Hi,

Just thought I would drop in and say hello.Ive had my VRS Fabia for approximately 8 x weeks from new and its more than lived up to expectations.

Mine in red with the Zenon lights and sony autochanger.

An absolute delight to drive up until yesterday.....

On route to Carlisle and about 80 x miles from home in the middle of nowhere on some obscure country road it ground to a halt in plumes of smoke and horrendous mechanical clatter which is more than a little sickening for a car showing 1049 miles on the clock and still being run-in ( ie gentle acceleration and not exceeding 3,000 rpm.

I immediately pushed the clutch in, turned the engine off and stopped.

Fortunately I was only doing a steady 35mph at the time.

I immediately contacted the AA/Skoda assistance number who despatched the AA.

Whilst waiting for the AA I lifted the bonnet but couldn't see anything amiss (Iam ,however not exactly an expert!)however the AA patrol shone his torch down the left hand side of the engine bay and pointed out where the cam-belt pulley had come loose and dropped off.

Very very worrying.

Bob

sorry to hear that. i presume it was fixed by the trusty AA guy? dealership should be open today for further advice/explanations ! when do you intend to stop 'running it in' and really enjoying it? i was told by the dealer that 1000 miles was about enough so have been driving at every opportunity to get to that figure - with only the occasional trip over 3000revs to annoy audis/bmw's etc

Hi Steve,The AA guy couldn't fix it.He indicated it was a major repair so we returned home on the AA relay truck and straight to the dealer ( took about 2 x long slow hrs) where my VRS was dropped off in their compound.

To cap the day I was given short thrift at the dealer who told me it was the AA's responsibility to get me a replacement car under the AA/Skoda scheme.

To be fair he made numerous calls however the earliest would be this tuesday from a rental firm in Durham.

I live in York.

Back into the dealer again ( salesman ignoring me) who told me they didn't have a car to loan me and sent me back to the AA man who was waiting on the forecourt who made further calls but to no avail.

This went on for about an hour til eventually I was thrown the keys to a 1.2 petrol Fabia comfort belonging to the garage who let me know they they were now a courtesy car short!!!.

I just hope my engines not wrecked.

Bob

When one of my coilpacks failed on my octy my local dealer had no problems providing me with one of their own courtesy cars. I had the car for a week whilst they had the octy

sounds like you've been a bit roughly treated by that dealer (any chance of a name and shame?) bit surprised about the 'having to go thro the AA' for a courtesy car - surely the garage doing the work should offer you one anyway?

Sorry to hear about your car Bob, hope everything gets sorted asap.

Apparantly with the Skoda/AA scheme that comes with all new Skodas the AA recover the car to a dealer and then take you to a rental premesis where you get free rental for 48hrs.

I have a feeling my own car will be in dock for a little longer than that.

What really annoyed me was not the fact my car has broken down ( as ANY car can at ANY time), its the fact that my car broke down yesterday at 11am wherby I rang the dealer and AA immediately.

The where busy ( due to bank holiday weekend) but kept me regularly updated with ETA's and they eventually found me/turned up just before 2.30pm.

I had my young son with me so that added to the grief however I did expect a little more from the dealership bearing in mind they recently where more than happy to ply me with coffee as I handed over my 12 x grand.

By the time I got to the dealership I was tired/starving ( son included) and more than a little perplexed that my new pride and joy had let me down and to be given the brush-off/ ignored/fobbed off is,to me the annoying factor in all of this.

Welcome to the site.

Sorry to hear about your problems. unfortunately, due to the tdi130 engine being a very mass produced engine, there has got to be a failure rate on them early on. sounds like the engine will need a complete rebuild due to bent valves. alternatvely they may just order a new complete engine.. so unfortunately you would have to run it in all again :(

As for the Dealer treatment. i would let the dealer and Skoda CS know of your displeasure and dissapointment of their service.

Sorry to hear you have had bad luck with your new car, and iffy service too. Assuming there is major damage to the top end of the engine, ask for a new engine to be fitted - or a replacement car of the same spec.

I'd tend to agree with Denis assuming there is major engine damage.

I think i'd push for a new car though, a replacement engine on a brand-new car is unnaccptable IMHO.

Welcome Toned F !

Welcome Toned.d sorry to hear you've had problems with your new furby, hope it gets sorted out soon.

Welcome to Briskoda. As with all the other posts. I am sorry to hear your bad experience. There are some dealers out there that don't seem to want to help. Hope your car gets sorted soon.