Faults:

The headlights inexplicably came on with the ignition. However, it cured itself in a couple of days and has never recurred.

The engine temperature sensor failed intermittently. Skoda replaced it under warranty.

General Comments:

The Skoda Fabia is smooth and quiet to drive, fairly nippy, but most of all very solid and reliable. The doors close with a satisfying clunk, and we've had only two minor niggles in three years.

Most cars arrive new with a number "defects on delivery". Our Fabia had minus one! It came with a trip computer for free. We hadn't asked for it, or paid for it. It wasn't even an option on the Classic model. It was just there.

The Fabia has plenty of room for four people, and five can get in quite comfortably. Moreover, the boot (luggage) space is quite large for such a small car.

It's also pleasing to see such attention to detail. Lots of small items have been thought about. The Volkswagen influence shines through. For example, the air conditioning can be used to turn the glove compartment into a cooler box. It even has a light just like your refrigerator at home! Even the ash tray is illuminated so smokers can find it in the dark.

Faults:

Numerous headlight bulbs have blown... but in fairness these were all replaced at dealer's expanse. The problem was finally traced to poor connectors which have also been replaced at dealer's expense. This is the only problem I have had... and it seems a shame really that a few extra pence spent on decent connectors at the time of manufacture have "blotted" an otherwise faultless "copy book"!

General Comments:

Outstanding car for the money. Okay so it's no "speed machine", but saved me a fortune on fuel bills, is extremely comfortable, even on long journeys (and I should know as I cover about 22,000 miles a year in it) and is a Volkswagen Polo in all, but name.

Faults:

Poor quality Skoda badges on bonnet and boot which kept coming apart. Badge on bonnet replaced once whilst badge on boot was replaced twice.

Knocking noise began to come from rear seats after only a few days whilst car was being driven. Noise stopped after spraying WD40 into the interior of the back-rests.

Boot of the car had an intermittent habit of partially opening by itself when the car was in motion. After the third attempt the problem seems to have been rectified by the dealer.

Faulty head gasket only became apparent nearly a year after car was purchased. This took nearly 3 months to repair as parts were unavailable.

Windscreen washer pump failed during the winter. This also took 3 months to repair due to unavailability of parts.

An air-lock developed in the cooling system after the head gasket repair. After numerous attempts, the problem could still not be rectified by the dealer.

A fault also occurred with the water pump for the cooling system. Although the pump was replaced on 3 occasions it still kept leaking coolant and this fault together with the air-lock could not be resolved by the dealer.

Faulty cover on engine had a hair-line crack which slowly dripped engine oil into the engine compartment. After two attempts of pointing this out to the dealer a new part was fitted.

Very intermittent clattering noises were sometimes apparent from the engine when it was revved. This was never resolved.

The gearbox became difficult to work at times and refused to engage second gear on many occasions. This was pointed out to the dealer who claimed there was nothing wrong.

Front seats began to creek a little after a few thousand miles. This stopped by itself.

Lack of power evident when air conditioning turned on.

General Comments:

Despite its poor reliability, the Fabia is a well built little car.

The interior plastics are of a very good quality and sturdy. The workmanship and assembly of the car is also very good. These are factors which place the car well above all the others in its class.

Poor performance is notable from the 1.4 8v engine which is sluggish and returns a poor economy. The car could do with a better and more reliable engine.

In general I found that the support from the dealer could have been better in rectifying my problems. The support from Skoda customer services was even worse.

Having encountered an unbelievable number of problems/faults with the car, and the number of times I have had to visit the dealer, I have little faith in Skoda at the moment & have traded-in my Fabia for a car from a different manufacturer.