I admit that it is quite difficult for me to clearly see the oil level on the dipstick every time.

It usually gets all dirty when it is inserted, and in addition the space in which the level should be is pitch black and without any treatment to hold the oil and thus clearly show the level...

I wonder if anyone else has the same problem and if so, what they have done to deal with it...

Are you checking it both ways, stone cold before the engine is started to see plenty oil, & as required at Normal Operating Temperature after stopped a few minutes, so 4 or 5 and when the oil is at an indicated 90*oC or so? You can wipe the dipstick and then maybe a very light dusting if talc powder on the dipstick. I used to use french chalk on difficult dip sticks. Only a Tiny amount.

Try taking a photo with phone and then zoom in on it to try to see the wet/dry boundary.

It shouldn't have been that hard or tricky... easy things are made difficult by vw...

IMO Think yourself lucky you have a Skoda vehicle that still has a dipstick

Is the dipstick steel in the area you need to see, or plastic?

If it's steel, sand off the blackness?

18 minutes ago, Breezy_Pete said:

Is the dipstick steel in the area you need to see, or plastic?

If it's steel, sand off the blackness?

It is steel. I may do so 👍

Edited yesterday at 07:061 day by fabiamk4man

My Fabia's Owner's Manual describes checking the oil fill-level as shown in the attachment below.

The Fabia's dipstick is black-coloured steel and (as fabiamk4man has said) it is not easy to spot the level, particularly when the (thin) oil is clean.

About 3.14 into this video

it is suggested that laying the dipstick against a piece of kitchen towel is a useful means of identifying the oil-level and I've used that method successfully for many years.

Edited yesterday at 07:141 day by DerekU

My dipstick is exactly the same as the manual describes BUT there is not ANY treatment at the marked area as shown in S19-0760 picture - it is just plain steel.

That is why is difficult to see the border between wet and dry.

The other reason is when inserted is becomes wet and dirty almost everywhere...

Edited yesterday at 07:281 day by fabiamk4man

i always measure cold, pull dipstick out, wipe, leave overnight and than put in and out. if i try to pull it out when engine is hot, it wont come out easy, it have rubber O-ring that seals, and when hot it cant move easily.

Video is not as per VW Group / Skoda. You get a different level showing Stone Cold (Always know where it is cold which you need before setting off.) or at Normal operating Temperature, not just Warm & after a few minutes. Oil Filter as used by VW since 2012. Either up top or lower. Easy, try Cold you can do that every time. If you just serviced it and know how much is in then great. Then compare as VW says on every engine other than a 44kW 1.2 with only 2.8 litre capacity. Check Cold. Far far too many Skoda,s have low oil levels right from the PDI & hand over or from a Service at Skoda Main Dealers. Yes check it when collecting the car and the engine not started and when you get home and hot. See if the levels show identically and as correct.

Edited yesterday at 09:451 day by Evolution13

.AI is watching and learning.

The sole reason I provided a link to the video was because it demonstrated the 'kitchen towel' ploy.

The business end of my Fabia Mk4's dipstick is as shown in the attachment below and matches the drawing in the relevant Owner's Manual. The main difficulty in identifying the oil-level is due to the dipstick's black colour.

Edited yesterday at 10:111 day by DerekU

I scraped with a knife the black coating at the marked area and now it's more visible... Not great but good enough 🙂

In an earlier posting you said "My dipstick is exactly the same as the manual describes BUT there is not ANY treatment at the marked area as shown in S19-0760 picture - it is just plain steel." Is that actually the case, or does your car's dipstick have the raised 'dotted' section shown in the image in my last posting?

This Toyota Tacoma-related Facebook entry discussed reading the oil level on a dipstick when thin oil is being used in a vehicle

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4870321056422088/posts/6768461309941377/

and the following three 'tricks' were suggested

1) Use a brand new or extremely sharp hacksaw blade or metal file to “scratch” up both sides of the dipstick with a crosshatch pattern. Be certain to wipe all metal powder/dust before inserting into the engine. If this doesn’t work then add the following to #1. 2) Use a piece of regular stick chalk to rub on the cross hatches when the stick is completely wiped off. Insert dipstick and pull out to see where the level shows on the chalk. Clean off all chalk before reinserting after level is viewed. If you don’t want to do #1 and # 2 then try #3. 3) Have a piece of absorbent white paper towel or absorbent tissue paper. When the dipstick is pulled out quickly then slowly slide the paper towel or tissue edge held tight on the metal from top down toward full mark. When first sight of oil shows on the towel that’s the level. Holding a powerful light close during either of these methods also helps especially if you are in shade or dark conditions.

My 2009 Skoda Roomster's dipstick has a single O-ring seal, but my 2024 Fabia's dipstick has two O-rings (image attached) and - as its 'handle' is angled - it is only practicable to fully insert the dipstick in one orientation. Engine hot or engine cold, the two O-rings mean that a good upwards pull is needed to remove the dipstick.

13 hours ago, DerekU said:

In an earlier posting you said "My dipstick is exactly the same as the manual describes BUT there is not ANY treatment at the marked area as shown in S19-0760 picture - it is just plain steel." Is that actually the case, or does your car's dipstick have the raised 'dotted' section shown in the image in my last posting?

This Toyota Tacoma-related Facebook entry discussed reading the oil level on a dipstick when thin oil is being used in a vehicle

https://www.facebook.com/groups/4870321056422088/posts/6768461309941377/

and the following three 'tricks' were suggested

1) Use a brand new or extremely sharp hacksaw blade or metal file to “scratch” up both sides of the dipstick with a crosshatch pattern. Be certain to wipe all metal powder/dust before inserting into the engine. If this doesn’t work then add the following to #1. 2) Use a piece of regular stick chalk to rub on the cross hatches when the stick is completely wiped off. Insert dipstick and pull out to see where the level shows on the chalk. Clean off all chalk before reinserting after level is viewed. If you don’t want to do #1 and # 2 then try #3. 3) Have a piece of absorbent white paper towel or absorbent tissue paper. When the dipstick is pulled out quickly then slowly slide the paper towel or tissue edge held tight on the metal from top down toward full mark. When first sight of oil shows on the towel that’s the level. Holding a powerful light close during either of these methods also helps especially if you are in shade or dark conditions.

My 2009 Skoda Roomster's dipstick has a single O-ring seal, but my 2024 Fabia's dipstick has two O-rings (image attached) and - as its 'handle' is angled - it is only practicable to fully insert the dipstick in one orientation. Engine hot or engine cold, the two O-rings mean that a good upwards pull is needed to remove the dipstick.

It is exactly as yours but without the raised dotted section at the marked area. It remains plain, flat, glossy, black steel. And i don;t know why...

After scraping the black coating it became more visible and it annoys me much less so i will do nothing else about it.

Remains the problem that the dipstick gets all wet when inserted. The only way to minimize that effect is checking the level after the car has sat overnight and all of oil has settled.

Edited 6 hours ago6 hr by fabiamk4man

That's very odd...

As it was more convenient, the photos I provided were not of my own Fabia's dipstick, but copied from this UK ebay advert.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/375482427248

However, my 2024 Fabia's dipstick and other adverts for 'genuine' Fabia Mk4 1.0litre-motor dipsticks are identical and match the relevant picture in all Fabia Mk4 Owner's Manuals. (As I was aware you were in Greece, I checked the appropriate section in the Greek-language 2023 Manual and - as the attached image shows - that was no different).

There seem to be two possibilities - (1) that a Fabia Mk4 car with the 1.0litre TSI motor may sometimes have been factory-fitted with a dipstick that does not have the raised dotted section shown in the Owner's Manual, or (2) that your car does not have a 'genuine' Skoda Fabia Mk4 dipstick.

You'd be wise to check this with a Skoda dealership. If your car does not have the 'genuine' Skoda Fabia Mk4 dipstick, its dipstick may be the wrong length and (obviously) that would affect checking the car's oil-fill level.

During my 65 years of driving I've owned many cars, including 6 VWs and 2 Skodas. The only vehicle I've had any real difficulty checking the oil-level was a 2015 motorhome based on a Fiat Ducato that had a LONG dipstick 'tube' that curved around the front of the engine before disappearing into the motor. The dipstick itself was flat black steel with just a narrowed section near its end to indicate minimum/ maximum oil-levels (image below). Fiat dropped the dipstick from later Ducatos, provoking vociferous complaints from owners who found the electronic oil-level system to be untrustworthy.

Edited 5 hours ago5 hr by DerekU

I don't believe that is not the original dipstick. It looks exactly the same with every photo i have seen and i can;t think for a reason to have been replaced in a 3 years old car for an aftermarket one - specialy when the car still is covered by extetend warranty.

It also seems to point the correct level as after every oil change the mark up is always at the suggested maximum level.

Honestly there is not any need to check regulary as the car with only 20.000 miles on consumes zero oil - it is just me and my chronic anxious to check it very often by my own eyes... Also i have notified that fabia will alert me at the infotainment screen in (rare) case there is dangerous low oil level.

To my opinion probably some dipsticks out of specs got in cars during production without nobody notice it.

Anyway, as i said after scraping the black coating things are more visible and i will no longer going to bother with it.

Maybe at the next service i point it to the dealership just for curiosity reasons

Funnily there are many many posts and threads on Briskoda where members engines are consuming lots of oil and not just 1.5 TSI ACT,s. (Several last week.) But then they might leave the oil check until there is a Low Oil warning light or message or even a low oil pressure light. Not checking where the Oil is when cold & the car is delivered as new or after a service & then checking as you should at Normal Operating temperature to see if they show at the same mark is simply not 'Simply Clever'. If there was a check when Cold regime for VW Group engines then VW Group should say so and show in the Owners Manual. With a Mk2 Fabia vRS with only 3.6 litres engine oil capacity there were some Oil Filters that trapped in 0.5 litres oil in it. So the crappy dip stick and not knowing that had plenty thinking the oil was low. Also the oil could be 1.3 litres low and no warning light. 1.3 litres low with a 3.6 litre oil capacity. We as in me and others put in 3.9 litres and used a Mahle oil filter not a VAG one. With euro 5 1.2 TSI,s there were plenty dealerships that never put in the correct capacity of oil when there was a change to the capacities. Level not checked correctly by the tech or fitter after they put in the measured quantity.

Edited 3 hours ago3 hr by Evolution13

on my 1.5 tsi DPCA is capacitiy 4.3 L with a filter (Manual), when i put that amount of oil, when it cools out completely, almost touches maximum line. 1 mm lower.

@imart143 & Is it in the same place when you check the level as per the cars Owners Manual?

1 hour ago, Evolution13 said:

@imart143 & Is it in the same place when you check the level as per the cars Owners Manual?

i never checked warm oil because i cant pull out dipstick, affraid to brake it.

'Warm' was the term Skoda used, while VW, SEAT & Audi for the same engine used in owners manual 'Hot' or 'Normal operating temperature. That is Germans for you and lost in Translation from Czech, Spanish, German, to English or US English. Lost in translation.

Fabiamk4man (who originated this topic) owns a Fabia Mk4 "Style" model built in December 2022 that he purchased (in Greece) in September 2025 when the vehicle had covered 28,000km. The car has a TSI 1.0litre motor producing 110PS and, although the "Style" trim designator was not used in the UK, the motor's capacity and power-output of his car are the same as those of my own similar-age UK-marketed Fabia Mk4 SE L model.

Photos of the engine compartment of Fabia Mk4 cars fitted with that motor show the position (and yellow colour) of the dipstick 'handle' (arrowed on this image).

As I said earlier, the angled design of the yellow handle means that the dipstick can only be pushed fully home when the handle is leaning towards the car's front. However, it is possible to establish that the dipstick's tube is straight (rather than curved) as the dipstick can be turned through 90° and still be easily inserted until the angled handle prevents it going any further. Online photos/adverts indicate that the dipstick normally has a 'dotted' oil-level marking section towards its end that matches the drawing in Fabia Mk4 Owner's Manuals.

Just for the record (and assuming that my own Fabia's dipstick is the correct one!!!) I've measured my car's dipstick and its critical dimensions are shown on the image below.

To make that abundantly clear - the distance from the underside of the yellow handle to the dipstick's end is 525mm - the distance from the underside of the yellow handle to the start of the dotted oil-level marking section is 493mm - the overall length of the dotted oil-level marking is 19mm, meaning that the dotted oil-level marking section stops 13mm from the end of the dipstick.

Edited 3 minutes ago3 min by DerekU