Well I decided, what the heck what is redundancy money for, and went out and bought a Fabia vrS today. One year old, 05 plate in bright red.
It was a total different buying experience to any car have had before. It was bought from a small independent Skoda dealer.
He knocked £500 off screen price for not having a trade in. He gave me an hour test drive (which was enough). He insisted that it would get the full manufacturer service before going to me (as opposed to the usual "safety check" some dealers give you. He took me through to the valet bay and introduced me to the guy who would be preparing my car. I asked him if they could make sure that they waxed the alloys for me. No problem, they will take them all off and clean them then wax both inside and out. He also explained that from today they would be preparing my car and building up layers of wax each day till I came in and collected it. When I queried why there were no car mats, it was because they already had them out cleaning them and they looked brand new to me!
No pressure to sell me finance, in fact the question wasn't even raised.
A fantastic buying experience, totally different to the hardsell, 10 salesman working out the one branch that I am used to before.
I hope the ownership experience is just as good.
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Sounds good Bobby - we'll have enough fabia owners on here soon to start your own little club!
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What a contrast to a warehouse style car supermarket I went to in Crawley on Wednesday.
From one to three years old the cars are woefully prepared and quite obviously the tatty stuff, ex repmobiles and rental cars that main dealers will not touch.
The wheels are a giveaway; scratched, dull and blemished. Stone chips, mobile aerials and car wash brush scratching give it all away.
I did a one lap tour then walked out never to return.
Skoda do seem to have their service right. If only they could get those ugly front grills right on the Octavia and Superb.
Woody
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Woody - I know the place you are talking about - less than a mile from where I sit.
Its quite appropriate to call it a . Like you I think they keep plenty of 'manure'in their 'farm'yard.I did see the local chipsaway type guy working in the preparation area at the back the last time I was there though so they do some work before sale.
If you want to buy a car in Crawley then both the Toyota dealer Toll House and Honda dealer Southern are recommended by me, not so cheap but then you get what you pay for.
If you want a Skoda then the nearest dealer IIRC is some distance away in Rudgwick.
A disabled friend of mine wanted a Passat but could not afford it so bought an Octavia instead on my recommendation after the good reports here and has had no major problems at all.
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Likewise I know the place you mean too and agree completely. The nearest Skoda dealer is indeed Rudgwick. I didn't realise you were a Crawley resident too helicopter - though admittedly I'm only there during the uni holidays these days, it should give an idea as to which Audi dealer I work for...
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I don't live in Crawley cjehuk but I do work there on and off with sojourns in the Middle East. I guess you are somewhere around the M23 Maidenbower junction in your glass and aluminium palace.....
Unfortunately I only ever owned one Audi and I have to say I was put off them because it was the worst car I ever had - bar none -and I say that despite having owned a couple of Fiats :0)
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He also explained that from today they would be preparing my car and building up layers of wax each day till I came in and collected it.
Congrats on your purchase and all that.
However....
Wax is wipe on, and wipe off, leaving just a small amount to protect the paintwork. I would have thought it impossible to build up layers, as all you're doing is wiping off what you've already put on. Once it's waxed, that's it. It's not like they're adding extra paint.
Are you easily able to pop back daily to see if they are true to their word?
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Congratulations Bobby! Sounds fantastic!
I'm sure you'll enjoy it.
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Top choice Bobby. Hope you have a lot of fun with it.
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I think the skoda dealer in rudgewick has gone now.
Probably spent too much money building up layers of wax on customers cars?
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Congrats on your purchase and all that.
However....
You moaning minny, what side of bed did you crawl out of this morning.
If wax was wipe on wipe off there would never be any wax on there after the first application, so there would be no point in waxing it at all.
Of course you can build up layers, the top few microns of your previous layer goes hard.
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TourVanMan TM < Ex RF >
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That is indeed excellent service and probably why the Skoda mark continues to score so highly in the customer satisfaction monitors.
Are you listening VW & Audi - your not so fashionable family member is showing you how to treat customers here.
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>Of course you can build up layers, the top few microns of your previous layer goes hard.>>
Absolutely correct.
It also gets progressively easier to apply the additional coats.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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You moaning minny, what side of bed did you crawl out of this morning.
The underside of the sheets, like most other people ;o)
If wax was wipe on wipe off there would never be any wax on there after the first application....
I stand corrected. Still think it's a waste of time though. I wax my car once or twice a year, and AFAIC, that's more than ample protection.
ps, sorted out your overuse of italics.
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Hope you have a good experience with it - give us a clue who the dealer is - there's no rule against naming and praising !
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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My mother bought a Fabia from a similar dealer, they are very good as well.
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Dealer is St Andrews Skoda in Glasgow. But I also had experience of West End Garage in Broxburn as well but although I took a test drive with West End they did not have a suitable car. They promised to phone me if they did.
Well they phoned me today and told me they had one coming in, told me what they would be retailing it at and what they would give it to me for. I explained that I had already got one but rather than hanging up on me, he proceeded to have a 5 min conversation about how good a deal it was, what a great car, hope I enjoyed it etc etc.
I don't have the car yet but so impressed with both Skoda garages I have dealt with so far!!
This may seem strange to say, but after the way West End had treated me so well with the test drive, I was actually so reluctant to buy anywhere else. I have never before felt apologetic for not buying a car off someone!
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I have never before felt apologetic for not buying a car off someone!>>
I wouldn't let it trouble you...:-)
Just think of the hundreds of dealerships who will deservedly never enjoy your custom.
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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I have no complaints about the West End Garage in Broxburn having had 3 Skodas serviced by them over the years & seen them move from the original congested place to their current (small) glass palace. Remarkably there is 1 mechanic with them who was working there when I first went to them more than 10 years ago. Everything else is different though .....
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Well took delivery of my vrS on Saturday and I love it!
I popped into the dealer on Thursday, totally unannounced, to give him my cover note for the car tax and there was my car up on the ramps getting serviced. And true to his word, every wheel was off and was covered with a thick wax coating.
My first impressions of the car - very very fast! Prior to the Fabia, I have been driving a Saxo diesel and a Scenic diesel so obviously a totally different driving experience to either of them. Suspension is firm, but not uncomfortably firm. The seats are very supportive although it took me a wee while to get a comfortable driving position but the seat has height adjustment and the wheel adjusts both ways as well.
Car is bright shiny red and everyone who was slagging me off for buying a Skoda are actually mumbling under their breath thats its quite nice. Its hard to put in to words but there is a certain smugness about owning one of these, those in the know realise that the vrS is a great car, those that don't just think its an old Skoda. I don't even try to justify to them!
The dashboard is quite basic looking but everything does its job well. Still trying to get to grips with all the functions of the radio but so far, so good. I do notice a big difference in the build quality over my other cars, no rattles, squeaks or creaks.
Will need to be very careful re the light coloured seats, the kids have already been warned that all bags etc go straight into the boot and not thrown into the back seat. (The boot has a strap that hangs down so my 11 year old daughter can reach it in the fully open position which is quite good)
Woke up this morning and it looked like an Eagle had suffered Delhi Belly on the roof of the car, so even before the kids got taken to school, the hose was out blasting it away!!
All in all a great, well built car. It will be interesting to see if my driving style changes any with having a faster car or whether I will still end up cruising along trying to get the best mpg figure out it! On that note, so far getting 42.8mpg which I feel is not too bad because practically every trip so far has been to show off the performance to someone or other!
On a final note, the garage put 12 months tax on it for me instead of 6 at no extra cost, they filled the tank ( I have never had a used car before with a full tank of fuel and they also gave me a can of "Supagard Supa Wheels Alloy Wheel Protector" which you put on the wheels to protect them. Never heard of it before but it looks good and yet another nice touch from St Andrews Skoda Garage in Glasgow. Thoroughly recommended!
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Good to read your post, I'd agree that the Skoda buying experience is a good one.
The radio (Symphony?) is a good one with everything you need on it and excellent sound - only gripe I have is having to hold the band button for 2-3 seconds to switch from FM to AM (a pain given that I listen to Radio5 and Radio2/4 the most).
>>Its hard to put in to words but there is a certain smugness about owning one of these, those in the know realise that the vrS is a great car
Yep, I think the Skoda jokes of old can't apply to the cars these days - they're excellent.
Have fun with it and watch for the scameras!
Lee (Fabia Elegance TDi 100 - not quite a vRS but still pretty quick!!)
Lee -- You don\'t sell the steak, you sell the sizzle
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Lee, I have sussed out most of the radio - it is the feature that "records" traffic bulletins whilst you are awy from the car that I am struggling with. I have followed the instructions but when I get back to the car there are no reports, even in the morning when there are reports every 2 mins!
Need to RTFM again!
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OK Fabia people... please tell me how to switch the traffic reports on and off. I was nearly in tears last night trying to do it... : )
I ended up with something to do with Gala. Flamin' or otherwise, I don't know... I tried to read the manual but it just turned into Cyrillic script in front of my eyes.
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I quite fancied one of these last year but it's not quite big enough for my needs.
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'gala', which probably means something clever in german, either controls the relative volume of traffic reports to 'normal' radio or the degree to which radio volume increases with speed, I can't remember which and I haven't got the radio manual with me.
If you have the letters 'TP' on the radio screen, then pressing the 'tp' button when you are getting a traffic report should cancel that report.
If you have the letters 'TP' on the radio screen, then pressing the 'tp' button when you are just receiving an ordinary broadcast should turn traffic reports off - which is the only useful setting !
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Bobby - I don't know that RTFM will help - I've had an Octavia for three years and a Bora with an almost identical radio for two years before that, and both the 2hr and 24hr message recording and the 'loc' function appear to follow whatever logic they want on the day.
no matter what I set it to, I rarely get traffic reports for GMR, even though that is the only county I travel through. Reports for Lancs, Stoke, Sheffield and Leeds are 10 a penny though.
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Go on, get out of the car...
www.mikes-walks.co.uk
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Bobby, Lee or anyone with a diesel Fabia - any thoughts on how noisy the engines are? I tried one some time ago and it was noisier than the Golf TDI I then had - but things may have changed.
I would still like SWMBO to try a VRS, although she seems to have her heart set on a MINI Cooper when the time comes to changs the Civic type S next year (good car but too big for her needs).
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Avant, I don't feel that the Fabia is noisy at all but you have to remember that I am coming from a diesel Saxo!
Yes, outside the car you can hear its diesel but inside the noise is hardly noticeable. What I do find noisy though is the road surface / tyre noises but I suppose that is a natural result of having wide low profile tyres on it.
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"but I suppose that is a natural result of having wide low profile tyres on it."
Yes and they won't last as long either. Go easy on the loud pedal in first and second gear.
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The TP bit on the radio is a bit weird. I think there's two FM frequencies (or three). Anyhow, if you're in TP mode (says TP) then press the band button a couple of times until you're on the other FM set that doesn't have TP on it. Only way I could get rid of it.
The traffic memory function records for two hours after you get out of the car but after a while (I'm not at home to check how long) it decides that the info is obsolete and 'forgets' it.
The Fabia is fairly noisy - you don't really notice it until you get into something else, say the petrol C4 which is eerily quiet in comparision. Not so loud as to be annoying though, and worth it for the torques.
If the good lady wants a MINI Cooper, she'll not go far wrong with it. I find the diesel Furby easier to drive around town and the ride, accomodation, economy and grunt are all better than the MINI. Where it loses out is the handling (superlative in the Cooper with Sports *avoid Sport+* and image. We swapped a MINI Cooper Chili *(Sports suspension) for the Fabia and it's only on the odd day when it's sunny and I fancy a blast that I miss it. That's not to say the Furby doesn't handle, it does but the MINI takes some beating.
Different things the Furby and Cooper, don't think too many ladies(runs) would choose a Skoda over a MINI, no matter how good a car it is. Image counts for a lot!!
Lee -- You don\'t sell the steak, you sell the sizzle
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"Image counts for a lot!!"
Very true - SWMBO is a Daily Mail reader and all that that implies, and she would need a lot of persuasion. Compared with the current MINI, a Fabia would be a better bet for the occasional long journey she does. Interestingly you say the Fabia is a better bet in town too.
I think we'll hang on to the Civic until early next year and see what the facelifted MINI is like.
Thanks to all for the comments - I feel reassured about the noise if we do consider the Fabia.
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