Yesterday whist driving to work in my 2005 Fabia estate BBZ  "elegance" I noticed a rough feel to the edge of the chrome effect on the top of the gearstick. I could not resist picking it as I drove along and a big sliver of the chrome from the top of the gear knob peeled off.

After a bit of research it seemed that the chrome/plastic top was glued to a white plastic carrier with 4 little legs on. These little legs allow the chrome top and carrier to be embedded into the top of the gearstick. Being the elegance model the gear knob is leather rather than just the hard plastic on other models and so it would be good to keep that. I used a pick to remove the chrome cover and carrier from the top of the gear knob. It just pulls up and off.

I tried to strip the remaining chrome from the top of the plastic carrier with caustic soda and then Nitromors. The chrome did not budge but the exposed plastic had been affected and is not smooth any more so no good!

 

Reading around, I think that I might be able to buy a new chrome top with the gear shift pattern on and carrier from Skoda but no doubt it will be pricey. Being bank holiday , my local Skoda dealer is closed so I cannot enquire about availability etc.

I also found a replacement none genuine Skoda Fabia 5 speed gear knob / gaiter and lower frame on Ebay but as mentioned, the gear knob looks like a hard plastic. After checking the compatibility section of the advert, it appears that it will fit my car but I'm wary of buying in case it will be a poor quality.

 

So what are my options in order to smarten things back up again? What have other people done to rectify a similar problem?

I brought from ebay full gaiter and knob snd frame really nice quality tbf much better than the original.

39 minutes ago, Stewartasb said:

I brought from ebay full gaiter and knob snd frame really nice quality tbf much better than the original.

That sounds good, thank you. Do you have a link to the parts you bought?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184517443396 they have 2 i brought 1 of each this one and the other has a silver top they only took a week to arrive and are actually really good quality and look great.

T

1 hour ago, Stewartasb said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/184517443396 they have 2 i brought 1 of each this one and the other has a silver top they only took a week to arrive and are actually really good quality and look great.

Thank you very much, that info is most helpful. 
Cheers!

I have fixed the gear knob. 
A bit of Googling revealed a replacement insert for a VRS with the same locating lugs as my insert but at a cost of £43. 
I changed the last digit of the part number from 2 to 1 and I found an image of an updated part classed as a repair kit that could fit my car at approx 9 euros. Part number - 6Y0798001
On Monday I called my local Skoda dealer and they confirmed the part number I had researched was correct. Apparently a well known problem where the flaking chrome cuts fingers.

I collected the part for £10.26 then fitted within a minute, perfect fit, job done!