Skoda Fabia 7speed DSG

Currently reading:
Skoda Fabia 7speed DSG

Well that was a painful experiment..

Skods has been replaced by a FIAT petrol manual ( with factory cruise )

Skoda still annoys me... only car I remember owning being so poorly suspended cost £220 not Seven grand

Gearbox is nice.. but wont miss the rest.

Supposed to get my £7k back next week..
I'm of the opinion that VAG cars in general are ruthlessly engineered to maintain the brand hierarchy.

So there will be an optimum setting for comfort and handling for the Fabia..to get that requires you buy a Polo, there will be an optimum setting for a sporty version...to get that you need to buy an Audi A1. There will be slightly crashy worse version of sporty..to get that you buy the Seat.

Few years ago journos questioned why the VAQ diff in the Octavia was much worse than the one in the Golf, they were assured they were identical except for software mapping. So apparently Skoda didn't just copy paste a program that was already written...they took great time and effort to make it worse.

Social engineering applied to actual engineering. You can bet between the various versions of A1, Fabia, Polo, Ibiza....everything out of sight is identical and made to the same standard. Nice dashboard here and bit more sound proofing and 4 rings on the front there and 15k car becomes a 25k car.
 
Last edited:
I'm of the opinion that VAG cars in general are ruthlessly engineered to maintain the brand hierarchy.

So there will be an optimum setting for comfort and handling for the Fabia..to get that requires you buy a Polo, there will be an optimum setting for a sporty version...to get that you need to buy an Audi A1. There will be slightly crashy worse version of sporty..to get that you buy the Seat.

Few years ago journos questioned why the VAQ diff in the Octavia was much worse than the one in the Golf, they were assured they were identical except for software mapping. So apparently Skoda didn't just copy paste a program that was already written...they took great time and effort to make it worse.

Social engineering applied to actual engineering. You can bet between the various versions of A1, Fabia, Polo, Ibiza....everything out of sight is identical and made to the same standard. Nice dashboard here and bit more sound proofing and 4 rings on the front there and 15k car becomes a 25k car.
I think that sums it up quite well.
I bought the Fabia because it seemed suited to the job of teaching learners, and being a Skoda, came without a lot of the toys. I didn't want auto lights, auto dipping mirror, climate control, auto wipers, as learners need to understand how to do this stuff themselves. Underneath, many of the components have the VW logo on them. The ride is less firm than the Polo. It seems as if they kept teh same springs, but softened the dampers, a cheap way of doing it, as really the springs and dampers need proper matching. At least the body control is so much better than the Fiesta.
 
Having now spent @300 miles in the 500 it far more composed than the fabia

Which somehow didnt like E10 fuel..
A trip around the Brecon Beacons meant screaming down long gradients..as the DSG couldnt figure it out.. then pinking / pinging all the way back up

The 69hp 500 feels dog slow compared to my 85hp punto.. and the 109bhp skoda

But.. its comfier to sit in..and with the Cruise I needed.

I will have to see how much the garage are asking for the Fabia.

Motorway and WBAC upped their offers by £900 between Nov and Feb

I 'lost' £600 in the 6 months from Aug to Feb
But spent nothing on servicing..and did my friend a big favour getting him 2000 miles around the UK after his VAG cars quit on him.
 
Last edited:
Having now spent @300 miles in the 500 it far more composed than the fabia

Which somehow didnt like E10 fuel..
A trip around the Brecon Beacons meant screaming down long gradients..as the DSG couldnt figure it out.. then pinking / pinging all the way back up

The 69hp 500 feels dog slow compared to my 85hp punto.. and the 109bhp skoda

But.. its comfier to sit in..and with the Cruise I needed.

I will have to see how much the garage are asking for the Fabia.

Motorway and WBAC upped their offers by £900 between Nov and Feb

I 'lost' £600 in the 6 months from Aug to Feb
But spent nothing on servicing..and did my friend a big favour getting him 2000 miles around the UK after his VAG cars quit on him.
Well at least you are getting on with it's replacement. Also 100 quid month is not bad for "rental".

Find with the modern eco engines, while technically they run on lower grade fuel to get the best you need to pay for 98+.

Ours had a lovely flat spot/misfire that would appear under heavy load/full throttle uphill on 95 at 2500 rpm. Just what you need when joining the motorway on an uphill sliproad. Oddly enough switched to 99 octane at the E10 switch over and it's never been seen again.
 
I paid £7600 got £7000back

£9500 seemed to be the going rate for 'non.cruise' DSG

A cruise equipped one was £16k.. crazy money

It was due a £1k engine and g.box service.. and I would have done suspension and brakes ..
So £600 for 5k miles and 6 months of ownership was good.
 
Back
Top