Faults:

Power steering warning light came on while driving, only once, and went off again. Car is pulling to left. Unsure if this is a power steering problem. Has anyone else experienced problems with car pulling to left?

Irritating not having tailgate lock on tailgate and having to use in-car lever to open tailgate. Is there anyway tailgate can be converted so that it can be opened/locked from outside? My Classic model has central locking.

General Comments:

Poor acceleration, probably due to drive by wire system. Slow to overtake.

Good build quality, solid controls, no problems. No excessive road/engine noise.

Plenty of room in the back for 2-3 adults. Dash could be improved with soft touch plastics.

Driving position fine and adjustable.

Faults:

Almost everthing possible.

Rear windscreen heater failure.

Coolant leaks.

Rear windscreen wash/wipe pipes leaking.

Faulty headrests.

Front anti-roll bar wearing out rubber bushes (sockets) causing rattling.

Broken wheel trims and dent when we picked it up.

Lose fascia on back doors.

Problems with power steering alarm.

Water pump failure.

Constant engine whining.

Front wheel tracking problems. Causing bill for realingnment and new tyres.

Jamming drives window.

Problems with the ECU.

There are a few more things, but I'll leave it at that, because I can't remember them all.

General Comments:

Unbelelievably we bought this car from a Skoda dealer.

The car performs well a general rule of thumb, its just that things keep wrong.

The service we have received from our dealer has also been dire.

Another strange thing that we have just discovered is a mysterious problem with the mileage. When we put down our deposit and the car was ours the mileage was 24169, however when the service was done a month later, one day before we picked it up the mileage was 24448, a difference of 279 miles done between the time of purchase and time of picking it up.

Faults:

Faulty mechanism in the air-recycle system. Replaced immediately by the dealer.

Serious leakage of oil. I needed to add 2 liters of oil between two oil changes (8000 km). The dealer claims that it is quite normal for a 16 Valve engine. Problem is not solved yet.

General Comments:

Good car. Performance is acceptable, though its acceleration is not good.

Maintenance cost is OK, could be lower!

Faults:

The ABS light flashes occasionally for no reason.

The car seems to get through oil at an alarming rate - I check the oil level regularly and it often seems to be dangerously low, despite the fact that the oil warning light never comes on.

Sometimes there is a strange squeaking noise from behind the dashboard, it seems to come from just behind the stereo. We have taken it back to the dealer three or four times to fix this problem, but it keeps coming back.

There has also been some damage to the suspension and other parts on the underside of the car, but I live on an unsurfaced road, and these faults are probably due to the fact that the car has to endure many speed humps and potholes.

General Comments:

The car handles very well, the suspension is good and the steering excellent, but it is not a particularly satisfying car to drive.

The throttle response is very slow and somewhat unreliable, which means that I often lack confidence when overtaking or pulling out of a junction.

Having said that, the Fabia is much more comfortable on long journeys than many small cars. It is comfortable and reliable on the motorway, if a little noisy, and very economical. I took it to the south of France last summer, and had very few complaints.

The Fabia has a very poor turning circle for a small car, so parking it in a tight space in a multi-storey car park can sometimes take a lot of shuffling around.

I would not buy another Skoda - at first glance they seem like reliable, good-value cars, but I have far too many problems with this car for its age and mileage. I also feel that anyone who is passionate about driving would be a lot happier with something with a little more 'oomph' and character.