Fabia VRS MK1 ownership woes
Discussion
After some years of Impreza ownership I decided on a Mk1 Fabia VRS for cheaper motoring while still being a fun to drive car. The Impreza avaraged 23mpg while the Fabia would I thought avarage ~40.
I found a tidy sounding '06 VRS on sale from Westway Nissan. 39,000 miles, FSH, mildly mapped, plus it came with Nissan's Cared4 12 months no quibble warranty, breakdown cover plus a few other bridge insurance type warranties. Great I thought...
First month was great. I was regularly seeing over 50mpg, and even driven really hard the fuel trip wouldn't go below 39.5mpg. I had the timing belt replaced and the next day the turbo pipe blew off - almost zero power and loads of black smoke - limped home, garage said very common with the push fit plastic pipes to pop off after being disturbed. Fitted a new o ring and self tapping screw to make sure it wont come off again
Then after a couple of thousand miles the turbo failed.
Nissan replaced the turbo under warranty. The bill came to £1400, the warranty paid £1000 and I was left to pay the rest
The job wasn't without its problems. Nissan put the wrong engine oil in, so the car went back, with me taking the correct oil to them as their service manager was trying to use a 'similar spec' oil to what Skoda specify I was out driving the following day and ~50 miles from home the rear f the undertray blew off that had just been put back on by Nissan. I had to crawl under the car and lash it up to get home
The car was not right on its return from the turbo replacement. Fuel consumption was up, and power was down (~10% on both). Nissan said 'brim the fuel tank, do 50 or so miles and then brim it again. Work out the fuel consumption and then we'll compare it to what the car should be doing'. WTF kind of thing to say is that? BS or what? I said to them I regularly do a 15 miles run and see ~52mpg, now I see 42. Ended up taking it somewhere else - EGR valve knackered
Rattling & knocking started coming from fns corner. Had the arb bushing changed, knocking still there.
Driving home last night and the turbo manifold to turbo manifold 'flexi' pipe broke. Looks like some clown has tried welding it at some point.
Garage have said there is an injector issue with these engines, although this might be covered under VAG group issue warranty.
And I suppose I have the DMF to deal with soon
I looked and read around before buying the Fabia seeing some stories of owners woes, but thought as I had the good warranties at least I would be covered. Since all this happening I've heard of loads of similar issues with all VAG cars...
For the mileage I cover per year the fuel differences of Impreza/Fabia VRS ownership is ~£1500 more, but all things considered that's a small price to pay for increased reliability as all things considered the Scooby never let me down
Edit: forgot to add - Console bushed needed replacing almost straight away, and the rear door seals
I found a tidy sounding '06 VRS on sale from Westway Nissan. 39,000 miles, FSH, mildly mapped, plus it came with Nissan's Cared4 12 months no quibble warranty, breakdown cover plus a few other bridge insurance type warranties. Great I thought...
First month was great. I was regularly seeing over 50mpg, and even driven really hard the fuel trip wouldn't go below 39.5mpg. I had the timing belt replaced and the next day the turbo pipe blew off - almost zero power and loads of black smoke - limped home, garage said very common with the push fit plastic pipes to pop off after being disturbed. Fitted a new o ring and self tapping screw to make sure it wont come off again
Then after a couple of thousand miles the turbo failed.
Nissan replaced the turbo under warranty. The bill came to £1400, the warranty paid £1000 and I was left to pay the rest
The job wasn't without its problems. Nissan put the wrong engine oil in, so the car went back, with me taking the correct oil to them as their service manager was trying to use a 'similar spec' oil to what Skoda specify I was out driving the following day and ~50 miles from home the rear f the undertray blew off that had just been put back on by Nissan. I had to crawl under the car and lash it up to get home
The car was not right on its return from the turbo replacement. Fuel consumption was up, and power was down (~10% on both). Nissan said 'brim the fuel tank, do 50 or so miles and then brim it again. Work out the fuel consumption and then we'll compare it to what the car should be doing'. WTF kind of thing to say is that? BS or what? I said to them I regularly do a 15 miles run and see ~52mpg, now I see 42. Ended up taking it somewhere else - EGR valve knackered
Rattling & knocking started coming from fns corner. Had the arb bushing changed, knocking still there.
Driving home last night and the turbo manifold to turbo manifold 'flexi' pipe broke. Looks like some clown has tried welding it at some point.
Garage have said there is an injector issue with these engines, although this might be covered under VAG group issue warranty.
And I suppose I have the DMF to deal with soon
I looked and read around before buying the Fabia seeing some stories of owners woes, but thought as I had the good warranties at least I would be covered. Since all this happening I've heard of loads of similar issues with all VAG cars...
For the mileage I cover per year the fuel differences of Impreza/Fabia VRS ownership is ~£1500 more, but all things considered that's a small price to pay for increased reliability as all things considered the Scooby never let me down
Edit: forgot to add - Console bushed needed replacing almost straight away, and the rear door seals
Edited by bonesX on Tuesday 20th November 14:40
www.briskoda.co.uk
They will be able to help you with all you need to know
Im fully aware of the Turbo pipe coming off, quite common but as for the injectors and other bits im not sure
They will be able to help you with all you need to know
Im fully aware of the Turbo pipe coming off, quite common but as for the injectors and other bits im not sure
Interesting story especially seeing as the Fabia was one of my shortlist for replacements for the Zed, for much the same reason.
I had a similar story with a Clio 172, which was supposed to be a cheap runabout and turned into a horrendously expensive one. Not the cars fault, maybe, but it didn't make me feel any better knowing that.
Sometimes its better the devil you know....
I had a similar story with a Clio 172, which was supposed to be a cheap runabout and turned into a horrendously expensive one. Not the cars fault, maybe, but it didn't make me feel any better knowing that.
Sometimes its better the devil you know....
Turbo pipes are a common problem on almost all VAG TDI's
How did the garage managed to get the blown turbo to cost £1400? Usual cost for this would be around £600 if you had a non franchise dealer do the fix.
ARB droplinks are not unusual on these, its a small car designed for little engines, with a heavy diesel engine (remember the same power plant went in the Audi A6) in and stiffer suspension, if its been driven hard its not unlikely for them to need replacing.
Sounds all fairly "normal" to me.....
How did the garage managed to get the blown turbo to cost £1400? Usual cost for this would be around £600 if you had a non franchise dealer do the fix.
ARB droplinks are not unusual on these, its a small car designed for little engines, with a heavy diesel engine (remember the same power plant went in the Audi A6) in and stiffer suspension, if its been driven hard its not unlikely for them to need replacing.
Sounds all fairly "normal" to me.....
TameRacingDriver said:
I had a similar story with a Clio 172, which was supposed to be a cheap runabout and turned into a horrendously expensive one.
Anyone who tells you a 172 is a "cheap" runabout is talking nonsense....My sister has a CUP, 30MPG is she is lucky, VED is band J, Cambelt is a stinker of a job and will set you back about £600 and check the insurance Group.......big_boz said:
Anyone who tells you a 172 is a "cheap" runabout is talking nonsense....My sister has a CUP, 30MPG is she is lucky, VED is band J, Cambelt is a stinker of a job and will set you back about £600 and check the insurance Group.......
You don't have to tell me, I know from bitter and twisted experience. The Zed has actually been a cheaper car to run than that was for me.Of course if nowt goes wrong, then yes, it won't be too bad to run, but its a Renault, its only a matter of time!
I needed to return the car to Nissan to use the warranty (or did I?) after all that was the place I bout the car from. The turbo invoice cost is listed as £755+VAT
Turbo air pipes popping off are common, as are arb bushes, DMF's, turbos, injectors.
VAG seem a little less reliable than most, but I'm now thinking modern diesels, especially performance diesels are just one thing after another
Turbo air pipes popping off are common, as are arb bushes, DMF's, turbos, injectors.
VAG seem a little less reliable than most, but I'm now thinking modern diesels, especially performance diesels are just one thing after another
bonesX said:
VAG seem a little less reliable than most, but I'm now thinking modern diesels, especially performance diesels are just one thing after another
The 1.9 in the Fabia is most certainly not known as being unreliable, you just happen to have experienced all the standard issues at the same time, most people get the luxury of having the problems spread over time, or not seeing them at all.I know a guy with a very hard driven early VRS with big miles that goes to the Ring every year, he swapped the ARB and suspension bushes for Poly items when they went, the turbo is still going strong though after 150k miles, and he drives it with a very heavy right foot.....
cra1gy1989 said:
Problems I've had with mine in 22k miles...
Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
.....rack ends, track rod ends, Windows stopped working...Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
cra1gy1989 said:
Problems I've had with mine in 22k miles...
Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
Crikey, that's hard luck. What figures have yours been mapped to?Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
bonesX said:
cra1gy1989 said:
Problems I've had with mine in 22k miles...
Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
Crikey, that's hard luck. What figures have yours been mapped to?Since remmaped, blown turbo, oil leak from new turbo, dmf, clutch and gearbox, abs links both sides, front console bushes, front wishbones, both rear wheel bearings, boot won't open.... the list goes on....
t off a shovel when it works though!!Off topic but the Wikipedia article is funny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Fabia#Fab...
"Official figures state 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 9.6 seconds, but several motoring magazines and websites have measured faster times (around the 7.0-7.5 seconds range) (Autocar: 7.1 seconds,[2] Auto Express: 8.1 seconds,[3] and FastHatchbacks.com: 8.5 seconds[4]). The in gear acceleration times are 50-70 mph in 5.6 seconds, quicker than BMW's 330i which takes 6.0 seconds. 20-40 mph in 2.4 seconds is as quick as the Lotus Elise 111R. Despite this the Fabia vRS can achieve better than 6.2 L/100 km (46 mpg-imp; 38 mpg-US). If driven carefully some drivers have experienced MPG rates of 65-70 mpg over long periods.[clarification needed][citation needed] The Fabia VRS has a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h)."
"Official figures state 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 9.6 seconds, but several motoring magazines and websites have measured faster times (around the 7.0-7.5 seconds range) (Autocar: 7.1 seconds,[2] Auto Express: 8.1 seconds,[3] and FastHatchbacks.com: 8.5 seconds[4]). The in gear acceleration times are 50-70 mph in 5.6 seconds, quicker than BMW's 330i which takes 6.0 seconds. 20-40 mph in 2.4 seconds is as quick as the Lotus Elise 111R. Despite this the Fabia vRS can achieve better than 6.2 L/100 km (46 mpg-imp; 38 mpg-US). If driven carefully some drivers have experienced MPG rates of 65-70 mpg over long periods.[clarification needed][citation needed] The Fabia VRS has a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h)."
tercelgold said:
Off topic but the Wikipedia article is funny https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%A0koda_Fabia#Fab...
"Official figures state 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 9.6 seconds, but several motoring magazines and websites have measured faster times (around the 7.0-7.5 seconds range) (Autocar: 7.1 seconds,[2] Auto Express: 8.1 seconds,[3] and FastHatchbacks.com: 8.5 seconds[4]). The in gear acceleration times are 50-70 mph in 5.6 seconds, quicker than BMW's 330i which takes 6.0 seconds. 20-40 mph in 2.4 seconds is as quick as the Lotus Elise 111R. Despite this the Fabia vRS can achieve better than 6.2 L/100 km (46 mpg-imp; 38 mpg-US). If driven carefully some drivers have experienced MPG rates of 65-70 mpg over long periods.[clarification needed][citation needed] The Fabia VRS has a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h)."
I wouldn't say its far off! I can get its wheels spinning in 4-5th gear at 65mph in the wet! Also on a motorway run, can get 60-65 miles for a 10er"Official figures state 0 to 100 km/h (62 mph) takes 9.6 seconds, but several motoring magazines and websites have measured faster times (around the 7.0-7.5 seconds range) (Autocar: 7.1 seconds,[2] Auto Express: 8.1 seconds,[3] and FastHatchbacks.com: 8.5 seconds[4]). The in gear acceleration times are 50-70 mph in 5.6 seconds, quicker than BMW's 330i which takes 6.0 seconds. 20-40 mph in 2.4 seconds is as quick as the Lotus Elise 111R. Despite this the Fabia vRS can achieve better than 6.2 L/100 km (46 mpg-imp; 38 mpg-US). If driven carefully some drivers have experienced MPG rates of 65-70 mpg over long periods.[clarification needed][citation needed] The Fabia VRS has a top speed of 128 mph (206 km/h)."
Edited by cra1gy1989 on Tuesday 20th November 15:01
cra1gy1989 said:
Since remmaped, blown turbo
Yep. VERY common on VAG and BMW diesels.What do you expect though? The turbos are run at a boost pressure VAG deemed safe for that unit, then you take it along to A.N.Other serial port flasher who doubles the requested boost pressure. The turbo lets go and then the car is branded as unreliable.
The turbos on the MK5 Golf 2.0 TDIs are a weak spot too and like being over spun even less.
Downpipe flexis can break because VAG use soft engine mounts, but busted DMFs and flexis usually always = excessive use of right foot.
I'm seeing a car that's lead a hard life here, not a car that's riddled with design flaws.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff