Collected a Mk 1V Colour Edition today, I’ve had a few Fabias over the years, but this one is very different, a bit to complicated for me, so I might have to ask for assistance on here fairly often I’m afraid😀

Ask away - I've had a Colour edition for 18 months. Can't guarantee I'll know every little thing about it, but feel welcome to ask.  

Be assured that the Fabia 4 is a good car to drive.  Like you I'm behind the curve in terms of a familiarity with electronic aids on cars. My last car was over 20 years ago when I decided to go for something more reliable hence a new Skoda.  I do like things to work properly.

 

We felt we should be making use of all the aids to make driving easier and safe but this is not something to obsess over. The rear view camera and parking sensors are great and the automatic lights control is also useful.  The automatic stop start engine can be a bit disconcerting but must help with mpg.  The latter figures are impressive on a decent run but in urban heavy traffic trips the economy isn't much better than our old car.

 

Stuff like lane assist and the ability to change the cockpit display seem a good idea but the former can be very disconcerting when it tugs at the wheel.  In theory you can turn it off but it seems to reactivate.  The cockpit display format for a long time kept changing itself which is very irritating. That seems to have settled down.  The Park assist package is a nightmare.

 

Our Monte Carlo version doesn't have built in sat nav so I use a Garmin SmartDrive 65.  I wanted all sound to come over the car infotainment system but have given up on that.  I turn off bluetooth in the car settings and use the Garmin's built in speaker.  Linking an android phone works fine but in the case of the wife's iPhone I've given also given up the battle.  We don't drive around listening to music or chat on the phone when driving so it's not really a big deal.  Be aware though that if you are having such issues you have to have the engine running while battling the electronics.  There's no old school ignition system and you should consider buying a faraday type pouch to keep the key fob in for better security against tech savvy thieves.

 

The gearing is completely different to our previous cars but even with six forward gears you won't struggle as much as you might expect. We did worry about whether we should have gone for an automatic gearbox. In practice the manual Fabia 4 is very flexible and forgiving with the gear it will run in though I've managed to stall it a few times.

 

Don't get too worked up by the issues you have getting to grips with the Fabia 4.  It's very much a reflection of the failures by Skoda to perfect lots of shortcomings in the software. Just try to enjoy driving the car. One of the disappointments is that demisting the inside of the windscreen on cold days with high humidity is just as bad as on my previous car.

4 hours ago, bazz2004 said:

lane assist and the ability to change the cockpit display seem a good idea but the former can be very disconcerting when it tugs at the wheel.  In theory you can turn it off but it seems to reactivate. 

Lane assist automatically reactivates every time you switch on the ignition to start the car. You have to switch it off, (2 buttons on the steering wheel), if you don't want it.    Skoda think it's a "safety feature"  ??  I think it's the opposite !!!  The tug on the steering wheel is, as you say, very disconcerting and catches you unawares if you are swapping lanes deliberately. I always turn it off as soon as I start my journeys.  On my wife's Ford Puma, you can set if "off" as default, so you don't have to always turn it off every time you use the car which I think is a better option.        

The Lane Assist entry in my Fabia's Owner's Manual says "The system is designed primarily for driving on the motorway", but fails to add "in all other cases it will infuriate most drivers".

 

A major selling-point for cars recently sold in Europe is the vehicle's EURO NCAP safety rating and 'Lane Support' is one of the features that contribute to that rating. It's described on this 2014/2018 link.

 

https://www.euroncap.com/en/car-safety/the-ratings-explained/safety-assist/lane-support/

 

The Fabia Owner's Manual explains that Lane assist always activates automatically when the ignition is switched on (though - apparently - that's not the case in some countries). EURO NCAP now mandates that Lane Assist MUST self-enable each time a car's ignition is turned on (It's not Skoda being bloody-minded!) though EURO NCAP also allows a driver to switch it off and, with my Fabia, this can be via the steering-wheel's buttons or through the infotainment screen.( It should be practicable to 'hack' a Fabia's software coding using VCDS or OBDeleven diagnostic tools so that Lane Assist is permanently off or its last setting is retained.)

 

As I loathe Lane Assist and dislike Start-Stop I try to remember to turn off both before I drive the Fabia and, during a 40-mile trip made a few days ago, this meant going through that irritating procedure six times. While switching off Stop-Start is via a dedicated button and easily done while driving, I find fiddling about with the steering-wheel buttons distracting (unlike my 2021 Hyundai i20 that had a dedicated button for Lane Assist).

 

During that trip with the navigation system on but no destination set (I knew where I wanted to go and was just interested in how accurate the speed limit data was. Answer - not very!) a message appeared on the display screen on the lines of "What would you like to do" with an accompanying woman's voice quietly  asking the same question. Does this indicate that my car has a female AI personality?

 

 

We’ve been for a run today & managed to sort a few things out, the sat nav announcements were like they was whispering, sorted that, also paired the mobiles with the car, I like to know it’s connected just in case, I suppose that as time goes on I’ll sort more things out, if not I’ll nip to the dealers & ask them😀😀

I have to say though I’m not a fan of KESSY so I might disable that permanently if it’s possible, & the jury is out on wether I can live with the wheels produced by Skodas “ugly wheel department” they’ve excelled themselves this time!!

3 minutes ago, Neil.R said:

the jury is out on wether I can live with the wheels produced by Skodas “ugly wheel department” they’ve excelled themselves this time!!

At your earliest opportunity I'd strongly recommend  REMOVING the aero trims on your wheels.  Whoever at Skoda invented those trims has never washed a car properly. With the trims it's impossible to clean your wheels  properly and remove all the accumulated brake dust residue around the inner rim and the sides of the spokes. Over time it'll oose through and stain the outside of the wheels.  My Fabia was only 6 months old when I bought it and when I removed the aero trims it took three buckets of car shampoo with warm water and ages to clean off all the crap that was behind the trims for each wheel  !! 

You'll need to buy the Skoda centre caps and, if your wheels are black alloys, the black wheel nut covers.   I got mine on eBay. 

I did post a question about removing the wheel trims some time ago.  I liked the trim and thought maybe a couple of times a year I'd take them off before taking the car for a clean.  At the first service a week ago they valeted my Fabia 4 mc.  Unfortunately, I forgot to ask about the wheel trims but the car looked superb. After getting home I decided to stop putting this off and remove the wheel covers using the little hooked tool provided.  My efforts were a total failure. Not one of the wheel trims will come off. I have the spare wheel kit but now realise that unless the RAC change the wheel I will not be able to do so myself. You need mega strength or a better tool. The trims have to come off before the wheel can be changed.

9 minutes ago, bazz2004 said:

My efforts were a total failure. Not one of the wheel trims will come off.

You have to be quite brutal when pulling them off as they are a very tight fit.    

Imagine that you are getting on and not built for heavy lifting.  Any ideas for providing more leverage in the absence of a strong man who happens to be passing by - probably in the middle of nowhere? Obviously the operation needs to be done without risking damage to those neat looking trims. 

59 minutes ago, bazz2004 said:

Obviously the operation needs to be done without risking damage to those neat looking trims. 

I wouldn't bother about damaging the trims.  After all, I'd strongly advise not refitting them as they were designed by a Skoda person who has never cleaned a car's  wheels properly. You can't clean around the rims and side of spokes with them on.     

This earlier discussion relates to removal of the Aero wheel trims and includes references to several other relevant forum threads.

 

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/523977-aero-covers-removed/#comment-5856202

 

KESSY was discussed here

 

https://www.https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/514483-2023-keyless-entry-question/briskoda.net/forums/topic/514483-2023-keyless-entry-question/

 

My 2024 Fabia SE L has keyless ignition (ie. there's a push-button not an ignition switch). But my car's door unlocking and locking requires buttons on the remote key-fob to be pressed, not merely by having the key-fob in proximity to sensors in the door handles. 

 

Skoda's 'genuine' KESSY (Keyless-Entry-Start-and-Exit-System) is described here 

 

https://www.skoda-storyboard.com/en/kessy_en/

20 hours ago, Neil.R said:

...I have to say though I’m not a fan of KESSY so I might disable that permanently if it’s possible...

 

 

If your Fabia has 'full house' KESSY, the door handles will have a visible sensor where indicated here

 

 

Deactivating keyless locking is mentioned in the Fabia's Owner's Manual (Page 27 in my car's hardcopy Manual) but this advises that deactivation is only temporary.

 

There's a fair bit of online discussion about permanently disabling keyless locking using OBDeleven (or similar electronic tools) but received wisdom seems to be that keyless locking and keyless starting are inextricably linked and hacking the software coding relating to keyless entry will also impact on keyless starting. It's also evident that care needs to be taken when modifying code to disable an unwanted/disliked feature as, even when this action proves successful,  it may prove tricky to reset the coding at a later date to re-enable the feature.  

I'm not obsessive about cleaning anything on a car so, if we may, let's return briefly to getting those wheel trims off the Fabia mc.  If I bought another of those hook tools (which has a ring for you to put your finger to pull on the hole in the trim face) and then put a tube through or a piece of dowel, would pulling straight with both hands at the same time rather than at the angle resulting from just one hook work.  It would increase greatly the force exerted. Obviously, if you've binned the wheel trims you can't answer this question.

7 hours ago, bazz2004 said:

'm not obsessive about cleaning anything on a car so, if we may, let's return briefly to getting those wheel trims off the Fabia mc.  If I bought another of those hook tools (which has a ring for you to put your finger to pull on the hole in the trim face) and then put a tube through or a piece of dowel, would pulling straight with both hands at the same time rather than at the angle resulting from just one hook work.  It would increase greatly the force exerted. Obviously, if you've binned the wheel trims you can't answer this question.

Taking it in turns to pull on the hook tool at four points on the rim did the trick for me. I haven't binned my trims - still got them and tried to sell them on eBay; no takers.

The 'hook' tool was originally designed to remove wheel-bolt caps

 

https://shop.wingsskoda.co.uk/products/skoda-removal-tool-for-original-caps-1

 

The Fabia Owner's Manual suggests using the wheel-bolt wrench (assuming the car has one!!) to provide more tugging power, but using two hook-tools with a tube/dowel through them should work OK. The tricky bit is getting the aero trim to detach from the centre opening in the wheel: once that's done, removing the trim's 'arms' from the wheel's rim should be straightforward.

 

I made my own pullers. (See my June 2 postings on this forum thread)

 

https://www.briskoda.net/forums/topic/523977-aero-covers-removed/#comment-5856202

Just to emphasise that - when using the hook-tool - the tool should be positioned close to the centre of the aero trim as shown on this drawing.

 

 

IAEFRTFM 😀

Thanks for all the posted info about how to remove the wheel trims.  I do prefer the look with trims though no one else seems to agree.  It's odd that Skoda didn't put more thought into how they are fitted.   I think I tried to pull on holes near the outside of the trims whereas the info and pictures posted show that the main fixing is at the centre.  Not great to learn that putting them back is trickier than removing them.  There's snow outside and it's freezing cold but I'll try again when the weather is more favourable.

This video may be useful

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lsYCFlpoE8

 

As a weedy and weak octogenarian (with my rough-sex days long past) I try to be gentle with car-related tasks nowadays. So it would be more apt to say that I've found carefully and tenderly refitting the aero trims "awkward" rather than "difficult".

We've had our SE L for a couple of months now and on the whole am happy with it. My wife drives it mainly as it is her car.

 

As with others we turn the stop start and lane assist off, though with the latter it doesn't activate if you use the indicators when crossing lines so it's not too bad.

 

One reason for going for a Fabia over the Ibiza was the less firm ride, the Ibiza must be very firm then! Whilst we run on the lower of the recommended tyre pressures and stuck with the smaller rims I don't think the energy efficient tyre sidewalls are very compliant and especially so in colder weather. My concerns over these tyres has been unfounded as the grip and feel at the mainly modest speeds we drive at has been fine.

 

I told the dealer we didn't want those awful wheel trims fitted but fortunately cars don't come with them fitted anymore so Skoda have seen the error of their ways! I'm assuming that applies to the Colour Edition as well? Apart from the dubious aerodynamic benefits they remind me of wheel trims fitted to steel wheels, what's the point?

Ours was a factory order we picked up last week & it has the trims on, all that worries me is if you get a puncture it wouldn’t be an ideal time to be wrestling with wheel trims, using ebay ive managed to source the nut covers & wheel centres for around £30, so if I remove the trims it won’t cost too much but I’m old school & alloys & wheel trims don’t gel. 

Yeah, one of the reasons for alloy wheels is less unsprung weight but for most folks it's because alloy wheels are usually much better looking.

 

I wonder which numpty thought it was a good idea to fit trims to an alloy wheel! If you want an aero wheel, design it as such from the outset not apply a bodge. Total waste of time on most cars anyway. 

 

I see that the Colour Edition has been replaced with the Design Edition and it does still come with the trims as a questionable design enhancement I guess.

Edited 21 November, 20241 yr by VAGCF

On 17/11/2024 at 13:51, john1952 said:

I always turn it off as soon as I start my journeys.  On my wife's Ford Puma, you can set if "off" as default, so you don't have to always turn it off every time you use the car which I think is a better option. 

 

On 17/11/2024 at 16:32, DerekU said:

It should be practicable to 'hack' a Fabia's software coding using VCDS or OBDeleven diagnostic tools so that Lane Assist is permanently off or its last setting is retained.)

Done that to one of mine with OBDeleven.

 

Thanks. AG Falco