Skoda Fabia User Reviews

 

Exterior The new fabia is abit improved from the oder version, the grill looks more like the bigger skoda's the bumper has more character to it than the previous - more like the VW polo. The fog lamps look more aggressive on the Elegance, that can be added to the ambiente or the classic. Its 30mm longer than the swift and looks like a big class car.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The Fabia never had issues with the interiors and the new fabia certainly has't cut corners either. Everything is well arranged and feels like a cockpit of a big car. The seating is very spacious even for tall people sitting in the back with the driver seat set to full comfort back. The boot space is really good (who needs a big car anyway just for the dicky huh !).

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Unlike what most people say I found the new fabia TDI CR engine quite responsive, it is a notch below the swift but the fabia has it class even in drivability, I will say its my kinda engine set to perform the way I like it , smooth sailing and predictable. The fuel economy is decent for any diesel and is much improved since it has the same engine that's in the VW polo. The gear box is sharp and precice, no nonsense shift. It is certainly much better that what you find in most other small cars, I felt like I was driving the Laura.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Excellent ride quality, hands down to the new fabia, one can hardly feel the rough roads, with the AC you can hardly hear anything outside or feel the bad roads. But in the swift its just the opposite.

 

Final Words One of the nicest small cars for that price, and the best big small car that has come out so far.

 

Areas of improvement My personal feel is, it can have bigger wheels. Either 15" or better 17" wheels will make the fabia untouchable.

 

Good Interiors, Excellent ride quality, value for money, after sales service is good tooJust a notch down on pickup

Perhaps the best way to compare Skoda Fabia 1.4 diesel with the Swift is to look at it as a European car. A good place to get an opinion for a European car is the Top Gear website, which helped me in my decision.

I arrived at this car after test driving, Fusion, SX4, Aveo, Indigo, Verna and Swift. And was specifically looking for a diesel car. Somehow line extension cars like the Aveo, Indigo and petrol like the SX4 did not appeal. The Fusion just looks dull. Verna diesel blew the budget.

The Fabia looks almost yummy to eat from the outside (see ad on YouTube) and is delightfully detailed on the inside. It feels like driving in a big car. I felt the rattle of the deisel engine was not an issue inside the cabin, though you can feel the vibrations along the foot board.

After owning an Indica and test driving a Swift, I finally felt good looking back at the car I just stepped out of. After driving a Swift, you step out of the car and feel pretty ordinary!

I enjoyed driving the Fabia more as it felt more solid on the road and around bends as compared to the Swift and personally felt the drive quality was much better. An issue for me (my height) was the steering wheel flexibility which is not adjustable in the Swift.

When I say the Fabia does everything you want it to, I really mean it. What the car lacks in power in comparison, makes up for in the responsiveness while moving from 0-80 kmh.

I've now driven it 1500 kms and it is giving me 17 km/liter of diesel with the a/c within the city. I don't know about value for money, as I was willing to pay the extra money over the Swift for this car. I really looked at running cost after EMI's, drive quality and car that looked good.

Design, Drive Quality, Interiors, On-Board Panel, ResponsivenessExpensive Parts, The Rattle of the 3 cylinder engine

 

Updated at 89000 kms.

Actually this review is outdated now. What was offered in 2008 as complete imported assembled car is now produced in India. What is available now is a downgraded version compared to what was available in 2008.

After purchasing and driving first 1000 kms Fabia 1.2 MPI ambiente I would say "NOTHING COMPARES".  The car spells class and trendy looks drive you crazy. After driving Octavia for the last five years I was impressed by the quality skoda has built in. Therfore I did not check any cars and simply settled for a smaller Fabia. A good thing about fabia is its warrantee, two years and unlimited kms. I have faced some problems related to fuel quality, if possible try 93 octane the car's engine performance is enhanced. Skoda recommends 95/91 RON (Registered Octane Number) unfortunately none is available locally. 

Please note that 1.2 MPI is a three cylinder engine and not four as mentioned in Technical specs in Carwale. Spares are not very easily available since the car is built on imported CKD kit. Engine is very responsive, on highway I have stretched engine to 160 km/hr, it does it effortlessly. At local prevailing petrol prices it runs at Rs 4/- per km.

Stereo is good, but no rear speakers are provided by Skoda, however there is provision in rear doors for rear speakers and provision in stereo is there for fader. Aux input jack is also provided good feature you can connect your ipod or any other equipment that supports 3.5 mm stereo jack. 

 The central locking locks the car automatically once it reaches a speed of 15km/hr. So do not worry if you forget to lock the car after reving up. This feature may not be present at the time of purchase you have to tell dealer to activate.

Skoda calls it a rough road pakage and I found that it is really a rough road car. The car has never touched the bottom though driving on extremely bad roads. On the same track Octavia '2003 touches the botom.

A word about the build of the car : thrice people have banged the car from behind, the bumper got scratched but that's it no damage to car.

A word of caution to all Fabia owners: Excercise extreme caution while reversing the car:

1. The car is not as small as it appers in the rear view mirror.
2. Since the roof of the car is tilting backwards the rear windshield is comparitively smaller.
3. Rear head rests and even your own head rest interferes with the rear view.

So I would say that the view in the rear view mirror is not very encouraging. On my inaugral ride I gave a gentle bump to a Santro car and landed with two small scratches on the rear bumper, and every small scratch on the car leaves a big scratch on your heart.

AC chills in no time, rear AC ducts are below fornt seats and very comfortable for passengers sitting at the back seats. The AC fresh air intake filter is inside the cabin and can be easily accessed. Heating is perfect, the temperature setting knob controls temperature perfectly. Check yourself turn the gearshift to reverse and AC air intake automatically changes to recirculation mode. Intelligent feature.

Good space in boot and spare wheel and tool kit is stored underneath.

Interestingly the rear seats in Fabia are more spacious than Octavia. No doubt.

I would say a good overall product. Try it you will know the difference. I may be wrong but I feel European cars are far superior than their asian counterparts.

Good luck and happy motoring.

 

seeing is believing1.4 liter MPI engine would have been better.

 

 

Hi  please read this before buying Skoda Fabia TDI.

 

This car is very risky to drive since its ABS braking system is not reliable and its brake pedal gets jammed even in minor rough roads,I buyed two Fabia cars at a same time and i think this was the biggest mistake of my life as both are having the same problem. There are many instances the brake pedal got jammed when my car speed was more than 80km/hr.

 

Nothing has been done by skoda even after complaining again and again via e mails,customer care, authorised service center (ARSHIA MOTORS,FARIDABAD.CONTINENTAL MOTORS,NEW DELHI) for more than 7 months.

 

I USE TO RESPECT SKODA FOR QUALITY AND SAFETY BUT AFTER BUYING SKODA FABIA TDI, SKODA MADE ME REALIZE THAT I WAS WRONG.

 

I even request Carwale team to look into this matter and help me in solving this issue.

 

 

 

spacious,comfortablebrakes,noisy engine,after sales service

 

Exterior The design & build is simply irresistable and very good. The curves and finish of the exterior body is truly European!

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The quality of interiors is very good and world class. The interiors give a plush feeling and the operating switches are of premium quality.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Engine Superb responsive engine which is quite silent. The car rockets upon a slight pedal push and managing the city traffic is very easy. It just zooms past even before the other vehicle realises!

Fuel Economy In city condition, it is averaging 10 km/l (have just driven 275 kms so far). It is possible that it might get better upon further running.

Gear box World class &  is butter smooth!

 

Ride Quality & Handling Very comfotable ride quality which cruises easily over rough road. The handling is superb. The ABS/EBD and the car dynamics are such that even at 90 km/hr, it takes a precise sharp turn without any problem whatsoever.

 

Final Words A beauty!

 

Areas of improvement Missing Rear Washer/Wiper & defogger. Fuel (have done just about 270 kms so far) economy might increase over a period of time. Presently in strictly city conditions, it is coming to 10 km/l, Rear speakers not provided. Parktronic system would help.

 

Just SuperbFuel economy, no rear washer/wiper & defogger, missing rear speakers

Exterior: One of the most handsome hatchbacks in market today. Only rivalled byt the vw polo. I bought a silver example, it just stands out in any parking lot.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): Front seats rival any large sedan, back seats are comfortable, although can seat 2 adults and child only. Truth to tell, thats all that we usually require 90% of times. Nice beige interiors, one of the best again. Nice textured fabric for seat, doesnt slip even on hard cornering. Nice plastics, very thoughtful choice of material like in the space beneath audio which holds remote. Anti skid! Nice feel of steering plastic. 12 speed windscreen wiper! Good a/c. good road view. adjustable driver's seat and tilt and telescopic steering for the perfect riding position. two airbags as standard. largest boot in hatches (checked punto, figo, swift, ritz, polo). main reason that i switched from my earlier plan to buy sedan to consider fabia.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: Same engine as in vw polo. noisy engine, but very little vibration for diesel. noise lessens as speed increases. excellent pickup, reminds me of driving swift diesel. beautiful steering, nicely weighted, both in parking and at speeds, nicely balanced on ghat sections. decent gearbox for segment. odd but nice reverse gear. i get 15-16 in city with a/c on all the time, 19-21 on long stretch of highways (outside kerala of course, we dont have highways in kerala!!)

Ride Quality & Handling: Nice ride quality, good balance, slightly stiff suspension hence potholes felt, but dont rattle passengers. just a thud. no significant body roll for such a tall car. beautiful stability at 100kmph-120kmph. havent driven beyond that. braking adequate. dont have abs in my version.

Final Words: Excellent hatch. will recommend the car to anyone considering it. and has an upmarket appeal. more expensive than swift, but better quality, larger boot, better rear seat space, airbags than swift, so the cost difference evens out. servicing once in 15000km, unlike 5000 for swift, so cost quite similar.

Areas of improvement  : Dealership!!! skoda needs to honestly audit its dealership performance. in kerala, marikkar engineers sells and services skoda. they have been traditionally dealers of ambassadors, with very poor reputation. need at least 2 dealers per city to realise full potential of an excellent car.

Great understated style, identity, superb performance, overall qualityFogging of windscreen, quirky central locking

hi...i bought a black fabia1.2 htp  from mumbai and it costed me about 6.75lakhs...way too expensive...no doubt i was surprised by its luxurious and spurious cabin...also the car is overall good but it is way overpriced...but still...the car is overall good and my car has done 15,000km...also my 1st service is over......and i never had a single problem and never changed a screw except for the standard things like ENGINE OIL AND OIL FILTER....but there r few hings that i would like u guys u to know n m sure u guys know abt it...but still i wud like to mention that even without any repairs during my 1st servixe and just for changing the above things i was billed 5,100rs..also...the service was not upto the mark...i mean when i went to collect the vehicle my vehicle was scratched...and on complaining it to the manager abt it they told me it was there from the beginning WHICH WAS NOT...after all..its my car all its my car...i know where the scratches are and where it were'nt...also in the job sheet they mentioned the car was not damaged...also they damaged my cabin..the AUX connection was not working and the car was not washed and those guys didnot even take a test ride with me nor they asked whether all my specified complaints were cleared or not...i had mentioned a few problems like the AC was not cooling properly and the vehicle was steering to the right even after i gave the vehicle for wheel alignment at AUTHORIZED SKODA SERVICE CENTRE...wen i took this complaint to the incharge over there i had to beg him to look into the matter to which he did but it was of no use...all i could do was come back home red faced...and then i sent an email regarding this to the customer care to which they did not even care to reply...

No doubt the car is good but the customer care and backup service sucks...also its way overpriced and the maintainance is very expensive...m gonna sell this car and buy a better car like i20 or swift...which gives both...a good product as well as good back up service...   

Hi All, i bought Fabia in Novermber 2008, its about 10 months i have owned it. I have been to the service center almost once a month, for the the defects it has. The worst part of the Car is the Breaking on a Un-even surface. The radio does not properly. The car is a BIG flop, and i regret for buying it. I strongly advice if anyone wants to buy, Please take my advice and dont buy it. Solid Built, Good Quality Interiors.VERY BAD BREAKING, LOW PICK UP, BAD AFTER SALES SERVICES

IT'S VERY GOOD LOOKING AND COMFORT SPACE, SPETIOUS LEG ROOM , STERING ADJUSTMENT ,ABS SYSTEM GOOD FRONT LOOKING  BUT; BUT, BUT, BUT, BUT, VERY COSTLY  HATCH BACK.IN THIS RANGE WE HAVE MORE GOOD OPTION .FOR EXAMPLE HONDA CITY ZX , SX4, FORD FIESTA ,FORD FUSION . TWO MONTS AGO SKODA ANNOUNCED APR . 5 TO 6 LACS.

very good , stylish , and very comfort.IT'S ANNOUNCED PRICE WAS 5 TO 6 LACS BUT NOW IT SO COSTLY