In March I took order of my 2022 Škoda Fabia. I've had it for 5 months. I am very satisfied with how it rides; the comfort is awesome and I love the practicality and the infotainment system.
A few things left me quite raged after about 2 months of driving it; to be honest.
A plastic ring tore off the seat cover; fog lights didn't work; and the plastic lid on the top of the infotainment screen rattled and made a noise.
TO MY SATISFACTION; ALL OF THIS WAS FIXED UNDER WARRANTY.
Now I don't have a single problem with my car.
My question...
How long will this car last before requiring repairs?
I have about 7,300 miles on it. It is a three-cylinder turbocharged TSI engine making 110 horsepower. Gasoline direct injection.
6- speed manual.
Thanks.
Adding @Dan
It’s just the beginning.
With modern Skoda, After you fix the factory quality defects, you get about 60k-100k miles of reasonable reliability.
(And by that I mean minor repairs here and there, random “Workshop!” Messages. The Fabia seems to be better built than the Ibiza that used to throw “Check Engine” light constantly)
If you replace your engine oil very frequently (4.5k-6k miles) and drive conservatively, 150k miles is doable.
Previous generations of this engine, (1.2TSI with the belt) we’re notorious for burning litters upon litters of oil.
The larger versions of the updated TSI EVO already have oil burning issues and the “kangaroo effect” as early as 9k miles.
The new small VW TSI EVO engines are too new to know. No good info yet, But it’s likely to be reasonable enough.
But with a cylinder deactivation, GDI systems that’s pushing 350 bar, a super light construction, and the Miller cycle (instead of the good old Otto) and only 3 cylinders - I’d be a bit concerned (luckily no VTG!)
About 90% of serious issues with these are DSG, so the manual was a good choice.
Also, out of curiosity - What's the main reasons for choosing a Skoda? Looking at the European pricing, I'm guessing it has mostly to do with purchase price?
Hello, Dan.
It had to do with the brand's prior satisfaction. In the past, my mom bought a 2003 Fabia and a 2008 Fabia, both brand new. Both were 3-cylinders. We had no problems with them.
Another reason was that I just like the comfort and practicality of German cars. {black}:laughingoutloud:
I didn't care about the pricing, actually. Toyota and Honda were too much money; I was deciding between a Škoda; a Mitsubishi, or a Nissan. All of them with manual gearing.
My previous car was a Kia with about 40,000 miles on it. It had a manufacturing fault and the timing of the engine was out. Threw codes constantly. Worst car I've ever had. Literally a pile of low-quality Korean junk. To be honest I went to look at new Kias, but my experience with the brand was a no-brainer for me. I am not going to buy a Kia for the rest of my life.
Glad you asked.
Well, between a Mitsubishi (a car company that's shutting down) and Nissan (Renault but worse) a Skoda doesn't sound all that bad.
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I wonder what Kia model was it? and what engine? It's been a long time since I saw a bad euro-Hyundai - I'm guessing it was an old small SA/TB/JB platform car?
The ones TopGear said are "less fun than drowning"
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Cause since then Hyundai copied their European engine's block and pistons from Toyota, they actually had decent MPi engines and semi-decent platforms. The RB platform was quite nice, with the later GB platform being actually insanely good.
It was a 2007 Kia Picanto made in South Korea, Euro-spec. I bought it from the second owner. It had like 36,660 miles on it. It ran fine the first few months of ownership, but then it started to drain my wallet. The crankshaft position sensor had to be replaced. I remember the car constantly threw codes. One day all of a sudden it was running rough and smoked. I took it in and they had it for a week before replacing the piston rod in the engine. Later the car died on the highway with check engine light flashing - I had to get it towed to the nearest garage. They had it for about 4 days and the chief mechanic actually called up Kia since he was suspicious there is something wrong with this engine. Kia confirmed it - the crankshaft pulley bolt failure was about to happen to my engine, but I managed to save it by not driving any further. It was a manufacturing fault from the factory, they said. I was quite astonished - I haven´t noticed any recall on the car. I searched the web thoroughly - I found that a number of British owners experienced this exact problem with their Picantos and some of them were blaming Kia for not paying for the replacement engine. I took it in to my local Kia dealer, where it was from. THEY HAD NO IDEA OF THIS RECALL AND DENIED THIS CAR BEING PROBLEMATIC. There are a few Picantos in my area, usually driven by elderly ladies, even older than my car (2005 -ish) - THEY STILL RUN!!! How is this possible? Can you explain this, Dan? Please I want to know the truth because Kia did not give me any further information. I had to sell the car ASAP - my mechanic advised me to because he knew that the engine needed to be rebuilt and the timing was out. My timing belt would snap in about 10,000 miles, he estimated.
Hyundai engine, four cylinder, 1.1 gasoline, 48 kw, used in city car Hyundais and Kias, middle to late 2000s.
P.S. Not to mention the door locks wouldn´t work in the winter, leaving me stuck inside the vehicle several times for
hours.
Yeah that's a SA platform car - it's crappy, reliability is line with early 2000s Renault and Peugeot cheap cars.
(Can confirm, As a former owner of a Meganè Classic, the warranty payout over the first 5 years was over $20k)
The Main issues with your car are bad crankshafts, weak head gaskets, idle air control, and ignition system.
Your issue is that you got an Epsilon engine, you should have gotten a Kappa.
The Epsilon was an engine developed for 3rd world applications - so you got 3rd world reliability.
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I'm unsure why you're so surprised people still drive old bad cars -
That's roughly my reaction every time I see a Fiat Uno, or a Renualt Megane Classic and those are similar to what you described, but it's not engine issues, it's every single thing that's inside of that rusting metal shell.
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In 2011 Kia redesigned it and made it as good as a city car can be.
The only engines offered are indestructible Kappas, An optional, very durable 4 speed automatic.
Well it's a new car so nobody really knows yet how long it will last, and of course it depends greatly on care, maintenance, and driving conditions. Quality of Skoda has gone down since VW took over.
Turbo means more stress on the engine -> less life.
GDI has proven to be harder on engines as well due. Valves are prone to buildup so have them cleaned regularly. Oil is more prone to dilution, so change the oil regularly, and avoid short trips. Make sure engine reaches and maintains operating temperature for a while to evaporate contaminants.
