I am looking to buy a used Fabia, about 2/3 years old.

My previous Fabia's had the back seat split into two so you could drop the seat to the floor, and the back of the seat would fold down almost flat, giving you extra boot space.

I have been told that Skoda stopped making these in 2015 or that they never made them in the first place.

Could anyone please confirm that this is true?

34 minutes ago, Meg54 said:

My previous Fabia's had the back seat split into two so you could drop the seat to the floor, and the back of the seat would fold down almost flat, giving you extra boot space.

That's certainly how the rear seats folded on a 2005 Fabia that we used to own.

 

Can't comment on the situation after 2015, but the comment "they never made them in the first place" is incorrect.

6 hours ago, Meg54 said:

My previous Fabia's had the back seat split into two so you could drop the seat to the floor, and the back of the seat would fold down almost flat

Well, that's certainly how the Octavia 1 and 2 back seats worked, with the additional note that they were also 60/40 rather than 50/50 split.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Have a look at the Owner's Manuals (link below) as the one for my wife's car is as clear as mud on the subject (and other subjects) it looks like the estate has some bits of the rear seats are removable but as my wife's car is a hatch I'm not sure which on the estate.

 

On my wife's 2015 (2016MY) hatch the split rear seat squabs (backrests) fold down on the seat cushions (what you sit on) so are not flat or level to boot floor level. 

 

Owner's Manual PDFs -https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

 

Edited 30 September, 20223 yr by nta16
ETA: Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

On 30/09/2022 at 17:13, nta16 said:

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

Have a look at the Owner's Manuals (link below) as the one for my wife's car is as clear as mud on the subject (and other subjects) it looks like the estate has some bits of the rear seats are removable but as my wife's car is a hatch I'm not sure which on the estate.

 

On my wife's 2015 (2016MY) hatch the split rear seat squabs (backrests) fold down on the seat cushions (what you sit on) so are not flat or level to boot floor level. 

 

Owner's Manual PDFs -https://manual.skoda-auto.com/004/en-com/Models

 

So the hopefully split seat bases do not tip forward through 90 degrees first and then the seat back folds down near enough flat?

That sounds a bit silly and a space waster.

I'm only going by how things work out on my wife's 2015 VW Polo

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

I don't know, the German apprentice engineer to Chinese to English translations of the 'Operating Instructions' have me foxed or it might just be me not catching on.  On the estate version you can remove the seat  base cushions from the vehicle and fold the backrest(s) forward, whether this allows the backrest(s) to lie flat so that the back of the backrest(s) lie level with the boot floor I don't know.

 

With my wife's SE model of hatchback the full width rear seat base cushion doesn't appeal to move so when the split backrests are folded forward they're not level with the boot floor (unless I've missed something).

 

(The plastic clip on the body interior side panel is handy to keep the seatbelt and its buckle out of the way is very handy though.) 

 

This from the 05.2015 'Operating Instructions' book for my wife's model, see what you make of it. -

 

Edited 1 October, 20223 yr by nta16

Yes, the same as in my wife's 2015 VW Polo the seat base tips forward to let the seat back fold down, also, the seat base can be removed quite easily if you want/need more space, that is not mentioned in the handbook though if I remember correctly.

 

I tend to forget about the clips in the side panel for storing the outer seat belts out of the way though, and just get annoyed with the belts - for some reason.

 

Edit:- I'd think that if the rear seat base removal is detailed in the Fabia handbook then it will probably also be detailed in that Polo one - just shows that most people might read the handbook but not all of it is retained, especially in older brains!

Edited 1 October, 20223 yr by rum4mo

You probably have to grab the base and pull it forward/upwards before it will yield to being tipped forward. It can then be removed completely for more loading length and volume in the rear footwell by springing the hinge rods out of their locations.

 

I bought my MK1 Octavia from a chauffeur pal, he had driven passengers usually single business travellers to airports for 3 years and 188000 miles, he said to me the only problem is the rear seats dont fold down flat because the squabs do not tip forward, without any RTFMing I had the squab released and tipped forward and a flat load platform in 5 seconds, I had no idea how they would release simply that they must do.

 

Equally I knew that the squabs could be removed by hand without tools even though it was not clear to see how they would, from the images above I can see its exactly the same system.

Edited 1 October, 20223 yr by J.R.

Exactly, grab the front of the seat base at the front and lift it up a bit, it will sort of move forward, then grab the rear of the seat base and pivot it forwards through 90 degrees. Then drop the seat back(s) down.

Having read through again carefully it could be that it only works like that where the squab is split into two parts 60/40 or 50/50, the full width bench seat might be secured with traditional fixings.

 

My parents 1967 Viva HB Estate had a full width bench rear seat but the squab on that folded forward to allow the rear to drop making a level load compartment.

Edited 2 October, 20223 yr by J.R.

Eventually someone actually with a Mk3 might comment.

 

The issue with Mk2 Fabia where you pulled the seat base forward and folded it was that it worked OK when the seat was not fully back, then you dropped the rear forward.

But with the drivers seat which i had as low as possible and as far back as i could on the runners, the seat base had not enough room. so i only dropped the rear seat back flat at the passenger side.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

1 hour ago, roottoot said:

Eventually someone actually with a Mk3 might comment.

Someone already has. 😄

 

I can only comment on the model my wife has as that's the only one I know but I'd just look at the appropriate Driver's Handbook for whatever model or year or part-year to see if I was looking at another car.

 

I knew within 0.792 second that the rear seat cushion didn't lift on my wife's model of hatchback and even if it did I could see within 0.923 second it didn't matter if it did as the backrest hinge was single point of pivot and too high to have the arc of the bottom of the backrest to go level with the boot floor.  I'm not an engineer or mechanic but I do have some little brainpower and experience of cars. 🙃

 

I could make an assumption about the estate version but I don't know them and find the Driver's Handbook info incomplete, unless I missed something.

 

Edited 2 October, 20223 yr by nta16
spelling

I used to have a Mk3 Fabia.  Previous to that I had 3 MK2s.  The rear seats in the MK2s did have a base that lifted and folded forwards so that the seat back could fold down fully.  Sadly this was dropped when the MK3 hatchback was introduced but was kept in the MK3 estates.  Quite why I don't know as I always found this a useful feature.   

That sounds slightly weird, from memory, and I could be wrong, with a split rear seat 2002 9N Polo, the seat base just flipped forward, same on the 2015 VW Polo, if anything I would have expected the Fabia to always be more versatile/usable in that respect than the equivalent Polo.

Please note - I am not a mechanic or expert in anything.

 

For whatever reasons my wife's 2015 SE hatchback has rear seats with split back rest but single bench base that doesn't lift.  It looks like the (2015) estate was more versatile.

 

Hi,

I have a mk3 combi, and the bench is split 60/40, you can lift it up and away, or remove completely, there are just 4 hooks holding the thing in place. If you have the double boot floor, the whole thing goes flat when you raise the shelf to the higher position.

It is really strange they would leave this out of the hatchback. I wonder if you could replace the bench with one from the combi...

 

Bump for @Ghostrider81

There are another couple of threads if you do a search.