Received mine at the end of the week. have done a quick scan through.

This volume says that it covers all petrol and diesel models 2000 to 2006, with the exception of the 1.0L OHV model (?) and the 2 litre petrol.

About 320 pages odd, although its difficult to say, as they rely on section numbering instead of page numbering. It comes in a hardcover, similar in quality to the previous generations.

Comparing it with an earlier Haynes manual (1991, VW Golf Mk 1), there a few minor changes to the general presentation.

The first half of the manual is devoted to maintenance operations and, what are called "In-car" repair operations (Undertaken with the engine installed) on the engine only. This part is divided into separate maintenance and repair sections. These subdivide into individual chapters for petrol and diesel engines, and in particular for the 1.2, 1.4 OHV and the 1.4 DOHC petrol engines.

There is a separate chapter on the removal and overhaul of petrol and diesel engines.

The remainder of the manual is based around system headings in a unified way, except, obviously, for the section on fuel systems !

Significantly though, nothing on diagnostics, nothing in the index, not even a photgraph of the socket !

There are the usual, all to brief sections, in the back dealing with Wiring diagrams, Conversion factor data, spare parts, working procedures and tools, location of VINs, fault finding, MOTs and a glossary of terms etc.

Looking in general terms at the presentation.

Good points, IMHO are:-

The operations within a section are graded as to difficulty in a tabular insert at the start of each chapter

Not so good points:-

The number of exploded line diagrams and photo diagrams at the system level are very limited, compared to the earlier manual.

There are an awful lot of photos at the component level, these don't seem to impart that much info and they are small (55mm x 45mm) and not as clear as they could be.

The older manual's photos had better definition.

Most of the topic text was split over pages - but no difference there to the 1991 manual

The paper does not have the same quality finish and I suspect would be more prone to absorb oily fingermarks

Things I would have liked to have seen:-

The manual to include a facsimilie on a "read-only" CD - computing manuals seem to do it without jacking-up the cost excessively or compromising copyright !

A integral plastic sheet which could be deployed to protect pages.

A tabular insert at the start of each section saying which tasks could not be progressed without the use of specialist tools, equipment - these warnings are at present just embedded in the text.

Similar inserts at the start of each section saying which tasks required another pair of hands for assistance, and a benchmark of the man-hours/ealpse time for major tasks.

Tasks laid out on a one or two per page basis with the photos/diagrams on the opposing page - perhaps then, the images could be slightly bigger.

An addendum containing Fault finding algorithms, in pictoral form, for the major systems

An addendum listing current UK SKODA dealerships, categorised by services offered, and showing points of contact.

A similar addendum listing relevant major current part and tool suppliers.

On the mechanical/electrical side, not being overly technical, and not having read it thoroughly, I leave it to others to comment.

So has anybody spotted any major gaffe's in the text or specs ?

Nick,

19/11/06

In my old Parkers Used car chooser it mentioned a 1.0 Fabia, perhaps its available in Czech.

Will get mine in a few days or so..

Having a PDF version on CD would be a good idea - so you can print off the sections you need and put them into A4 plastic wallets.

Paper Quality - having looked at a recent manual it reminds me of recycled toilet paper - very cheap feel.

Agree with what someone said on this forum about Haynes Manuals being not the same as the older manuals, think thats something how the company expanded into the 'popular' car type books and other manuals. Think they target for volume sales and a wide reader market and in doing so have to dumb down some of the technical aspects. Apparently one of the reasons they got rid of the whole car cutways(Its now a bonnet slice showing part of the engine) because it put people off buying the books thinking they were too technical!

i think the reason they leave out a lot of the technical and diagnostic stuff is because most of it the average man/woman will not have a clue about or it will be impossible to do on a Sunday afternoon up ones path , plus i bet they got no real help from Skoda with regards the technical/diagnostic info either

but it would be nice if they did proper manuals that told you everything , but how thick would they be , and at what price

agreed the paper is cr@p on the later manuals

i've just purchased one from ebay, it's all a matter of waiting for delivery now!

even though it was only 5 miniutes ago i've forgotton how much it was already but i think it was 18 squids including delivery.... cheaper than the alleged group buy price

In my old Parkers Used car chooser it mentioned a 1.0 Fabia, perhaps its available in Czech.

Yes , it is availible in other European markets , God knows how it gets along the road tho , Im pretty sure it is a 3 cyl 6V petrol tho I may be mistaken. I think you can get a 3 door Fabia abroad too??

I think I will get one of the manuals when they come into Halfrauds.

no they are a 1.0 version of the 1.4 mpi 4 cylinder engine

Mine came in the post last night, I must agree about the quality of the paper being poor. I have a mk2 golf and polo and peugeot 106 haynes to compare it too. All published in the late 90's. The paper quality is definatley not as good. I feel that where photographs are included they aren't very good quality. It seems that with my VW manuals tha photographs were intended to be printed in black and white and as such have the clarity needed to show detail. I feel that maybe the fabia photographs have been taken in colour with little thought as to how they will reproduce when printed in black and white.

The big test will be when people start following the guidelines from haynes and testing whether it is correct or not. A few areas in the mk2 golf manual missed operations that needed to be performed to do jobs correctly.

A disc version is definatley an oportunity missed, especially if the photos are originally in colour.

I would tend to agree with the above comments.

It is sad to say that, that it appears that more and more technical standards for products and services, for the mass market, are being reduced by the marketeers and bean counters to the minimum necessary to shift the specific quantity of product necessary to maximise their profits. Obviously, this bodes well for corporate profits and shareholders, and leaves some customers somewhere short of king.

Accepting this system as it is, I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm prepared to pay a few extra squids to end-up with a better quality product.

I do think we are particularly prone in this country to the "Shave

Ok arrived today and basically agree with all the comments made here especially Nick's review above, the paper and photographic quality are poor. Theres a noticable cutback in line diagrams especially those relating to the various systems etc., so here some observations and comments.

Engine Oil drain plug photo (3.3 on page 1A.9) should have been taken in close up like the 1.9 diesel (1B.7), the text doesnt say what type the plug is ( Recessed Allen Key)

Servicing specifications (1A.2) dont mention oil, air or fuel filters which should be included with the Skoda part number or similar.

The spark plug condition photos have gone - now replaced with a brief paragraph

Chapter 1A Maintenance Prodcedures does not mention the fuel filter and transmission oil renewal.

Anything relating to diagnostics/ECU side just says refer back to the Skoda dealer.

Wiring Diagrams

Maybe better in colour and the use of the NPN biopolar transistor symbol is meaningless - its not even in the symbol key !

Technical Term Glossary

Contains one or two irrelevent enteries especially relating to the Fabia - ie Carburettor.

Would certainly pay a bit extra for a more technical manual

no they are a 1.0 version of the 1.4 mpi 4 cylinder engine

You're right , I was getting mixed up with the 1.0 Corsa.