Fabia Mk3 Bonnet release with flat battery

[Morris8]

Hello Everyone

 

Sorry if this query has been answered already, but I can't find a thread on it. My wife has just bought a 2016 Mk3 Fabia 1.2 tsi  90, Colour Edition.  In standard Skoda fashion, the bonnet release lever is on the LHS. No problem for my Mk2, as even when the passenger door is closed you can still release the bonnet. However, as far as I can see, with the MK3 you need to open the passenger door to operate the bonnet release lever;  of so, then presumably if the car is deadlocked as it would normally be, you would not be able to open the bonnet if the battery were flat (so can't jump start etc.). So, two questions:

 

1.  I note that with regard to the Octavia Mk3 (which has the same problem), some members have said that the plastic bonnet release lever is sufficiently flexible that you can still open the bonnet  with the passenger door closed by bending the lever inwards as well as towards you. Is this also the case with the Mk3 Fabia?

 

2. If I  have the car recoded so that  it requires two clicks of the lock button on the fob to deadlock  it  (rather than one), like on most Japanese cars, then then in most instances the car would not be deadlocked and presumably it would be possible to gain entry using the key manually in the drivers door, and then opening the passenger door in the normal way using the inside door lever. Would I be correct in assuming this? 

 

Many thanks for any help.

 

(Don't you just love the way they market cars these days; metallic paint, black alloys, bluetooth, touch screen, ticket clip on windscreen etc.etc. , but, by the way,  if the battery is flat you're stranded because can't open the bonnet; great.)  

[Andymod]

I can open the bonnet on my Fabia 3 with the passenger door closed, the lever is flexible enough

[Morris8]

That's excellent; thanks a lot for your reply.  Recently had  to jump start my daughter's Yaris (battery stone dead after leaving lights on), so was on my mind!

[KyleNeeson88]

You can open the passenger door with the key fob, you need to remove the small piece of trim on the door handle. Use your key to prise it off, you will see a small slat underneath the door handle. With that off, you will have a key barrel to open the door manually. 

[AGFalco]

In the UK the manual door lock is on the drivers side of the car / right hand side if you are sitting in the car.

If you have deadlocks then opening the drivers door manually will NOT unlock the passenger / left hand side door.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

[Portman]

23 hours ago, AGFalco said:

In the UK the manual door lock is on the drivers side of the car / right hand side if you are sitting in the car.

If you have deadlocks then opening the drivers door manually will NOT unlock the passenger / left hand side door.

 

Thanks, AG Falco

 

My wife's Fabia III (2018 facelift, SE, remote un/locking, not KESSY) has the key barrel/cover on the passenger's (left side) door, which to plagiarise Skoda, I think is Simply Stupid.  You're much less likely to park with the driver's door hard up against a wall/obstruction so if Skoda can't afford to fit a barrel to both front doors it strikes me as daft that they fit one to the passenger's door.  If the key fob battery fails and the car is parked hard up against a wall on the passenger's side it seems to me the only way to get in would be to replace the fob battery.  Same scenario and the fob itself fails and one would be stuck, short of manhandling the car away from the wall....

 

I think all 2018-on facelifted UK models are fitted with barrels on the passenger's (left) door.

[KyleNeeson88]

I had a 2015 Mk 3 Skoda Fabia and the manual barrel was on the passenger side, as was my 2019 facelift model. 

[Morris8]

Thanks for all these replies everyone. What I have ascertained is this for the Mk3 Fabia.

 

1. If the car battery is flat, and like mine, the manual lock is on the drivers door, you can gain access manually using the key, then if your car is deadlocked, you should still be able to open the bonnet by (carefully?) bending the release lever over the door trim (as I hoped). However, if the car is not deadlocked, then when you're in the car you should be able to open the passenger door with the inside door release and open the bonnet without bending the bonnet release lever. 

 

2. If your manual lock is  on the passenger door (pure Dacia) you're good to go at opening the bonnet by opening the passenger door with key, that is, unless you're up against some obstacle on the passenger side, in which case phone for a tractor or something.  Having the lock on the passenger side also presents a problem if  you're up against an obstacle and the fob fails for whatever reason. Does make you wonder though; if they have put the lock on passenger side on the Facelift model, is it because of the bonnet lever issue?

 

At least the Mk3 Fabia has not got an electronic handbrake; they can be fun with a flat battery too.

 

Ah, the joys of progress. 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

[rum4mo]

SEATs tend to be same, ie at least with RHD cars, the bonnet release is on the passenger side, VW and Audi have them on the driver's side for RHD cars.