Skoda Fabia Diesel (pics on Pg 6)

[netchef]

Originally Posted by hmishra83

Congratulations on the BUY. I saw a White Fabia while I was stuck in the Gurgaon - Delhi TOLL day before. Looked good and the guys sitting inside definitely enjoyed all the attention

Thanks. Wanted white, but twas not available. Didn't realise there were so few about that I'd rate as the first TBHPian with one.

Originally Posted by jkdas

First Fabia @ TBHP

Congrats. We need some decent pix to start with.
Thks. Pics coming up.
Who would be using the car?

Folks mostly. I commute on my Blade, but shall 'borrow' the wheels when the rains come :-)

Originally Posted by Ram_NP

Congrats.
Please post some pictures and details about your driving experience.

Originally Posted by undead

Finally a Bhpian with the Fabia Diesel .
Was waiting for someone to show up
Bring up more reports and some pics would do good.

Originally Posted by jerish666

Yes Finally a Tbhpian.Waiting for the reviews and pictures.
Congrats for your new Fabia.

Thank-you, Sir.

Originally Posted by speedzak

Congrats on the car. Nice to know that you are happy with the purchase.
Would like to know how the purchasing experience was. Like staff behavior, transactions and overall experience from a customer point of view.

That 8-12 weeks waiting period seems to be shot off the mouth with some far off target.

:-) Thanks

[netchef]

Maruti/Bimal chaps ooze. Renault (can't recall the K'mangala dealer name) are smarmy but eager to please. The chaps at TAFE were precise and quite forthcoming, but totally inflexible when I asked for freebies or indeed anything over and above what the car was promised with by the factory. They finally flagged me off with an extra set of woollen Czech mats and THAT was it. I tried my best.

Anyway, coming back to the transaction: the fact I was paying cash coupled with some gentle persuasion managed to get me to jump the queue, albeit one THEY claimed existed. I took delivery 2 days after my cheque was cashed so they kept their word though many friends prophesized otherwise.
My office is 2 blocks from the TAFE showroom on St Marks Rd (hope I'd mentioned that I'm in Bangalore), so they brought the paperwork to my desk and even offered to bring the car to me. However, as it finally fructified, I went along with suitable swagger to collect the wheels after the PDI. She was parked in a neat 'delivery' bay with a cute yellow ribbong and a bouquet of roses on the dash. A TAFE chap efficiently showed me the ropes- at least the ones essential to getting her started and rolling PLUS being able to operate basic controls. The bleedin car is bigger than one would imagine, and that together with the slightly hig seating position and long hood-dash depth, gave a curious period of adjustment (I've been driving for over 30 years, and have many cars under the blet...

TO BE CONTD

[Mpower]

netchef, let me ask you this. If you didn't know it was a 3-cyl, would you have guessed? I mean, does it have the idle shake and the high rpm buzz like a Maruti 800? Also, what brand tires does it come with?

[PatienceWins]

Congrats. I love Skoda!!
Enjoy.

Looking forward to pictures and detailed review.

[rohithdr]

Congrats on your new car and drive safe.I think you are the first one to own Fabia in Team-Bhp By the way today saw one blueish grey Fabia near sadashivnagar by any chance was it your car ?

[gsurya]

How about the low ground clearance of the Fabia - at the stated 146 mm it is the lowest of all hatches in the country - does this cause a problem when driving?

When I looked at the car, it seemed that the low clearance was actually in the front due to the low bonnet design - and between the wheels the clearance was decent - though didn't measure it.

This is one reason my wife is reluctant to buy the car after a test drive, so it would be good to know from an owner if this is a problem factor or not...

[GSMINC]

Originally Posted by Mpower

netchef, let me ask you this. If you didn't know it was a 3-cyl, would you have guessed? I mean, does it have the idle shake and the high rpm buzz like a Maruti 800? Also, what brand tires does it come with?

Skoda Fabia comes witha Czech brand of tyres called MATADOR.
Never heard of it though

[breezydrive]

Originally Posted by GSMINC

Skoda Fabia comes witha Czech brand of tyres called MATADOR.
Never heard of it though

Kpzen can definitely put some light on Fabia Tyres

[patil]

Hi,
did you inquire regarding the service intervals, cost of regular services, cost of regular wear out spares such as oil filter, diesel filter, brake pads, engine oil etc. and body parts such as orvms, fenders, head and tail lamps, doors etc. basically what i am trying to know is wheather the maintenance cost of the vehicle is as expensive as the vehicle itself and the skoda reputation or is it not so expensive to maintain the car. Recently a friend bought a Tata Safari Dicor 2.2. VTT and i was looking into the service manual and the service interval was 15k kilometers, damn good. need not visit the service centre for 15,000 kms. please inform me regarding the above querries if not now atleast after your next visit to the showroom. thanks.

[netchef]

Originally Posted by Mpower

netchef, let me ask you this. If you didn't know it was a 3-cyl, would you have guessed? I mean, does it have the idle shake and the high rpm buzz like a Maruti 800? Also, what brand tires does it come with?

Yes, Sir. if you've an ear tuned to engines you would. You get the slight, very slight 'Jota' effect at idle that's reminiscent of the Maruti 800, but no buzz that I could discern though of course I haven't revved her.

Tyres: as correctly stated by someone down the line are a Slovakia brand called Matador. They're tubeless radials, but I'm surprised they didn't supply a more regular name like Dunlop or Michelin, even if Pirelli and Metzeler may be too rich for their blood :-)

Originally Posted by PatienceWins

Congrats. I love Skoda!!
Enjoy.

Thanks-you sir.

Looking forward to pictures and detailed review.

Coming up.

Originally Posted by rohithdr

Congrats on your new car and drive safe.I think you are the first one to own Fabia in Team-Bhp By the way today saw one blueish grey Fabia near sadashivnagar by any chance was it your car ?

Nope, not taken her to Sadhashivnagar yet. Thanks for the wishes.

Originally Posted by gsurya

How about the low ground clearance of the Fabia - at the stated 146 mm it is the lowest of all hatches in the country - does this cause a problem when driving?

When I looked at the car, it seemed that the low clearance was actually in the front due to the low bonnet design - and between the wheels the clearance was decent - though didn't measure it.

This is one reason my wife is reluctant to buy the car after a test drive, so it would be good to know from an owner if this is a problem factor or not...

Writing about it anon.

Originally Posted by GSMINC

Skoda Fabia comes witha Czech brand of tyres called MATADOR.
Never heard of it though

:-)

Originally Posted by breezydrive

Kpzen can definitely put some light on Fabia Tyres

Originally Posted by patil

Hi,
did you inquire regarding the service intervals, cost of regular services, cost of regular wear out spares such as oil filter, diesel filter, brake pads, engine oil etc. and body parts such as orvms, fenders, head and tail lamps, doors etc. basically what i am trying to know is wheather the maintenance cost of the vehicle is as expensive as the vehicle itself and the skoda reputation or is it not so expensive to maintain the car. Recently a friend bought a Tata Safari Dicor 2.2. VTT and i was looking into the service manual and the service interval was 15k kilometers, damn good. need not visit the service centre for 15,000 kms. please inform me regarding the above querries if not now atleast after your next visit to the showroom. thanks.

In the article that follows

[netchef]

As someone mentioned, she came shod with a strange ‘Slovakia’ brand of tyres called Matador. They’re ok. Seems to me that tyre noise is a bit high at the 80-90 kmph I hit on a run down the Mysore road, but I may be over-reacting or in a psychological loop induced by the knowledge that it’s a brand of tyre not known to me. In any case that’s not a scientific assessment made after comparing another similar sized and weight car on the same highway on the same day, with the same music at the same level, the A/C going at the same speed, the same 4 adults etc. or the same car with different tyres other parameters being the same


Someone else asked about the ground clearance: I take it as accurate the 146mm mentioned as I do not know the metrics. That said, we managed to clear all speed breakers without scraping the underpinnings, and that was with a payload of 4 adults. One particular hump on the Wind Tunnel Road is particularly nasty and often manages to take the epidermis off the downpipe on my Honda Fireblade, but not the Fabia.[

The TAFE people told me these first batch of Fabias are entirely imported. Even the battery comes from the Czech plant, so I don’t know what sort of warranties are on offer. Does anyone know if I can opt for an extended warranty? Does it make sense?

The service intervals I’m told are 10,000 kms, but they recommend a check-up at 5K kms before the first free service. At the rate my folks use the car we may just about hit 5K in a year. I did ask about the cost of spares and service because of stories I’ve heard of astronomical sums paid by Skoda owners to fix their Octavias, but my apprehensions were put to rest with assurances that most parts were reasonably priced (pack of lies ).

If you ask me, I’d say it all depends on your luck with the machine you get. I’ve heard of an Octavia blowing up its alternator that cost 40 thousand Rupees to replace… and one on which the battery died. But then those cases are aberrations- I certainly hope so as my folks are retired and cannot afford to spend a packet on maintaining their wheels. (For cheap maintenance, there was nothing to beat heir 20-year old Maruti 800. The A/C didn’t work anymore, but everything else did, and without much prodding and goading

The music system: The in-dash CD-cum-radio player is reminiscent of what the Swift offers (petrol?). Sadly there are only 4 front-mounted speakers: 2 in the doors, and 2 that bounce off the windscreen. I’m a music freak and love to immerse myself in my music while driving, so it is a disappointment not to have the thump of rear speakers on tap for my rock and jazz listening. In my humble opinion, this set up is good for western classical or ghazals—I can vouch that Brahms and Chopin sounded like they were performing just for us right there in the Fabia. If one is looking for more rambunctious bytes, an amplifier and rear speakers would be my prescription

Things that went awry: One rear passenger seat belt clip is missing but I think it’s slid under the seat where it jammed. Must have that sorted
The power steering-The only car I’ve ever owned was a Cielo, and the biggest flaw in the machine was its over-servoed steering. It just got too light at highway speeds, and that was most disconcerting. The Fabia, I’m glad to say, is aimed at more serious driving. The steering is well-loaded and proffers the right amount of assistance thru all the speeds I’ve done so far. I love the weighting even if she doesn’t have one of those fancier set ups that actually reduce assist with speed, I find it a pleasure

The power windows can be shut or opened from the outside (with the engine off), using the keys. Just twist the key in the door lock, hold it a few seconds, and all windows are operated. Helluva feature when you’ve stepped out of the car after turning off the engine, only to find an offside window down

The glove compartment has the sexiest damped lid ever made. I bet Aston Martins and Maseratis don’t have them. Once you unclick the latch and let go, she glides down gently to impress the most hardened phobe. The receptacle is even cooled by an A/C duct that can be flow controlled, so those sandwiches can be preserved before your lunch…or the champagne cooled for the date
Cool’ works here, doesn’t it
Adjustable headlights
Talking of headlights, the top of the line Fabia has projector lamps: could anyone tell me why and how they are better? Do you get a more focused beam like a stage spotlight? Is it that intense blue light we see on some passing cars or is that just the gas in special bulbs and not the technology of the lens?


ps. Patil, I shall check with the dealer when I next visit.

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[jkdas]

Originally Posted by netchef

The TAFE people told me these first batch of Fabias are entirely imported. Even the battery comes from the Czech plant, so I don’t know what sort of warranties are on offer. Does anyone know if I can opt for an extended warranty? Does it make sense?

Get it if they have it. Skoda service can be costly and also the parts.

Originally Posted by netchef

The service intervals I’m told are 10,000 kms, but they recommend a check-up at 5K kms before the first free service. At the rate my folks use the car we may just about hit 5K in a year.

5K check up would be free right? And they use synthetics ?You could have opted for the petrol version as they will be doing just 5k.

Originally Posted by netchef

The music system: The in-dash CD-cum-radio player is reminiscent of what the Swift offers (petrol?). Sadly there are only 4 front-mounted speakers: 2 in the doors, and 2 that bounce off the windscreen. I’m a music freak and love to immerse myself in my music while driving, so it is a disappointment not to have the thump of rear speakers on tap for my rock and jazz listening. In my humble opinion, this set up is good for western classical or ghazals—I can vouch that Brahms and Chopin sounded like they were performing just for us right there in the Fabia. If one is looking for more rambunctious bytes, an amplifier and rear speakers would be my prescription

What they have is good. Heard it once. Sadly they dont have pre-amp out or even rear outs.

Originally Posted by netchef

The power windows can be shut or opened from the outside (with the engine off), using the keys. Just twist the key in the door lock, hold it a few seconds, and all windows are operated. Helluva feature when you’ve stepped out of the car after turning off the engine, only to find an offside window down

Thats a neat feature.

Nice write up

[netchef]

Note from Mod - Please do not pase formatted text. Please write unformated text directly or copy from wordpad and add bolds/ italics on line[/quote]

Done, Sir.

Originally Posted by jkdas

Get it if they have it. Skoda service can be costly and also the parts.


5K check up would be free right? And they use synthetics ?You could have opted for the petrol version as they will be doing just 5k.

Don't know about the synthetics. Shall check
Dad has always been bit of an Cetane-Head, and I wanted to get him a diesel even though the numbers didn't make sense.
In our early days of motoring while I was still a young 'un, he took a '48 Buick Roadmaster and implanted a Perkins P6 diesel in her. That was when petrol wasn't expensive...I think he was a pioneer. We had some grand times in that car and heaps of fun priming the pump to work out an air lock, and burning diesel-soaked rags on the air filter to heat the engine to aid starting, and pouring a bucket of boiling water into the radiator for the same purpose ..good memories. The car was built like a tank.

What they have is good. Heard it once. Sadly they dont have pre-amp out or even rear outs.

Oops.

Thats a neat feature.

Nice write up

Thanks.

[androdev]

Originally Posted by netchef

The power windows can be shut or opened from the outside (with the engine off), using the keys. Just twist the key in the door lock, hold it a few seconds, and all windows are operated. Helluva feature when you’ve stepped out of the car after turning off the engine, only to find an offside window down

not sure if this is true for other cars as well.. but lot of functions are available during the first few minutes after switching off the engine. power brakes, audio system, power windows (even more in high-endvariants i think)..

do power brakes work in other cars as well just after switching off the engine? seems like a good safety thing (emergency brake if engine stalls)

btw, i think the steering has variable speed assist. check the manual. the assistance is less at higher speeds.

does the car beep/warn if you leave the lights on and try to get out of the car?

enjoy your car!

[PatienceWins]

Originally Posted by netchef

Someone else asked about the ground clearance: I take it as accurate the 146mm mentioned as I do not know the metrics. That said, we managed to clear all speed breakers without scraping the underpinnings, and that was with a payload of 4 adults. One particular hump on the Wind Tunnel Road is particularly nasty and often manages to take the epidermis off the downpipe on my Honda Fireblade, but not the Fabia.[

Good report.
My house is 1 km away from the hump you have mentioned. I stay behind the airport compound wall, the left before the bridge. Where do you stay? Hope to catch your Fabia soon.