Skoda Fabia User Reviews

Hi There,
   I am probably one the oldest user of FABIA 1.4 TDI
(This is FABIA - II series in the SKODA Stable) and FABIA in general on this msg. board. Bought it in Feb 08 first week. No problems on any front except that the rear wiper is troubling me a bit. But that is smaller of any of problem and the dealer was willing to rectify it. I have done over 12000 kms so far and have no problem on any account be it ride quality, suspension or fuel economy. The suspension remains solid as new inspite of navigating the potholes and moon surfaces on Delhi roads. No vibrations and no rattling on any component/part/assembly. Still feels like a brand new vehicle compared to another of my car, 4 months older to this one (Verna 1.6 XXi) which has done about 17000 kms.

However to put things in perspective, I used FABIA- I for about 3 years in Germany. Faultless vehicle. Did over 79000 kms on that. Never had a problem. For the people who know the difference between German machines and other machines from various parts of the world the difference lies in the design & manufacturing processes. Japanese are good but to compete on pricing they cut corners. Koreans.......100% value engineering and speaking of Indians less said the better. By the way, this car is a VW Polo V (used that one too for 2 years) inside out for which you probably have to pay about 5 Lacs more for the VW logo. 

I hope this helps.

Best Regards,

Nick

Good Fuel Economy, Great Interiors. German Quality

Exterior

It's a very European design and everything about the design, detailing and materials used is top notch. The engineering is excellent and the car looks good from almost all angles

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

The best material's in the segment, thoughtful touches, great space, comfort, ergonomics and starting from the classic model, it seems to have all the things we are used to in the segment. You would always find a good driving position, dash is easy on the eye and gives a big car feel

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

Engine: Noisy, so please test drive two to three different cars for at least 5 kms to understand if you can live with it, you are never going to love it though. Economy is around 15 with the AC. Something wrong with the final drive or second gear ratio, new drivers would stall the car frequently, so its not good to drive in slow traffic. Give it an open road and the second gear would pull up to a speed of 60 before upshifting. It becomes a different car given the open road and I would rate the performance factor as Good. 110-120 feel like 70-80 and torque from 2000-3000 rpm is very good. Gearbox is best in business.

Ride Quality & Handling

This is the Feel good factor area and compensates for the rough engine. Excellent Ride, precise handling, no oversteer and very less and predictable understeer. Feels almost like a rear wheel drive with no jerk transmitted to steering and no torque steer.  Braking is very different from Maruti's and very less servo, you you need to press the pedal hard, but it can be very dicey.

Final Words

Great Car, at a very good price now. Engine needs improvement (in a big way) and I wonder what VW engineers must have felt when they designed this PD engine. It's like " we know it's not good, but if you need a cheaper Skoda, live with it." Call it typical European mentality towards the Indian market. The European carmakers take a lot of time to learn and by the time they learn, either the model is old and gone or the Japs and Koreans dish out an ideal car in the segment. Peugeot Failed, Fiat collapsed with the Uno, recovered with Palio only to fail again and third time lucky with Punto. Ford escort never really took off and the Opel had three engine changes in its short life. Renault ended up being the "Meru Cab" and Ford, though on the right track, has taken Fusion buyers for a ride by repacking the same as a Figo and pricing it much cheaper. Skoda and VW need to learn from this, they make good cars but need to be committed. They need to connect with the public, once they are in the lower segment.

Areas of improvement  

It's difficult to change the engine, but refinement and insulation can be worked upon. If they now change to the VW's more refined engine it shall be good for Skoda, or simply it wont sell in comparison to the Polo. This drop in sales would lead to a cascading effect and eventually it may turn up to be another phased out European model. The Gear ratio can be looked upon and the car be made more drivable. Skoda has too many dealers and too little sales, so after sales experience is very discouraging, more so for a brand like Skoda, so if you also own a Toyota you would be shocked. Spares are very expensive and a little bumper shunt can set you back by 25,000 easily. Parts are imported, but if you can sell a car made of the same parts for 4.5 lacs, you don't need to price your parts 6-7 times of Swift parts.

So buy this car only if you love Skoda or VW. It's a good car that could have been much better. If you want status value it's  a good buy, unless Skoda sits up and listens. The dealers need to be bigger, service and part costs much lower, parts costs need to be transparent, otherwise maybe Polo would eat up the Fabia, or maybe the Figo, the i20 the Jazz, Swift, the Ritz, the soon to be launched Toyota mid sizer, Nissan Micra and so on. So would Skoda Fabia die a slow death, or is a premium car maker like Skoda committed in the lower segment needs to be seen. 

So, I have to live with my Fabia because I bought it from my heart, think with your mind and you do have many more practical choices, unless Skoda gets serious about Fabia.

 

Suspension, build quality, A/C, Audio SystemSound Insulation, Rough Engine, Gear Ratios

 

Exterior nice exterior looks much better than the old fabia, with new fog lights too.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) everything is perfect, good space and comfort skoda keeps the name :-)

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox engine is powerful and silent too, in  city it gives around 12-13km/l and in highway i have got 17km/l :-D , gears are so smooth

 

Ride Quality & Handling It wonderful, it just makes you feel in perfect control.

 

Final Words Just amazing :-)

 

Areas of improvement I had 1.4 ambi fabia, it was very noisy and the picky was sluggish, i sold it after a year and was waiting for new version....because after driving fabia no other small car will make you feel comfortable, so fabia is the best in luxary in a small car :-) ... the day i came to know that fabia is coming in new varient 1.6...i booked it and got the first car in town :-D and its powerful no noise :-D 

Just a little bit, they need to improve better music player :-D though I have installed DVD GPS system :-)

And yes the side rear mirrors should be automatic..

 

everything is great.nothing

 

Exterior The exterior are great. The grill has been brought in line with those of Skoda's luxury cars. The head lamps have been changed. Overall very pleasing exteriors.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Dual tone interiors, Good leg room at the rear and front, Can fit in 3 persons easily at the back, the ivory coloured interiors add asthetic appeal and give you a feel of the quality material used. The steering wheel is adjustable and glides as smoothly as air. The inbuilt stereo is good and quality of output is nice. Little things like illumination in the glove box and the luggage compartment make you feel a lot comfortable and please you. Very comfortable seat - excellent lumbar support with height adjustable seats.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Silent engine, good pickup, very smooth gearbox and an overall mileage of 14KMPL.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is immaculate and you can control the car as you want. Excellent handling through easy manoeuvring in the traffic.

 

Final Words Two thumbs up to the VW engine and overall feel of owning an upmarket car. Go for it. Fully recommend and subscribe this master piece.

 

Areas of improvement None really to specify. 

 

Style, Engine, Performance, Mileage, and Pricing.No auto air conditioner, auto adjustable side view mirrors may be.

 

Exterior Exterior is good looking, sturdy, known for its sturdiness, since I have been using SKODA OCTAVIA for a long time, with all needed improved features.

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Interior space is good, seating comfort is okay, but the inner fabric used ( BEIGE COLORED) gets soiled immediately forcing us to chenge the same to some dark colored fabric or leather. I changed it to leather. This can be changed to Black or grey fabric.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine performance is very good, except for the excess noise during cold start and you can feel the total noiseless comfort when driving in a highway at 90 km speed. Mileage is excellent and my average is around 4.7 litres per 100 kms for my total dring of around 6000 kms.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality is good and handling is very easy.

 

Final Words The dealer in Chennai GURUDEV motors put me in lots of trouble by giving a FABIA which has already done 1130 kms saying the it is a brand new car. The pleasure of getting a new car is last because of the cheating of GURUDEV motors Chennai.

 

Areas of improvement The speedometer glowing can be changed to BLUE colour since the black illumination is not visible most of the time. Parking sensors may be added in the front and rear. The engine can be reduced further.

 

STURDY, GOOD LOOKING, GOOD MILEAGE, EASY DRIVING,INiTIAL NOISE, VERY BAD DEALERSHIP, BAD INTERIORS

Exterior: Smart looking car with the DRL's (Daytime Running Lamps). Nice chunky tires, love the alloys

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): ABS & dual airbags-excellent. Air-con-excellent (miss ACC but not sorely), good seating comfort, rear seats are spacious. Reach & rake sterring adjustment, driver seat height adjustment, dead pedal-useful for long drives. Boot is massive at 315litres & it's lit too :o). Love the anti-pinch windows, allwindows down operation via remote key fob.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: Pleasantly surprised with the 1.6 engine. Designed\tweaked to be frugal. Although it lacks outright punch, it has enough torque in lower revs to go up a slope in 3rd or even 4th gear with the a/c on. Mileage is good at an average of 13kmpl. One thing I noticed about the engine, you cannot feel a single vibration or noise at idle, I had to check the RPM meter to see if the engine was on, nice!! I don't miss the outright acceleration, it's a sensible car. Gearbox is a pleasure to use, gears slot in perfectly without any fuss, however, the reverse gear is a sore, you have to push the lever down & shift up to engage reverse.

Ride Quality & Handling: Has already been discussed to death, fantastic handling, high speed capabilities. Strong braking characteristics, abs, ebd help a lot & inspires confidence. I was blown away by how easy the 1.6 is to drive on the highway, you just point the car & tap the throttle, there is always power on tap.

Final Words: I would still call it a drivers car even though the engine is not setup for performance driving. But honestly, how many times do we get to drive like maniacs. At 6.80lakhs on-road-Pune, it's a steal. The fit & finish is at par with luxury cars & it gives you a sense of driving a big car. The exterior of the car is very deceiving for the amount of space inside.

Areas of improvement : Brighter headlamps, stock one's are not adequate, although the fogs are powerful. Miss electric OVRM's, A.C.C, rear wiper.

Practicality, Space, EngineElectro Steering

Exterior Its a matter of personal choice but I find the front and side views of Fabia amazing. The fact that its longer than other cars in its segment does add to the look. The front grill, headlights and foglamps all come together to give it a very macho and sporty look. The rear could be better for sure though. I would rate it 4/5 for exteriors.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Once you step inside the car, you are equally impressed. Its spacious and loaded with features. It has two glove boxes and one of them has light in it. I love it as it gives extra storage space. The seats are very comfortable even for long road trips (I just did one from Bangalore to Madurai, alone). The only complain I have is the huge bump in the rear cabin right in the middle, which makes it uncomfortable for the person sitting in middle. He/She cannot sit comfortably and have to spread legs to avoid the bump. Wish it could be smaller. The 2-din music system, steering wheel, chrome-finish stick, black-beige interiors all give it a very premium feel. I would again rate it 4/5 for interiors.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Initial pickup is ok, not super quick but its good as in bumper-to-bumper traffic, you don't end up ramming into another vehicle in front. You can drive comfortably in second gear at very low speed and the vehicle would not stop. So you need to go into first gear only if your car has come to a stop otherwise second gear is fine. You can feel the stability and power of build quality in 4th and 5th gears when driving on highways. Very stable and quiet. So its a pleasure to drive at high speeds. So far I have driven it 2000 kms, out of which 1000 kms are on highway. I have not kept a separate account of highway and city mileage. My overall mileage has been close to 15.5 kmpl, which makes me think that highway mileage is close to 18 and in city mileage is close to 12 kmpl.

Ride Quality & Handling Very comfortable once inside. With AC and light music on, you are completely in a different world. Not noisy at all.

Final Words So far amazing, touchwood.

Areas of improvement Remove the bump in rear cabin so five people can sit comfortably. Rear of the car can be redesigned to match the awesome front and side looks. The doors can be opened from inside even when centrally locked, little risky in kids are riding.

Build quality, safety features, comfortable interiors, highway mileage, front look, boot spaceInitial pickup, rear look, huge bump in the rear cabin, doors can be opened from inside

Just bought a fabia and found when I got it home there was no spare wheel, no jack, no tools. I thought they had forgot to put them in the car so i rang to find out they had played a low key underhanded sales technique of not painting the true picture. They reckon it saves on fuel emissions with having less weight less petrol less emissions. Can somebody ask them that if this is the case then why will the RAC have to come out to tow you to a garage if you have a split in the wall of the tyre. Surely towing a car and the use of more petrol will increase. Can somebody ask them what a woman would do in the event of not being able to get a signal on her mobile if in some remote part of the country. Can somebody else ask them how many claims can you have with the RAC before they hike your cover up in price, or do the RAC even come out to flat tyres. Its an absolute con. Skoda have given you a £1000 in the government scheme and then taken it off you with accessories. The book of accessories does not show wheels jacks or tools because the decision was made to take these off the customer before they can get the books altered. The manual shows you how to change a wheel. I feel betrayed and let down and they have not heard the last of this. What they are doing is miselling and they will pay the price for their underhanded dealings

Test drove a Fabia-Ambiente diesel a couple of weeks ago. I must say I was stunned first by the quality of the interiors and later as I floored the accelerator by the sheer driveability of the engine which though a touch noisy is really smooth and just keeps on pulling. The other thing that impressed me was the built to last feel of the car.I have previously owned a Honda City and there really is no competition in terms of build quality between the two...the fabia wins by a wide margin. The only grouse that I have is that sitting three abreast at the rear can get to be a bit of squeeze since shoulder room is at a premium when compared to larger sedans like the city or the sx4 however leg room is more than adequate.
 In short it is one of the best cars that I have driven on Indian roads.
Big car space in a small car package, built like a tank, superb interiorsNoisy engine