Just joined. Ordered a new SE L 1.5TSI DSG with winter pack a few days ago. Been given 22 August as the delivery date. This is my first VW model bought as having been with Mazda for some years. I hope the Fabia is as reliable as my Mazda have been.

The accessory packs are a way of extracting extra money by Skoda and it would have pleased me far more if you could choose what seems important to you as the buyer without committing to the bundle.

The included heated front windscreen you will get is something that I'd love to have. Demisting remains a problem for us though we are making progress. Other features in the pack like heated steering wheels and seats for the UK in cold weather are overkill unless you have problems like arthritis.

I've even read reviews where the reviewer has been wowed by the inclusion of a credit card type ice-scraper in the filler cap and the umbrella in the front door.

I wonder if it would be possible to get a heated front window installed on a Fabia 4 which didn't have one factory fitted.

On 04/08/2025 at 14:47, bazz2004 said:

I wonder if it would be possible to get a heated front window installed on a Fabia 4 which didn't have one factory fitted.

If you GOOGLE-search on skoda retrofitting heated windscreen you'll retrieve several discussions about this possibility, including some on the BRISKODA forums.

GOOGLE AI says

Retrofitting a heated windscreen to a Skoda, while possible, can be complex and may require more than just a new windscreen. It often involves replacing the A/C control panel and potentially coding the vehicle's system to recognise the new functionality. The process can be expensive, with costs potentially exceeding £1000 for a factory-fitted windscreen. 

Rather than retrofitting a heated windscreen to a Fabia Mk4 that does not have one, it would be wiser to replace the car with a Fabia that does have one.

In the USA cars often used to be marketed with a 'delete option'. The car's standard specification was high, but, when ordering, buyers could choose to delete features that they did not want, thus reducing the cost. This is the opposite approach to cars being marketed with a 'basic' specification and a buyer choosing (say) a different colour, different wheels, etc. at an extra cost. My Fabia Mk4 SE L DCT is silver and bought new off the Skoda dealer's 'forecourt'. If I'd wanted a different colour or a significantly different specification, I would have needed to have bought elsewhere or specially ordered and accepted a time delay. The only thing I chose to 'retrofit' was the spare-wheel pack that the car lacked - but that was easy.

"In the USA cars often used to be marketed with a 'delete option'. The car's standard specification was high, but, when ordering, buyers could choose to delete features that they did not want, thus reducing the cost. This is the opposite approach to cars being marketed with a 'basic' specification and a buyer choosing (say) a different colour, different wheels, etc. at an extra cost." DerekU

That's sounds to be something that would benefit us as buyers in 2025.

I certainly don't intend to order a new Fabia with a heated front windscreen. We wouldn't have bought a new Fabia if I'd been better informed. What I will do is find a good independent garage specialising in VW group servicing, before the service contract runs out, and ask for their advice.

My strong suspicion is that the battery installed as standard in the Fabia 4 is not really adequate to the demands of constant short journeys in heavy traffic without regular long runs or frequent charge ups. In other words I made a mistake and bought the wrong car for the job. Adding a heated front window would increase the demands on the battery so I'd consider upgrading to an AGM battery too. Adding an AGM battery unfortunately requires much more than just dropping one in as replacement. They are installed in higher end cars.

In the meantime we'll just have to put up with the demisting problems in unfavourable weather conditions.

This link may interest you

https://www.varta-automotive.com/en-gb/knowledge/articles/article-details/efb-or-agm---which-battery-do-i-need

Technically, there's nothing to prevent your Fabia's EFB starter-battery being replaced by an AGM battery (plus there's space for a dimensionally larger battery with a higher capacity). It's to be expected that recoding the Fabia's system would be necessary to 'recognise' the new battery, but that's commonplace with VAG cars.

I believe there would be no amazing improvement making such a change, though - if the car is only be driven very infrequently - it might extend the need-to-recharge interval.

From the little I have found out already the AGM battery would be better relocated to the boot impacting one of the Fabias good points - available storage space.

On 30/07/2025 at 12:29, Phyly said:

Just joined. Ordered a new SE L 1.5TSI DSG with winter pack a few days ago. Been given 22 August as the delivery date. This is my first VW model bought as having been with Mazda for some years. I hope the Fabia is as reliable as my Mazda have been.

No chance

On 08/08/2025 at 15:55, bazz2004 said:

From the little I have found out already the AGM battery would be better relocated to the boot impacting one of the Fabias good points - available storage space.

AGM can be in the engine bay they're just supposed to have the additional heat insulation (mainly on the underside IIRC).

I put an AGM battery in my wife's Mk3 4 years ago as she does very short journeys, sometimes just two of two miles a day, and I've always know the importance of having a good battery in good condition to not only start the car but when trying to diagnosis and test staring and other electrical issues. That's from decades back and having old bangers but with newer more modern cars having a good battery in good condition is even more important not so much for starting the engine or having bright lights but to keep all the computer systems and program happy or they'll throw up all sorts of unexpected issues, warnings and unseen error codes.

I've not worried about fitting the additional heat insulation IF this causes the AGM battery to have a bit shorter life (I doubt any significant effect) in the 90PS engine bay) then so be it.

Changing from EFB to AGM will required (correct) data entry by some electronic tool (code reader, scan tool). VBW being VW call AGM fleece.

As I do very occasional PREVENTATIVE charging with an appropriate battery charger maintainer follow the instruction in the car's 'Owner's manual' and for charger maintainer and we don't usually use the stop/start function or have too many car heating features or excessive electric users I'm not sur I'd bother swapping from EFB to AGM again or it was worth the extra expense this time. But other uses may well benefit from having an AGM particular those who are heavy users, abusers and neglecters of the car's 12v battery and/or prefer to just change the expensive batteries more often.

I don't expect the inadequately(?) insulated AGM battery in my wife's to have any problems or not too last a lot longer than for most other modern car owners/users because of the very occasional preventative charging and different type of battery requirements not being as critical as some think or make out.

IF the AGM battery in my wife's car has or causes problems and is short lived I will post about it, I get things wrong multiple times a day so don't worry about admitting if I make such mistakes as wrong battery used.

On 08/08/2025 at 10:26, bazz2004 said:

In other words I made a mistake and bought the wrong car for the job.

That I don't know but any modern car is less suitable for round town short trips, slow driving and/or infrequent use than older and much older cars.