Hi everyone, hope you're all well.

 

I'm toying with the idea of downsizing from my 2.2 Mondeo to the Fabia Monte Carlo 110 (leaning towards around 3 years old). I've test driven a few, and I'm leaning towards a DSG model. Due to commuting, I do a lot of miles (700 a week approx) I'm intrigued to know what they are like to live with, running costs, upsides & downsides etc. Any common faults I should look for? What kind of range can I expect from a tank? You know, all sorts of things like that. 

 

I have found a car that I like and I'm currently going through the internal struggle about whether I should buy or not.

 

Thanks in advance for any advice you can share.

 

Jay.

I've a January 2016 MC 1.2/110 DSG and we absolutely love it. The 110 engine is surprisingly fast and economy is about average for this size vehicle: between 42 and 46 mpg driven locally (all 30/20mph speed limit) and in the high 40s on long runs, though some suggest that they get better than my figures, but then I must drive with spirit!

I find the easy-to-engage sports mode particularly useful on a couple of notoriously busy local roundabouts. My MC is red & black with the black 17" wheels and the addition of a black tailgate lip protector seems to 'balance' out the rear nicely too. We love the funky interior!

 

The downsides are that the lowered, harder suspension does provide excellent, responsive handling (IMHO better than the vRS), but at the expense of a firm ride.

 

Watch out for some possible surprises in the standard fittings: taken for granted devices such as front windows open/close with single press operation isn't standard: neither is cruise control, but max speed control is standard (whoever thought that was a good idea - bonkers)! Mounting a mobile phone for Satnav isn't simple either, though there are a few suitable devices that work available. (The type that stick to the dash and protrude out and hang down the front (partially obscuring the display)).

 

I also had to disable the auto start/stop because doing so many short journeys, the idiotic way they have programmed the charging system to stay at 75% capacity (to save fuel!!!) means it rarely gets fully charged and the start/stop inhibits itself. Neither do I like that little delay between lifting off the brake pedal, the engine starting and moving off. It's bloody awful at busy junctions.

 

But overall I'm very pleased with it.

One thing to remember about the fabia is that it doesn't really fail in any area but equally it's not the best in any area either. It's a great all rounder that in my mind is just a mk II golf for the current generation.

 

Thank you for the replies. It's good to find out the idiosyncrasies the car has that you won't be able to find out on a short test drive. 

With doing a lot of motorway miles, what range will I be looking at? I'm well aware it'll be more economical than my current car but with a much smaller fuel tank. I'm hoping it'll balance out to achieve similar figures. 

What are the service costs like? New pads, tyres etc.

2 hours ago, TerFar said:

Mounting a mobile phone for Satnav isn't simple either

Use this phone holder with Android Auto and the cars Infotainment screen works for me.

It fits in the twin cup holder in front of the gear lever.

There is more than one size so make sure your phone fits first.

 

Thanks AG Falco

19 hours ago, Mr_T1987 said:

Thank you for the replies. It's good to find out the idiosyncrasies the car has that you won't be able to find out on a short test drive. 

With doing a lot of motorway miles, what range will I be looking at? I'm well aware it'll be more economical than my current car but with a much smaller fuel tank. I'm hoping it'll balance out to achieve similar figures. 

What are the service costs like? New pads, tyres etc.

 

Having covered 8,000 miles since picking up my 67 plate 1.0 TSi 110 Monte Carlo in April, I can't comment on consumables yet, but I have found this model to be extremely good on fuel. I can manage well over 500 miles on a full tank doing motorway & A-road driving, which works out in the region of 60 mpg average. I've also found the car comfortable and quite relaxing on a run - it is quiet for a smaller car, and the sixth gear makes it a good motorway cruiser. As others have pointed out the ride is very firm due to the suspension setup - probably much firmer than the Mondeo.

 

I've downsized from a 2.0 TDi Superb and have not been disappointed. 

 

OP, it looks like you are dropping down a couple of car model sizes here, maybe with that weekly mileage in mind, I'm guessing a daily to/from work journey length of 70miles, getting something "a size up" would be a more suitable for you "down sizing".

Also over a year of that sort weekly mileage, should you not stay with TDI even although the world want to stop us using that sort of engine?

I'd think that while a 1.2TSI engine seems to be reliable, not many will be getting kept long if doing roughly 32K miles a year, that is still TDI territory if we are being realistic.

On 02/09/2019 at 09:55, rum4mo said:

OP, it looks like you are dropping down a couple of car model sizes here, maybe with that weekly mileage in mind, I'm guessing a daily to/from work journey length of 70miles, getting something "a size up" would be a more suitable for you "down sizing".

Also over a year of that sort weekly mileage, should you not stay with TDI even although the world want to stop us using that sort of engine?

I'd think that while a 1.2TSI engine seems to be reliable, not many will be getting kept long if doing roughly 32K miles a year, that is still TDI territory if we are being realistic.

My mistake. I overestimated my mileage slightly. I cover 350 miles a week, I'm not sure where I pulled 700 from. Still a decent amount of miles mind.

 

My current diesel currently achieves around 43mpg on my commute, combined with a few small runs in between obviously. Doing this amount of miles, I feel the change to a much more economical car is essential. I appreciate a diesel would seem the more obvious choice but as you say, given the evident push to try and remove diesels altogether, it seems to me it's only a matter of time until they continually hike the price of diesel up so I'm trying to get ahead of the game really.

 

Finding an economical petrol car that I like has so far only lead me to the Monte Carlo, which has lead me to hear. I'm certainly open to suggestions on alternatives though. 

On 02/09/2019 at 09:09, PaulJS said:

 

Having covered 8,000 miles since picking up my 67 plate 1.0 TSi 110 Monte Carlo in April, I can't comment on consumables yet, but I have found this model to be extremely good on fuel. I can manage well over 500 miles on a full tank doing motorway & A-road driving, which works out in the region of 60 mpg average. I've also found the car comfortable and quite relaxing on a run - it is quiet for a smaller car, and the sixth gear makes it a good motorway cruiser. As others have pointed out the ride is very firm due to the suspension setup - probably much firmer than the Mondeo.

 

I've downsized from a 2.0 TDi Superb and have not been disappointed. 

 

Thank you for your reply. It seems you made a similar switch of vehicle to what I'm considering so I am pleased to hear that you are so far finding it a good switch. The Mondeo I have is the 2.2 Titanium so it has slightly stiffer suspension than what you would normally find but still a comfortable cruiser. Having taken a few test drives, the ride comfort seems pretty similar to what I experience now, maybe a slight bit harsher but not so much that you'd notice.

 

The range you're experiencing is what I was hoping for and the MPG would certainly reduce my fuel bills.

12 hours ago, Mr_T1987 said:

My mistake. I overestimated my mileage slightly. I cover 350 miles a week, I'm not sure where I pulled 700 from. Still a decent amount of miles mind.

I do approximately the same miles per week, sometimes more, sometimes less. With the 95ps 1.0tsi I'm getting approximately 60mpg on longer runs, and between 45-55mpg on shorter runs, and as low as 38-40mpg in the rare case of city driving, as indicated on the trip computer. My calculations have come in steadily at 50-52+mpg as real-world calculations, though I'm sure I could squeeze more out of that if I didn't drive spiritedly myself. I no longer run the tyres at 'economy' pressures, either. I'd typically top up little over every week, around the 450 mile mark. Sometimes, that's with 1/8 of a tank remaining, sometimes it'll be in the red (depending on weather, driving style, etc.)

A vast improvement from a thirsty 2.0L Mx-5 previously, so a welcome change spending around half of what I used to on fuel.

From what I've seen, the 1.0tsi 110ps seems to get a few more miles to the gallon, and the pre-19 (pre-WLTP) models appear to also have a positive influence on economy.

No real issues to speak of - there was a noted issue with the CarPlay stuttering intermittently, but this seems to have largely reduced with the most recent iOS update. Keep-fit windows in the rear don't bother me as I'm never in there, nor do I often carry passengers. The 1.0tsi takes some getting used to with 'bogging down' at low revs if you want to pull off quickly; easily rectified by changing down a gear, keeping around 1,800-2,000 revs as a minimum and not worrying too much about what is a typically good economy. You'll probably be more used to this going from the 2.2tdi than my previous 2.0 petrol, and the DSG will definitely help here. Quiet on the motorway and with enough poke to maintain *ahem* the speed limit comfortably enough. Sometimes, you have to gauge overtakes a little more carefully, as there isn't the same torque as you're probably used to, but again changing down definitely helps (which, again, would be done for you by the car anyway). Also relatively comfortable in the 'colour edition' guise, with no stiffened suspension for me to concern myself with.

Edited 4 September, 20196 yr by Benz3ne

On 03/09/2019 at 23:21, Mr_T1987 said:

Thank you for your reply. It seems you made a similar switch of vehicle to what I'm considering so I am pleased to hear that you are so far finding it a good switch. The Mondeo I have is the 2.2 Titanium so it has slightly stiffer suspension than what you would normally find but still a comfortable cruiser. Having taken a few test drives, the ride comfort seems pretty similar to what I experience now, maybe a slight bit harsher but not so much that you'd notice.

 

The range you're experiencing is what I was hoping for and the MPG would certainly reduce my fuel bills.

You're very welcome. I should also mention that for me, the cost of insuring the Fabia is half that of the Superb, (£300 compared with £600), so that's a handy saving. 

Well seeing as reduction in fuel costs has been aired, someone I know, seems to get paid to use his car for visiting surban and slightly suburban places in a big busy city, so he bought a BMW 135, seemed happy with that for  year or two, then bought another same again happy enough with it, then bought an M1 again seemed happy enough with it, then bought a BMW i3 and guess what - he saves £60 a week on fuel costs, now who could have predicted that! So now he has turned into an EV evangelist but only one snag, he and his wife, who he drops and picks up after work have much longer days because that car needs charged FOC at local libraries and swimming pool on the revised route home, its a funny old world out there for some people.

I'm not yet convinced that EVs are anywhere near as green as we are being persuaded. Yes, I agree that they may be able to reduce pollution in congested town centres but only because that pollution is diverted elsewhere. 

Before I'd plunge into EVs, I'd like to see longer ranges (at least 200 miles in freezing weather in the dark), faster charging, more charging stations, an infrastructure that is able to support the power deman, a normal 10 year battery life and evidence that battery manufacture/recycling is genuinely green and not just wishful thinking or sales leverage. 

The majority of prople living/working in these high polluting areas don't have anywhere they can have their own charging station and probably cannot afford the high cost of EVs. 

So the car I was looking at is holding a deposit. But I stumbled across this one earlier today. Manual rather than auto but nicer colour IMO.

 

We have a 2015 110 DSG Fabia and its a really good car. On a longish (40+ miles) run it will do 50-55 mpg at national speed limit cruising. Its not noisy and is very stable .

 

TerFar made a comment about the stop start and the delay when pulling away. Hopefully I can add to those

 

1. Delay when pulling away. This all depends on how hard you are pressing on the brake pedal before moving the right foot to the accelerator - the brake pedal pressure is monitored by the gearbox ECU - pressed hard it disengages the clutch,  so if a split second before you want to pull away you reduce the brake pedal pressure the clutch will engage (check the rev counter they drop slightly) so that the moment your foot comes off the brake pedal the car will start to move forward - voila no delay.  Leaving a few extra feet to vehicle in front gives you some creep room to be able to nip out.

 

2. Stop Start - yes its annoyoing that on stort runs its doesn't think the battery is charged enough so it basically disables itself - our Fabia is used mainly on short trips so its rarely works. However when it does work many people find it adds a delay in being able to pull away quickly in busy traffic. Once again its all down to brake pedal pressure, If stop/start (S/S) switches the engine off, just reduce the brake pedal pressure slightly and it will restart and if you ease off the brake pedal pressure before coming to a  halt it won't even switch the engine off.

 

Also bear in mind that the DSG cars all have hill hold or delayed brake release to prevent roll back.

 

 

You can, of course, disable both the Stop/Start and idiotic 75% charging limit simply by disconnecting the little plug on the battery earth terminal. (Just remember to plug it back in before going for a service or MoT test.)  There is a Start/Stop override button on the dash, but it still inhibits full battery charging on short runs. 

So, I've caved. Deposit paid and collecting on Friday. Officially part of the club now.

Hope you collected your new Monte alright, when you stop driving how about a pic or two.

So I collected my car on Friday. And I love it!

 

There are a few niggles i have but very minor things. As warned by TerFer, I forgot to check the windows, not single shot. Not the end of the world mind. And the 'cruise control' turned out to be speed limiter. But having used it, I don't mind it too much.

 

Overall very happy with it and I'm still smitten with how it looks.

 

I will upload a few pictures once it's stopped bloody raining. 

I bought my MonteCarlo 110 estate 3.5 years ago, and have been VERY happy with it. After 40,000 miles (so engine etc nicely loosened up), I can now get over 50 MPG on a long trip! Recently managed 55 MPG!

 

Yes, it is a speed limiter, but put it on, anf floor the accelerator, and you get the same effect!!

 

Niggles:

- shame it's not climate control

- shame no rear electric windows

- didn't REALLY need a sunroof (it just makes the car hot!)

 

My wife is very fussy about cars... likes "small cars", and initially felt the Fabia "was too big".... but once she started driving it, she seemed to really like it.

I'd add why no one-shot windows and complete lack of thought how to mount a Satnav (now resolved). 

The 1.2 Tsi is a lovely free-reving engine. Driven in sports mode (DSG) it is amazingly fast for just 1.2l, but in standard drive on a good run it is surprisingly economical (I've achieved over 50mpg too). 

We love the car, but other than its silly ommissions previously mentioned, maybe the hard suspension and bigger fat wheels are a little too harsh. 

But it's a good car and unless you're planning to switch to electric, I'd keep it for some time. The Fabia 1.9l diesel I purchased new in 2006, that is now being drive by my son, still looks like new after a wash and polish, and it drives perfectly. It regularly tops 60mpg and I regret parting with it, even though it's still in the family.