Faults:

Mis firing - turned out to be a 'flywheel probe' that was bust.

General Comments:

This is my third Skoda, and each has been an improvement in quality and ride from the previous one. It does tend to lose power on the hills, but for a general drive around, it will be hard to beat. The beginnings of VW are apparent, and it is a comfortable car to sit in for a period of time. Perhaps a good dealer (as I seem to have) is a help.

Faults:

Off side brake cylinder had seized, managed to release it, but the stress on the near side brake cylinder caused that to leak.

Misfiring, but found that was caused by the spark plugs. Needed to change the plugs every 10,000 miles, which was odd, as they were set right and were from a top German manufacturer.

Otherwise, nothing wrong with it at all.

General Comments:

This is a big, small car. There is plenty of space both front and back. Boot hasn't got much capacity, but this is to be expected on a small hatchback.

Reliability is superb and the build quality is great. Even has that solid feel when you close the doors, which you don't get on any other car of this size.

A great looking car too, look at other cars this size and they are ugly. Interior is attractive, appealing and makes the car feel bigger than it really is.

Economy is good. Handles well, if you're sensible and feels best on the motorway, very smooth and a great cruiser between 60 and 80 MPH. Performance and power not so good as it dies on the hills.

Faults:

Exhaust middle section blew, replaced by the dealer.

Front tyres wore excessively, a fault in tyres???

Alternator failed two months after purchase.

Brakes very spongy upon delivery of the car.

Broken glass in the offside headlight from a previous unmentioned accident.

Rear exhaust box fell off after fitting of a mid section.

Constant misfire despite eight trips back to the dealer in eight months, still misfiring now!

Water leaking into the boot area.

Damage to the underside of the car due to careless jacking.

General Comments:

After owning this car since Feb 2000 I would say I've had my share of problems, wouldn't you? It has been in the garage on average every four weeks.

The fault lies with the preperation of the vehicle by the dealer, not with the manufacturer. After eight months the car has had four new tyres at £162 + VAT for four, new wiper blades after they fell apart at £16 a pair, the exhausts blew in the first week of owning the car but the dealership only plugged up the hole, I had to take the car back twice before I got the faulty section replaced, and the car has more recently been back and forth for this mystery misfire.

The dealers now agree to change the car. After saying this I am more than happy with Skoda and hope the replacement is better than this one.

Faults:

Faulty HT leads at 19000 miles.

Rear wheel cylinder leaking at 32,000, found on service.

General Comments:

I wouldn't buy the 1.3 engine again but would certainly buy Skoda again.