2001 Skoda Fabia Comfort Estate review from UK and Ireland

You name it, it's gone wrong. In the first year of ownership it went back to the dealer 14 times.

Three coolant leaks, each from a different temperature sensor or switch.

Engine management light is permanently on. As most people are aware, I've recently discovered that this is due to a common problem on piston ring wear on the 1.4 16v engine, but looking back at the paperwork, the car has had the problem since 27000 miles when it was 3 years old.

Because of the above problem, the car uses 1 litre of oil every 300 or so miles. This has lead to needing a replacement EGR valve, a couple of exhaust gas sensors, and a replacement throttle housing.

The rear doors now leak (also a known fault) and the windscreen washer bottle has cracked for no obvious reason.

The air conditioning has a mind of its own, but only seems to work on cold days when I don't really need it.

Bits of interior trim have worked their way loose, but then the car is now 8 years old, so that's not entirely surprising.

Despite all of the problems, it is one of the best cars I've ever driven. It's responsive, incredibly comfortable and the suspension swallows road bumps without also wallowing in bends.

The interior colour scheme is pretty horrific, but a set of seat covers dealt with that and, being an estate, the car is incredibly versatile. Every time I use the full boot space, it saddens me to think how much I wish the car were more reliable.

I shall be quite sad to say goodbye to it when I replace it today.