🤔 I would need some buying advice !

Skoda Fabia-III Wagon 1.2 TSI ( 110 Hp. ) with 6-speed manual transmission.
Model year: 2016
VIN # TMBJN6NJ8GZ184197
Mileage: 131 000 Km. / 81400 Miles.

What would be good to know about the 1.2 TSI engine ? 🤔
Anything special to check before buying a Fabia-III ? 🤔

What actual Servicing and maintenance has been done.

Is there a record of,

Replaced spark plugs twice,

brake fluid at least once.

the Air filter replaced, the pollen filter any time in the past 2 year.

Does it drive well?

Do you not have Japanese marques available in Sweden?

As put timely full and proper servicing and maintenance (well as much as you get from VW garages) for the whole car and not just the engine.

The front dampers, and their Dealership replacements, were/are poor quality (failure and "misting") on my wife's 2015, I don't know if that is the same for 2016. Lots of owners report unfindable knock and creak from underside. Various noises from the engine bay at various times, nothing wrong just unrefined.

The spark plugs should have been changed (twice) by now, sometimes important to prevent possible misfires.

You want to make sure the 12v is in good state of charge and health to prevent the computer systems and programs getting upset and throwing up all sorts of unexpected warning lights, warnings, unseen error codes and issues, this is regardless of the headlights seeming bright enough and the engine starting.

Obviously you want to check the condition of the brakes, I would have though the factory discs and pads had worn out and been replaced, brake fluid changes. In with brakes (and steering and suspension) is tyres, but being in Sweden you might be more careful about tyres than in the UK.

As much as its history you buy the car on its current running condition, above cosmetics obviously.

Personally when the car is 10 years old, if I still had it, I would change the VW "lifetime' coolant (vacuum pump possibly required) and change and improve the gearbox oil (this is a little extra farting about possibly than on other cars if it's the same as the 5-speed on my wife's car).

Plenty of threads and posts on this forum of issues see if any relate to 2016 cars, only other thing that comes to my mind is possibly the flimsy electric wires that go from body to doors and rear lid, you could check for repairs or issues there though I am not sure I remember this for 2016 cars.

HTH.

ETA: 1.2 TSI 90PS in my wife's car is fine but there are only the two of us at the most in the car normally. I do notice the difference when driving if we have two other passengers but the engine is still fully capable.

Being a turbo and direct injection I think it is important to do timely and thorough (unlikely from a VW garage) engine oil and filter changes and I prefer to use a better oil than the garages or VWŠkoda recommend, it matters more the older or more use the engine gets. The cold weather Sweden would also encourage me to get a better quality oil that works better and protects more in the cold.

It might be a good time to think about replacing the cam belt.

Personally I would not worry about changing the belt before more years and tens of thousands of miles/kilometres, inspect it certainly and if for some reason it needs it replace it but hopefully that would not be the case.

This is Europe not the UK where VWŠoda UK conned us to change the belt at 5 years / 50, 000 miles (the robbing b*st*rds).

"The new advice is to use the intervals recommended in ElsaPro for all engines. For some variants, this means that there is no service interval at all, with 'fitted for life' items that can be considered as 15 years or '18O,000 miles. Because of the disparity in intervals, you must check the relevant literature for each case and advise the

customer accordingly."

CamBeltchangechange.pdf

The trouble I feel is, many many people will have had small VW Group cars from earlier times when 4 or 5 years was the advice and felt the need to take that advice onboard after hearing bad tales of idler pulley failures leading to big engine repair bills, I certainly looked after my wife's 2002 VW Polo 1.4 16V BBY engine, and taking what sounded like sensible precautions worked for me and so for her car we paid for 2 "belt" changes, I advised my older daughter to do the same with her 2009 SEAT Ibiza SC 1.4 16V.

I examine the cambelt at every service and have done since it was 3 years old, but I'm thinking that 10 years is maybe enough and I'll aim to get the belt changed later this year. Being realistic, I'd expect that we will move this car on when it is 15 years old, so if I get the cam belt replaced, I'll have had some benefit from doing that work. I'm just trying to minimise risk while not "scattering" cash.

You rightly feel sore about being con'd into changing that belt at the 5 years point, but you should not now feel the need to revisit this area for the rest of the time that you have already suggested/hinted that your wife will keep this car.

Just different situations for different owners, my suggestion was aimed at a new owner of a used car.

I'm £429 sore 🙃 that's not an insignificant amount of money to be conned out of.

If this wasn't a UK car con, where buyers and owners expected to get lied to, owners would be up in arms, America and we'd all banned together for a class action.

As you say I do have it's been done but at every 5 years it'd need doing again this year ! !

Having invested time and hassle as well as money I'd sooner she keeps the car as generally it's not a bad car, the very loud underside creaking in cold winter is very annoying but at other times I can put up with it but each traffic-calming hump, pothole, dropped-kerb it's a reminder of poor quality parts, I've never had a car so bad for this and I've had 20-50 year old BL cars! my wife retires at the back end of next year and will have more time to think about she wants a change of car and with the small fortunes I've spent and wasted on most of my cars I can't say anything to stop this.

I'd think that you could add 9 or 10 years onto the date that you got the cambelt replaced before you "feel the need".

Edit:- this post was probably written badly, what I was intending to say was, that you should not feel the need to consider getting this second cambelt for 9 or 10 years after it was fitted.

Edited 15 May, 20251 yr by rum4mo

I checked the the cambelt replacement times as recommended by the belt manufacture before I ordered my Fabia.

The information was out there back in 2015.

I can't complain about my Fabia I bought in June 2016.

The only thing I have changed are the lower front suspension arm rear bushes at £25.00.

The rest is just normal servicing parts, and tyres which do 30+K miles.

Now at 9 years old and at 88K miles it still has:-

Original brakes all round, cam belt, battery, clutch, shocks.

I have got a rubber seal on the rear brake caliper to replace but that is due to external damage.

£20.00 road tax / VED.

Last tank of fuel was at 62 MPG.

Thanks. AG Falco

Yes but you spend a lot more time on more frequent and in-depth servicing and maintenance work than the average owner, I'm not knocking that, I wish you were around to properly look after all of the cars I've had properly, I certainly paid more than enough to not have that done by most professionals.

Background...
One of my daughters owns a (2007) Skoda Fabia-1 Wagon since many years and it has worked without the slightest problem.
Mechanically the car works perfectly and she is extremely happy and satisfied with it.
Now it is time to replace it because the rust disease has hit too hard.
I thought then that a Fabia-3 Wagon should be bought instead.
We have 10 different VAG-cars in the family right now,
but I have no experience with the Fabia-3 generation nor with the 1.2 TSI engine.

On 14/05/2025 at 07:41, Ootohere said:

What actual Servicing and maintenance has been done?

Does it drive well?

All service has been done according to the VAG-workshops' service plan at the local SKODA-workshop.
The car has only had one owner since new and has never been in a crash.
The car runs well and sounds mechanically fine.
I would like to get more information about typical faults on this particular generation of Skoda Fabia
Both bodywork and mechanical.

( Fabia-3 , 2015-2020 , Platform: PQ26 , Type: NJ )

Edited 16 May, 20251 yr by 2stroke

On 14/05/2025 at 11:59, nta16 said:

Do you not have Japanese marques available in Sweden ?

The front shocks, and their Dealership replacements, were/are poor quality (failure and "misting") on my wife's 2015.

Lots of owners report unfindable knock and creak from underside.
Various noises from the engine bay at various times, nothing wrong just unrefined.

Personally when the car is 10 years old, I would change the VW "lifetime' coolant and change and improve the gearbox oil
(this is a little extra farting about possibly than on other cars if it's the same as the 5-speed on my wife's car).
Plenty of threads and posts on this forum of issues.

One thing that comes to my mind is possibly the flimsy electric wires that go from body to doors and rear lid.

I will never buy an Asian car.
( it's a matter of principle )
Yes, I will change all the fluids in the car if it is purchased.
Car has a 6-speed manual gearbox.
Nice to know your experiences with Fabia-3, thanks.

Edited 16 May, 20251 yr by 2stroke

On 14/05/2025 at 12:08, nta16 said:

Being a turbo and direct injection I think it is important to do timely and thorough (unlikely from a VW garage) engine oil and filter changes.

I prefer to use a better oil than the garages or VW/Škoda recommend, it matters more the older or more use the engine gets.

The cold weather Sweden would also encourage me to get a better quality oil that works better and protects more in the cold.

I always change the Oil and Filter with a maximum interval of 15000 Km / 9300 Miles on all cars in the family.
Where I live it can get extremely cold and I therefore always use 100% fully synthetic oil with 0w-40 viscosity.
I always use MAHLE or PURFLUX filters.

On 15/05/2025 at 13:22, nta16 said:

Having invested time and hassle as well as money I'd sooner she keeps the car as generally it's not a bad car,
the very loud underside creaking in cold winter is very annoying but at other times I can put up with it but each traffic-calming hump,
pothole, dropped-kerb it's a reminder of poor quality parts,
I've never had a car so bad for this.

Good to know.

On 15/05/2025 at 21:33, AGFalco said:

I can't complain about my Fabia I bought in June 2016.

The only thing I have changed are the lower front suspension arm rear bushes.

The rest is just normal servicing parts, and tyres which do 30+K miles.

Now at 9 years old and at 88K miles it still has:

Original brakes all round, cam belt, battery, clutch, shocks.

I have got a rubber seal on the rear brake caliper to replace but that is due to external damage.

Last tank of fuel was at 62 MPG.

What engine do you have ?
Thank you for sharing your experiences with Fabia-3.

A 2007 VAG product is very different to a 2016 VAG product, 2007 is a lot nearer when VW deserved more the now out of date good reputation, and a Mk1 Fabia is different to a Mk3 for build and reliability, or so I have picked up from reading the threads here.

A matter I forgot about is that the Mk1 and Mk3 share the problem of outside water leaking on to the rear floor mat because of a seal that goes off, I must remember to gunk my wife's car so the water drains where it's supposed to. Another common thing is the resistor for the fan which seem to have batches of ones that don't last so that fan only works on full (4) not a big thing but like most stuff on a car a PITA to fit.

ETA: to be continued ...

Edited 17 May, 20251 yr by nta16
typos

I pressed the wrong key, doh!

The VWŠkoda "service" and "maintenance" schedules in the UK barely cover servicing the engine let alone the whole car but to see a full list of timely services and maintenance is better than not. Many owners say they have this but when you check they haven't, late and missing work, often because of lower annual milage or to save money. No doubt there are some items that VWŠkoda push a little (or a lot!) early but nice to see when buying.

Just to confirm a wagon is what we here call an estate (or German marques Combi, that's a van to me)?

I can't remember if the rear seats fully fold on the Mk1 and Mk3 estate, they don't on the Mk3 hatchback.

I did note you put 6-speed which is why I made sure I put 5-speed for my wife's to show the difference for info on oil change., also note my wife's car is 90 PS but I've driven a (1.0 litre VWSEAT) 6-speed 110 PS but with just the two of us in the car the difference wasn't really that noticeable other than for better and more economical driving to ignore the gear recommendation even more (the cars are yet to see the contours and traffic conditions ahead, the driver still has a little to do to drive the car).

My wife's car has just turned 70,000 miles.

I use 5W-30 engine oil but would probably use 0W-30 in a colder climate (IIRC Dealership has used 0W-30 at previous "service(s)").

If you have 10 VAG cars in the family then you are obviously committed, I'm sure the family would have saved lots of money on "services" and "maintenance" had they bought Japanese cars instead but I can't talk as I've spent (wasted) many (many) tens of thousands of pounds on maintaining old and brand new English cars.

If I remember correctly from reading the posts and threads here 2016 (perhaps 2017 too) seems a sweet spot for the Mk3 (unlike 2015) other than perhaps noises from the underside of the car (suspension) but that might not be on 2016/7 cars I can't remember.

The 1.2 TSI in my wife's car is fine (other than it's various noises but VW 4-pots engines I find rough sounding anyway and I'm used to English engines from the 1960s and 1970s). You might need to research whatever engine code you have in that 2016 1.2, and the turbo to 110, plus 6-speed gearbox but I can't remember seeing anything on them for the 2016 cars. Later cars have various problems with plenty of posts about those here.

Note AG Falco keeps his car to a much (much) higher standard of maintenance than the very vast majority of owners.

Well, that's everything I know.

Edited 17 May, 20251 yr by nta16
typos

@2stroke Does the history of the VAG Workshop Service Plan show that the the Skoda Workshop changed the spark plugs at 40,000 & 80,000 miles.

It is just that Spark Plug replaced is not part of Service Plans commonly, as Brake Fluid changed at 3 years and each 2 years are not. They are extra payment items, like the AC Service is.

20 hours ago, 2stroke said:

What engine do you have ?

1.2 TSI 90. ( basically the same engine, just a different map to the 110. )

Just had its 9th MOT yesterday.

Clean bill of health with good results on the emissions and brake tests.

10th service done today. No problems.

Battery beginning to age but Stop/Start still works!

Will test it again when I do my pre winter check in Oct/Nov.

Resistance not too high yet.

Thanks. AG Falco

@AGFalco you've never had any damper "misting" then? (I'd never heard of this until this car, dampers leaking yes but "misting" with use, no.

I did wonder if Europe got a different 1.2 engine (code).

14 hours ago, nta16 said:

A 2007 VAG product is very different to a 2016 VAG product, 2007 is a lot nearer when VW deserved more the now out of date good reputation,
and a Fabia-1 is different to a Fabia-3 for build and reliability, or so I have picked up from reading the threads here.

A matter I forgot about is that the Fabia-1 and Fabia-3 share the problem of outside water leaking on to the rear floor mat because of a seal that goes off,
I must remember to gunk my wife's car so the water drains where it's supposed to.
Another common thing is the resistor for the fan which seem to have batches of ones that don't last so that fan only works on full (4) not a big thing but like most stuff on a car a PITA to fit.

I have owned lots of different VAG cars since the 70's and one thing that has definitely gotten worse in quality on the cars that are produced today is the paint and the rust protection.
It is really, really bad!
Both the paint and rust protection of the sheet metal were at their best in the mid-80s and early 90s,
since then it has only gotten worse.
On the other hand, the electrical systems have been getting better all the time.

There are several different VAG cars that suffer from the same disease that water leaks through the door panels onto the floor of the cars,
which leads to a lot of trouble getting it dry and sealing the door panels.
This is because the doors have exactly the same construction regardless of whether it is a VW Lupo or an Audi A8

Edited 17 May, 20251 yr by 2stroke

14 hours ago, nta16 said:

The Škoda "service" and "maintenance" schedules in the UK barely cover servicing the engine
let alone the whole car but to see a full list of timely services and maintenance is better than not.
Many owners say they have this but when you check they haven't, late and missing work, often because of lower annual milage or to save money.
No doubt there are some items that VWŠkoda push a little (or a lot!) early but nice to see when buying.

Just to confirm a wagon is what we here in UK call an estate !?!?

I did note you put 6-speed which is why I made sure I put 5-speed for my wife's to show the difference for info on oil change.

I use 5W-30 engine oil but would probably use 0W-30 in a colder climate.

If you have 10 VAG cars in the family then you are obviously committed,
I'm sure the family would have saved lots of money on "services" and "maintenance" had they bought Japanese cars instead.

If I remember correctly from reading the posts and threads here 2016 (perhaps 2017 too) seems a sweet spot for the Fabia-3 (unlike 2015)
other than perhaps noises from the underside of the car (suspension) but that might not be on 2016/7 cars I can't remember.

The 1.2 TSI ( 90 Hp. ) in my wife's car is fine.
You might need to research what engine code you have in that 2016 1.2 TSI ( 110 Hp. ),
plus 6-speed gearbox but I can't remember seeing anything on them for the 2016 cars.

Apparently the service book seems to contain much more here in Sweden that must be carried out for warranties etc. to apply compared to the UK.
Wagon / Estate / Combi / Kombi → Different names in different parts of the world meaning the same thing.
Engine code is: CJZD

Edited 17 May, 20251 yr by 2stroke

14 hours ago, Ootohere said:

@2stroke Does the history of the VAG Workshop Service Plan show that the the Skoda Workshop changed the spark plugs at 40,000 & 80,000 miles.

It is just that Spark Plug replaced is not part of Service Plans commonly, as Brake Fluid changed at 3 years and each 2 years are not.

Yes, the spark plugs have been changed as well as the brake fluid and fuel filter and cabin filter.
All according to the regular service plan at fixed mileage.