I have just inherited my fathers Skoda fabia 1.2 Tsi SE 2015.

It's been serviced at a Skoda dealer

Oil changed @ 2668, 4359, 6932, 8846, 11201, 13237 miles.

Vehicle has now covered just 17000 miles.

I'm concerned that the timing belt has not been replaced,is this correct?

Other items such as brake fluid and pollen filters have been replaced.

I plan to replace the tyres due to age but can not find any information on timing belt replacement.

Can you please advise, also are there any other reliability issues with this model.

Many thanks

Edited 16 August, 202516 Aug by FABDAD

2 hours ago, FABDAD said:

I'm concerned that the timing belt has not been replaced, is this correct?

Check at 165,000 miles and then every 20,000 miles.

VW removed the advise to replace the timing belt a few years ago.

2 hours ago, FABDAD said:

Other items such as brake fluid and pollen filters have been replaced.

Spark Plugs?

I have a 2016 1.2 TSI at 90000 miles and car is still good.

Thanks. AG Falco

Previously the robbing b*st*rds at VWŠkoda UK and Dealership would have you wasting around £400 for cambelt replacement at 5 years or 50k-miles whichever was sooner but then for their convenience they fell in line with the rest of Europe at 1st July 2023 to (for our 1.2 TSI) to 15 years or 180k-miles whichever is sooner (annual inspection of belt is recommended). -

CamBeltchangechange.pdf

It's a 10 year old car but you only show 6 annual oil (and filter) changes with such a very low mileage car generally there is even more need for timely and regular annual oil and filter changes, more so than if the car was much higher than average annual mileage.

You are very wise to replace the tyres as they effect the braking, steering and suspension also affecting the road holding, ride comfort and noise despite how much tread depth may be left on them. The factory Nexen N blue tyres were adequate but far from best that you could have and at 10 years old will be far from even their best with such low mileage use.

You have not mentioned spark plugs and engine air filter changes both important for good running of the engine and VWŠkoda particularly stretch out engine air filter changes. Air-con might be worth considering at 10 years old if not touched before. Of course the most important system is the brakes.

2015 might depend on what part of 2015 the car was actually manufactured for reliability earlier and later seem to be better than my wife's 2015 (1.2 TSI, 90Ps (5-speed manual, SE).

From our 9 years experience -

• the engine bay makes all sorts of noises when the computers are doing their stuff and to me the 4-cylinder VW engines have always sounded a bit rough but that's how they are, others don't notice

• the front dampers only lasted until 6 years old at 41k-miles before being an MoT failure and the Dealership fitted replacements (with 2-year warranty) were "misting" at 11 months old, MoT advisory

• undetectable clunks from the underside have been reported, ours has it, some have replaced lots of parts for it to remain

• despite not having a "spare" key and instead alternating use of both keys one of the remote fobs stopped working (£182 replacement)

• computer system brain-farts with the amber triangle of doom accompanying non-existent issues with exterior lights

• water leaks at rear door (common for all the Fabias)

• boot switch or wiring (fairly common).

A VWŠkoda Dealership should be able to give you a paper print-off of any service work entered on their system, it's called a "Complete record".

You can check the car for any outstanding VWŠkoda UK "Recall" (well those they admit to) here. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/services/recall-campaigns

If you want some computer updates they might be here. - https://updateportal.skoda-auto.com/

One thing to bear in mind is that the computers don't like the battery to be too low for them, which isn't particularly low, the headlights will seem bright enough and the engine will start (you really have to flog to near-death the 12v battery for the engine not to start). The first sign the battery is getting too low for the systems is the stop/start not activating when it should, then you need to take the car for a good long run or better still use an appropriate battery charger maintainer to fully recharge the battery. Better still is to do very occasional preventative charging to, er, prevent the battery getting too low to upset the systems, usually not needed if the car is driven frequently on longer distant journeys without excessive battery drain.

With such low milage the battery would have been changed at least once if a battery charger maintainer hasn't been used (the batteries aren't cheap, then there's possible 'coding' on top).

Reading and referring to the car's 'Owner's Manual' will help you avoid time, hassle and money on unnecessary visits to Dealership, garages, mechanics and auto-electricians, and you will also know more about your model than many long term owners. You should have the paper printed version and/or you can get a free VWŠkoda pdf download from the VWŠkoda Owner's Manuals site. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models

HTH.

ETA: I look after my wife's car more than the average owner (not that it desires it - AG Falco would be at or nearer fanatical (I checked the meaning of the word to be sure).

Edited 16 August, 202516 Aug by nta16
typo

ETA: sorry I forgot at the start - Hi, welcome.

In case you've got a DSC gearbox. -

Ignore prices as table is a number of years old

Thanks nta16

I have the printed service history, its pretty comprehensive.

Plugs changed at 8k, plus three brake fluid changes with pollen and dust filters being replaced also three times.

What I'm struggling with is I have three cars, a Skoda Enyaq, a 2020 60,000 m Suzuki Swift and now the Fabia.

The Suzuki was purchased new, fully dealer serviced and totally reliable.

The only work being servicing, tyres / brakes plus two headlamp bulbs.

It will also if dealer serviced carry Suzuki's

7yr 100.00 mile warranty.

One of either the Fabia or Swift will have to go, but which one?

9 hours ago, FABDAD said:

One of either the Fabia or Swift will have to go, but which one?

Ask Motorway for quotes on both, and chop out whichever you get the better price for.

Personally I'd never want a car newer than say 2016 (well 1980 really) but I'm not average. And I'm not a fan of German marques, the rubbish about German car engineering quality being good finished around or before the start of this century. I prefer Japanese cars, Toyota and Honda aren't as good as they were but still at top for me for my wife (to save me farting about on her car).

Newer cars come with more potential computer issues and the more modern the more so (as the car takes over some of the driving and driver decisions which generally I dislike).

VW are so confident in their build and manufacture they only offered 3-year warranty, to me a (good) 7-year warranty holds a lot of appeal but you only have 2-years left on that. The two new headlight bulbs is something I'd want to know about on a 5-year old car.

The Fabia isn't a bad car, in fact very generally it's good, my wife chose it over a Swift of similar age when she bought it 9 years go, my mate had told her the Fabia has the biggest(?) interior space for it's class, if that matters. Whilst very generally it's a good car it certainly could have been better.

The very low mileage will be very attractive to many. I'm used to full service history so I'd point out your Fabia's not complete but the vast majority of people would (wrongly) think it complete but I don't think there might be any really significant effect because of this. Much depends on its condition and how it was driven (and not) some people drive their cars in a very wearing way despite the very low mileage. I have neighbours that don't do 1,000 annually a couple less and a lot less so I have some experience of these low mileage cars (as well as formerly being in car clubs with old-farts that rarely drive their "classic" (over-priced, over-valued old) cars.

The Fabia might be good for someone who has to do very high annual mileage over the next x-number of years in that although it's aged hopefully it hasn't worn much, with the lack of use, but it'd probably sell to another person that won't put much mileage on it and deteriorate quicker that way but that's not your concern. You might be surprised how much the Fabia might be worth to sell. Personally I'd have a 2015 car over a 2020 but it'd be being hung instead of shot for me.

Good luck.

Edited 17 August, 202517 Aug by nta16

If it were me I'd keep the Swift but I may be biased given I have a Boosterjet SZ5... It's a far nicer car than the Fabias I've driven recently, albeit smaller.

I'd say VAG cars are OK reliability wise but not as good as you'd hope/expect from German technology/underpinnings. It's usually the likes of Kia and the Japanese brands that take the top slots these days. But I think the Fabia is a good all round car with a relatively small number of known issues. Ours has two currently, and both have been the subject of postings over the last few days.

>Tailgate nearside wiring loom

>A problem with a switch on the DSG auto gearbox selector - an issue shared with a number of other VAG cars with the same gearbox.

I don't know how your car was previously driven but the particularly low mileage on yours prompts me to add another. An indy told me when we were looking to buy ours that Fabias just being used as local runabouts (as they sometimes are) can suffer with issues with the (Mahle) Turbo. The wastegate pivot can corrode/stick due to condensation - requiring specialist repair. I suspect the 1.2 might be slightly more prone to this than the 1.0 as the latter will tend to be on boost more frequently in normal driving. If my other half is driving our 1.2, she's gentle enough with it to hardly ever have the turbo spool up (I make up for it when I'm driving it).

The main reason we ended up sticking with a VAG car (the Fabia replaced an old Mk4 Golf, and our other car is an Audi) is wanting an auto narrows things down for us. I can't stand CVTs which rules out most Japanese brands, and even Kia have had some issues with their DCT gearbox.

We did look at Swift (attracted by its reliability) but ruled it out mainly on size for us if I recall. We went for the Fabia over others for the following reasons:

1. The value for money/high spec/low road tax

2. The 1.2 turbo was surprisingly lively

3. The internal space for the class of car is good - and we needed something more than just a runaround

4. It has great all round visibility

So if your Swift already ticks all the boxes for what you need, I can see you edging towards keeping that.

We have come to the decision to sell the Swift and keep the Skoda.

Spent all day, cleaning/polishing and generally checking as much as I can.

Found another invoice dated August 2023 for a full service/new front and rear pads/discs at 16000miles, its only covered 1000 miles in the last two years- Dad decided to stop driving at 89.

When I collected the car and drove home 150 miles mostly motorway it performed beautifully, certainly a more relaxed drive than the Swift.

The only fault I can find is the DAB radio doesn't pick up any stations-FM ok.

So I will have the an oil and filter change, Mot, replace original tyres and renew brake fluid.

Keep my fingers crossed and hope for the best.

15 hours ago, FABDAD said:

The only fault I can find is the DAB radio doesn't pick up any stations-FM ok.

Have a look at the 'Owner's manual' for programming and DAB to FM switching if required, otherwise put up a photo (landscape not portrait please) in a new thread and we can perhaps see what's what The older infotainment systems seem better and more reliable than later ones.

15 hours ago, FABDAD said:

So I will have the an oil and filter change, Mot, replace original tyres and renew brake fluid.

This year I moved the MoT on my wife's Fabia from end of September to mid-July meaning I can get the next MoT from mid-June to mid-July when the days are longer so more convenient to work on the car and away from the September bi-annual changing car madness, panic and lack of appointments.

The car's benefit from occasional Italian tune-up (blow-out) good long runs (doesn't have to be motorway, sustained sensible higher revs rather than higher speeds) particular if they usually only get short journeys regularly, will help charge the battery a bit more too.

Running the tyres at 30psi rather than "Eco" 35psi makes a difference to comfort and handling (well as much as it has).

I’ve just got the cam belt and tensioner replaced - and a new “fan belt” fitted to my wife’s August 2015 BW Polo 1.2TSI 110PS 6MT that cost me roughly £550 in labour.

I only did that as I had considered that 10 years was an okay time to replace these parts.

The guy at the desk said “that’s it for the next 5 years” - that was at a VAG Indie workshop, I said that it will be a lot later than 5 years before I get the cam belt kit replaced next!

The car seems absolutely fine after that work, though it does now smell of “older lady’s perfume” as some cleaning/beautifying stuff was sprayed over all the black plastics! So I’ll need to clean that junk off!