Skoda Fabia User Reviews

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

Exterior The new facelift version looks bold and awesome with the new front foglamps and the DRL lights its got the style and class above all hatchbacks.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) When you sit inside the car you are totally cut from the outside world, no noticable engine noise and the seats are like butter, shocks are awesome and you do not feel those bumps, stereo equipment is good with 4 speakers in the front its rocking and nice clarity of music comapred to my old car stereo equipment, with MFI display you have a lot of information at your disposal and is useful(Mileage,speed etc)

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Fuel economy of about 12KM in bangalore traffic and about 17 outside seems better than my santro for a petrol engine.

Pickup is bit slow but the top end and braking is excellent with features like ABS,brake Assist,EBC,MSR. Safety features also include airbags and shear bolt (Prevents engine from entering the body in case of collision).

Reason for discarding other brands

Polo - Less discount, difficult for 6footer to sit inside

I20 - Inside built quality naaaaa... and have heard of problems related to power steering but it has good safety features, but less discount.

Ford figo - Small car and quality of materials not so good and safety features also not upto the mark.

Maruti - did not even check as the swifts are tooo common.

Micra - Looks and service centers are not well distributed, though not much idea about the car.

 

Ride Quality & Handling Very stable and reliable.

Final Words People thinking for this car is a better option than the polo, as long as after sales service is considered its all the same compared to all manufactures, I had problems with hyundai also so I cant blame skoda as allmanufacturese sail in the same boat, some dealers are good some are worst and more over its all your luck.

Areas of improvement Can include rear wiper, cimate control ac and EOVRM with indicators and some european fabia stuff.

 

Review 7K Km - 1Year

Good mileage for a petrol hatch back awesome comfort and sturdy vehicle.

Stay Away from their sales team.I purchased a Fabia on 11-11-2011 and was promised 3 years free servicing if I paid 18K extra. I paid the extra cash and they mentioned 3 yrs PMS on my service booklet.

After an year when I reached the dealership for 1 service, these crooks come all out and tell me that anyone could have written this on service booklet. I then asked them to talk to their sales team.

After few minutes on phone, one of them comes and says that they offered me wrong deal as it was not applicable to me. After sitting there for 7 long hours, issue was finally resolved and they accepted my car for service.But, when I asked them for a certificate for PMS or whatever scheme they had, I was told that I should contact sales team. After 3 follow-ups, I still do not have any proof that I purchased the damn thing.

One more thing, they have 6 months free check-up (which is not free) in which they harass you by calling you 6 times a day to schedule an appointment. At that time, since they turn out to be too caring and annoying. Please stay away from them or be ready to face the consequences.

Comfort, smart featuresspares, AC, sales team at Nawab motors

Exterior

 It is very good, stylish and you feel that ur driving higher end car, i feel proud to drive this fabia.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 Interior space is bigger than Swift, and i feel much confortable in space and boot space. In a day I have driven 800 KMs, still i was feeling any pain. Seating confortable is the best. My friend (Dr from Coimbatore) was driving innova for 8 years then last year he baught Fabia, his feed back is fabia is the best in driver seating confortability, After driving fabia it is very difficult to drive any other vehicle.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

 Engine is noice less, fuel ecom=nomy is very good, I have driven 43,000 Kms in one year, it is giving average 18 Kms per litere in Highways and in city it gives 13 Kms per litere.

Gear boX is the best I have ever seen in any car, you can put gear in single finger and even after 43,000 kms it is same as like when I baught as new. Putting gear gives immense pleasure and as like cuting a butter with hot sharp knife.

Ride Quality & Handling

 Even in 140 Kms it is stable because car is very heavy. I happended to hit a lorry from behind, nothing happened to me, if it had been some other vehicle then I would have died.

Maintanence is very cheap than maruthi, every 15,000 kms we have to do service, service charge is Rs.9,000/- only max.

 

If we proerly do the insurance yearly then you no need to spend much amount, i met in an accident twice but both the times I had to pay only less than Rs.1,000/- only.  

Final Words

 I recommend this vehicle strongly. I love this vehicle.

Areas of imrovement  

 Nothing to be improved, in this segment it is the best.

 

good milage, good style, safety is excellentI couldn't able to find a bad point to say

Exterior: No complaints really except for the defogger and rear washer (2012 version includes both and i feel a little cheated here)

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): Really comfortable to get in and out specially for older people and as you move in there is a pretty wide view of the outside. Seats are not as much comfortable (need little more spongyness) during short drives as probably in Swift or the Esteem (my cousin has this) but for long distance it is very good and comfortable. I love the MFD and the steering and the overall quality of plastics. But if you are buying the Elegance you will need to have a darker shade of covers for the seats as it gets dirty very soon. Quality of plastics is way to good compared to all compititors. The audio system is the best you can get with bigger buttons for easy operation. I am a music freek and really enjoy my songs when inside the car, it has a good BASS effect and clarity. Rear end is comfortable for even tall guys as there is ample leg room but the 3rd person will feel a little sqeezed. Love the soft touch Dashboard and the 2 split storage option (lower one is cooled). AC is very good and powerfull too. I think i have covered most part of the interior. 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: Gear box is an absolute beauty. its very smooth and shifting gears happens without any effort. No problems with the Engine performance so far, will update later. Fuel Economy..now this is where it becoms dependant on the driver. I am not a seasoned driver but still have driven 3 different cars both in city and highway and this is what i get:-

City: 10-11, without AC. I was told that this will improve need to watch out. I am not that confident. The main reason for this is the initial pickup of the car is very poor and need to tap the acc. pedal a little in the stop start traffic. This at least created a lot of problems for me and i had many embarrassing moments as the car would litterally go off !!!! Also the RPM reves up too quickly unlike in many other cars. I have never had this problem with the old as well as the new swift and the Esteem too ! So it something the sompany needs to think of. Ofcourse the pedals are hydraulic controlled and not the cable ones here. But still if you need to be successful it has to change a bit. I have gotten used to it now but it comes with an additional effort :O(

Highway: 17-19, with and without AC also depends on the gear shifts. 19 is the best i have got and is a very good return for a petrol car. But this needs to be looked at by the company very seriously to stay ahead.

Ride Quality & Handling: Though its a cake walk on thehighway a lot needs to be desired for the city drive specially with the initial pickup. ride and handling is excellent, i literally handle it with 4 fingers to be precise :) but there is higher body roll when compared to other cars. This i think will have less impact on the driver/passengers if the seats are made more spoogy as in swift as we will get settled in the seats more deeply. Shocks and ground clearance are very good and seldom makes contact with the humps and bumps.
Final Words: Go for it if you dont care about mileage and highly recommended if your travel is mostly long distance. I liked it for the simple reason that i dont want to own 1 which is way too common. This has a lot of impact on the service because of the big Q's. Hope you got my point. I just love the car for the quality, fit and finish.
The srevice:  As of now the response seems to be better but can really give u an update after my first comp. service. But i have already been there 3-4 times for smal issues and felt there are improvements required to be done as the guys taking care of service and insurance related things need to have a lot more ownership and commitment !!!!
Areas of improvement: Lots of scope here !

1. Sales guys must stop playing on the customers mind that anything like the sensors or the additional speakers, etc etc will impact the warranty as there are better proffessionals available outside than inside nowadays

2. Accessories like the parking sensors, etc etc costs more than double when fitted inside the showroom and this must be looked at.

3. Sales persons literacy and know how about the cars needs to improve a lot as the always respond after consultation with the seniors !

4. Ownership of the work carried out in the TAL (Bodyshop) needs to improve a lot and there must be a sense of quality in terms of delivery of the car post the job is done. I found a lot of grease marks inside my car when i got the delivery post mirror replacement and correction of quality issues in the auto control for windows recently.

These are things that i felt as of now...will return with more as i experience it.

You can reach me on cantmakeid@yahoo.com for further clarifications and other experiences i have had so far....Hope this helps you to make the right choice.

Fit/Finish, Audio, MFD, Steering, AC, Boot, Alloys, Rear leg room, Mileage in HighwaysMileage in city, Rear (little cramped for 3), Initial pickup, 3 cyl. Engine, Very high Access. price

 

Exterior Nothing less than Great!!!

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Even interiaor are great but lacks features like multi functional steering wheel, Climate control which are part of OE in the same segment cars. Space is one of the best feature of this car in the segment.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox The petrol engine is very smooth & noiseless. But the pick-up is very poor compared to contemporaries.  The torque is surprisingly good. You need not change gears often even in full load!! but the speed does'nt pick-up faster!! Gear shift & steering control is fun. I would feel best in class. The fuel Econamy is again poor with ~11 to 12 KPL in city. But highway economy is good upto 19KPL with AC.

Ride Quality & Handling Rides very smooth even in bumpy roas. Excellent handling & breaking even at 160KPH !!!

Final Words Excellent car for tough use & long drives. Its economical too!! For short & city drives it is strainier due to feel of low power & fuel bill bites into pocket too.

Areas of improvement Power, Pick-up, Fuel Economy.

Great Style, Comfort, Handling, Space, Smooth ridingEngine pick-up is very disappointing, Low milage

 

Exterior Satisfactory from sides and front, looks very ugly from rear, as far as desisgned is concerned- its not better than other cars in the segment.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) FEATURES- Rear door speakers cannot be fitted(they are facing serious electronics problem after fixing rear door speakers as advised by Jia Auto Kolkata and Skoda has to to come-up/advise on this issue till then all Elegance models have to wait for rear speakers), sound quality not satisfactory, rear seats has got less thigh support(i think to show that Fabia has got more leg room).

If u park the car for 4=5 days with hand brake on, brake shoe gets jammed very often and u cannot drive the car,the wheel gets jammed AN EXCELLENT EXAMPLE OF GERMAN ENGINEERING, REAR SEATS ARE NOT 60:40 FOLDABLE.

REAR WASHER/DEFOGGER NOT FITTED EVEN IN TOP VERSIONS

INTERIOR IS NOT VERY EXCITING-IF U COMPARE WITH i20 ASTA, I THINK ITS ONLY UPTO 50% OF THAT, ONLY FIVE BASIC COLORS AVAILABLE: RED, WHITE, BLACK, SILVER AND CAPPUCINO BEIGE, MUSIC SYSTEM GAS GOT NO USB PORT,NO BLUETOOTH CONNECTIVITY.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox REVERSE GEAR IS NOT USER FRIENDLY, FUEL ECONOMY- VERY BAD, Ride Quality & Handling SATISFACTORY.

Final Words U CANNOT FIT MOST OF THE ACCESSORIES- THE EXCUSE IS WARRANTY WILL NOT BE VALID. REAR SPEAKER CANNOT BE FITTED,REMOTE LOCKING SYSTEM CANNOT BE FITTED(IN CLASSIC AND AMBIENTE MODELS). IF U COMPARE WITH OTHER CARS LIKE- HYUNDAI i20 ASTA, FIAT PUNTO TOP MODEL PETROL- FABIA IS NOWHERE.

Areas of improvement EXTERIOR NEEDS TO IMPROVED A LOT, MORE COLOR VARIANTS ARE REQUIRED, THE COLOR OF EXTERIOR IS JUST MAT FINISH-NOT GLOSSY-EVEN MARUTI CARS ARE HAVING BETTER GLOSS, DOOR LOCKS HAS GOT NO M,ANUAL LOCKING FROM INSIDE(LIKE HAVE IN MARUTI AND HYUNDAI MODELS)- THIS IS REQ FOR SAFETY IF U CARRY KIDS, FUEL ECONOMY NEEDS TO BE IMPROVED, REAR SPEAKERS NOT FITTED IN TOP VARIANT ALSO=MOREOVER IT CANNOT BE FITTED - SOUND QUALITY NOT IMPRESSIVE, MUSIC SYSTEM NOT FITTED WITH USB PORT AND BLUETOOTH.

German engineering needs to be more German.

BOOT SPACE,LOOK FROM FORWARDUGLY LOOK FROM REAR,POOR FUEL ECONOMY

 

Actually if you go through the reviews of any car you will find 50% people are satisfied and others are not. But after having experience of about 4000km with fabia in city on highways and in mountain range I feel the car is not at all bad as many people have written and is absolutely nice to buy if you want some luxury and a car with muscles. But you will have to pay more and I agree there are problems of spare parts thats the area to improve. But overall the car is excellent.

I saw the reviews of i20,i10, swift and polo, jazz etc etc... and i found many people are not satisfied with these also.. The thing is it all depends on your ability to handle the car atleast for fabia I can tell if you handle it properly it is worth for its price. I havnt come across any problems of jamming break paddle.Rather on one occasion i was able to stop the car from 70-75 kmph to 0 within no time and that to without feeling any kinda jerk and stopping of engine and thats what i meant its upto you and not upto car.

Space,Performance,Toughness and StabilityA bit noisy but you can ignore that, Average,should have a bit more pickup

Exterior Exterior is neat, with bold lines and a decent paint job. Clean tidy look.  Tends to look like a box at times but a box you like to look at!

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Features are average in terms of no buttons on the steering, side view mirrors are manual, no defogger and no rear wiper. Afetr rains the rear view mirror becomes absolutely useless. Even my Santra had this thing. The good points are the fit and finish is perfect. The cabin is BIG for a small car! Espically for sardars there is enough turban space even in the rear. The music system is good but has no remote. The diggy space is decent.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine is noisy and a bit jerky at the lower gears but otherwise it is amazing. You can actually FEEL your car unlike the Honda City!!!  The fuel economy is not be best in city driving (10-12) but on the highway it is easy to reach 15-16 Km/l.

The gearbox is a dream. The brakes are very good, so good that I have been hit thrice from behind as I could stop rapidly compared to others.

Ride Quality & Handling Amazing ride esp. on the highway. You feel safe. Heavy doors and the car feels STUCK to the ground. Clearence is average.

Final Words A good car, probably the best of the lot.

Areas of improvement The biggest problem is probably the after sales. The service center I use is Fareinet, Motinagar, Delhi and the esperience was bad. There is a snobbish air amonst the people working there. Bills of 30,000-50,0000 are considered average and okay by the staff. No help, no smile and basically nobody wishes to work!!!! Very sad!!!! My 1st service and denting and painting of 1 door with repeat wood work (it cracked within 15 days) on the steering took 8 days!!!

Looks, pick up, plastics, gear box, storage spaceIn cabin noise, very expensive after sales, poor workshop experience