I have a 1.9 TDI Fabia (it is great 80%) of the time it is an 03 plate
Owned for 2 years


The problem with it.

When the engine is warm, and I am driving (typically on the motorway) it starts to jitter, sometime with a loss of power, I can either accelerate pass the engine vibration or slow down and they seam to go away and then accellerate again. But it will come back when it has done it once.

I have tried better fuel, and the fuel "cleaners" / fuel additaves from Halfords it got a bit better. But it is still happening at least 2 - 3 times a week now, the garage seam confussed.

When it behave like this the engine will sound rough at idel, if I stop it and start it within 5 minutes it will misbehave again.

Any advice, suggestions would be great.

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Well I knew the car needed fuel because the display said "low fuel level" and the yellow light was on in case I couldn't read. The computer also said I had fuel for 34 miles so I arrived at the filling station with 27 miles to go. It was awkward because it was busy and I didn't see one row of pumps had jackets on the nozzles until I turned in. As I had the trailer on I thought I would be less of a nuisance going out again, round the roundabout 150 metres away and approaching from the other direction. Just as I was leaving the station, the engine coughed. I made it to the roundabout by the power of prayer and it died completely half-way round.
As I was calling the recovery people, a chap in a scruffy grey 4x4 pulled alongside my left window and offered me a tow. As I was nothing short of a blooming hazard where I was, I accepted. He towed me to the filling station where we ended up out of the way but nowhere near a pump. I was then obliged to buy a horrible plastic can and put 4½ litres of diesel in the car; the other ½ litre having foamed out of the can at my feet. I checked the manual for a fuel primer but none was mentioned so I turned the key and the engine started as though nothing had happened.
The engine management light gleamed on the dash and the display said "Anti pollution fault". Having cancelled the recovery service and got home, I disconnected the battery and came inside for a coffee. It was just the same when I restarted the car half an hour later so I Googled the phrase on the display. It was all very depressing with mention of Eolys fluid, particle filters, hazardous waste and big bills.
I'm not a great subscriber to the world of coincidence so I sat in the car and reset every function on the computer I could think of including the one that says "Check control" which isn't in the manual and I've never known what it is. Next time I started up the engine management light blinked and went out. Sheer luck, I call it. As has happened before when I have disconnected the battery, it feels like I now have another 20bhp under my right foot before the computer gets used to my turgid driving style again.
OK, thank you for listening, you can get back to your lives now. Read more

I am disabled and drive an automatic car a Renault Meganne. This car will need to be replaced in the near future. After my recent icy weather experience i am considering buying a 4x4. I do not have to pay car tax i could get an automatic on motability but the downpayments are huge. Which 4x4 used cars would you reccomend. I have looked at a Nissan Murano so far.
Thanks

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Just moved to the UK from Switzerland. I am driving a Ford S-Max

We take occasional driving trips to the Alps (the next one in 2 weeks). My original plan was to buy some snow chains, but the owners manual says snow chains should not be used if we have larger wheels (225/50/17), which we do.

Second choice would be to buy winter tires....but these seem to be impossible to find in the UK at the moment. Someone suggested to me that there are websites in France and Germany where you can order online and have them shipped to a local UK fitter. I tried using mytyres.co.uk (Germany-based), but it seems rather dodgy (my credit card was refused and they are asking me to send a copy of a utility bill as proof of identity.....have also now seen many negative on-line comments about service).

Anyone have experience with reliable online tire services that have winter tires?

Thanks.

Chris Read more

I'm looking for anyone else who may have experienced substantial delays with ordering a new SEAT in the past 6 months & were not informed about it when they purchased.

Having spoken to others it would appear a pattern of new buyers build dates being pushed back in order to allow scrapage scheme purchases through is beginning to immerge. I'd like to bring this to the attention of the motor press & consumer rights groups so any similar stories you may have would be of great help

Below is an out line of the current debacle my wife & I are experiencing at the hands of both SEAT & the dealer.

On September 13th of 2009 my wife put down a deposit with a dealer for a brand new Seat Altea 1.9 DSG with a number of extras. We were informed at this time that in all likely hood the delivery date would be approximately 12 weeks however it was not possible to confirm it at this as Seat were installing a new tracking system & so exact dates for the car?s manufacture could not be given as it was not yet possible to view them on the their systems. We were told that as soon as this system became live we would be informed of a date.

Several times through out September & early October my wife called the dealers to be informed that the systems were still not live & so the car could not be tracked. During this time we were led to believe by the dealer that in all likelihood the car was in fact being manufactured & that the fact it was not visible on the systems did not mean it would not be delivered on or around the anticipated date at the end of November.

The middle of November arrived & despite several phone calls from us about the status of our car we were still no closer to having a delivery date. I must point out that during this time any contact with the dealer was made by our selves & not once did they call to update us, or inform us out of courtesy that there was still no news.

By this time we had also spoken to friends of our who were also looking in to purchasing a Seat, but had been put off when their local dealer informed them of issues with the delivery times due to scapage scheme purchases being pushed through first in order to meet the deadline for the scheme. On one call to delaers my wife enquired as to this being the problem & was told unequivocally that dealer had no such knowledge of these issues & to their mind this was not the case.

With mid November arriving & still no news, I decided to take a more direct approach, contacted Seat UK directly & spoke to a customer service agent there. I pointed out that whilst I understood our contract was principally with the dealers who are a Seat franchised dealership, I felt this was now reflecting on Seat?s brand & image as we still had no build or delivery date.

Again I was informed of the situation with the live tracking system by Seats customer service agent & informed that the car still could be on its way or in the process of being built. As the system was due to go live in the next few days the agent promised to contact the dealers to find out the situation & up date me regularly over the next few days.

Over the next few days true to their word I was contacted by Seat & informed that the car was not visible on the system however could have been built & might be part of a two deliveries expected at the dealers over the coming days. Unfortunately the car was not part of either of these & so we were left back at the start with still no build date or delivery date & that in all likelihood it would now be mid December that the car would be with us.

On hearing this I expressed my dismay & asked that it be found out what was happening with the car & when it would be with us.

Seat again came back to me to inform me this time that the car had yet to be built & that it?s anticipated build date & delivery would likely be February.

I am sure you can now imagine my dismay at this. For all of this time my wife & I have been with out a car as it was ordered to replay another car that was written off in an accident. I expressed my dismay again to Seat over this & ask that it be escalated. When pushed for a reason as to why this was happening the agent admitted that this was due to demand with the scrapage scheme & that this was an issue that both the dealer & Seat were aware of when our car was ordered.

When asked what compensation my Wife & I would be provided with for our problems I have been met with platitudes & repeatedly told that Seat will not talk about this until such time as we have received the car. I get the impression that they want our money first & then will give us a set of free interior mats or service for our troubles.

My last contact with Seat before the Christmas period was that we would speak closer to the delivery date & that Seat would at least pay the increased VAT now due owing to the car being late, although I have yet to receive any such confirmation in writing.

Following the Christmas break in early to mid January my wife received a phone call from the dealer saying that our build date had been pushed back again & that the expected delivery date was now early March. Again I called Seat to express my dismay yet again at this & again asked what compensation would be given & what could be done to ensure that the car was delivered on this date. Seat again returned my after call after investigating, feeding me the same platitudes regarding compensation & confirming the new estimated delivery date but with no explanation as to why.

Finally yesterday my wife received another phone call from the dealer (one of only to made by them in this whole debacle I hasten to add) to inform us that there is in fact still no build date for the car on the system, the car has yet to be built & no one can inform them when this will be. As the car takes an estimated twelve weeks to build & deliver it seem highly unlikely that we will now receive our car for the start of March & in fact our looking most likely at the end of April or beginning of May, a total of nearly eight months & nearly three times that of their estimated delivery date.

Through out all of this my wife & I have been left with out a car since the initial estimated delivery date. This is now starting to cause us financial implications.

We in fact chose to stay with Seat as the performance of the safety equipment in the car during our accident was 1st rate & having a young child this is of paramount importance to us.

However we now feel almost as if Seat is pushing us to cancel the order so they will not have to fulfil their obligations as the customer service we have received to date is as I am sure you can agree appalling.

Sorry for the length of the post guys but thanks in advance for reading & any of you own experiences you can add.


Numerous references to the dealers removed in accordance with our small print Read more