Get real man life is not perfect cars are not perfect if you want reliable 100% buy a honda or a toyota but you will pay a lot more than 12grand for an equivalent car (not that they really have a direct equivalent) to the fabia vrs.

Also perhaps I should clarify that the warranty issues are not terrible things it could be an awful lot worse. Corroded alloy wheels are annoying but better than the other horror stories you here about.

I used to hope everything i bought would be perfect but reality (or my bad luck) tells me it often isn't.

My overall owner experience is positive ie I enjoy owning the car but SUK, dealers and my alloy wheels have been a weak point!

yeh!!... it might cost 12 grand for you!!!......but not for us over in ireland!!!.....so to me its a shed load of money!!......shouldve stuck with the octy RS!!

k

Octy is fine but the way I drive I drive it would do about 3MPG! So cost about 12grand a year extra for fuel LOL

Anyway the octy handles far to well not nearly as entertaining as making it around a corner in a fabia!

Get real man life is not perfect cars are not perfect if you want reliable 100% buy a honda or a toyota but you will pay a lot more than 12grand for an equivalent car (not that they really have a direct equivalent) to the fabia vrs.

Also perhaps I should clarify that the warranty issues are not terrible things it could be an awful lot worse. Corroded alloy wheels are annoying but better than the other horror stories you here about.

I used to hope everything i bought would be perfect but reality (or my bad luck) tells me it often isn't.

My overall owner experience is positive ie I enjoy owning the car but SUK, dealers and my alloy wheels have been a weak point!

Unfortunately for Skoda the competition has really increased in the warm hatch/hot hatch department since it's launch. People say that French car's are badly built and don't touch them with a barge post but in my experience this car has now gone beyond what I expect to be good build quality.

I accept that for the money the Vrs is excellent value for money but this been my first Skoda vehicle has left me a little disappointed with the overall package.

I like the brand and the slighly up your's attitude but this car got raving review's from all department's and has failed on a number of fronts. Maybe I should have bought a 2 year old Audi tdi and enjoyed the great performance and the legendary build quality as well.

Well, I don't regret buying my vRS (07 plate SE, blue),

and I do regret selling my vRS (04 plate standard, silver),

but I did regret buying my vRS (07 plate standard, silver) - should have gone straight from the 04 to the SE, but life's a beach so you need to towel yourself down properly to get rid of the sand from all of your cracks & crannies!

I accept that for the money the Vrs is excellent value for money but this been my first Skoda vehicle has left me a little disappointed with the overall package.

I think part of the problem is expectations. I for one bought a Skoda because of it's great build quality, cheap servicing, and excellent dealer network. However, with things breaking and rattles developing within a month of ownership, and servicing costing a small fortune because of the "special" oil and silly labour rates, I was left a little miffed. It also broke down and left me stranded twice in the year and a bit I owned it. Maybe I'd got a lemon? But then you read around the site and other owners are having exactly the same problems. Should a car with excellent build quality leak? I would say not, but some people just accept it as one of those things and it doesn't harm the ownership experience....

Horses for courses, and all that!

Chris

I think part of the problem is expectations. I for one bought a Skoda because of it's great build quality, cheap servicing, and excellent dealer network. However, with things breaking and rattles developing within a month of ownership, and servicing costing a small fortune because of the "special" oil and silly labour rates, I was left a little miffed. It also broke down and left me stranded twice in the year and a bit I owned it. Maybe I'd got a lemon? But then you read around the site and other owners are having exactly the same problems. Should a car with excellent build quality leak? I would say not, but some people just accept it as one of those things and it doesn't harm the ownership experience....

Horses for courses, and all that!

Chris

Correct Chris and the fact that the service pricing is on a par with prestigious manufacturers makes the ownership package not as desirable as expected.

The two bug bears with this car are the rattles and the grinding rear brakes. Skoda better sort this for the new Vrs or my monies off to another stealer.

Nope in fact its the only car that I've not regretted buying! 3 years on and 60k miles and I'm still loving it.

The only thing I regret is the 5% of the time when the roads are dog rough and the car does not like it one bit.

The rest - very very good.

The near instant urge - without drama without fuss and noise.

Sometimes I think the power is a bit mundane - then I see an overtaking opportunity and wonder 'will it make it'. Answer - always - absolutely no problem.

As Klaxon said - the power comes in as a wrecking ball and then it's all over too soon, but then you've gone past the car in front with ease (or similar).

For myself Skoda got this bit just right - power where you most often need it.

As for build quality, reliability - no problems (touch wood), but do drive very 'mechanically sympathetically'.

'Treated' the seats too - so any dirt / whatever cleans off with a damp cloth (e.g. had stitches burst in my shoulder recently - big patch of blood on white upholstery, damp cloth and gone).

I enjoyed owning my Fab VRS but after 14 months I have sold it, nothing I particularly didnt like but it was paid for, my circumstances have changed and my milleage doesnt require me to drive a diesel so it will be replaced with a Leon.

After all the hassle, niggling faults and ineffective service from the dealers, yes part of me is starting to regret buying my vrs.

Had it 5 months and the creaking drivers seat when I go round corners, rattling rear seats (leather), rattling glove box, rattling speedo cover, corroded wheels, leaking door seals and now a dealer who managed to lose my frigging service book (DM Keith, Leeds) i'm not sure how much more I can take!

Please tell me it'll get better!

After all the hassle, niggling faults and ineffective service from the dealers, yes part of me is starting to regret buying my vrs.

Had it 5 months and the creaking drivers seat when I go round corners, rattling rear seats (leather), rattling glove box, rattling speedo cover, corroded wheels, leaking door seals and now a dealer who managed to lose my frigging service book (DM Keith, Leeds) i'm not sure how much more I can take!

Please tell me it'll get better!

Gordon your car has exactly the same problems as mine and I use the same dealer who did not loose my service book but did damage the plastic door trim and scratch the body work when repairing the seat base.

P.s the car is now nicknamed the vibrator!

Get real man life is not perfect cars are not perfect if you want reliable 100% buy a honda or a toyota but you will pay a lot more than 12grand for an equivalent car (not that they really have a direct equivalent) to the fabia vrs.

:rofl:

I had a (

I had a (

just goes to show that even buying Japanese isn't the safe bet it was once regarded to be...

I think the problem is that on the whole ALL cars are so much better than they used to be. Back in the days when VW were saying 'if only everything in life was as reliable as a Volkswagen' they weren't particularly good by modern standards - they did rattle and bits did come off, but they rarely broke down so people were happy with them because they expected problems as part of running a car.

These days it's back to the dealer with every rattle because we expect perfection. The cars are better than ever, especially Japanese cars, but we're getting ever more demanding as customers. Imagine 10 years ago if a group of car owners (especially budget brand owners) were complaining about rattles - you'd laugh at them

Cars are a collection of tens of thousands of separate bits all working together, produced in their thousands and punished for several years once they're completed, frankly I'm amazed we ever make it anywhere

frankly I'm amazed we ever make it anywhere

Yeah, I hear terrible things about the Roadies too... :sofahide:

Fit and finish may have improved over the last 10 years, but so has the complexity - there's sensors for everything and more electrical trickery in the car...all of which seems to be built down to cost, ensuring that things are likely to go wrong...

Rob.

I've been a tad unlucky with the engine, for the rest I've had zero problems - no leaks, and the rest has just been normal wear & tear. Can't say I regret buying it either - I can imagine if the car breaks down on you a few times (regardless of what car) it is enough to want to get rid though, for sure.

Had to fix the stutter myself, the dash creaks, the suspension creaks, the wipers judder, the brakes are poor, the trim's loose, the seats are wrinkled, Skoda dealers and customer service sucks - all-in-all it's a bit of a tub - yes, I'm disappointed and expected better.

I really want to say how much I love my Vrs but the longer I have it the more I'm starting to feel like you :thumbdwn:

I sorted out the brakes & handling + performance generally, and servicing is done by independent specialist now, had no trouble with a VW dealer, and from a servicing perspective the Oxford dealer was fine too (albeit more expensive than the independent one).

Wouldnt have accepted the creaking/stuttering etc tbh. As standard, the car is a warm hatch, a little bouncy on uneven surfaces for sure, and the brakes don't inspire as much confidence as they (IMHO) should. It's not an all-out sports car now though, in fairness

The hybrid makes the power range more usable, and less 'lumped' - get loads of power but for a longer range

Mine is nearly 3 years old (in sept) and its only been back to the Dealer twice, for it's yearly service. Build quality superb, no engine issues. Yes, it throws up the odd creak now and then, but there aint a car in the world that wont squeak or rattle now and then, especially on our shockingly sh!te roads.

It's probably the 11/12th car I have owned (get bored easily) and defo the best.

So no, I do not regret it one bit.

Still regret changing from the mark 1 octy vrs especially for space as we have a wee boy now but the fabia remapped is still a fun car to drive. was going to wait and see what the the new fab vrs was like but too many folk are putting it in the 15k bracket so I think it will be a 2 year old focus st 3 for me after xmas hopefully for about 13k and it is so much more car for the cash than a new fab in the 15k bracket.

Mine is nearly 3 years old (in sept) and its only been back to the Dealer twice, for it's yearly service. Build quality superb, no engine issues. Yes, it throws up the odd creak now and then, but there aint a car in the world that wont squeak or rattle now and then, especially on our shockingly sh!te roads.

It's probably the 11/12th car I have owned (get bored easily) and defo the best.

So no, I do not regret it one bit.

Well... I've not owned by vRS long (all of 2 days) but I can comment with this fascination on Honda cars.

In the last year I've owned two new shape Civics.

One being a red (base) 1.8 EX (top trim) level. This had so many issues on it I can't go in to it now but due to them, Honda relented and gave me a black (met) civic type R "on the cheap".

Now first thing is first, these cars are assembled in Swindon. They are not japanese and due to that, the build quality is not great. Most British engineers worth their salt don't work in this country as we just don't produce anything of merit.

The cloth trim on the 1.8 EX will look ridiculous worn in 2 years. So much so they changed the trim on the Type S and Type R. They both rattle to hell and back. The panels are poorly aligned. The Civic also had a fascinating feature (which took a year to fix might I add) of not being able to open the fuel cap. There's also a rather decent problem with the radio not working/picking up reception and the aircon (dual climate, bells and whistles) freezing your face off even up to 25C.

The Honda paint is also a joke. It's reknowned as soft but even on the metallic variant, the flake is non existant. It's just thin, uninspiring, boring. Oh yes, forgot to mention, the shape of the new civic shows a LOT of the bonnet to the road. You will be getting a full bonnet respray every year to two years if you do a lot of motorway mileage.

Anyway, I changed to the vRS as my mileage is doubling and it's basically costing me nothing in comparison to the Hondas and so far... (it's an 05 plate!) it's ok. Cross my fingers and all that. A few rattles won't put me off though.

The cloth trim on the 1.8 EX will look ridiculous worn in 2 years. So much so they changed the trim on the Type S and Type R.

I don't think thats why the S and R have different interiors.

The Honda paint is also a joke. It's reknowned as soft but even on the metallic variant, the flake is non existant. It's just thin, uninspiring, boring.

What measurements have you had cos when i measured it got similar readings to other manufacturers. :confused:

Yeah, I've even heard of a couple of instances of the handbrakes "failing" on the new Civic, causing them to randomly roll into walls when parked up. Admittedly it's probably a tiny percentage, but just goes to show that even buying Japanese isn't the safe bet it was once regarded to be...

Rob.

I have a 04 Civic Type R and the handbrake is KAK - this is a common thing apparantly. Thankfully I always keep it in gear!...as for the Civic, I'm trading it in this saturday for a vRS!