Hi Everyone

I have had an absolute nightmare with my dealer on my new Fabia vRS and it is only 8 weeks old (8/12/06)and has around 5K on it!

1. From new I have reported grinding from the brakes which they say is down to the new 'copper type' pads. I admit this is the basic background sound but there is another noise, metal on metal that comes and goes and sounds like I am driving over painted lines in the road. It happens when I am driving up to a stop at low speed lightly touching the brakes. it slows as the car slows down so it is clearly something rubbing as the wheel turns?
   
2. The dealership has told me 'Skoda Technical Department' told them the problem of this rattle (only at idling) has occurred on a number of Fabias and they are looking into it and will contact me when they find out the best way to fix it! Not good enough! Every new fabia cant have such an annoying rattle when idling. Any advice (other than selling it) more than welcome!

I first took it back to Underwoods in Colchester approx. 2 weeks after collecting it complaining of the brakes and the rattle. They pulled it into the shop to check the brakes and told me they were just bedding in and they were fine. I was to book it in sometime to fix the rattle.

The second time (after 4 weeks) I took it in, was to complain about the brakes and book an appointment to get the rattle fixed. I booked it in on a sat morning to fix the rattle and they would look at the brakes while they had it in. Fair enough I thought. I turned up at 8.30am on the Saturday morning when a technician took a drive with me and told me the noise was due to the new 'copper material' pads and the rattle in the gear stick was perhaps due to damage to the 'rods' and I was to book it in for them to have it for a few days to strip down the gear housing. I booked in for first thing today13th Feb 2007.

Middle of last week the noise from the brakes was really bad and I was in the area while the dealer was open so I called in to the dealer again. I actually had to persuade the 'Customer Service Manager' to take a drive to hear the sound. He said two technicians had independently checked my brakes and they was no problems with them but he came with me. Less than 100yards down the road he agreed with me that the noise was not caused by the pads and there was a problem. He took it round to the workshop while I waited during my working time. he returned saying there was some play in the pads inside the caliper and this could be the cause but the car is still drive able (Fair enough) but as it was booked in for 4 days from 13/02/07 they would investigate it further then. Again a bit miffed but finally the dealer had admitted there was some sort of fault. Progress!

I left my car in this morning, received a phone call saying the sound from the brakes is not currently happening and I will be contacted by Skoda whenever they decide/find out how to fix the rattle. Your car is ready for collection!

Phone up Skoda UK and they are as much use as a chocolate teapot! They can't fix the problem if there is no problem to fix. No component has failed, so parts cant be replaced. etc etc

I have argued with 'Underwoods' (Colchester) and Skoda UK over 6 times now and have had my car in their workshop 4 separate times and they say there is nothing wrong with the brakes!

They didn't happen to have any of these features in their brochure! I have had a 1.9tdi mk4 gold and not had any problems except the suspension was rubbish and disintegrated after 80K.

I will be doing 40+K a year and if this is going to be precedent I don’t think I will be a proud Fabia owner long. I have just left university and bought it as my treat and first ever brand new car and it has just taken all the novelty and excitement away from it and it isn’t even 2 months old!

Skoda needs to get their act together and as for Underwoods, no point going on (even though this is nearly an essay) but I wish I had never went anyway near them. I will have to lift my car and try to get another dealer to look at it. This is not good enough for a brand new car and I will not let this drop.

Any opinions on the problems guys or how to sort them?

I love the car, but why cant they just fix the little problems.

The gear lever rattle is not uncommon, some do it and others don't. Saying that mine did rattle for the first couple of months and then stopped and has not returned since. The good news is that they do seem to cure themselves as things run in and loosen up. Get the dealer to raise or lower your tickover slightly to see if it's a resonance thing.

As for the brakes, I think you need to try another dealer. Tell the new place what the problem is and see what they do. It may not be a good idea to tell them about the previous dealer as they don't like to get involved with questioning the ability of another dealer.

Stick with it though, they are a great car when all's well

Thanks vrsfab. I will keep this updated.

My gearstick rattled from day one. Dealer sorted this under warranty. My rear brakes also , how shall i describe it " sound as thoe the pad is worn down". This has never been fixed as yet because i have not reported it. Too many things going on at the moment. Just to make u feeel better u are not alone. Guess as soon as you hit 15,000 or there abouts and they change the pads then the noise willl dissappear.

I think the gearstick rattle thing is unfortunate. Mine does it a bit if now and then but a waggle of the stick usually cures it. It's to do with the resting position of the gearstick in neutral. You could try adding a bit of grease or similar but on a new car, there shouldn't be the need.

The rear brakes problems are well known. ISTR the grinding is down to pad deposits left in the shape of the brake pads. Mine does/did it from after a few days old.

Only way to try and sort it out temporarily is to "thrash" the rear brakes and then drive around gently to let them cool down. Hopefully removing the pad deposits for the time being. There's also something called an "anti-moo" kit which damps down some of the more commuter/tube train moaning and groaning from the brakes.

HTH

J.

Getting a similar problem with my rear brakes but as I'm currently sitting at 8700 miles, I was going to leave it until the 10000 service.

I have found a good hard brake a few times, especially from 70 seems to reduce the noise. The weather has been appalling and certaintly has contributed to the problem.

Gearstick rattle is pretty common - tends to sort itself out at about 10K km...

re: brakes As above - a good HARD stop will deglaze them and they'll feel and sound better. Just be careful doing it!

Cheers

Bas

I went to another dealer, Prestons in Chelmsford. They agreed the noise was unacceptable and are taking it in tomorrow to fit an ammended mount for handbrake cable I think,, and are going to change settings to try to get rid of the rattle. They have been very helpful and hopefully things will get better. I almost lost the plot over the whole brake issue. I know there is a small grind when the brakes are cold but I can thrash it for a whole day and it still does it. Coast forward at 5-10mph and pull on the handbrake and the metal / grinding noise is really loud. It can't be just material or deposits on the disc, I hope.

I will update this over the weekend when hopefully I will have my brilliant little beast back again!

Just to reiterate. This is a Skoda Fabia peculiar and should not detract from the enjoyment. I was like you 6 months ago and pointed out the weakness of the Fabia but from now on after the car spending 18 working days in the dealers i am now more relaxed and appreciating the car. Please let us know how you go on.