Hi,

I have just aquired a very nice 2016 Fabia 1.2 TSI with just over 20k miles on the clock. The last nine years the car has been serviced annually using Comma Syner-G 5W-40 oil, which meets the VW 502 00 but not the newer 504 spec.

I usually use Millers Oils in my other cars, so my quesiton is, given I will continue with annual oil changes, would you recommend switching to EE Performance C3 5w30 oil or just carry on with the 502 spec?

I have searched through the forum posts but not really found an answer.

The Fabia replaces a 2016 Polo Match (exact same engine) that was written off, and so far I have to say I prefer the Skoda. Much cheaper on insurance too.

Cheers,

Charlie.

Charlie, hi, welcome.

If you have searched through the forum posts then you will know everyone has their own answer and oil belief, personally I think the answer for you is very easy and you already have it.

Personally I use, in my wife's 2015 1.2 TSI, Millers C3 5w30 EE Performance because I've used Miller oils in the past (engine, g/box, rear diff) and as it's a British blender (but I only support British products if they are good).

As you're a VW fan (I'm not) and want to follow their (additional) specifications Millers C3 5w30 EE Performance covers VW 504 00 / 507 00 and VW 502 00 / 505 01.

Important is that the oil change is timely and thorough, for me that's existing oil is hot before drain (H&S care of course), left to drain out as long as is practical, then a small flush through with fresh clean oil (warmed by solar or other) before careful refill to 'Min' mark on dipstick and small top-ups to get near to 'Max' mark with top up(s) as required next day and/or drive to 'Max' or just under.

HTH.

Edited 21 December, 202521 Dec by nta16

20k-miles in 9 years isn't always as good as it sounds for everything on the car, cars are designed and built for use, but 20k-miles with great care of the car can be better than 54-90k-miles of lack of care of the car.

It'd not be usual for Comma oils to be used for the car when new, perhaps used by local independent garage(s) but not VWŠkoda Dealerships AFAIK (Castrol claimed with my wife's VWŠkoda Dealerships engine oil changes).

Be interesting to know if the 12v battery has been changed because if not at that very low mileage it might show a more careful owner than average.

Have you known the car since it was new?

VW502 00 00 so 5w 40 FS is the correct spec, non Long Life for Fixed Oil & Filter service regime. If you do not want Long Life Oil VW 504 00 / 507 00 5w 30 FS III or 0w 30 FS III for fixed ot variable then use the Non Long Life.

Thanks all for your helpful replies. Usually I wouldn't look at such a low mileage vehicle but this was owned by a retired engineer and has been very well looked after, with oil changes done after only 2k miles some years. The service work was done by a well-respected independent garage, and looking at the service receipts they've used the correct oil for the fixed annual servicing.

Moving forward, I will probably switch to the Millers Oils C3 as I use them in my other car (a different oil though) and results seem good.

Might have a go at changing the oil in the summer myself.

4 hours ago, nta16 said:

Be interesting to know if the 12v battery has been changed because if not at that very low mileage it might show a more careful owner than average.

Thanks Nigel, it seems to be the original Exide EFB battery.

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

Thanks Nigel, it seems to be the original Exide EFB battery.

That doesn't sound original so may have been replaced. If you've got a scan tool you could check if/when the battery was changed perhaps.

Engine oil change is easy, taking the plastic under cover off and putting it back on is the most PITA bit for me.

Personally on a car new to me, especially a VW with stop/start that is low mileage I would ASAP fully (to 100%, not VW car around 80%) using an appropriate battery charger maintainer and its instructions and the instructions in the car's 'Owner's Manual' and then just keep an eye on it and see how it goes (with use the car's computer will want, and get, it back to around 80%).

If you don't have the paper printed copy of the 'Owner's Manual' you can get a free VWŠkoda pdf version download off the VWŠkoda 'Owner's Manual' website. - https://www.skoda-auto.com/apps/manuals/Models

At 9 years old despite its low mileage unless it's been kept in a dust free garage it might have needed two engine air filter changes and unless the garage was heated and dehumidified changes of cabin filter (an unusually very easy job on a VWŠkoda, up to you how you feel about 9 year old 20k-miles spark plugs. For engine oil filter I can particularly recommend the Mann oil filter.

Much more important than the engine and its oil & filter changes of course are the brakes (band brake fluid) and tyres, tread depth remaining being only one aspect of them. Lack of use isn't always kind to brakes and tyres.

The rear door (inner) seal(s) may still have gone if the car wasn't in a cosseting garage but you'll find out if the car is left out in heavy rain.

Did you get two remote keyfobs with the car and are they KESSY type?

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Engine oil change is easy, taking the plastic under cover off and putting it back on is the most PITA bit for me.

Does the car need to be lifted or on ramps to do this job?

1 hour ago, nta16 said:

Much more important than the engine and its oil & filter changes of course are the brakes (band brake fluid) and tyres, tread depth remaining being only one aspect of them. Lack of use isn't always kind to brakes and tyres.

The seller had a set of the original tyres on the front. I explained how date codes worked to him :). I'll be putting a new set on tomorrow and also getting the discs/pads/fluid replaced as this was noted in the sale (and price factored in).

10 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Does the car need to be lifted or on ramps to do this job?

I've put it on breeze blocks for all four wheels but that was mainly to get the car high enough for the Torx screwdriver to set squarely on to the Torx head screws. Next year hopefully I can keep the car on the ground as I have bought a Torx 1/4" socket which will require less space under it to operate it. If things are still tight for space I might just drive on to some blocks for the front wheels.

Once the plastic underside shield is off I should have enough space to operate to remove the drain plug which won't have been overtightened as I installed it and easy to get at the oil filter. A new sump plug washer is required or new plug and washer combination.

10 hours ago, CharlieH said:

The seller had a set of the original tyres on the front. I explained how date codes worked to him :). I'll be putting a new set on tomorrow and also getting the discs/pads/fluid replaced as this was noted in the sale (and price factored in).

Up to you what tyres you like but the factory Nexen Blue HD weren't for grip. Take the tyre label results with a good pinch of salt, good tyres can get lower results and visa-versa.

New tyres will help with the braking, steering and suspension, handling, road holding, comfort and noise, good tyres are always a good investment.

Fluid does require a scan tool push on the ABS block for best practice but can be done the old fashioned way (and one man and a jar). I always favour a good lot of fluid as a flush out and not just drain, refill, bleed.

Replacing the front and rear discs and pads were the easiest of the very few I've done on cars (and I'm far from mechanical) I can link to my notes on the jobs if you wanted.

Once you get the car fully sorted and run in and settled it could be a very good basis for high mileage use for a reasonable number of future years use. Good luck.

I've just remembered, VW use bloody silly wheel bolts, instead of wheel studs, five of them, so they can literally be a pian in the back (as well as a PITA, bloody stupid design) so I strongly suggest keeping in the boot and using guide/holding pin tool, well two of them is best, what Aldi, sorry, Audi, call an alignment tool. I got a set of (generic) two as per bottom photo from eBay, more expensive than some others available but seemed better made and material to me

Edited 22 December, 202522 Dec by nta16

Thanks your help Nigel! I'm off to get new tyres this morning and whilst I'd like to do the discs/pads myself I've got back issue currently, so will get a local VW specialist to do these.

Looking at the service history I don't think it has ever had new plugs so will get these done too when they do the brakes.

3 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I'm off to get new tyres this morning and whilst I'd like to do the discs/pads myself I've got back issue currently, so will get a local VW specialist to do these.

I know how you feel I had back problems for over 5 years partly caused by those bloody silly VW wheel bolts instead of wheel studs which is why I strongly recommend the use of at least one "wheel alignment tool" when removing or fitting a wheel (and I refer to the VW wheel bolts in much stronger terms in my mind).

Hopefully the tyre place will remind you but in case not - take it steady on the new tyres for the first 200-300 miles this time of year and check the wheel (grrrrr) bolts for tightness after about 30 miles of driving (unless it's a good place they would have been overtighten by the ratttlegun anyway and torque wrench check is just for show.

3 hours ago, CharlieH said:

Looking at the service history I don't think it has ever had new plugs so will get these done too when they do the brakes.

To get at the plugs you have to remove the engine air filter box so you might as well have that at least checked and cleaned out and possibly air filter replaced so you know it has been done and when.

Good luck.

4 hours ago, nta16 said:

(unless it's a good place they would have been overtighten by the ratttlegun anyway and torque wrench check is just for show.

I was a little surprised to see the guy using a proper torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts up. I think one of the reasons a lot of places don't, is that almost nobody checks them after 100 miles so they cover themselves by over-tightening.

I noticed early on in the car's life it had MOT advisories for uneven tyre wear. For some reason the former owner just replaced the tyres but without doing any alignment check, and so I thought I'd get it done since I'm spending ££ on tyres. The toe-in was way out, and on the drive home it felt much more willing to turn into corners, can't believe it had not been checked for the sake of 25 quid.

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

I was a little surprised to see the guy using a proper torque wrench to tighten the wheel nuts up.

A lot of places use a torque wrench at the end but have already over-torqued the nuts (bolts!?) with the totally unnecessary rattle gun to put them back on, or guess what the correct torque might be or having on the same high setting for all as that's quickest and some prefer to do a quick job than a correct job. I've had (proper) wheel nuts overtighten pulling a stud despite telling the place the correct (lower than usual) torque and having the info printed on the paper I give them that they ignore with the other info.

Any place putting the wheels back on ought to tell you to check and (some of?) bigger places will have it printed on the paperwork they hand you, obviously what the customer does after they leave the place they can have no control over. And mistakes happen, things get forgotten and not checked always best to check for yourself when you can. Also many places over inflate the tyres for various reasons.

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

For some reason the former owner just replaced the tyres but without doing any alignment check

He may have had it checked and it was fine at the time, one good pothole can knock things out (or too fast up kerbs or drop-kerbs and at an angle, or dropping off a kerb). Or off course he may not have had it checked. You might be putting too much faith in an engineer taking care, I've know one that would tell you how you can reuse a bent screw twice more (slight exaggeration) and many can't be told anything - because they already know everything (the old encyclopaedia sales joke). Ones that deal with cars can be a right pain, all the arrogance of a medical surgeon without the good looks or extended high level education. On the other hand a mate was looking at a restored 1960s Volvo Amazon for his mate to buy and that car had been done by an engineer and everything on it was precise and to a very high standard but that engineer worked at the Merc race place, where they use hand tools.

2 hours ago, CharlieH said:

can't believe it had not been checked for the sake of 25 quid.

Wow! Lowest I can remember is £40, to about £150, 5 years back it was £50 for the Fabia to VW spec. The check is usually free but the charge is for work they find. A lot of what can be highlighted over the four wheels possibly can't be rectified by adjustment or the next reasonable pothole might put it right or any adjustment out again - but stuff that makes the front tyres wear unevenly can often very successfully be adjusted.

Once you are confident in the car (and tyres and brakes fully "bedded" I'd suggest you get the engine fully warmed (90+C engine oil temperature, not coolant) and rest of car for a few miles of driving then give it an "Italian tune-up" blow-out run for a good few miles, that's higher revs not necessarily higher speeds. Preferably you would do this after and during tankful refills of high octane petrols which contain higher levels of cleaning additive packages.

petrol.pdf

Before, during and after an MoT and/or car (engine) service I'd do the same thing using a couple of tank refills of higher octane petrol and Italian-tune-up blow out run(s). The engine is a direct injection turbo pottering it about all the time doesn't do it good.

Ignore the VW suggested gear selection on the dash it's not even correct for fuel economy many times let alone good for the engine.

Good luck.

Yes, I've spotted torque wrenches being used after the rattle guns - not on our cars though, I'm stupid enough to just take in wheels from our cars, and do the removing/fitting myself - and yes, customer sensibly made to sign the sales receipt that includes "check wheel fastener torque after xxxmiles.

Wheel alignment that typically nowadays includes using a proper wheel alignment bench - and so measuring all 4 wheels alignment, £25 sounds a lot too low a figure.

What I still have not managed to work out is why the castor measurement is either nonsense when carried out by a tyre place that has not worked out that a manual intervention is required when running that part of the alignment test, or the castor results fields are blanked out, or in this case empty or not filled in.

If there exists the built in facility to measure castor, then why not use it - alternatively, if it is just a quick tracking check/adjust that is being done - why bother including the 4 wheel aspect of this test - okay no extra input is required from the operator and the equipment automatically churns out the results. It does sound a lot like laziness to me, while still charging the customer for the privilege of their car being tested on a proper 4 wheel alignment bench.

Thanks again for all your input. On the way to the tyre place I did fill up with Shell V-power which I have used for many years with good results on other cars, and particularly like this fuel as it will not go off in my hibernated car over winter, unlike most of the E10 fuels. I gave the car a good run and pushed the limits of the existing tyres a bit (with full consideration that the fronts were 9+ years old!) and found something amiss with the handling, it was not keen to turn in as well as our previous Polo, and just to add some background I have decades of road and track driving performance cars, so do have a feel for what a car should be doing. After looking at many MOT histories of Fabias around this age I noticed a pattern of uneven front tyres wear at low mileages and I suspect that many were not set up correctly from the factory. Intiially I suspected they had just been bumped into a curb etc, but it has been just too common to put it down to that. Indeed, after the new tyres (rotated to the rear) and then the wheel alignment done the car was transformed - no longer does it wash out wide but has a pleasant willingness to turn it but still keep the safe FWD handling that suits these cars. My tyre place is Micheldever Tyres in Hampshire, been using it for many decades now and they've always done a good job, one of the few places I would trust to work on my cars. The alignment service is on a special offer currently, if you have two or more tyres replaced then you get it for half-price. Good value considering they took around 40 mins to check and adjust the alignment. Yes, Costco would work out cheaper for the tyres, but with respect to their employees I wouldn't trust them to change my socks.

Next job is brakes next week and I've ordered plugs, oil, pollen and air filters so I have something to keep me busy over the holidays.

Will update you with my progress and thanks again!

1 hour ago, CharlieH said:

particularly like this fuel as it will not go off in my hibernated car over winter

Don't rely on that too much in the future the potty POTUS has signed us up to help with subsidise some of their farms and probably the up to 5% and up to 10% fuels will get nearer to their top figures of ethanol.

You must have the estate and/or the 2016 cars are a lot better than the 2015 to do any sort of performance driving even within its limits, to lower the speeds and increase the fun increase the tyre pressures to "Eco" setting particularly on factory Nexen. My wife's 2015 (hatch) had 10k-miles on it when she got it and still on factory tyres without edge wear but perhaps they balls'd things up later. Decades back Porche ball'd something up with the suspension on one of their much more limited range of models then so Dealership mechanics were given loads of training on correcting the balls up on their customers car and IIRC they had all the gear so it was the place to go for setting up the cars.

As you've put a well set up car makes all the difference but then the VW suspension parts are the best, hopefully you will avoid the clonking and "misting" front dampers if not fully at least for a while longer. You might still get the leaking back door(s) if the car ever sees heavy rain (a fault from the Mk1 on apparently).

If you have good reliable places you can take your car then you are lucky so stick with them for as long as you can.

There's loads of info on Mk3s here, 2016 avoids some of the issues with later cars (all makes and models). Good luck.