Skoda Fabia 1.2 MK1 for my learner daughter
Discussion
I've had my 06 Fabia for just over four years, great little car, few issues to sort along the way but nothing major and it is a reliable little car.
For great advice have a look on Briskoda.net, some very helpful people are there. You may not be as popular as it is not a VRS, but they still have some great tips if you run into issues.
Mine is nearly up to 138,000 miles and feels really well put together and.
Martin
For great advice have a look on Briskoda.net, some very helpful people are there. You may not be as popular as it is not a VRS, but they still have some great tips if you run into issues.
Mine is nearly up to 138,000 miles and feels really well put together and.
Martin
I had (well two, actually) the cousin of this car. The first was a 2002 Ibiza Mk4 1.2 S, the second was a 2004 54 of the same model.
Common problems include front wishbone rear bushes. Buy Cupra ones, they are solid rather than voided, so they won’t fail again. Also the brake servo hose you mention. Coil packs tend to die circa 60k. In 2004 VW modified the 1.2 engine with a revised timing chain tensioner... many 1.2s of this vintage didn’t last beyond 60k as the tensioner would slip on start-up causing valve damage. As yours is a 54 and has lasted all these years... it possibly has the tensioner as standard.
Sounds a good purchase OP, finding a good one nowadays is needle in a haystack stuff.
I took my 1.2 from 26k to 90k, regular 5k oil changes and it never used a drop, even at 90k. And I didn’t drive like it saint. I fitted the modified tensioner to my 1.2 (huge job, ended up way more involved than I was comfortable with, but saw it through) only to write the car off in an accident 3 years later. With the insurance money I bought the 2004 car with a knackered gearbox, and transplanted both engine and gearbox from the write off car. It had a few choice mods and looked well
As I say I wrote the first one off (second one pictured), I can also testify that they are strong little cars! Mine held up well.
Common problems include front wishbone rear bushes. Buy Cupra ones, they are solid rather than voided, so they won’t fail again. Also the brake servo hose you mention. Coil packs tend to die circa 60k. In 2004 VW modified the 1.2 engine with a revised timing chain tensioner... many 1.2s of this vintage didn’t last beyond 60k as the tensioner would slip on start-up causing valve damage. As yours is a 54 and has lasted all these years... it possibly has the tensioner as standard.
Sounds a good purchase OP, finding a good one nowadays is needle in a haystack stuff.
I took my 1.2 from 26k to 90k, regular 5k oil changes and it never used a drop, even at 90k. And I didn’t drive like it saint. I fitted the modified tensioner to my 1.2 (huge job, ended up way more involved than I was comfortable with, but saw it through) only to write the car off in an accident 3 years later. With the insurance money I bought the 2004 car with a knackered gearbox, and transplanted both engine and gearbox from the write off car. It had a few choice mods and looked well
As I say I wrote the first one off (second one pictured), I can also testify that they are strong little cars! Mine held up well.
Love it, great find.
Seeing the seats reminded me of my first car - mine had the same.
My first car was a MK1 Fabia - a 1.4 Silverline given to me by the parents. Absolutley loved that car, took me to 6th form and back every day and took it all over the country with two mountain bikes in the back - never missed a beat.
Loved it so much that I got a MK1 Fabia VRS after I left uni and got myself a propper job and income. Happy days!
Seeing the seats reminded me of my first car - mine had the same.
My first car was a MK1 Fabia - a 1.4 Silverline given to me by the parents. Absolutley loved that car, took me to 6th form and back every day and took it all over the country with two mountain bikes in the back - never missed a beat.
Loved it so much that I got a MK1 Fabia VRS after I left uni and got myself a propper job and income. Happy days!
MrBig said:
If its misting up inside change the cabin filter. Chances are that will sort it if the rear doors aren't leaking as you say, but even if it doesn't it almost certainly needs doing anyway.
Good call, didn't know there was one! I pulled it, and most of a dead tree fell out. New one on order for tomorrow (love Amazon Prime, cheaper than ECP and much faster). And some spark plugs, may as well do the service properly.Blanco92 said:
...In 2004 VW modified the 1.2 engine with a revised timing chain tensioner... many 1.2s of this vintage didn’t last beyond 60k as the tensioner would slip on start-up causing valve damage. As yours is a 54 and has lasted all these years... it possibly has the tensioner as standard....
Nice car! I believe the 1.2 HTP in the Fabia is different from the VW/SEAT offering at the time, later the HTP was put into the rest of the VAG cars. I'll cross my fingers I guess... and research a bit, thanks for the tip.OK, got her checked out by my local garage. The guy there is very diligent, at least he was when he failed my old Range Rover. One oil change and an MOT-style inspection with extra poking about got me this to-do list:
Cabin filter and plugs will be here today, service light's been reset, and I'm looking forward to showing my daughter how to wrench a bit!
- Front tyres a bit low on tread, not a fail and will need doing at some point. They're premium Contis at the moment.
- Front wipers not great. Probably because the Demon Shine got on the screen, but that's a cheap thing anyway. The ones on it are Bosch
- Front CV boot split at the end, no hole and keeping the grease in. He reckoned it would be an advisory and there's no rush to do it. Quoted me £80 for that.
Cabin filter and plugs will be here today, service light's been reset, and I'm looking forward to showing my daughter how to wrench a bit!
We've been out on a couple of drives around the local country roads. My first time being driven by a learner... and she's not too bad. Since she's been learning on a diesel, the need for more revs is taking her a bit of getting used to, and she seems unwilling to brake firmly when needed. It's nice to see that the Skoda can take corners a little more quickly that it really should...
She seems to have been taught "left foot up, then right foot down" rather than both at once. Some interesting stalls and revving results!
Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
She seems to have been taught "left foot up, then right foot down" rather than both at once. Some interesting stalls and revving results!
Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
mr_spock said:
She seems to have been taught "left foot up, then right foot down" rather than both at once. Some interesting stalls and revving results!
Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
I had the same issue as a learner is a 1.5DCi instructors car and a 1.4i my own car. All manoeuvres in the diesel were done just on the clutch unless there was a hill (a difficult reverse around corner for example).Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
Not possible in a small petrol, so probably stalled 4 times on the trot before I started getting the pedal balance right. I think it helped in the long term, I frequently jump-in and out different cars throughout the day and learn the clutch behaviour quickly.
mr_spock said:
Blanco92 said:
...In 2004 VW modified the 1.2 engine with a revised timing chain tensioner... many 1.2s of this vintage didn’t last beyond 60k as the tensioner would slip on start-up causing valve damage. As yours is a 54 and has lasted all these years... it possibly has the tensioner as standard....
Nice car! I believe the 1.2 HTP in the Fabia is different from the VW/SEAT offering at the time, later the HTP was put into the rest of the VAG cars. I'll cross my fingers I guess... and research a bit, thanks for the tip.Edited by Sheepshanks on Sunday 10th March 11:15
mr_spock said:
- Front tyres a bit low on tread, not a fail and will need doing at some point. They're premium Contis at the moment.
Apologies if you're aware of this, and I know not everyone agrees, but I wouldn't put new tyres on the front of a kids car and leave older ones on the back. If you are only going to change two, put the new ones on the back
mr_spock said:
We've been out on a couple of drives around the local country roads. My first time being driven by a learner... and she's not too bad. Since she's been learning on a diesel, the need for more revs is taking her a bit of getting used to, and she seems unwilling to brake firmly when needed. It's nice to see that the Skoda can take corners a little more quickly that it really should...
She seems to have been taught "left foot up, then right foot down" rather than both at once. Some interesting stalls and revving results!
Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
You suggested your daughter wants to have a go at working on the car - does she understand how the clutch works? I explained it to my daughters so they could visualise what was happening. Sweeping generalisation but girls will memorise the biting point position rather than understanding what's happening. She seems to have been taught "left foot up, then right foot down" rather than both at once. Some interesting stalls and revving results!
Any tips for driving with a learner that will help me keep what's left of my hair?
With one of my girls we went to a flat car park and did a series of getting the car to the bite point (without gas) and then pressing the clutch again before the car stalled so she could get a feel for it.
Sheepshanks said:
How old are the other tyres?
Apologies if you're aware of this, and I know not everyone agrees, but I wouldn't put new tyres on the front of a kids car and leave older ones on the back. If you are only going to change two, put the new ones on the back
One is newer than the other, I haven't checked the dates, plenty of tread on both. The reason for changing the fronts is that it's FWD, all the weight is at the front, it steers at the front and I doubt she'll go fast enough that oversteer will be a problem! Unless there's something I don't understand. Apologies if you're aware of this, and I know not everyone agrees, but I wouldn't put new tyres on the front of a kids car and leave older ones on the back. If you are only going to change two, put the new ones on the back
She does understand the clutch - I must say, I'm used to more torquey engines and this does need more revs from a standing start. However, it can pull from walking speed in second. She just needs more practise.
mr_spock said:
Unless there's something I don't understand.
The back can just let go on fast wet bends. No chance of catching it. Various YouTube videos show it - it can be worse with new front tyres and part worn rears than if all 4 tyres were equally worn, because the car is always trying to go sideways and the effect is exaggerated if the front is more grippy.There's more warning of understeer and it's usually easier to counter by just slowing down.
I decided to put the tyres on the front. The rears have plenty of meat on, and it steers rather better now! I also realised that her occasionally jerky clutch control was partly down to sitting too close to the pedals. One notch back and she's smoother already!
How do I get the big dent out of the passenger footwell that's gradually appearing?
How do I get the big dent out of the passenger footwell that's gradually appearing?
I had to follow this up with (probably) a final post. She passed this morning! One minor, which is apparently amazing. There followed the joy of new driver insurance, and moving the car's home to her mum's which is rather more expensive for the insurance.
It turned out that the least extortionate option was the Co-Op Young Driver black box policy, in her name with me as a named driver. £1543 a year - ouch - but at least she can earn some NCD and it's all above board. The Skoda is now in her name, at her main address, 10K a year SDP & commuting.
I am so very proud today!
It turned out that the least extortionate option was the Co-Op Young Driver black box policy, in her name with me as a named driver. £1543 a year - ouch - but at least she can earn some NCD and it's all above board. The Skoda is now in her name, at her main address, 10K a year SDP & commuting.
I am so very proud today!
An update a year or so on. The Skoda has been unerringly reliable, except for the battery going flat occasionally. The poor thing has been bounced off a number of static objects, and last week got part exchanged for a 2012 Corsa. It fetched £250 as it was cosmetically pretty sad by this point and was about due for an MOT. It did its job, and was a great first car.
Tons of room inside and quite fun to drive, except on motorways and dual carriageways where 70mph saw it running at 3500 rpm and it was a bit susceptible to crosswinds and high sided vehicle turbulence.
It also turns out that having manual windows, no central locking and no air con gets the p*ss taken by your 19-25 year old mates who have better cars.
Tons of room inside and quite fun to drive, except on motorways and dual carriageways where 70mph saw it running at 3500 rpm and it was a bit susceptible to crosswinds and high sided vehicle turbulence.
It also turns out that having manual windows, no central locking and no air con gets the p*ss taken by your 19-25 year old mates who have better cars.
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