VW Polo, and most previous Polo model owners would probably agree, my wife always ran Ford Fiestas prior to this and that model had always been an honest car for its money including resell retained value. By buying her a new Polo in 2015 I was stupidly hoping that VW had learned it’s lesson over the Ibiza and Polo unhappy owners over the intervening period and had sorted out more suitable suppliers and wised up on some design mess ups, I obviously did not do too much homework prior to buying her next car as more by luck than design I missed out on being landed with the early 1.2TSI 8V chain issues, then just, by months missed out on the later 1,2TSI 16V inlet variable cam timing pulley issue. I had not planned to be lucky when buying a new car, more I was just being trusting that commercial pressures or being honest/competent would be VW’s way to world dominance - I stand corrected. 

 

Currently the car car suits our use very well, moves well, has good brakes and steering and returns very high MPG, nasty gearbox noises though now that VW fixed the gearbox top mounting, coincidence or effect, I’m hoping that it is “effect” if not maybe a big expense is just around the next corner, and we should not have to need to worry about that when buying from a proper car manufacturer- should we?

I won't get into an argument, too long in the tooth, but I've seen your posts and understand you are less than happy with VW.

 

It's those little remarks

"that car did not fully come up to my expectations of a VW Polo, and most previous Polo model owners would probably agree,"

 

"I was stupidly hoping that VW had learned it’s lesson over the Ibiza and Polo unhappy owners over the intervening period and had sorted out more suitable suppliers and wised up on some design mess ups,"

 

I just wonder how you could possibly back up such sweeping statements. They are huge accusations coupled to a pretense that you might know what "most previous Polo model owners" actually do think.

 

Harry.  

 

 

[horkin]

5 minutes ago, malcster said:

I think the Skoda customer demographic has changed 

 

Fabia MK1 and 2 both had vrs models which is aimed at a youthful crowd so to speak and so are more.likely to post on here and generally mod cars 

 

Fabia 3 is different no vrs at all and a Luke warm 110bhp Monte Carlo so appeals to a different buyer 

 

Plus the influx of Korean hit hatches and other manufacturers in general have all offered a sporty hotish hatch to compete in the fabia segment 

 

And then the elephant in the room Skoda themselves 

 

At one point the vw pay masters encouraged a different product for a different customer with vw engineering for a fraction of the cost

 

Prime example was.skoda fun pick up Skoda roomster  or praktik 

 

Then the range became more controlled by the masters to the point the range is now intentionally under equipped tto prevent Impacting sales on other bag marques 

This will be more evident with the new rapid due to launch soon 

 

Them we move  to price and even that is more aligned with the group with the intention to appear more upmarket and the karoq and kodiak is further example of Skoda chasing a more upmarket clientele and is slowly dumping on repeat Skoda owners hence the slow slip down the satisfaction tables 

 

At.one point Skoda meant (to me ) fantastic value good reliable cars with a great friendly dealer network that image is slowly changing 

But that's just my take on it 

 

Thanks for posting in my thread. I would just say this is a FABIA forum and my thread is solely aimed at Fabia owners. I would point out that the Fabia has not slowly slipped anywhere and the price is very comparable to similar models.

 

I suspect the lack of a Vrs or hot version of the Fabia reflects sales of the model. I'm not technical enough to back up the following but hot hatches get thrashed by kids and I suspect warranty claims are high on these cars which may have been a deterrent when manufacturing was decided, but it's just guesswork on my part.

 

As for other models in the Skoda range. It's for those wishing to buy those cars to check out the competition and make their own decisions, but it's of little interest to me.

 

Harry

[rum4mo]

Just based on contact with people that have run both versions of that car, some information you can’t really walk away from once you have discovered that it ties in with what  you are finding, I’d love to shout VW’s praises from the roof tops, but sadly, starting from when I started needing to feed my wife’s 2002 Polo with regular chunks of money from when it passed the 5 year mark, I have not been able to quite get round to do that, which in itself is quite annoying as I’ve handed them over my trust and my money.

When I ran Fords I was never a Ford fan, just someone buying and using their products as they suited my usage and my pocket, moving across to buying VW Group products was a deliberate action based on what VW Group claimed their products to be, ie a sensible reliable option over run of the mill cars, so in that respect I was let down though I could not believe that the 6C Polo I bought for my wife in 2015 could be a risky buy, not good.

 

Edit:- I am sure that VW Group could bounce back if they really want to, but being run without engineers at the top table is a very risky way to run a large company that produces relatively complex products. Time will tell

Edited 13 August, 2018 by rum4mo

[Rsrob]

i've got a SE L 1.0 TSI 95 BHP i got it as a run around as i need a small car to do the day to day things and to be fair to it its very good car and i'm very happy with it

the 3cyl 1.0TSI engine is great it's go all the power you ever need the gearbox is nice to used it's well equipped there lot's of space in it the boot good size too and the infotainment system is impresses for a small car all in all big fan of the MK3 fabia the only thing i dot like is the headlights they are bad but you can upgrade them 

[Skodaboy1983]

I do think Skoda have missed a trick not selling a hot hatch in the Fabia range, the Monte Carlo could have been much more with a more powerful engine, it seems to be the only brand in the VAG group not to offer a hot hatch, when you think Skoda heritage is in rally cars including the current Fabia is competing in Rally’s. As for the mark 3 facelift, no vRS is planned either.

 

The thing with the mark 1vRS now is that it’s so cheap to buy and cheap to insure as it’s a diesel that many young folk are purchasing them, the mark 2 vRS is still strong money depending on the age and maybe not as attainable as the Mark 1 vRS.

 

For me being a family man it’s a practical and realible car is the mark 3, I do like to drive spirited when there is no family in the car and I can do it with this, but I do agree with some of the other posters here that the Skodas are not a cheap car anymore, defo coming on with the big boys now and it will be the same for Dacia I think in a few years once the brand improves the product the price will go up to reflect it. I did consider a Dacia before I bought the Fabia as I liked the simple value and simple things about it, but my sensible head was saying Skoda.

 

Davy

 

[rum4mo]

Some of the comments which place VW Group in a bad light are coming from real owners that are having real money spending issues, personally I’ve never owned a Skoda, but I have owned sKoda based and part built by Skoda VWs and it was mainly these parts that caused the issues I complained about, same with this 6C Polo with the Skoda built engine, the Audi forum for the A4B8 has been hit by just too many people getting their fingers burnt buying approved cars with Audi’s or VW Group’s version of DSG by another name, serious money needing to be handed out to get a youngish car with  main dealer servicing history back on the road, also the installed inline version of the 2.0TFSI engines with crazy issues like the 1.4TSI twincharger had, again big money to turn a heap of junk back into a car. SEAT forums are reasonably free of complains now that the horror of the 1.4TSI twincharger engines has worn off  - but my experience of looking after a late 2009 Ibiza were also not too good, partly due SEAT or VW Group ignoring the probability that an unknown number of Ibiza 6J were sent out to dealers with rogue or incorrect BCM coding, then doing nothing in a proactive manner to catch and log catch up with all these cars at their first dealer service, that cost me maybe £650 by the time that one dealer ignored my pleas to consider “internet forum chatter” that the BCM was the issue, they just spent too long investigating then replaced what I maintain was a “good” module, so problem continued to exist with SEAT UK not interested, only by risking my money on a second SEAT dealer did that problem get sorted out by a s/w file update 18 months later.

 

So, yes, if you have not needed to suffer from the the level dismissal that VW Group treat their customers either directly or by contact with others and backed up with “Internet forum chatter” which they always consider to be total nonsense - okay some is, but normally most is not, then yes, these “complaints” might f

seem boring/annoying, but not as boring or annoying as it will be if/when it happens to you.

[jonboy77]

I had to scrap my Suzuki wagon 1.3 after 18yrs and 120,000 london miles. Still with same clutch and exhaust, fantastic!

 

I now have a mk111 tsi Fabia se estate, bought second hand with 2,500 on the clock and 6 months old. I have every hope that this car will provide good service for me, of course time will tell.

It is a lovely car to drive and is very well specified as standard.  It is doing 50mpg and is comfortable. I use it often to cart decorating gear around and use it as a skip on wheels so it earns its living.  The balance of the 3 year warranty is a big bonus but the fear of costly servicing is a worry (I used to just get Kwik fit to change the oil and filter on the suzuki and let the M.O.T centre tell me what else was requires).

 

I look forward to good motoring in the coming years (fingers crossed)  after all the engineering has come a long way and reliability is so much better generally. Finally one of my son in laws is a trained mechanic and is only too happy to oil the brakes for me, what could possibly go wrong :-)

[JoePeddos]

8 hours ago, horkin said:

I've had some enjoyable times with my Mk 1 on the Mk1 forum and Likewise with my Mk11 on the Mk11 forum. People genuinely seemed to enjoy their Skoda's and while Yes, the Mk 1 had it's leaky doors and the Mk11 had its noisy timing chains there was always cheerful banter and excellent reviews on the cars and how they drove.

For some reason I don't get the feeling the Mk111 is doing it for some and there are some pretty damning posts regarding the Auto box and VAG customer service.

I'm not sure whether or not the adverse posts are a true indication of the car or a few disgruntled owners washing their dirty linen on here. Whatever it is the Mk111 forum is nowhere near as entertaining to me  as the previous 2 were.

 

My own view of the Mk111 1.2 tsi 110 manual I own is that it's a great car and a huge step up on previous models.

 

I'd love to hear others views, there must be a few others on here that like the Mk111 as much as I do.

 

Harry

Hi Harry when i got my sel 90 (April 2015) early owners had a lot of problems getting phones to work with the infotainment system a lot of members did a lot of research to help other owners out. I had stalling problems so did a lot of other owners. Briskoda owners came together to try and iron out early teathing problems.

My car came out of warrenty this year and may start to have age problems further down the line i am sure members will come together to resolve  the problems as they arrise so maybe this is the lull you are feeling about the site. I am happy with my car i liked my mk1 diesel which i had for 10 yrs and the forum was a great help when i owned it so i am sure the forum for mk111 owners will still be very helpfull now and in the future Joe

[krigl]

Since I am the author of the dreaded DQ200 story here on the forum, I want to make it clear...

 

I love my fabia, I like to drive it, I like the nice tech it has... It is a perfect commuter to work, for driving the family around, the boot space is enormous compared to direct competition, the engine is perfect. It is cheap to run also... Depending on the mood, it can be ECO or BOOST , but obviously not both at the same time (and after engine and gearbox tuning the boost part especially makes you smile, but obviously the proper maintenance and right fuel are a must after tuning).

 

BUT, and it is a big BUT...

I hate the the living sh** of the whole VW, SKODA,... group and their attitude towards the buyers of their products. (I have been a VW, SKODA, SEAT driver for my whole life basically, one Renault (the styling PimpMyRide car of youth ) and one Citroen (Saxo, my first car, banger ) in between also)

We are left basically on our own when problems occur. It is a real pain to do anything not so obvious through the dealer network and the whole process is too much of a hassle and it takes too much time to get them to accomplish anything IMHO. 

 

For the first 5kkm it was a perfect car, then the problems started... at 45kkm, after two clutch replacements I gave up and went on my own to rectify the problem as best as it could be. Now I started to love the car again since it is working 99% as it should, the remaining 1% I ignore, I know that even I am not perfect . 

 

Now I stay clear of the main dealer network, I just make the necessary oil changes there to keep the warranty until December, and after that they will not touch my fabia any more.

[Pumbajunior]

Only had my Redline a week

Very happy with it so far

Not as happy with the dealer i bought from though pretty useless

It has great equipment and a good turn of speed

i am planning some upgrades though

[horkin]

Well a nice mix of views and experiences. 

The reason I started this thread is because I love this forum. My experience with my Mk1 PD diesel was in general great, I had one major issue which took a lot of sorting and ended up being the brake servo but I went outside of the vag group to a Skoda 'specialist' and maybe that was a mistake as he changed a number of parts before discovering it was the servo. That 1.9 PD engine was so strong. I had lots and lots of help from the forum regarding the car in general and the leaky door seals were corrected using the guides from the site.

The Mk11. I owned was the one in my avatar, a Yellow 1.2 Tsi 105 DSG Elegance. I regret to this day selling that lovely motor and again, lots of great banter and advice from the forum. I didn't experience the noisy chain as some did though the engine always had a characteristic rattle when first started. I never experienced problems with the gearbox either and had the 'recall' oil change done on it. It's far and away the nicest auto I have ever driven in my long life.

 

So after being away from the Forum and vag for a while I came back in a way buying a Seat Mii MPI 75. What a lovely little Citigo sibling that was. great cars I did a 1500 (ish) miles trip around Scotland and the north of England in it with my wife and it was a smooth and comfortable as anything I have driven. The suspension and steering on those little cars is amazing.

Alas we found it a tad small and being a 3 door a bit of a pain so decided to upgrade to my current M111 1.2 Tsi 110  SE Manual. Apart from the low speed ride which could be better (I think the trade off for that is a superb drive and road handling at speed) it's a significant step up from the Mk1 and 11 models.

Since returning to the forum I have been generally disappointed to find I am constantly reading about peoples dislike of the VW group, the horrendous service they have endured from their dealers or VW. Also the thread on the DSG gearbox which, quite frankly was enough to put anyone off buying one of these lovely autos. I am not saying people haven't experienced faults but for most the box is fine and a treat to drive. Dual clutch gearboxes, by their complex nature are different and can be problematic and if we are to believe what we read these issues are not solely within VW and other manufacturers have experienced similar. However for the most part they are trouble free but those who do experience problems can find the fix is beyond many's capabilities and always expensive.

The comparison with other models is fair enough but again, I was disappointed to encounter longish threads on how good the Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i10/20 and Citroen C3 are, not because these cars aren't good cars but the deliberate comparison to the Fabia in an attempt to put these vehicles in a class superior to our lovely Mk111, something I would strongly dispute. Anyway I am here to enjoy the Skoda Fabia mark and no other.

 

The benefit I want to get from Briskoda is one of being able to discuss our cars, accept the faults that occur but share the experience with one another, discussing the best ways of overcoming these and how we have tackled problems so that others can benefit. I don't want to read how I'd be better off owning this make or that, I'm a Fabia owner,proud of it and want to discuss my car with like minded people.

 

Harry

Edited 14 August, 2018 by horkin

[Pumbajunior]

1 hour ago, horkin said:

Well a nice mix of views and experiences. 

The reason I started this thread is because I love this forum. My experience with my Mk1 PD diesel was in general great, I had one major issue which took a lot of sorting and ended up being the brake servo but I went outside of the vag group to a Skoda 'specialist' and maybe that was a mistake as he changed a number of parts before discovering it was the servo. That 1.9 PD engine was so strong. I had lots and lots of help from the forum regarding the car in general and the leaky door seals were corrected using the guides from the site.

The Mk11. I owned was the one in my avatar, a Yellow 1.2 Tsi 105 DSG Elegance. I regret to this day selling that lovely motor and again, lots of great banter and advice from the forum. I didn't experience the noisy chain as some did though the engine always had a characteristic rattle when first started. I never experienced problems with the gearbox either and had the 'recall' oil change done on it. It's far and away the nicest auto I have ever driven in my long life.

 

So after being away from the Forum and vag for a while I came back in a way buying a Seat Mii MPI 75. What a lovely little Citigo sibling that was. great cars I did a 1500 (ish) miles trip around Scotland and the north of England in it with my wife and it was a smooth and comfortable as anything I have driven. The suspension and steering on those little cars is amazing.

Alas we found it a tad small and being a 3 door a bit of a pain so decided to upgrade to my current M111 1.2 Tsi 110  SE Manual. Apart from the low speed ride which could be better (I think the trade off for that is a superb drive and road handling at speed) it's a significant step up from the Mk1 and 11 models.

Since returning to the forum I have been generally disappointed to find I am constantly reading about peoples dislike of the VW group, the horrendous service they have endured from their dealers or VW. Also the thread on the DSG gearbox which, quite frankly was enough to put anyone off buying one of these lovely autos. I am not saying people haven't experienced faults but for most the box is fine and a treat to drive. Dual clutch gearboxes, by their complex nature are different and can be problematic and if we are to believe what we read these issues are not solely within VW and other manufacturers have experienced similar. However for the most part they are trouble free but those who do experience problems can find the fix is beyond many's capabilities and always expensive.

The comparison with other models is fair enough but again, I was disappointed to encounter longish threads on how good the Suzuki Swift, Hyundai i10/20 and Citroen C3 are, not because these cars aren't good cars but the deliberate comparison to the Fabia in an attempt to put these vehicles in a class superior to our lovely Mk111, something I would strongly dispute. Anyway I am here to enjoy the Skoda Fabia mark and no other.

 

The benefit I want to get from Briskoda is one of being able to discuss our cars, accept the faults that occur but share the experience with one another, discussing the best ways of overcoming these and how we have tackled problems so that others can benefit. I don't want to read how I'd be better off owning this make or that, I'm a Fabia owner,proud of it and want to discuss my car with like minded people.

 

Harry

Well i can tell you i had a 59 plate I10 and a 63 plate 107 and the Redline is in a different league altogether

Im enjoying driving again now

[vc-10]

I love my Fabia. It's not perfect, but for the price and compared to the competition, it's fantastic. It's efficient, great to drive, very comfortable, and has a fantastic infotainment system. 

 

Interesting seeing what @rum4mo says about 2002 Polos... I had one for many years. Mine was a very basic 'E' model, with the 65PS 1.2, didn't even have power locks. But it was a great car. Finally died at the hands of my little brother in December, lost compression on one cylinder and it wasn't worth investigating. Still didn't strand him on the roadside! Had done about 170k miles by the end, including having 3 teenage boys learn to drive in it. I got it in 2009 when it had done about 82k miles. It had some problems over the years, but not anything major until the end. 

 

[rum4mo]

@vc-10  , I think that it is down to timing really as to what your experiences and thoughts are for a car. Had I bought my wife a late 2002 Polo in 2009 we would have paid a lot less for it and bought it after it had mainly "had" all of its expensive repairs carried out, (I still have my records for that car but never worked out the trend for spend in each year yet) so I would have taken a completely different view on things. It left our ownership at 13 years and 130K miles still on original exhaust, wheel bearings and battery, so somethings kept working. Unfortunately it seems like it did not make it to its 15th year old MOT though!

With this 1.2TSI 16V engine issue, it might not be an issue for Fabia owners in UK as maybe that engine was introduced to Fabia in UK a bit later on so after the problem with the early units, I don't know that, also could be the same for Ibiza in UK - or even world wide, as there has been no chatter about in UK based forums, even from Spanish contributors.

Most of these motoring forums I think, are populated by people that do know their cars and like to try to do things that are not always easy to do, like upgrading areas while stubbornly wanting to stick to using original VW Group parts, even going completely aftermarket - so without these kinds of people doing and sharing what is involved in achieving that, life would be harder/boring. On that topic I'm trying to seamlessly add DAB to the radio in my early 2011 Audi S4 and nailing down exactly the correct version of parts for that date of car is challenging - but it is the way I like to do things. On the Polo forum, the main activity seems to be swopping BCM for extended functionality ones from maybe T6 or its equivalent to allow the fitting of extra options - its just people expressing their individuality that is all, all harmless stuff

Edited 14 August, 2018 by rum4mo

[Skinneroo]

Myself, like the Op, have returned to Briskoda after a 3yr or so absence after I sold my mk1 vrs.

Apart from the rattly start up issue from cold and the noisy idle when warm, which my dealer and an independant mechanic say is normal, I absolutely love my red Monte Carlo.

Looks, handling ,economy, infotainment , I can't fault it.(could have done with keeping the aircon glovebox from the mk 1 though), but that's a small price to pay.

I must say, all the horror stories are a bit worrying.

[Guest]

Hello Harry, good thread!

 

Just to make it clear, I am one of those that fell out of love with my Fabia Mk3 DSG and have changed it for a C3 Citroen. I've posted about it in another thread as some of you know, but not particularly to moan about Skoda, my car or Skoda dealers. Or indeed to make any of you want to buy a Citroen. I wanted information, opinions, discussion about what I wanted to do. I got that thanks! I still think the Fabia, and my one in particular, was a great car! I loved the DSG gearbox as I've said many times. But I also have other important reasons that made it right to change my car just now which I won't go into. It's not just because I fell out of love with my Skoda. 

 

So don't take any comments or critiscm of Fabia Mk3's to heart Harry. Some individuals seem constantly to come down on Skoda rather harshly on a regular basis, often to my mind having a perception based upon a misunderstanding of what's really going on, and that's their perogative. It doesn't change the fact that Skoda are great cars! I don't have one anymore but that doesn't matter. Regarding problems that some of us experienced, these are pretty small issues really...not small to those of us that experienced them but still small in the overall event of things. And most manufacturers go through the same thing from time to time. Its how it is! Skoda dealers are amongst some of the best in the country and I've never had any big issues with any of them when asking for a problem to be put right. It's all good!  J D Power has downgraded the Fabia, other models and brands are now ahead of it. Does that matter? Not very much actually as it's only slipped a few places down the ladder behind the Suzuki Swift and Hyundia i10 and Kia's etc. 

 

I still intend to do a thread comparing the Citroen C3 110ps Flair EAT6 auto, to the Skoda Mk3 Fabia 110ps DSG. I hope it will be a good read. I'll try to make it a good objective comparison for those that are interested. although at the end of the day, it's what individuals think about a car that matters.

 

Anyhoo, off to drive my new C3 now and pick up my wife...take care all. 

[vc-10]

@rum4mo what did your car end up needing? As far as I know my car never had the cam problems that some cars with the 1.2 3-cyl had, although I did have to change the gearbox (again due to my brother's driving!) after about 145k. Did have to change the suspension bushings shortly after buying it, which is a common issue with the 9n Polos. 

 

Totally agree about wanting to upgrade the OEM route! I've fitted a 'W8' light unit with the nice LED downlighters, for example, using a unit from a Mk.1 Superb. What I really want to do is fit ACC... but I think that's out of my abilities! 

[Skodaboy1983]

Also think in regards to the forum is a lot of people use social media like Facebook and the likes and in general the forum us quieter but i do like to come on here and browse and help if I can.

 

Davy