2008 Skoda Fabia Greenline from UK and Ireland - Comments

Nothing.

After a reality check on how bad Vauxhall customer service is, I decided to part ex my car and purchase a brand new Skoda Fabia. I have only owned it for 3 weeks and I wish I'd purchased it sooner.

The cabin is amazingly spacious, and the engine is VERY economical as I am getting 43MPG in town driving, compared to the Corsa getting 35MPG on average, and goes very quickly.

You may think that a 1.4TDI wont be able to cut it, but I would recommend taking a test drive because it is a very good engine.

The car may be an eco model, but it is really good to drive and very light on fuel. Also, the dealer was fantastic, very friendly and gave me what I wanted. The salesman did not try to persuade me to buy a different trim level. He gave me exactly what I wanted, and I had the car in less than 3 weeks from placing the order (the car was already built and on its way, so I didn't have a choice on interior trim or car colour, but I like them both).

The only thing is that it rattles like a tractor when it's cold, but when it's warmed up, it quietens down.

It's a little Skoda - yes! People may take the mick, but when you say you're getting 58-78 to the gallon in real world driving, you feel very smug indeed.

I would agree that this is one of the most economical cars available. I have had nearly 80mpg on some medium speed runs!

Space is good, stereo and lights are excellent.

Have had a gearbox selector problem in the first week, but this went away on its own before it was due to go to the dealer.

Brakes were poor when new, but have got better, bearing in mind the small discs in the 14" wheels.

Biggest gripe is the dash rattles, maybe due to hard plastics used. I have had 3 rattles and have never really got rid of them, despite dismantling myself or wedging bits of card in etc!

The ride is a bit firm, but the tyres are recommended at quite a high pressure. The car is affected by cross winds quite a bit, but this isn't a problem for town driving. The skinny eco tyres also probably don't help in cross winds.

The engine has loosened up, now at 4000mls and it really pulls well, no problems overtaking slow (fuel saving) gas guzzlers! The car sits happiest in top gear at around 70mph, at which speed its averaging 62 mpg!

Average mpg over the 4000 mls is now 61.8 mpg, and I don't hang around. In comparison to my Mondeo diesel, I used to get 45mpg from this car.

Overall, a good buy at £9700 with metallic paint (list price was £11,500 + metallic), and there really isn't much alternative in the eco car stakes unless you fork out for a gimicky Prius (BTW I drove one at the weekend and it only averaged 48 mpg!).

Next car for me is a hybrid diesel in a couple of years, price permitting. Happy motoring!

Before I purchased the vehicle, my friend was trying to convince me to buy the 1.9tdi engine. I said I didn't need the extra power. He has been in the car a few times now and has not once joked about the lack of power. It takes a while to get used to driving around town in third and I only use 5th when I'm going 70 or more. I found out that the Fabia I own chucks out FAR more torque than his Astra does. I haven't had any trim rattles yet, but I have not even breached the 1000 mile mark yet.

Also, I would highly recommend using Turtle Wax Synthetic Ice after washing the car. It'll look like it came out of the showroom, and it can be used on glass and plastic trim as well as the bodywork. I did it last week and it has been raining heavily and I don't get watermarks on the bodywork. The water just beads off.

It's great to hear from another Fabia driver who is happy with the car.

I am surprised you say you only get 43mpg around town - thought you would get more.

I get 43MPG because I do short journeys. I only need to travel 4 miles to get to work.

My previous car only just managed 35MPG.

I've had two cars with this little 3 cyl motor (2001 Seat Arosa and 2003 Fabia) between them I did more than 180,000 miles with no problems. The revvy nature of the engine is a real joy. They don't half make a racket when cold though :-) I have the 1.9 TDI Fabia now and there is much more pull at higher speeds with the bigger engine. The 3cyl is a fine little engine though.

JON.