Category: Superminis 
Price Range: £8,950 to £13,730
Roomy, quality product, looks good with square-cut styling and a solid stance, good fun to drive especially with the smaller engines.
Ride is too firm with larger wheel option, steering is low-geared.
An engaging and practical new supermini with character.
This is a car range designed to be ultra-cheap to run, with the bias towards economical engines. The 1.4-litre, 80bhp diesel is the most frugal, with a combined 61.4mpg and 120g/km CO2; the 69bhp version is less efficient and fractionally thirstier, returning 58.9mpg (the same as the 80bhp version manages if fitted with a particulate filter). The 1.2 petrol engines are identically thrifty on the official combined cycle, at 47.9mpg and 140g/km. Thirstiest is the automatic 1.6 at 37.2mpg and 181g/km, both significant penalties over the manual's 40.9mpg and 165g/km.
Servicing should be cheap and simple for all the Fabias, and once past their warranties they could be serviced by the many non-franchised Volkswagen specialists, given the shared mechanicals. Insurance will be cheap and depreciation should be low, thanks to the Fabia's quality reputation and the high scores given to Skoda in customer satisfaction surveys. The new car's pricing will be similar to the old model's in terms of market positioning, but inevitably a little higher to cover the improved equipment levels.
