Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI Hatchback

Skoda have been a car company who've been recognised as producing a good vehicle now for a fair few years, since the debacle they had when they were creating such death traps as the Favorit and the Felicia. However, since being taken over by German counterparts, they've become far less of a joke, and a company that has been noticed more and more over the last five or so years.

The Fabia, is a competitor in the small hatchback class and hen you initially look at it, you certainly don't well up at the sheer sight of it's beauty, because well.. it's not beautiful. But then neither is the Polo, the Fiesta. It's not the ugliest of hatchbacks, it's simply unoffensive to look at.

Get inside and you're treated to an array of buttons that do lots of things with intials in them. You get cruise control, air conditioning, CD player, heated seats, electric mirrors, and more electrical toys inside to boot. Sitting in the Fabia does feel very roomy, and you do get the impression you're in a bigger car than you actually are. Alloy wheels come as part of the package and you get some leather bits on the steering wheel and the gear knob etc.

It's comfortable too. When I had this delivered for the three days I was to drive it (current car was being serviced) I was surprised at how easily I found 'my' driving position. In the back it's very roomy two. Easily you're going to get two adults who should be comfy enough for a decent journey as well. This will easily fit three children in the back provided you haven't bred leviathans.

The boot is pretty spacious, and does have enough space for you to get a reasonable amount of luggage in. Now the bit that surprised me was the room you had when the seats were down. With a simple flick of the switch, all three back seats are down, and you have a vastness that you wouldn't expect from a car this small. Enough room for me to get four PC's and it's monitors in comfortably enough that I still had plenty of room with the rear view mirror.

This little car, has a fair amount of grunt too. Through the gears it's quick, nippy and is certainly no slouch when you want to put your foot down on the motorway. Similarly in twistier lanes it's very comfortable too and handles especially well. The brakes are very responsive too, and even after an hour being in a completely new car compared to the MPV I normally drive this was very easy to drive. I was, admittedly very surprised.

Fuel economy was always going to be good in this. Small car, new diesel engine meant that this was going to be cheap to run whatever you did to it. As a fairly agressive driver I was getting around 56 mpg which I think could be beaten by a more conservative driver.

Now, so far it hasn't offered a great deal that may woo you from the Ford Focus, Vauxhall Corsa or the Polo's and Ibizas of the world. Though whilst all of these do come with 5 doors and diesel engines as one of the offered specifications, there aren't many who could rival the price tag. Just over £11500 will get you a brand new one of these. Compared to it's rivals... with same specifications unless otherwise stated.

VW Polo - £13500
Ford Fiesta - £12500 (1.6 TDCI engine)
Vauxhall Corsa - £13700 (1.7 CDTI engine)
Renault Clio (106bhp model) - £13600
Peugeot 207 - £13550 (1.6 HDI model)

The next cheapest model with the same technical specification was the Ford, which is about £1000 more expensive. And let's face it, when it comes down to build quality, the Germans will destroy General Motors every step of the way.

So, you're getting an awful lot of car for your money here, an awful lot. If you're looking for a cheap, economical, spacious hatchback that can handle motorways as it can handle a city centre then this would be a very strong contender in my book.

The Skoda was mocked for years at it's sheer audacity to call itself a car, or even a vehicle. I was one who mocked the Skoda. No more. I believe the Skoda to be one of the most underestimated (even still) car makers in Europe, and it's got my respect. So that I didn't just think this was a fluke, I went and test drove an Octavia, which is their saloon car and it matched any saloon I'd driven in the last two or three year save an Audi.

So, to sum up. The Fabia isn't stunning to look at, and it's not the best at anything, it's not the fastest, it's not the biggest, and it's not exactly "cool" however, it's does everything, and I mean everything well, very well for that matter.

The SKoda to me now is like liver. As a kid I hated liver, I loathed it. It was dry on my mouth, it was served with onions which I hate, and it generally didn't look pleasant. Now I'm 28, and my pallette has likened to liver. Cooked in many ways, I do enjoy liver. I still hate onions.

I think Skoda took away the onions, and found a far better way to cook liver. I like Skoda's way of cooking.