Hi all

Looking for some advice. I'm considering this car: 2015 Blue SKODA Fabia 1.2 TSI SE Hatchback 5dr Petrol DSG Euro 6 (s/s) (110 ps) for sale for £8,995 in Blyth, Northumberland

but don't know much about it (or cars in general for that matter!!). I've done a little research and noted a potential issue with the DSG gearboxes prior to 2017.......any advice on whether it's a common problem or is this one worth a punt? I'm basically after a reliable automatic for my wife around the £8k - £9K.....initially I was thinking about Honda, Kia, Hyundai etc. but I quite like the look of the Fabia. We would keep it for a few years so reliability is key.

Thanks in advance for any help

Welcome.

The issues requiring a Service Campaign were on DQ200 7 speed twin dry clutch DSG 2013-2015,

before this Mk3 Models. (Not started to 2017 as a service campaign.)

The car you are looking at has been on the road for 10 years since those and doing low annual mileage.

So if it drives fine then good.

Is there a good Service History, annual Oil & Filter changes (Engine),

brake fluid changed a couple of times, spark plugs changed?

There is no issues that i see with the MOT,s.

No idea of the price, but car looks pretty good.

So tyres, wipers, brake discs, windcreen, do they look good, not needing replaced.

Edited 27 June, 202527 Jun by Ootohere

Hi, welcome.

My wife chose her 2015 Fabia herself.

I have no idea of prices but £9k sounds a lot to me.

The advert for the car you linked to has gone (hopefully you've not bought it) so I can't see the details so just genera\l info from me on a 2015 Fabia Mk3.

Very low annual mileage isn't necessarily a good thing for the whole car. As regards the engine with low annual mileage the annual engine oil & filter changes may be more important than with higher mileage examples but often with low or very low mileage cars this can be missed or done particularly after 3 years old. VWs of which Škoda is one of their brands, need more servicing than other makes so more spent on them and yet VWŠkoda "services" and "maintenance schedules" are quite scant and stretched intervals. The engine oil filter at least I would change more often and that could still be the case for low or very low annual mileage cars as it depends where they're parked up.

Very low mileage will mean more frequent 12v battery charging and/or (premature) battery changing otherwise the computers will throw up warnings and issues.

The DSG gearbox Ootohere knows about as regards service.

Overall they're not bad cars but I'd go with a Honda or Toyota of that age, better built, better engineered, less servicing, maintenance and repairs and generally more reliable.

My wife's and others of that period may have the poor quality short life "misting" front dampers ("shock absorbers") plus noise(s) from the underside of the car that can't be found (despite some changing many parts) a very loud clonk in very cold weather (worse than any of the 20-50 year old BL cars I've had) but never mentioned on any MoT).

Brakes are fine but the standard fit (VW?) pads and discs aren't particularly long lasting. The original and later Nexen tyres were more for for round town bimbling than country roads.

You get various engine bay noises at various times as the computers do their stuff on the to my ears rough sounding VW engine (and I'm used to BL engines from the 1950s) but if your wife like mine has the radio on you won't hear them (possibly need to turn it up in winter if you don't like hearing clonking from the underside).

I know friends and neighbours with small Kias and Hyundais from 2015 and before and they have been very satisfied with them and they have been very reliable and inexpensive to keep (VW 3 year warranty IIRC 7 years on Hyundias, shows how much confidence VW had in their products).

You bought it, didn't ya. 😄

HTH.

7 hours ago, nta16 said:

Hi, welcome.

My wife chose her 2015 Fabia herself.

I have no idea of prices but £9k sounds a lot to me.

The advert for the car you linked to has gone (hopefully you've not bought it) so I can't see the details so just genera\l info from me on a 2015 Fabia Mk3.

Very low annual mileage isn't necessarily a good thing for the whole car. As regards the engine with low annual mileage the annual engine oil & filter changes may be more important than with higher mileage examples but often with low or very low mileage cars this can be missed or done particularly after 3 years old. VWs of which Škoda is one of their brands, need more servicing than other makes so more spent on them and yet VWŠkoda "services" and "maintenance schedules" are quite scant and stretched intervals. The engine oil filter at least I would change more often and that could still be the case for low or very low annual mileage cars as it depends where they're parked up.

Very low mileage will mean more frequent 12v battery charging and/or (premature) battery changing otherwise the computers will throw up warnings and issues.

The DSG gearbox Ootohere knows about as regards service.

Overall they're not bad cars but I'd go with a Honda or Toyota of that age, better built, better engineered, less servicing, maintenance and repairs and generally more reliable.

My wife's and others of that period may have the poor quality short life "misting" front dampers ("shock absorbers") plus noise(s) from the underside of the car that can't be found (despite some changing many parts) a very loud clonk in very cold weather (worse than any of the 20-50 year old BL cars I've had) but never mentioned on any MoT).

Brakes are fine but the standard fit (VW?) pads and discs aren't particularly long lasting. The original and later Nexen tyres were more for for round town bimbling than country roads.

You get various engine bay noises at various times as the computers do their stuff on the to my ears rough sounding VW engine (and I'm used to BL engines from the 1950s) but if your wife like mine has the radio on you won't hear them (possibly need to turn it up in winter if you don't like hearing clonking from the underside).

I know friends and neighbours with small Kias and Hyundais from 2015 and before and they have been very satisfied with them and they have been very reliable and inexpensive to keep (VW 3 year warranty IIRC 7 years on Hyundias, shows how much confidence VW had in their products).

You bought it, didn't ya. 😄

HTH.

Didn't buy it so thanks for your advice!

The Mk3 Fabia so my mate told my wife back then (and he would know as he did constant research on the next car he was getting for himself or his wife) was that the MK3 Fabia had the most cabin space for its class of car. Cars for many years have been bigger on the outside than on the inside (BMW "MINI" being a good example against a real BMC/BL/Rover Mini) with their oversized wheels and tyres for the sake of fashion.

If you don't know too much about cars some more general advice.

Do general research as you have for this car.

Check the car's official history from general internet sources to confirm the advert has correct details.

Ask to see any and all paperwork with the car, get digital information paper printed to add to the rest, put all in reverse chronological order.

Unfortunately it's a judgement call whether you fully trust the seller, professional or private.

Have a good look and drive of the car to see if it's for you, if it is you need to compare it and the drive against other example(s) of the same to know how good, bad or same any particular one is.

Cars can usually be more easily cleaned and tarted up than properly serviced and repaired, shiny cars look nice but do they run reliably well.

If you decide to buy then get the car professionally checked, warranties and guarantees can't always be relied on and can be very limiting and difficult to use when need - always check exactly what you are buying the car and everything with it like warranty. £9k is a lot of money to gamble of a lump of metal and lots of plastic.

Obvious advice now, buy what your wife wants but get the best example of it you can, my wife's priority is the comfort to her of the seats which is very sensible and then the colour, which limited the choice of used Fabia Mk3 within a reasonable distance of travel (we went 30 miles) at that time and inevitably meant she went a bit over budget as she gets inpatient to get a car replacement and most Dealerships and garages don't make it the most pleasant experience particularly when you only want the most straightforward sale without the extras they make the most money on.

Good luck, if you find another VWŠkoda Fabia or other) you like then this site has lots of info and advice from owners of the model and general advice.