18/02/08

• Price7990
• We like...solid, nice details
• We don't...penny pinching in places

Is it good, and cheap, or good-because-it’s-cheap? You decideWe believe that Skodas make most sense when you’re buying cheaply. And so it is with the entry model Fabia, which at £7990 undercuts its rivals on price by a useful few hundred quid. So the big question is whether it’s good, and cheap, or good-because-it’s-cheap.

Let’s set an answer going by talking price. At a tenner under £8000, the Fabia sees off most same-size rivals and even comes in below some city-car tinies, such as Renault’s Twingo. Crucially, it’s £1100 under a baseline Volkswagen Polo, with which it shares running gear and a fair few oily bits and trim items. And, despite its modest price, the Fabia’s roomy for the supermini that it is, while the boot is huge.

In the metal, this Skoda feels solid and durable. The doors close with a reassuring thunk. And, considering that this is the cheapest Fabia, it has good stuff aboard: red and grey seats in tough-looking cloth, a decent radio/CD, four airbags and electric front windows. To work the central locking, you must first jam the key into the driver’s door lock, and mirror adjustment comes courtesy of a toggle on each front door. But neither is a hardship.

And there are unexpected treats, too: cabin lights that come on as you pop the locks and soft-fade once you’re running. Then there’s the sturdy parcel shelf that fixes in either of two positions to divide the boot.

But less welcome is the hard plastic dash, the missed-off glovebox lid and door openers that look and feel as if they cost just pennies to produce.

This is what you get in a Fabia 1: moving to the mid-level, a Fabia 2, brings a dash made of soft-feel material and a glovebox lid as standard. But even the cheapest ‘2’ comes in at £9720, which pits it directly against a cluster of talented rivals from Ford, VW, Vauxhall and Renault. And it’s possible to spend an almost crazy £13,000 on the top model, a Fabia 3 turbodiesel.

Whichever you choose, Fabias ride softly but always under control, while the steering and major controls respond with a subtlety that feels expensive: only a slackness when shifting gears works against this.

A thrummy 1.2-litre petrol motor provides this Fabia’s power. It buzzes infectiously when asked to give its all but cruises quietly on the motorway. Not that its all is much: 60bhp, to be precise, which limits its ability when the car’s full of people or things. And its 140g/km CO2 figure is way above the best in class.

At just under £8000, and if you need the space, there’s little to touch the small Skoda. But if you-re thinking of buying a top-end Fabia, hold steady: what makes a great buy at £8000 becomes less convincing once a £10,000+ price tag is attached.

• Engines1.2
• Power60bhp
• 0-60 mph16.5sec
• Economy47.9mpg
• CO2g/km140
• Insurance groups1
• EuroNCAP
• Airbags4
• Seats5

Motors.co.uk value verdict: