Had it for 4 months, 7 weeks of that it has been in for repairs.

Now traded in for something else (non-Skoda)

Latest problems being electric window faults, very sluggish acceleration accompanied by a rattle and power steering noise.

Hard to believe this car came 4th in Top Gear survey.

In the 4 months I have owned it.

Leaky doors

Gearbox faults

Power steering faults

Throttle faults

Failed MOT

Accelerator fault

Electric window faults

These are all problems reported elsewhere. I figure Skoda Auto rushed this car out to beat the VW Polo (which I have also owned and experienced no problems). VW seemed to get the Polo sorted before launch. Design issues have not been addressed post production (leaks reported on 56 plate Fabias !!!!)

The lesson learnt is: 'Don't believe the hype'

Skoda are cheaper than VW for a reason and I think I've found that reason.

Older Fabia circa 2002 - had faults (see Honest John website)

A lot were resolved / fixed after that.

Diesel versions in general very reliable.

Looks like you were unlucky......

Sounds like the previous owner neglected it TBH...

Yeah, a 'Sunday car'. :(

With concurrent ownership we have had a total of 9 years of skoda motoring.3years Fabia 1.4,3 years Fabia vRS,3 years Octavia vRS

Needed a fuse for the wipers on our first Fabia and ..well...thats about it.

Think you were unlucky:( .Hope your new car is better.

No skodas in the garage at the moment,currently gone Japanese but I will always recommend them and sing their praises

the Fabia was the testbed for the new platform, hence all the things that were learnt were incorporated in to the Polo before it went on sale

I had one of the first TDI Fabias in 2000, and it was well-nigh perfect. You've been unlucky.

You can't blame an MOT fail on Skoda.

Every brand will have it's problems, for sure if you had a similar age Ford or Vauxhall then you'd be in the same boat.

Had it for 4 months, 7 weeks of that it has been in for repairs.

Now traded in for something else (non-Skoda)

Latest problems being electric window faults, very sluggish acceleration accompanied by a rattle and power steering noise.

Hard to believe this car came 4th in Top Gear survey.

In the 4 months I have owned it.

Leaky doors

Gearbox faults

Power steering faults

Throttle faults

Failed MOT

Accelerator fault

Electric window faults

These are all problems reported elsewhere. I figure Skoda Auto rushed this car out to beat the VW Polo (which I have also owned and experienced no problems). VW seemed to get the Polo sorted before launch. Design issues have not been addressed post production (leaks reported on 56 plate Fabias !!!!)

The lesson learnt is: 'Don't believe the hype'

Skoda are cheaper than VW for a reason and I think I've found that reason.

Sweeping generalizations there of the whole Skoda brand, based on 4months experiance with 1 not new motor?

I think your making a mistake.

As you say, they're common problems and you'd hope that they'd be able to fix them all. I left Skoda for similar reasons (as well as silly high parts and labour costs) and I know I'm not alone. Good luck with your new car

Chris

As above, i have had my 53 fabia for 9 months and not one problem at all! (touch wood!) taljk about a sweeping statement. Every product has dodgy units, I have had sony products that have not worked, this does not mean sony are a bad brand. I think a little common sense is in order.

What have you replaced it with? Hope it lives upto expectations!

Steve

VW have/had a solid reputation for quality and with this in mind I purchased a ml3 Golf....and it was shockingly sh!t. Thinking perhaps i was unlucky I then went a got a mk4 Golf.....and that was worse. I spent more time in the garage than ever before.

Got my current fab RS from new in sept 04 and have had nil probs.

There will always be bad apples, it's the luck of the draw i'm afraid.

Good luck with your new purchase tho'.

I've had some pretty old cars over time - Peugeot 205s, a pretty old Fiesta, a Renault 21, Rover 100.

All had their own strengths and weaknesses. The older cars with fewer electric toys could be fixed up quite easily. Electrical faults on the French cars in particular, overheating on the R21, but just the usual wear & tear stuff beyond that.

Labour prices are quite high and I went to independants instead. I always used to do that with the older cars and it makes a massive saving.

My Fabia has always had OEM parts fitted where servicing is concerned, and apart from the overheating in the top of the engine that killed the engine eventually, the only problems I've had were the fuel filler cap cable coming out (once), fixed FOC by Skoda Newbury, and a bit of plastic trim dropping off (just put it back myself and it was fine). 71k done with the car.

Regardless though - if you are unhappy with a particular experience you may move to a different brand and be happy there. And why not

the Fabia was the testbed for the new platform, hence all the things that were learnt were incorporated in to the Polo before it went on sale

Exactly, remember Skoda, Volkswagen and Seat are all members of the same family and VAG descided to give Skoda the chance to launch this new platform first to improve their image.

As a 2003MY Polo owner (from new), I do not agree that much was learnt prior to setting the Polo launch date - any improvements in all models using this platform have been made as expected, in the light of experience as manufacture/sales progressed. I think if this thread's original poster had bought a similar engined Polo then similar problems, on the whole, would have probably appeared. Okay interior fabrics/materials are better with VW and maybe some "tools and whistles" - but all the bits underneath are common in general.

Had it for 4 months, 7 weeks of that it has been in for repairs.

Now traded in for something else (non-Skoda)

Latest problems being electric window faults, very sluggish acceleration accompanied by a rattle and power steering noise.

Hard to believe this car came 4th in Top Gear survey.

In the 4 months I have owned it.

Leaky doors

Gearbox faults

Power steering faults

Throttle faults

Failed MOT

Accelerator fault

Electric window faults

Out of intrest how much did you loose on trade in?

I bought mine 3 months ago and want to trade it in but would be looking at loosing