What a great site this is. Hi from another Bristol-based Fabia owner. Mine is a rather tasty Elegance spec, with cream upholstery and 2 kids as occasional passengers

My Fabia 1.4 16v - 51 reg - has started to have shedloads of things go wrong with it this year. I've had it for 3.5 years. Although I have loved owning it, it's glory is fading fast at the moment.

I wish I had looked on here properly/in more detail before having half of the work done.

There is so much information and you lot are so helpful.

My list of faults to be rectified :

1. internal alarm sensor trips the alarm - so I need to disable it (and the door deadlocks) by plipping the locking button twice when I park This was repaired 3 years ago under warranty;

2. the aircon makes an awful racket, rather like putting a pencil in an office fan ( ) so I'm guessing that's a professional job= maybe a new aircon pump;

3. the radio/cassette player stopped working properly - it won't hold an FM channel, the radio buttons don't work, the geo buttons to change the sound output/bass/treble don't work etc. I can see that the aerial mount seal has worn away/been disturbed so I guess the first thing to do is pop that off and replace the seal;

Faults already rectified this year :

1. ARB s - cost me

If you want me to have a listen to the AC - I can do when I'm up in bristol between 23rd and 28th October. Mine started making a kind of whooshing whistley screechy sound, and it just needed regassing (something that generally needs doing every 4 (at a guess) years) for about £50-£60 at an AC outlet. Often the mobile aircon specialists have all the gear.

Might be time for an upgraded head unit now. Sounds like the old tape player is giving up the ghost. I would pop for a symphony CD player if you want that oem look, or a nice Pioneer. :speaker:

Hi and welcome to Briskoda!

Seems like an awful lot of faults to have had at just 28000 miles.

My Tdi Elegance (which I sold to my dad) was about 2 1/2 years old and covered nearly 48000 miles without any problems (reach out and touch wood!)

I'm on my 3rd Fabia now in nearly 6 years and must honestly say I've never had any complaints.

I guess you have the stereotypical 'Friday afternoon' car!

Seriously, there's loads of folk on here who might be able to give you some sound advice.

Thanks Devonuptopia and Fish. There's an aircon specialist in my village and I will just pop it in to him and see what he says. If there's any doubts, I may take you up on your kind offer.

The cassette player still works fine, it's the radio, and I'm concerned that the problem may stem from a leak around the aerial. Oh well !

Browsing this site makes me pretty confident that I can pop the aerial mount off

Fish, I will show your post to my missus and hopefully it will reassure her.

No problem!

About the radio, I've been reading about the Symphony CD player on here tonight. Seems like they are made by Grundig and some of the faults you have described are very common.

Might be worth investing in a new 'un or do a search and see if anyone has a used one for sale.

Hello there and welcome to Briskoda! Ive suffered one of your faults , had the coolant sensor done under warranty after 6 months of ownership , and its been fine since (my car-2000/V Fabia 1.4 8V Comfort , not as posh as yours!-33800 miles) I also have intermittent trouble with the factory fit alarm going off , sometimes in my garage , but most of the time in supermarket car parks!! I do hope you dont have to do the steering rack (which Ive had replaced because of weeping seals-£677...ouch!), power steering sensor or power steering pump (common-ish fabia faults) , having read ur other halfs opinions about your car!! Good luck with it!

Ps , Ive still got the original radio cassette , and it still works (and sounds) fine!

Welcome to Briskoda

Thanks chaps !

The powers of Briskoda appear to have been at work even overnight. I tried the aircon on my way to work this morning and it was not making the whirring noise anymore. Judgment reserved for now..

I shall bear the steering rack and power steering glitches in mind when contemplating what to do about the car.

I'll be sick as a dog to get rid of a car which has only just had a new cam-belt.