Watercooled Daily - Skoda Fabia vRS Wagon

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silverra23
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Watercooled Daily - Skoda Fabia vRS Wagon

Post by silverra23 »

It feels like this purchase has been a long time coming.

I finally got the shits with driving my 1991 Corolla AWD wagon 50kms a day in traffic and decided it was time for a new daily that was a bit more comfortable and had some mod cons. Problem was the budget didn't extend to the R36 that I truly craved, and truth be told I probably needed something a bit lighter on fuel than one of those.

I also kept thinking I should get a 7 seater, so looked at Caddy vans, Odysseys, Carnivals, and never really fell for any of them.

So a review of my wants and needs came back to wanting a small wagon that could cope with kids seats, throwing some stuff in the back, bikes on the roof, and be reasonably economical, and be a bit of fun in the process.

A search of every wagon for sale in melburg unearthed this little gem. Skoda Fabia vRS wagon with 35K on the clock and 9 months reg and warranty. Took it for a spin and loved the grunt from its Polo GTi twin charged driveline. Its quirky looking and not common on the road, so appeals to me from that front too.

Scared myself a little looking at forums with tales of woe with oil consumption and DSG gearbox fails, but being a later version I am hoping that I dodge some of those bullets. But there is that warranty if I don't.

Plans - just drive the bloody thing. Oh and get it polished and tidied up externally, previous owner gave it a moderately hard time in the paint work department.

Other than that tinted windows and some roof bars and a bike carrier and she is done. Oh and maybe a blacked out grille.

It does need an altitude adjustment but that always compromises ride, so that might just not happen. Everyone seems to rave about the transformation a rear sway bar makes to them, so that sounds like a good mod to make.

Couple of photos to add some colour to the post.

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martinigreenbus
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Post by martinigreenbus »

A mate had one of those whilst we did a week tour of der fatherland and The Netherlands a couple of years ago - was a great jigga....

that was about the same time my buddy BallBags got pinged for speeding because of Jye hahahha
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Megalania
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Post by Megalania »

Looks pretty sweet. I have a couple friends in the same boat as you. If you don't mind me asking, what did it set you back?
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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

$17,300 - not cheap, not dear.

The hatches all seem to be around similar money for similar era and mileage, so I figured it was a reasonable deal given the wagon cost a few grand more when new.
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morts
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Post by morts »

Seats look really comfortable too. What year is it?
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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Yes really comfortable and hold you well. Wouldn't want to be a really big bloke in them I don't think!

It's 2012 and first on the road in 2013. This model ran from about 2010 to 2014.

Early ones may have oil consumption issues unless it's had the warranty updates.
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Salty
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Post by Salty »

They're great cars !
I bought an octavia vRS wagon a few months ago and love it. The value for $ is unreal when you compare them to the VW equivalent.

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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Thats a good looking machine with the blacked out grille and headlights.

I might have to acquire me some from the Monte Carlo edition Fabia and emulate the look!
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Salty
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Post by Salty »

Yep - I ordered the schwarz pack - chrome go home.
I like how the front mount intercooler is visible..
I need darker tints, and 25mm lowering to make me happy.. the engine is insane on this model - up 100 torques to 350 from mk6 gti and 25bhp to 225 .. very good fun.
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Post by Nafe »

That's fab-ia!
silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Smallish update...

I finally took my RS wagon in for a dealer visit, as it had used about 4L of oil over 4000km of driving. As a result oil consumption test commenced - there are fixes that include new piston oil squirters and breather mods, so I am sure that is in its future.

Also got an updated engine map as it occasionally had a rough idle on start up. Another known fault with another known fix :)

And they have ordered a new clutch for it as well, since the DSG has not been as good as it could be. Known problem with a known fix.

Kind of expected some or all of these issues, so no concerns here.

I love the car. Goes great, very comfortable and the extra space of the wagon is a ripper.

Now with tinted windows and bike carriers. This photo makes me think I need to get some lower springs into her...

Image
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Salty
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Post by Salty »

That's way too much. I sold my mk6 GTi as it was burning 500ml per 1000km. After 3 oil consumption tests VW told me it burned 497ml and was acceptable.. if it had burned 500 it would have been replaced. I gave up as dealing with dealers is a long long road

Best of luck - with that kind of consumption you should have no probs getting it actioned.
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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Wow.. so over a year since I updated this post about this cool but flawed shitbox.

Being fucked around royally by Skoda... despite raising oil consumption issues when she was in warranty, and them doing a patch job with the oil squirters, the reality is that the engine this model runs with a CAV engine number designation often need to be flung in the bin, both in Skodas and Polos.

So it is with mine. When I accelerate hard away from the lights a mario kart style oil cloud is left behind. They finally agreed the engine needs replacing, but because it is 7 months out of warranty (with 53,000km on the clock!) they said I have to pay some of the labour cost - $2400 worth.

Additionally.. its gearbox woes have continued.. dealer decided it needed a new clutch.. again... this time no warranty no contribution from the factory.. $2.600 is the quote.

I have written them a strongly worded letter that says "thats bullshit, have another go"... and it will be two weeks tomorrow with no reply.

Anyway here is a current shot of it.. cos posts with photos are more interesting!




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IN2VWS
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Post by IN2VWS »

How old is the clutch in it? VW offer 2 year warranty on genuine parts. Skoda maybe the same. Worth a try
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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Its 8,000km old and about 9 months old.

Their customer service people told me to send them a letter raising my concerns. One of them was the clutch is new, are you sure it needs another one and surely it comes with some kind of warranty when you fit it...

After two weeks of waiting for a reply I am getting the shits with it and starting to get vocal on their social media. It seems to be the only way large organisations will act on complaints these days.

Tomorrow they get a polite phone call asking what the f@#k is going on :)
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Post by *did* »

Was the car under $40k when new?
If so, Australian consumer law (consumer guarantees) may apply. These guarantees extend beyond the manufacturers warranty period.
This carries a requirement that the product last for a reasonable period of time.

Clearly, it is not reasonable that an engine become faulty (due to no fault of the consumer) within such a short timeframe and distance travelled.

Although, I'm not sure whether these rights transfer to subsequent owners, or stop with the original owner.

Hard to say with the clutch. Would need to prove it is a fault, rather than wear and tear.
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*did*
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Post by *did* »

https://www.accc.gov.au/consumers/consu ... guarantees
https://www.accc.gov.au/publications/mo ... nsumer-law

http://www.caradvice.com.au/345004/what ... -warranty/
"for example, if you bought a new car yesterday and in four years time the engine fails and will no longer start, so long as the vehicle wasn’t used abnormally, it would be considered a major failure, despite being outside of the manufacturer warranty."
silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

thanks *did* that is pretty much the argument i have run.

they assured me they would have an answer for me today.. still waiting...

they also assure me i should be happy with their revised answer... time will tell i guess
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Salty
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Post by Salty »

Mate - They are taking the piss - as pointed out, even with no warranty there is a lemon clause about major problems within reasonable mileage.

So 12 months into owning the Octavia it started blowing massive smoke under boost on the highway. I ended up dropping it to Skoda about 10 times to fix it. They ended up giving me a Q7 for 2 months while they investigated. It got fixed in the end being a faulty intake manifold design pooling PCV oil mist.. maybe look into that?
Anyway - I tried pushing for a engine replacement for 3 months and even got legal action started after having video of the smoke pissing out the back > Once you get to that stage they put up a massive wall and you realise how hard it is to get a major warranty item replaced.
The thing that really pissed me off is they decided to hold the car for almost 3 months and when i got it back it had an extra 1200 kms on it and many paired iphones. According to them they can do internal oil consumption tests. . dealers take the PISS.
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silverra23
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Post by silverra23 »

Yours a petrol or diesel Octavia Salty?
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