Hi All. A friend of mine is looking into buying a Fabia vRS (currently owns a 53 plate 206 2.0HDi 90) He would like to know the things to look out for when buying a used one, common problems etc.

I am only aware of a few, like the petrol cap clips breaking and the door seals leaking. Are there any major faults with these cars that need to be checked when viewing?

Any help much appreciated.

Regards,

Al

front roll bar collars break allowing the bar to move across,

front console bushes split

corrosion on rear brakes

bumper paint can peel

evap sensor for aircon fails

steering sensor fails

washer pipes become detached

trim rattles

i hope this won't put you friend off , my 04 VRS has only had the a couple of those faults ,not all cars get all or any of those faults , you've already mentioned the most prevalent fault , door water leaks

Thanks for the reply and info. My friend is a Skoda lover like me and its the only car he wants so he will probably follow his heart rather than his head so to speak.

He wont consider a Seat or VW as in his words, he wants something different rather than the boring ordinary. Im hoping he will follow this advice and get a good one.

Anything MY06 or newer chances are will have 'the stutter' a part from this the only thing mine developed was a creaking seat base on the drivers seat, I never got chance to take it in to get fixed though...

I got mine with 6000km some 5 months ago and also asked around what faults to look for... Fortunately I got none of them. Guess it has to do with the fact it's a MY06, and so most of the problems had already been taken care of by SKODA... It's done more than 20000km now, and no problem at sight.

Not even the engine stutter, only a slight ocasional hesitation that doesn't make a difference to me.

Anyway, if you search around you'll find the complete fault list I was given here, though I think it must be pretty much what ric04vrs pointed out.

The only pain in the neck is the freaking seats, they keep getting dirty. But then that also depends on some of the passengers. One of mine puked on my back seat. Luckily I kept some preventive puke sacks in the front seats' pockets and the damage wasn't dreadful

my 06 fabia vrs vibrates in 4th gear at 2000 rpm when planted, once the rpm reaches 2500 rpm its fine. Any ideas what could be wrong

I got mine with 6000km some 5 months ago and also asked around what faults to look for... Fortunately I got none of them. Guess it has to do with the fact it's a MY06, and so most of the problems had already been taken care of by SKODA... It's done more than 20000km now, and no problem at sight.

Not even the engine stutter, only a slight ocasional hesitation that doesn't make a difference to me.

Anyway, if you search around you'll find the complete fault list I was given here, though I think it must be pretty much what ric04vrs pointed out.

The only pain in the neck is the freaking seats, they keep getting dirty. But then that also depends on some of the passengers. One of mine puked on my back seat. Luckily I kept some preventive puke sacks in the front seats' pockets and the damage wasn't dreadful

Giandougl

18/01/2009

Fitted tailored seat covers for my Fabia 2005 VRS, expensive, well worth the money though. Look up "Mucky Joes" from "Hatchbag" on the net.

Edited 18 January, 200917 yr by giandougl
Date fault

The only pain in the neck is the freaking seats, they keep getting dirty. But then that also depends on some of the passengers. One of mine puked on my back seat. Luckily I kept some preventive puke sacks in the front seats' pockets and the damage wasn't dreadful

Heavy-footed?

It's always fun to give your passengers a ride of their lives. It's not so funny anymore when they'll give you their lunch.

If it is remapped, booting it at 2000rpm is asking for trouble with the Dual Mass Flywheel (DMF). The DMF cannot handle the torque peak there, and over time it will start to vibrate more.

If is is not remapped, it will eventually do the same. I would recommend avoiding booting it hard at low revs, it is not great for fuel economy, it does not sound too great either, and dropping it a gear will accelerate smoothly, quickly, and your car will last much longer for the bits involved

You'll find if you repeat the same in 5th and 6th, it will be even more pronounced

Leaky rear doors..... washer pipes that pop off when used if still frozen.... Clutch that bites ever so slightly when stood in traffic for long periods, (a few have mentioned it being the master clutch cylinder????)

Cheers

Dave.

I drove mine for about 70k miles. A lot of it was with a various state of tune. The only thing that went wrong that I would contribute to the build was a bit of plastic trim, passenger side, falling out once. No problems beyond that.

Most cars I've owned I've owned with 'big mileage' or quite old. Most cars have some faults, a lot of them are relatively easy to fix though.

I'll second the leaky doors plus front supension bushes failing prematurely.

Note:- If you want to 'FEEL' the kick of the torque, keep engine around 2100 rpm , this just keeps the turbo spinning and as you gradually ease the pedal down - Away you go