Just test drove a mk4 1.5 Monte Carlo , notice a fair amount of vibration through the steering from engine, when revs drop and stay at same speed then it drops off, so seems like it’s not balancing or anything. Noticeable from about 2.5k revs, not super intrusive just like driving on slight rough tarmac , seem to remember seeing someone comment an a review so seems like a characteristic, or have I lost the plot ? 🤪

 

just trying to make sure I don’t get a problem child, had enough of that from BMWs

 

my last Skoda was a mk1 fabia vrs  that was only a couple of years old so it’s been a long time 🤣

Ah, this was the review https://www.pistonheads.com/news/ph-driven/2022-skoda-fabia-monte-carlo--ph-review/46209

 

sums it up, not the end of the world but just wondering if others feel it and if it becomes tiresome on longer journeys or you just get used to it.

 

Quote

Next up, steering. Oddly, this has too much sensation, by which I mean quite a lot of buzz from the engine rising through the steering column. And because the resonant frequency is between 2,000 and 3,000rpm, which is where the engine sits at 70mph, it’s prevalent

 

Piston heads can't even get the data right, wouldn't go on their review. It's a sport hatch so it's going to have some nvh

What miles and age was the car, was it a new demonstrator?  

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

What miles and age was the car, was it a new demonstrator?  

it was April 2023 , 2500 miles 1 owner car at ŠKODA dealer  , apparently not a demo. They have another 2024 one, guess I can just test that, seems very unlikely 2 would have the same problem, so if they are the same I guess it’s “normal” 

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by scottf51

9 hours ago, Blue8793841 said:

Piston heads can't even get the data right, wouldn't go on their review. It's a sport hatch so it's going to have some nvh

well I back to backed it with my current car (m135 x-drive ) and ŠKODA was much less bumpy ride , unsurprisingly, but more engine vibration through steering . Suspect it is normal but just looking for anyone else that may have driven similar to make sure I am not buying a 🍋

Car sitting with maybe E10 petrol in it for weeks or months. Brakes a bit rusty. Only getting started and moved a few feet.     It is an ACT.   So drive another and see how it behaves.      Did you or the sales person check the tyre pressures?  They can be all over the place.   They should be ensuring correctly set before road tests. 

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by Ootohere

Cars feeling crap really is not normal.   It can be with some tyres though.   Low profile, too hard or soft.    Then E5 super unleaded can make a difference. Especially with a 1.5 TSI ACT.  

9 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

Car sitting with maybe E10 petrol in it for weeks or months. Brakes a bit rusty. Only getting started and moved a few feet.     It is an ACT.   So drive another and see how it behaves.      Did you or the sales person check the tyre pressures?  They can be all over the place.   They should be ensuring correctly set before road tests. 

it definitely seems to be related to revs , exactly as that review stated , describes it perfectly . If the car is at 2500 revs you feel it , if you shift gears on same road at same speed and get revs lower it drops right off.

 

they didn’t check any pressure etc for sure , will see if I can drive the other one back to back.

 

 

5 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

Cars feeling crap really is not normal.   It can be with some tyres though.   Low profile, too hard or soft.    Then E5 super unleaded can make a difference. Especially with a 1.5 TSI ACT.  

 

I wouldn’t say crap, it’s not super intrusive , but maybe more than expected . 
 

Thanks for your help 

They do not like sitting around not being driven.  Then the DQ200;DSG can behave nicer after a bit of dynamic driving and a few miles covered.     The ACT behaviour should not be an issue once the oil up to temperature.  

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by Ootohere

2 minutes ago, Ootohere said:

They do not like sitting around not being driven.  Then the DQ200;DSG can behaved nicer after a bit of dynamic driving and a few miles covered.     The ACT behaviour should not be an issue once the oil up to temperature.  

Drove about 10 miles, took some getting used to, but was the same for whole journey pretty much to my memory 

13 hours ago, scottf51 said:

just trying to make sure I don’t get a problem child, had enough of that from BMWs

 

my last Skoda was a mk1 fabia vrs  that was only a couple of years old so it’s been a long time 🤣

Mk1 Fabia seems to be the pick of the Fabias, Mk2 don't seem to have been as good as MK1s from what I've seen on Briskoda, Mk3s (my wife has a 2015 1.2 TSI 90) don't seem to be as good as Mk2s from what I've seen on Briskoda, Mk4 I imagine to be not as good as Mk3s but I could be wrong.

 

To me the German marques have been that great this century/millennium but some seem to prefer them, my neighbour went from Honda to BMW to SEAT to come back to his senses with a Honda again now having the problems with BMW and VW products.

 

For the rough running my wife's Fabia usually makes different under the bonnet sounds at different times but if the engine hasn't been run for a few hours it gets rough idle from IIRC the computer program giving priority to the cat being warmed but you don't notice when driving.

 

The 3-pots seem a little rougher but I think yours is a 4-pot, personally I've always thought of VWs 4-pot petrols sounding rough (and I'm used to BMC/BL engines) and VW don't have the experience of building small 3-pots, with and without turbos, that the Japanese do so well.

 

If it has ACT, on top of the complex and intrusive computer programs and the car battery was low in charge from being neglected and car sitting around at a Dealership/garage and you were at high electric consumption, the engine, cat, not fully warmed, DSG, perhaps it all added up.

 

10 miles isn't much of a test run, personally I'd have told the salesperson my disappointment in the engine and asked for a longer test drive and/or a test in a similar model with the same engine and gearbox.

 

What I call rough (or sounding rough) you might not and visa-versa.  There might be a fault with the car you test drove, take no notice of it only being a 1 year old car the Dealership /garage have probably done nothing with the car than paper checks.  As you might have discovered very low mileage cars also come with issues, cars are designed to be driven and very short journeys and/or infrequent use cause issues that you don't get so quickly on cars used for longer journeys and/or much more frequently.

 

At that sort of mileage and age you could take the gamble and run the car in more but only if the price is right, I'd not pay a premium price or too much of a premium price on such as low mileage car (I wonder if it has actually received it's first oil and filter change which it'd need even more than a car with more miles on it (mention it to the Dealership as I did with my wife's car and it appeared, well was recorded on the computer system).

 

If you're not happy with the car get the seller to put it right or walk away (I'd at least want a brand new battery fitted and coded) and I'd plug in a [ETA: appropriate for model with up to date program] scan tool to get a full report, salesmen are easy to deal with garage staff less so.

 

Good luck.

 

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by nta16
ETA:

At under 3,000 miles it might still be their great profit maker that HMRC has helped them with as a demonstrator.  They earn well off of them.    If not then maybe one hated and punted or has rejected.   So ask the try story of the first registration.  Especially ask is any Software update had been required.   If they say we do not know the history then that is odd, if they are asked and lie that is a serious issue.   There are people unhappy with recent build 1.5 TSI ACT,s in other models.    Nothing to do with the 2018 WLTP fiasco.  More recent mapping issues. 

1 hour ago, Ootohere said:

At under 3,000 miles it might still be their great profit maker that HMRC has helped them with as a demonstrator.  They earn well off of them.    If not then maybe one hated and punted or has rejected.   So ask the try story of the first registration.  Especially ask is any Software update had been required.   If they say we do not know the history then that is odd, if they are asked and lie that is a serious issue.   There are people unhappy with recent build 1.5 TSI ACT,s in other models.    Nothing to do with the 2018 WLTP fiasco.  More recent mapping issues. 

apparently it was owned by this lot and it’s quite common to be super low miles as they are not allowed to use for personal trips https://24x7group.co.uk/

 

I feel like some of them can have OTA updates done on the later ones , not sure if this is one of them though , maybe , looked like you could check for updates in the menu . It has the newer infotainment , but not wireless CarPlay , that seemed to come in late 2023 or later 

 

Just not sure if it’s just “normal” I am certainly sensitive to any vibrations given I am just returning a “used approved” BMW that had 3 buckles wheels among its many other faults . Went and looked at another approved used one and it had been repainted (and not amazingly ) down the length of both sides and even had overspray on the window rubber after they had “rectified “ the paintwork . I am almost too scared to buy anything now , it’s a minefield .

 

kinda liked the ford puma ST but they had had more dangerous steering rack faults than seems normal. 
 

Maybe I would be better off with a bike 😂

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by scottf51

Not OTA updates for engine ECU updates though.  As I now believe some have had.    PS.  Maybe low miles use.  Maybe Skoda / VW UK giving cheap leased vehicles to get plenty first registered lower emissions cars .   As they are now needing to do to get 22% of BEV,s first registered in 2024. 

Edited 21 July, 20241 yr by Ootohere

What size wheels has it got on? Larger wheels give more feedback to the steering. Try driving one with smaller wheels see how it feels.

The Fabia Mk 4 "Monte Carlo" model has 17"-diameter wheels as standard, or 18"-diameter wheels as an (expensive) option.

 

There is plenty of on-line discussion about peculiar 'noises' from VAG cars fitted with the 1.5TSI motor that has ACT (Active Cylinder Technology) but there's no persuasive reason to think ACT should produce vibration in the steering.

 

The common-sense approach for Scott to take would be to test-drive another Fabia Monte-Carlo with the same specification and check if it behaves in the same way.

Update, took another one out and had similar although less pronounced , the first car was Apr 2023 with 2.5k miles, so had been sat around a lot, in the end went for one that was March 2024 with 6k miles.

 

Couple of other weird things I wanted to know whether were normal or not, but will start another thread for those

 

Thanks for all the comments