2006 Skoda Fabia vRS
Discussion
Picked this up this week. '06 Skoda Fabia vRS - 67k miles
Original registation in Liverpool. Purchased from a used car dealer in Birmingham (very good service received from them - would recommend) no major scratches other than on the nearside sill. Seems to have had a new bonnet at some point, stickers are brand new etc and 8 years of wear and tear are visible in the screws but the paint is mint :S nearside front strut has new bolts compared to the rusty bolts on the offside.
Issues:
Rear offside light cluster is cracked
Backs of the seats are dirty, but white seats and its 8 years old so what do you expect.
Primewell tyres on the front, Westlake and a Pirelli on the rear axle
Missing battery cover
Mirrors show glue melting from the heated mirrors switch being permanently on
Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Should save me some monies every month compared to the Octavia 4x4 Turbo that it replaces. She was damaged beyond economic repair unfortunately. So miss the turbo noise of the 1.8T already.
Original registation in Liverpool. Purchased from a used car dealer in Birmingham (very good service received from them - would recommend) no major scratches other than on the nearside sill. Seems to have had a new bonnet at some point, stickers are brand new etc and 8 years of wear and tear are visible in the screws but the paint is mint :S nearside front strut has new bolts compared to the rusty bolts on the offside.
Issues:
Rear offside light cluster is cracked
Backs of the seats are dirty, but white seats and its 8 years old so what do you expect.
Primewell tyres on the front, Westlake and a Pirelli on the rear axle
Missing battery cover
Mirrors show glue melting from the heated mirrors switch being permanently on
Overall I'm happy with my purchase. Should save me some monies every month compared to the Octavia 4x4 Turbo that it replaces. She was damaged beyond economic repair unfortunately. So miss the turbo noise of the 1.8T already.
Very nice, SWMBO decided she wanted one of these rather than the various golfs/leons/etc on sale and we've been chuffed with it.
Damp microfibre cloth can work wonders on the seats, although I picked up some seat covers from ebay to avoid the issue.
I thought the mirror heaters are supposed to switch off automatically after 10 mins, didn't even realise ours had heating for months and left it on all the time yet still works fine.
Damp microfibre cloth can work wonders on the seats, although I picked up some seat covers from ebay to avoid the issue.
I thought the mirror heaters are supposed to switch off automatically after 10 mins, didn't even realise ours had heating for months and left it on all the time yet still works fine.
You did well to get a low miler. I considered buying one of those when I got my Seat Leon TDI instead. Wish I'd bought the Skoda too as the Leon needed loads of money spent. The white seats are daft though.
Bought from the same Birmingham car dealer too, if the rear number plate on your car is anything to go by. They tried to sell me the car without fixing a couple of the problems I'd found on the test drive, and asked them to fix, and also with the cam belt/water pump replacement overdue. Took me a long time and lots of phone calls and back and forth journeys to get the issues sorted. Would not touch that dealer with a bargepole!
Anyway, nice car. Getting them remapped is a must - my Leon is a 150hp TDI but it felt slow until I had it remapped.
Also watch out for pressure pipework leaks between the turbo, intercooler and intake manifold. The bayonet hose fittings wear and the O-ring seals used in the joints leak. Also get the water pump replaced if the original plastic-impeller pump is still in situ as the impeller tends to separate. Might as well get the cambelt and tensioner done at the same time. EGR valves can coke up but blanking them off brings on the check engine light. The EGR flow can be adjusted to a minimum though using VCDS, or a small metal gasket with a small hole in it can be inserted in the EGR take-off from the exhaust manifold.
Be sure to use PD-specific engine oil and change it regularly and the engine should be pretty bombproof, even if remapped. Suspension upgrades might be worthwhile if the handling's as roly-poly as the VW Polo GT TDI 130 I drove. Might get away with upgraded ARBs or a set of Eibach springs...
Bought from the same Birmingham car dealer too, if the rear number plate on your car is anything to go by. They tried to sell me the car without fixing a couple of the problems I'd found on the test drive, and asked them to fix, and also with the cam belt/water pump replacement overdue. Took me a long time and lots of phone calls and back and forth journeys to get the issues sorted. Would not touch that dealer with a bargepole!
Anyway, nice car. Getting them remapped is a must - my Leon is a 150hp TDI but it felt slow until I had it remapped.
Also watch out for pressure pipework leaks between the turbo, intercooler and intake manifold. The bayonet hose fittings wear and the O-ring seals used in the joints leak. Also get the water pump replaced if the original plastic-impeller pump is still in situ as the impeller tends to separate. Might as well get the cambelt and tensioner done at the same time. EGR valves can coke up but blanking them off brings on the check engine light. The EGR flow can be adjusted to a minimum though using VCDS, or a small metal gasket with a small hole in it can be inserted in the EGR take-off from the exhaust manifold.
Be sure to use PD-specific engine oil and change it regularly and the engine should be pretty bombproof, even if remapped. Suspension upgrades might be worthwhile if the handling's as roly-poly as the VW Polo GT TDI 130 I drove. Might get away with upgraded ARBs or a set of Eibach springs...
Have you binned it?
Good choice!
Had mine 8 years and 110,000 miles. In that time, the only failure has been a fuel temperature sender - a few days of slightly reduced performance/economy and a £17 part
Still pulls well and still regularly returns over 50 mpg - although it looks considerably filthier than yours
It's been a solid workhorse.
Recommend getting some better tyres on the front though, soon as the autumn rains come in you'll be struggling to put any of the 'torques' on the road. Found Bridgestone Turanzas to be reasonably priced (about £96 each fitted) in this size. Had Toyo T1Rs, Falken 912s and Uniroyal Rainsports and they all all gripped well but got fed up of replacing them every 10k-12k miles.
Had mine 8 years and 110,000 miles. In that time, the only failure has been a fuel temperature sender - a few days of slightly reduced performance/economy and a £17 part
Still pulls well and still regularly returns over 50 mpg - although it looks considerably filthier than yours
It's been a solid workhorse.Recommend getting some better tyres on the front though, soon as the autumn rains come in you'll be struggling to put any of the 'torques' on the road. Found Bridgestone Turanzas to be reasonably priced (about £96 each fitted) in this size. Had Toyo T1Rs, Falken 912s and Uniroyal Rainsports and they all all gripped well but got fed up of replacing them every 10k-12k miles.
Mrs Podie here, as mentioned by himself earlier. Did 80k miles in my first, and am at 95k miles on my second (LE).
Hoping you haven't binned it, and assuming not, a quick tip - they are a bit prone to lift-off oversteer. Unless you're prepared to go round every bend saying 'don't lift, don't lift' to yourself, then get a tie-bar. Second priority after replacing s
t tyres, and before the remap.
Also, a set of winter tyres will turn it in to a mountain goat if we get a cold one. I've got Hankook winters on a spare set of wheels and nothing much stops me.
Enjoy!
Hoping you haven't binned it, and assuming not, a quick tip - they are a bit prone to lift-off oversteer. Unless you're prepared to go round every bend saying 'don't lift, don't lift' to yourself, then get a tie-bar. Second priority after replacing s
t tyres, and before the remap. Also, a set of winter tyres will turn it in to a mountain goat if we get a cold one. I've got Hankook winters on a spare set of wheels and nothing much stops me.
Enjoy!
BlimeyCharlie said:
Just read about lift-off oversteer, which is not much fun if on a roundabout when some clown cuts in front...
Mr Harris - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBYSl3dD-UQRude Girl said:
Mrs Podie here, as mentioned by himself earlier. Did 80k miles in my first, and am at 95k miles on my second (LE).
Hoping you haven't binned it, and assuming not, a quick tip - they are a bit prone to lift-off oversteer. Unless you're prepared to go round every bend saying 'don't lift, don't lift' to yourself, then get a tie-bar. Second priority after replacing st tyres, and before the remap.
Also, a set of winter tyres will turn it in to a mountain goat if we get a cold one. I've got Hankook winters on a spare set of wheels and nothing much stops me.
Enjoy!
I've not found that at all! I really need to be aggressive with the steering and the throttle release to get it to misbehave - even on a track, it always tends towards understeer and requires real provocation. Not at all like the Peugeot 106 I had before...Hoping you haven't binned it, and assuming not, a quick tip - they are a bit prone to lift-off oversteer. Unless you're prepared to go round every bend saying 'don't lift, don't lift' to yourself, then get a tie-bar. Second priority after replacing s
t tyres, and before the remap. Also, a set of winter tyres will turn it in to a mountain goat if we get a cold one. I've got Hankook winters on a spare set of wheels and nothing much stops me.
Enjoy!
No not binned it.
So an update. Just cracked 80k and she has had:
4 x UniRoyal Rainsport 3 205/45/16 87Y tyres - These seem to have very soft sidewalls as they seem to sag and look under inflated. No trouble otherwise. Hope to get 10k miles out of the fronts.
2 x rear calipers - both had seized since I purchased the car in August last year. Nearside was replaced a week after purchase and the ofside was replaced 3 weeks ago.
Tinted windows. Never had a black car before and these seem to suit. With my two boys in the black of the car they have complained of sunshine affecting them.
New OE discs and pads up front
Passed her MOT last week with no advisories.
Swapped in a Pioneer headunit for playing tunes off the phone rather than rely of CD's (it is not the 00's after all)
Future
Turn in has had me worried a few times especially when I had the new tyres fitted. She seems to dip then turn. Now I put this down to a heavy front end. Been told a rear ARB may cure some of this body roll so will look into this. Seems odd to me that she does have a ARB at the back as standard anyway.
New discs and pads for the rear as I dont trust the rear discs and pads the garage fitted when I bought the car. I also suspect the warrenty is also not worth the paper it is printed on.
I look at other wheels to replace the standard ones but cant say im too bothered since having new tyres fitted. Would like to have them painted black though.
So an update. Just cracked 80k and she has had:
4 x UniRoyal Rainsport 3 205/45/16 87Y tyres - These seem to have very soft sidewalls as they seem to sag and look under inflated. No trouble otherwise. Hope to get 10k miles out of the fronts.
2 x rear calipers - both had seized since I purchased the car in August last year. Nearside was replaced a week after purchase and the ofside was replaced 3 weeks ago.
Tinted windows. Never had a black car before and these seem to suit. With my two boys in the black of the car they have complained of sunshine affecting them.
New OE discs and pads up front
Passed her MOT last week with no advisories.
Swapped in a Pioneer headunit for playing tunes off the phone rather than rely of CD's (it is not the 00's after all)
Future
Turn in has had me worried a few times especially when I had the new tyres fitted. She seems to dip then turn. Now I put this down to a heavy front end. Been told a rear ARB may cure some of this body roll so will look into this. Seems odd to me that she does have a ARB at the back as standard anyway.
New discs and pads for the rear as I dont trust the rear discs and pads the garage fitted when I bought the car. I also suspect the warrenty is also not worth the paper it is printed on.
I look at other wheels to replace the standard ones but cant say im too bothered since having new tyres fitted. Would like to have them painted black though.
Coolant warning light has been appearing alot recently. Checked the other morning to find it below the min line in the bottle. I cannot see any leaks in any of the pipework so I am assuming the pump is on its way out, at 82k
Booked in for a timing belt and water pump next Tuesday, £300 fitted.
Booked in for a timing belt and water pump next Tuesday, £300 fitted.
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