I recommended a Fabia 1.0 litre to my sister as a replacement for her faithful 18 year old 118,000 mile  Toyota Corolla, a test drive was arranged last weekend, the model was the latest revised sel 114 bhp.

Car size would be ok , although when we sat in the car I could not believe that this car was priced at over £22,000 , swathes of hard plastic and a very mediocre interior  that were somehow cheaper looking than the interior  in  my old mk 1 Fabia vrs.

Then the test drive, well it was so noisy, yes I know three cylinder engines can thrum a bit but they must have missed the sound proofing in this build,  and it was very sluggish, pushing the throttle made it go of course but at the expense of more unwelcome cabin noise with the feeling it would not be very reasonable on fuel or relaxing to live with yes I know its available with the 1.5 engine but come on Skoda what went wrong from the days you built the mk1 Fabia which was an affordable good quality car to the very poor presentation that this new Fabia is never mind the low rent feeling of the interior.

My Sister test drove a Kia Ceed hatch 1.5, and bought a 9 month old Ceed 2  1.5 petrol with 5,800 miles and the 7 year warranty re started for just under £18,000 cash.

Streets ahead in quality, included standard kit, driving experience and finish and a proper sized car than the expensive Fabia, she looked at the Scala but did not like it.

I still think My Superb is -well superb but what an eye opener looking at Skoda now they no longer are the value car they once were when we bought our new Octavia elegance 1.9 pd back in 2005.

I do not in any way wish to offend any members, this is my opinion and am very shocked with the recent Skoda experience.

Martin.

 

I had a mk 3 Fabia as a courtesy car a while back and thought the same...   Ok it was probably a low spec model but it seemed quite low rent and 'tinny' and not a patch on the old Mk 1 Fabia we had.

On 09/06/2024 at 08:26, kentdale said:

swathes of hard plastic and a very mediocre interior

 

On 09/06/2024 at 08:26, kentdale said:

well it was so noisy, yes I know three cylinder engines can thrum a bit but they must have missed the sound proofing in this build

Admittedly the plastic is hard rather than 'soft touch', but does it really make that much difference? Visually you can't tell the difference and the dashboard feels very robust and solid in my Fabia Mk4 and there is nice soft leather on steering wheel gear stick and handbrake.

Noisy??  This is one of the quietest cars I've owned as had been remarked by other passengers. Yes, it does thrum a bit under hard acceleration, but overall I find it very quiet and smooth.

Sluggish ?? - It can appear so if you let the speed and revs drop and then accelerate without dropping down a gear, but that's the case with all 3 cylinder engines. Providing I use the gearbox, it accelerates pretty well especially if the turbo kicks in. Was your Fabia a MPI or TSI engine ??  It does make a difference.

 

The comments are a bit harsh.  Our 1.0 Fabia mc is is good to drive and the seats are very comfortable.  My main complaints are with the electronic gizmos which seem more like prototypes to me and the price which is a bit on the high side.  I couldn't care less about hard plastic trim and the size of cup holders.  As john1952 points out the feel and appearance of steering wheel and gear lever is reassuring.  There's lots that could be improved though which is surprising considering this is meant to be the last edition before electrification.

Hi, responders, I don't regard my comments as a bit harsh at all, I have owned many cars over the last 40 odd years, some old some new, from Citroen BX's , Renault's 11 to 18's, Fords ,Volvo's and Skoda Octavia MK1, Fabia MK1 and now Superb, Fabia MK 1 vrs, a2009 Kia Ceed that belonged to my late Dad.

The Fabia we test drove was the very latest up dated TSi 114 ps engine, and I stick with what I originally posted, even if the car was priced sensibly (at £23,000 it is crazy) for what is a small car with a poor interior.

Oh the steering wheel felt fine but come on it was no way near the quality of the Kia Ceed or indeed other competitors.

We also test drove a 2021 Honda 1.0 litre  three cylinder Civic that was extremely smooth and flexible that my Sister liked and shortlisted but I noted that there were issues with the engine timing belt was an oil lubricated and was noted for lots of engine failures.

We dodged a bullet there thankfully.

Martin.

 

I've only owned six models of car in over 50 years so my breadth of experience is a bit limited by comparison with Kentdale.  We've stuck with Peugeot models for most of that time 309 and then 307 diesel. The intention for some years now was to go electric but that didn't work out.  The killer was that of electric supply.  All you have to do is install a home charger and you're all set up, right?  Not necessarily, because in the UK in the 60's builders used a link system for electric supply on new housing estates.  The neighbouring semi has its supply branched or "looped" off our house which severely limits the available supply for both houses.  No car charger or heat pump for us.  The solution is for our neighbour to have his drive ripped up and a new connection made from his meter to the road supply.  He's not on board with that.  Next, was the SUV size and enormous weight of electric vehicles plus the fact that I wanted a spare wheel.  Loads of scare stories about batteries blowing up and garages parking ev and hybrid vehicles away from other cars are still doing the rounds. The VW strategy of going electric hit snags with the ID3 (Golf replacement) because the software issues just went on and on.  VW group still lack the expertise in electronic design and software engineering of their main competitors. That's why I reluctantly went for the Skoda Fabia believing it would be the epitome of a last generation petrol car - well built and reliable.  I do agree with Kentdale that it's too expensive and there are loads of things that could easily be improved but the Fabia is a good car and easy to like.

Edited 15 June, 20241 yr by bazz2004
spelling

For the record, the most powerful 3-cylinder motor available for the latest (2024 specification) Fabia is the TSI 116 (116ps/114bhp).

 

The 2024 revised specification is summarised here

 

https://www.skoda.co.uk/news/details/skoda-updates-fabia-and-karoq-lineups

Hi DderekU, that was the exact spec engine in an sel version we drove.

Martin.

Not arguing with your observations Martin but when my wife test drove a Fabia with me in the back I didn't really notice that the interior was poor and I've had some quite expensive cars.

 

Didn't look at any other cars as we like the look of the Fabia and Ibiza (gone off the Polo with the new corporate front end) and the relative simplicity of the engine, as many rivals have gone hybrid, and the intention is to keep the Fabia for a few years.

 

Son's got a Mazda 2 and the interior is very nice in that but we wanted more space in the back and I've had many VWG cars over the years so I was being drawn to another one! I'm sure it will be fine for what we want it for.

I agree that Skoda have basically lost the plot with the price of their cars and what you get for your money.  They had a reputation for value for money cars but that has gone out of the window now.  After all, someone has to pay for their glass palace showrooms.  Dacia and MG have taken over from Skoda in the value for money stakes.  A poor state of affairs indeed.

Yes, thats the trouble with using so many common parts over the different marques within VWG and the fact that some Skoda's are seen as nicer than their VW equivalents, there is little scope to market them more cheaply.

 

I've mentioned before about speccing up a Karoq and it soon got to over £40k.!

 

Had to smile at your glass palace showrooms - the Skoda dealer in Coventry has recently moved into a former Jaguar showroom - it's better than the same group's Audi dealer just up the road!

Edited 29 June, 20241 yr by VAGCF