Skoda - European quality

Before buying the Skoda car plant, the German top managers of the Volkswagen concern looked long and hard: could they fundamentally change something decades in the making — the very style of production?

Having looked, they took the risk. And it paid off. By putting Czech production on German rails, the Volkswagen owners worked, first and foremost, for their own image and for the popularity of their products. The cars, now built to a European standard, began selling the European way, where tradition demands that every manual be spelled out in painstaking detail.

That is how the Skoda owner's manual came to include a whole section titled “Skoda warranty repair”, and Skoda gets plenty of criticism for it in specialist publications. But is that fair? Before criticising Czech cars, it's worth reading through the contents of that section carefully.

What does the warranty schedule actually cover? A review of the safety systems, a tyre pressure check, wheel alignment, a mandatory oil change — that's the full list of work your car needs. Skoda's service network exists for exactly this, and all of the above will generally take about two hours there.

There are two reasons for this: first, the staff at an official dealership have all the equipment they need, including test and diagnostic rigs, along with every accessory required, the most important of which is the oil; and second (and this, arguably, matters more), the manufacturer cares a great deal about its image and keeps refining its products — nobody has ever managed to call the Fabia, the Octavia or the Superb a bad car.

The updated Skoda Fabia looks very interesting. Leaving everything but the body alone from the previous version, the manufacturer created an entirely new look for this town car, drawing on the English Cooper and the Italian Fiat. The result is a cute little car that appeals equally to women and men.

Skoda's new design is only about two years old, but the “boxy” Fabia has already firmly settled into everyday use here. Still, this update isn't all that pivotal: the power and reliability of Czech cars have long been no secret to anyone. So in its new guise, too, the Fabia will have its circle of admirers and buyers — both ordinary drivers and a variety of businesses.

What's more, a Fabia bought at an official dealership, filled with quality fuel and the right oil, is unlikely to need any repairs once the warranty period runs out.