Took delivery of a 1.4 Fabia 3 a little over a week ago so thought I'd put my thoughts/impressions down on paper so to speak.

Build quality is very very very good inside and out. Everything is screwed together very well, no rattles, no creaking plastics. Quality of plastics is good, more utilitarian than excellent - they are hard and certainly look like they will last a life time. With Onyx/onyx interior there is a mass of black plastic which would be very dull however the radio and ac displays together with dull metallic trims on vents and door handles help break it all up nicely.

Outside the look and feel is of a solid "German" car, finish is excellent, the front is very pleasing. From the side it looks to be sitting too high - there is a big gap between top of tires and wheel arch which makes the car look jacked up. It’s just not quite right. Apart from that the car has a nice shape.

Cabin space is remarkable; I can’t get over how big it feels inside. This is partially because of the deep dash but even at 6' I have no leg room problems at all. Head room is very good (no sunroof fitted on mine) to the point where Clarkson would have enough room. I went looking for what they had compromised to get this but the boot is bigger than I expected, passenger leg room is restricted but still useable with the front seats all the way back

Power steering is a little overpowered for my taste but nothing I could complain about. Brakes are surprisingly good given its drum on the rear, I think with hindsight I should have gone for all round disc.

Handling is excellent - particularly road holding with the car feeling planted and very little body roll

The petrol 1.4 85bhp engine is gutless, to get anything like acceleration you have to use the full rev range which in turn chews fuel. Has to be said I bought the car so my daughter can learn to drive and get some no claims as a named driver so I deliberately went for a smaller engine than I normally would like.

The gear leaver feels good in the hand but the shape makes you have the top of the leaver resting in the palm of your hand. So what? Well the gearshift is clunky when moving between gates which means you need some positive force to go between gears. If your pushing the stick to get to 1st you can also inadvertently push down on the stick - which in turn means you can get reverse rather than 1st if your not careful. The spring on the leaver needs to be a lot stronger imo or the gear selection needs to be a lot cleaner. Regardless, this is a minor complaint and the shift isn’t terrible its just a little clunky. Ive already found myself adapting to it so its becoming less of a issue for me.

Equipment is very very good given the price. The radio is a great bit of kit in its own right with things like support for Ipods. Sound is good but not fantastic, its certainly loud enough but despite all the speakers it still needs something but its certainly acceptable.

Seat fabric is going to be a bugger to keep clean as it seems to have a velcro like ability to pull stray threads from clothing onto itself and hold it there with a death grip.

All together I’m very very impressed with the car which exceeds my expectations in (almost) every area. The gearbox is the only fly in the ointment and even that is a minor niggle.

I would have absolutely no hesitation recommending the car, it really is very very good.

If your pushing the stick to get to 1st you can also inadvertently push down on the stick - which in turn means you can get reverse rather than 1st if your not careful. The spring on the leaver needs to be a lot stronger imo or the gear selection needs to be a lot cleaner.

Found same thing on the MK1 gearbox, especially when from new and not use to the gear arrangement, personally dont like having the reverse gear next to first.

Glad your enjoying your car

Oh Welcome to Briskoda.

Equipment is very very good given the price. The radio is a great bit of kit in its own right with things like support for Ipods. Sound is good but not fantastic, its certainly loud enough but despite all the speakers it still needs something but its certainly acceptable.

If you haven't done so already, try the stereo with a decent CD. My Roomster has the same audio setup as the new Fabia and provided you have the sound set up well the sound quality is great. Radio reception/quality in comparison seems a little patchy.

Maybe the gearbox will loosen up a little with time?

Interesting that you say about the gearbox as I drove a petrol Fabia when my diesel went in for a service and the gearbox on the petrol felt very very different - a lot looser.

No idea if that is because of the difference in fuel type or something else.

And whilst reviewing the new Fabia I've a 1.4TDI Level 2 and my only problems are:

1) Can't dim the instrument pannel

2) In the summer sun very hard to see if the air con was on or not

3) In the winter the heating seems to push out more hot air the faster you drive and it is very hard to get a decent temp - perhaps I should've gone for the climate control?

Other than that with nearly 12000 miles covered it is a very good, very solid car and a joy to drive.

nice review there. i beleive you will find the gearbox opens up quite nicely after some mileage. after about 3000 miles i noticed it feeling a good deal better and easier to change gears without feeling loose.

the 3 is a brilliant choice imoa too! climate, cruise, armrest, leather steering wheel etc all adds to that "quality" feel.

Ive found the 1.4 does start to loosen up but not to the extent of the tdi's but again after a good run in period they seem to be happy revving away. but as you have said its no sports car.

what dealer did you use? were they any good? theres a section where you can leave good/bad comments on your dealer experiance too.

I used a variety of web car brokers to get an idea of what sort of discounts where available. I used broadspeed in the end as I found some positive feedback from customers on various fora and the web engine was pretty good. I spent a lot of time on whatcar's site as well which was great for depreciation etc

Having never bought a car from the Internet ,so to speak, it was a bit nerve-racking as you part with cash to someone you havent met against what is an electronic order ie nothing. Still, thats what credit card insurance is all about.

The dealer they "introduced" me to was Wings of Peterborough who where fine. The whole thing went like clockwork with plenty of communication both surface and e mail. Apart from the sales cycle I havent had any further dealings with them so can only rate the sales experience as good.

Either Im getting used to the gearbox or its getting slicker, either way its much improved after a 500 miles. The car is in Black which is proving a bugger to keep clean - as is to be expected at the moment

I used a variety of web car brokers to get an idea of what sort of discounts where available. I used broadspeed in the end as I found some positive feedback from customers on various fora and the web engine was pretty good. I spent a lot of time on whatcar's site as well which was great for depreciation etc

Having never bought a car from the Internet ,so to speak, it was a bit nerve-racking as you part with cash to someone you havent met against what is an electronic order ie nothing. Still, thats what credit card insurance is all about.

The dealer they "introduced" me to was Wings of Peterborough who where fine. The whole thing went like clockwork with plenty of communication both surface and e mail. Apart from the sales cycle I havent had any further dealings with them so can only rate the sales experience as good.

Either Im getting used to the gearbox or its getting slicker, either way its much improved after a 500 miles. The car is in Black which is proving a bugger to keep clean - as is to be expected at the moment

if you dont mind me asking what was the delivery turnaround like?

around 2 weeks start to finish

I originaly went for a black 2 onyx/onyx 1.4, changed that to a 3 as there was one in the country already.

So, how does the suspension feel? Does it feel weak and crashy over bumps and bad roads, or is it refined?

Nate

Susension is remarkably good but it is on the firm side. Havent tried it on country roads yet but on the tarmac and speed bumps around MK its nice.

Had my Fabia 2 1.4td (80) since 2 nov 07. Very good car, well built, with a great driving position. I have to agree about the 1st gear issue and how you can select reverse, I ve done it a couple of times. It happened when you select 1st in a hurry and push the stick down, apart from that the gear box is very easy to use and gear selection is no problem.

The only little issue I have is when the rear doors are open, any water on the roof around the door, runs down the side of the roof and onto the side of the back seat.

I have to say it's my first Skoda and I would definately buy another one .

I am getting over 50mpg and the road tax is £35 a year, what more can you ask for.

Nice write up Mox. Thanks. I know what you mean about the magical attraction powers of the seats as the ones in my Passat are just the same. Really is a problem to keep them looking tidy.

We are looking at changing 'er indoors car later this year (she currently drives a Focus) and I am thinking in terms of a Fabia 3 or Sport.

Would appreciate it if you can keep us all up to speed with how you get on with your new car over the next couple of months. Its always good to have first hand points of view, especially when you pick up the story from "new."

Cheers!

Pete