Essentially the car has been fine. However the battery went flat in September 2007, and apparently needed replacing according to the Skoda dealer.
In June 2008 the fairly 'new' car battery went totally flat again, and apparently it needed replacing according to the Skoda dealer. They said that the next battery would not be replaced under the warranty. They sold us a solar panel battery booster system to 'top-up' the battery.
In early August 2008, the new battery has gone flat. Absolutely no power at all. Completely dead, even though we were using the solar panel booster system. There has been no change in driver use in the past 24 months.
The car is a good plodder. Solidly built and reasonable petrol consumption on long journeys.
Good cruising speed.
CD/radio are good.
Front seats reasonably comfortable.
I had a similar problem on my 2001 SDi Fabia. From time to time the battery would go totally flat, leaving me stranded. I had the battery replaced to no effect, and had the alternator checked - nothing wrong with it. The fault turned out to be with a small device behind the dashboard that controls charging of the battery by the alternator. Since replacing this the problem has not recurred (several years ago).
I had a similar problem on a VW Fox. Turned out to be a badly designed connection on the lead running from the alternator back to the battery for charging. The heat distorts the connection, and it just needed tightening up with a spanner.
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