Ah, Skoda. You know the jokes that usually go around: how do you double the value of a Skoda? Fill the tank!
When Volkswagen AG took control of Czech automaker Skoda in 1991, it was positioned as the new budget marque of the group, with Volkswagen itself being pushed up a segment higher. Despite being a budget marque, the cheapest Skoda we can get here in Malaysia is the Skoda Fabia 1.4, with a price of RM100,948.00, putting it into direct competition with other fully imported superminis like the Jazz and the Yaris.
Check out my report on the Skoda Fabia 1.4 after the jump.
Fully imported superminis have been gaining popularity ever since the introduction of the Jazz – they’re fuel efficient, easy to park, and with the premium price you pay, you usually get a stylo car, even though in reality most of the money is going to the government’s coffers – but you do feel pretty stylo driving it.
So how does the Skoda Fabia fare as a supermini? Forget the old jokes about Skodas, this is something entirely new. Based on the underpinings of the Volkswagen Polo, the Skoda Fabia is not a mini-MPV style of supermini that we’ve all come used to, it’s more of a proper 5-door hatchback ala the Proton Satria. But even though it’s not a tall mini-MPV, you won’t be finding yourself short of headroom in the interior, and rear legroom is good as well, with the rear bench put on a higher level than usual to allow for a better angle for you to rest your legs, that way your knees won’t be shoved against the front seats.
Skoda’s design cues have generally been likened to a slab of metal with wheels and body panels are usually just plain sheets of metal without much elements to make them more interesting, like the creases engraved into the side of the Mercedes Benz B170 to make it look less wedge-like. The Fabia is not a great looker like the Jazz, but you’ll be glad it at least comes with properly sized aesthetically pleasing alloy wheels that fill up the wheel arches, none of those 13 inches steel stuff. The rear lamps design have little inward pointing C designs to it, to help make the car look wider than it really is. On the overall, the Skoda Fabia gives you a really stable, grounded, and ready to go look.
And it goes like it looks. The car is very stable even at 170km/h, and NVH is excellent. Lane change composure is very steady, and there is no excessive bodyroll when you take corners. This car feels great around corners due to it’s squat stance, you won’t be able to experience this kind of drive if you’re in a taller mini-MPV style of supermini.
You also have to remember that this chassis also takes in a 150 horsepower 1.8 litre turbocharged engine in one of the higher end models, so the 75 horsepower 1.4 litre causes no drama at all, though acceleration can really be quite sluggy. Okay, REALLY sluggy. Once you discover there is really no point putting the pedal to the metal, it kind of encourages you to drive economically.
Get into the cabin and you’ll find the design very familiar and typical of a Volkswagen. There is a CD player with large buttons that are easy to reach and press. The meter panel is the typical Volkswagen design of two round dials flanking an LCD display in the middle, but on the Skoda, this LCD display is a very basic model, showing only important details like gear position, mileage and fuel level.
Something not found in other superminis in this price range are two cooled compartments for you to chill your drinks – one in the glove compartment for the passenger and one for the driver.
There is one issue though, the tacky chrome trim around the gear shift lever can reflect sunlight right into your eyes sometimes. The gear shift itself was also pretty quirky, the safety button to shift into certain positions can sometimes get stuck in a permanently activated position – this can be dangerous, you could accidentally shift into R or P while you’re on the go.
Skoda has successfully undergone a transformation from the brunt of jokes to a very formidable contender worth “Czeching” out! If you have a hundred thousand buckaroos and are looking for a small car that’s easy to park and easy on the fuel consumption, you might want to consider the Skoda Fabia. Everyone should taste solid European build once in their life. Why not start with a Skoda?
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i think they shud sell it for rm90k max. it's a 1.4l small hatchback! 100k + is ridiculous…
Skoda car's just doesn't have good resale value plus the aftersales service is bad not to mention the cost for servicing it.
by right this is CHEAPO piece of car, selling at 100k
it is a seasonal car, been here long time ago, come back, on and off like the SAAB, (selling for the sake of selling)
bought it ,after a couple of years, changed hand,then, leave it as a monument, ( ayam betelur dalam tu )
ride of course EUROPEAN solid……../useless buying new car this time, stick to whatever stupid car for now, not until 100% open market.(bila la…?…)
i 200% agree with protonGL!!!
stick to your current car and wait for D-Day to come…….
maybe another 3-4 NAP before AP/NAP dies off….. 2009 or 2010 or 2020?
ha ha ha…..
Right now its a NAP/AP market! Gov rules! which its not right due to too many hidden cost…
Should be a demand and supply market! Consumer rules!!!
armandd: i think they shud sell it for rm90k max. it’s a 1.4l small hatchback! 100k + is ridiculous…
………………………………….
Dude can you please stop making useless statements like that? You think they dun wanna sell it cheaper ah?
So back to the topic, I had the opportunity to try out a friend's Fabia and found it to be quite sturdy, you can't expect much poke from the 1.4 55kW 126Nm powerplant but IMHO its still better than a Jazz. I know Jazz owners are jumping up right about now, but allow me to explain. The 1.5l 81kW 143Nm VTEC engine may look good on paper. But a closer inspection shows that the max torque on a Jazz 1.5 can only be achieved at 4800rpm whereas the Fabia 1.4 reaches 126Nm at 3800rpm this means u feel the power surge earlier on. This factored in with the fact that it was found by a research that Japanese makes are among the most dishonest when stating performance specs compared to European or American makes means that you should trust what you feel more than what you read.
Honestly, I always have this feeling that in the event a foreign company actually owns proton, proton will turn out to be exactly like Skoda. No input of technical know how, just selling on the strength of the brand and distinguished styling. I hope this won't happen and proton can be one where technical know how would be injected (how i don't know) (and for the better i hope).
Anyway, the Fabia looks great on the out side but on the inside, it looks ok at the top but the gearshift parts looks absolutely low rent to say the least. Personally if i were to value this car purely on what it is, i would probabaly pay 40k, 50k max. Ringgit Malaysia
Hope VW can transform Proton like they did to Skoda. Skoda producing some great cars nowaday, unfortunately their models are all overpriced here due to our stupid G.
REDDEVIL,
G are not stupid; they just being sellfish and greedy. alas!
hmm… if i have the money, i wont spend the money on a skoda due to its look… seems too outdated if compared to other models such as Jazz, Yaris etc… besides that the gear shift problem that Paul mentioned… gosh!
I wouldnt even look at this car. Crappy car, I would by 3 kancils than this crap.
Not really want to touch too much about our car pricing here but I would buy a hilux instead for that kind of price.
If forget about price, I would get a BMW… :p
Okay, to be fair, for cars of same class, I would prever Rio, Getz, more then this Skoda, of course, Jazz and Yaris is cool.
This car looked really solid, and yet rigid… just like typical German. But would say that Deutsh technology really superb, and awesome.
Yup, but prefer test drive rather than owning one, envy you, Paul.
I honestly think this is a better car than all the Japanese superminis.
But bear in mind the better car is not always a better buy, this is where you take in consideration all the other factors like spare part prices and second hand value.
Yeah!! Coorrrect mr. paul!!!… good car doesnt mean good buy.. especially on bolehblowupland… unfortunately many model end up as bolehtengok models… such as this RM100k 1.4 Fabia.. what da hell…
You guys want to wait our market open up??. well, u guys can start dreaming for many2 years to come.. with FDI goin down (plus corruption index goin down also), NAP is one of crucial way for gov to earn money.. & GST (Goods Sales Tax) system (on other products) is coming up soon .. so get ready for increasing inflation in the future, later u wud regret for not buying ur dream cars today….. those who disagree, can discard what i have said….
I will have to agree with Paul. The Fabia is a better car than all the other Japanese superminis in terms of refinement and engineering. I think it is grossly inaccurate to say that the Fabia should be priced at RM50k as one poster put it. That's lower than a City and Vios, when clearly the engineering of those cars are half as good of what the Fabia is. I think a lot of people making those kinds of comments have never sat or driven a Skoda Fabia in person.
Any jokes on a Skoda will be unto the joker himself :D
japanes weight saving makes a jarring ride car can never match the solid ride of europeans ( even a stupid tiara nice on the road, with its supple softie french car suspension).
japanese engine design for fuel saving, to push the light car they dont need low end torque, torque is shifted toward higher rpm, it gives the feeling of (pick up) as the torque increases. to keep the car in power ,have to cange gear to certain power band for overtaking or catching for high speed, buzzing a bit.
european engine , due to quite heavy car ,the engine design is bias toward low end torque to push the not so light car, low end torque engine design makes the power peak a bit early, gearring makes the car travel fast with relax engine, overtaking sometime needless changing gear.
in town japanese, agile, but highway japanese is short of breath.
thats the GENERAL different of japs/euro characteristic road car
about engenering-
talking about technology, v-tech , actually its long used by the ferrari by sliding the cam to a higher profile (old design), alfa did in 164 clover leaf long time ago, (if im not mistaken)
japanes took the idea an shout about it, put stickers here and there,
and japanese so amazed about DSG, thats mean they are not the first,
have the sell any TSI simmilar yet?
but they are good at improving things,
-for me id prefer the feel european car for a road car-
sadly those are made by western money, gbp, euro ..bla ..
Can we hear some comments from Skoda owners out there ? (if any reading this site).
Appreciate if you can share your experience in terms of Skoda reliability, service cost, spare parts availability (I heard some 6 months waiting for some brand name)
Err…those who think the japanese car is better than this Fabia should go and test drive the Skoda. Skoda now is actually a cheaper version of VW, and that makes Skoda cars a good buy, in Europe that is.
Malaysian market favours AT, hence why the 1.4L comes with AT here. It makes more sense in MT as I have driven it around in Europe.
Then again, the questionable Gazzetted Pricing system used by Malaysian government and also the fact that the importer is paying through its nose to its AP holders make the Skoda quite a pricey car here.
If you are interested in this car, try test driving the Polo.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variable_valve_timin….
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a bit of techno la , whose the first?
please look up…
Don't u just wish Proton would take a leaf out of the book (success story) of Skoda. Let go a little national pride and ride away with a great Proton future…Let's keep wish a foreign auto company pushes ahead and takes up some equity.
"The car is very stable even at 170km/h".
Seems someone has a very heavy right foot eh Paul???
Regarding the car, it is probably the overall judgment of the price, fuel economy, spare parts and other miscellaneous things that make up the worthiness of the car.
It is indeed a good car but in a country like Malaysia, spare parts may indeed be a rarity in addition to the expensive repair costs as most people here are unfamiliar with the engine and body characteristics.
I guess nobody said which one the best, jap made ka, conti made ka.. not yet la… come on la.. childish la keep comparing like this… each name has their own brand, technology, style, market & etc.. of coz mesti ada advantages & disadvantages, no car is perfect one… even ferrari f1 engine also rosak in race sometimes.. mc laren mercedes pun slalu rosak punya… but theres some of us making jokes about the price, service & etc… (including me) which u can see it yrself… if u add a few thousand somemore, u can get a damn nice 2nd hand Subaru WRX, which is proven in WRC… so tepuk dada tanya selera… but i still wud say the price is ridiculous (no matter what the reasons are).. malas nak cakap psl NAP…
It's all in the driving. Some cars feel good and some don't. The Japanese car industry has made heaps out of ignoring that point, coz from a pure driver's point of view the Jap cars feel floaty and light weight and lack the wonderful feel of the conti cars. But of course they are great for soccer mums and dudes who aspire to owning the badge "wah, u got Honda!'
But then again, McDonalds have been able to convince millions of people there fast food is better than wholesome food. So in a sense the Japs have taught the car driving public to ignore how a damned good car really feels.
Makes it kinda exclusive for those that need to know! hehe
Which brings me to an interesting point, and I know it's off topic for this blog, but if u wanna feel how a decent car feels in the sporty euro heritage without paying the big bucks – surprise urself with the feel factor of the Satria Neo – all in our own back yard lah
I think honda car did lose a step in low rpm torque, but I think honda new
i-vtec engine has improved quite a lot in low rom torque. If compare the handling and confort between euro car and honda, euro car did feel confort and more torque in low rpm, since honda is build for light weight.
My friend has a VW Bora/Jetta for 5 years and my wife has a honda civic for 5 years,my friend's Jetta has some problems in these 5 years, and my wife civic is problem free for 5 years.
I think it is depend whether compare in power, hp or torque, handling or comfort, quality, resale value, some love tea, some love coffee…
agree, but even tea or coffee has different standard eg. starbuck's compared to good old kopitiam.. so it all really boiles down to quality, which quality or standard people are satisfied with.
Ok, I own a Skoda. It is a great car. I always do maintenance services in QC every 10,000 km. Their service is good and friendly. Average maintenance cost is above RM 400 per service, 3 times a year. So far, the car is running fine and it is very reliable.
Great car
I must say something. I have Skoda Felicia(find out on Internet), and Skoda Octavia Combi 1.8T 20V(150PS), and Skoda Fabia 1.4MPI in manual transmission. Felicia is 10 years old, so it is quite old, bud the rest are great cars. Yes, you have a big prices here(I'm from CZECH REP.), but here(I mean in EU) are these cars bargain. Really. And they are reliable. So at firt, before you coment this car, try. You'll see.
skoda.. on the name…
wish to take it home but….
price is too much…
i dunno y in this country…
car price… .
now really think that G cheating rakyat…
imagine.. G keep us in pressure..
be it fuel..
toll…
food…
and u name it…
God will curse this country ..
if G continuously "kejam"
i wanna have this skoda in 2022…after 15 years on the road, the price remains only 5%, what a good buy