Say hello to…
…the Skoda Fabia is, without any negative connotation, a regular five-door supermini. In fact, that’s perhaps its biggest plus and its biggest minus, depending on where you’re standing. Available with a range of three petrol engines covering four power outputs the Fabia is an easily understood car. There plug-in varieties and no diesel. All you do is choose your power output, ranging from 80hp to 150hp, a manual or automatic gearbox and you’re a trim level. As the insurance suricate suggests; simple.
The four trim levels are:
- SE Comfort
- SE L
- Colour Edition
- Monte Carlo
Standard on the SE Comfort are 15-inch alloy wheels, LED headlights, front fog lights, height adjustable front seat, 6.5-inch colour radio screen, Bluetooth, rear parking sensors and aircon.
SE L adds 16-inch alloy wheels, front centre arm rest, uprated interior trim, 9.2-inch infotainment screen, satnav, voice control, cruise control with speed limiter, twin zone climate control, umbrella in door and textile floor mats.
Colour Edition adds a choice of colours, 10.25-inch virtual cockpit display and keyless go.
Monte Carlo trim adds sports styling kit, 17-inch alloys, sports seats and aluminium pedals.
Is The Skoda Fabia Suitable For My Fleet
For those on a cash-for-car or simply can’t work an electric car into their routine, combustion engined cars still have a place on some fleets. Putting the 32% company car tax band aside, the Skoda Fabia does a first rate job of being practical, high quality and good value in its class. Rear seat space may only be suitable for kids, but that’s standard in this class. However, the 380 litre boot is ‘class above’ size.
Our testing also revealed the Fabia to be one of those rare cars that almost exactly achieves in the real world what the official fuel consumption claimed at 46.2mpg.
Leasing A Skoda Fabia
Leasing the top specification Fabia Monte Carlo with the 1.5-litre petrol engine and an auto gearbox is possible for £310 a month from Intelligent Car Leasing on a 3+36, 10,000 mile a year contract.
Maintenance costs are suitably low at £23 a month, according to Gensen Reports. However, due to the high benefit-in-kind tax band, the Class 1A NIC is on the higher side at £67 a month.
Driving A Skoda Fabia
Skoda has judged the look and feel of the Fabia incredibly well. The styling is squat and taught, giving the immediate impression of solidity and grown-up fun. The interior reinforces that initial impression with a well-equipped, well-built cabin and dashboard. Everything feels like it’s slightly better built and with better materials than you’d expect for a non-premium supermini.
The only downside to the premium feel is the slightly slow to react infotainment touchscreen display.
Out on the road the Fabia also feels solid and more like a larger car in the way it sits on the road – particularly on the motorway where refinement levels are good. Yet around town it’s compact and easy to park.
The steering is well weighted for an engaging drive and gives reasonable feedback about what’s going on between the tyres and the road.
The 1.5-litre petrol offers 150hp, but it’s only available with a DSG automatic gearbox which feels like it dulls both the power and the driving experience when you want to have a more fun drive. Unfortunately there’s no manual option with this engine and you can’t help feel it would be a better car if it were.
However, for the vast majority of the time when you’re simply getting from A to B, the auto gearbox is the right option and is clearly both economic and smooth.
FleetandLeasing.com Verdict On The Skoda Fabia
A far better car than it needs to be, and impressive because of it.
Skoda Fabia
- Model: Fabia Monte Carlo 1.5 TSI 150 DSG
- Power: 150hp
- Torque: 250Nm
- Max speed: 139mph
- 0-62mph: 8.0s
- Official mpg: 46.3mpg
- Test mpg: 46.2mpg
- CO2 emissions: 137g/km
- BIK tax band 2022/23: 32%
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