In fairness, it may just have been one dud salesman (what could he have taken you to court about, for heaven's sake?): his boss seems to have done all right.

One dud salesman my a***. There is no way the salesman will have put the notice there, it will be company policy.

I would bet its also company policy to simply remove the cost from any customer who complains like I did.

But how many actually pay up? I would bet its a huge majority.

Just about sums up the dealer system. I would not have expected this sharp practice from a major manufacture dealership, goes to show you have to have your wits about you. OP or to state where the dealer is ie town. They should be reported to trading standards and Skoda UK. Consumer laws in the Uk are still far from strong enough. People are paying big money for unsatisfactory products and left to largely fight their own corner for redress. The new build housing a prime example.

In HJ column this week is a consumer asked to pay £39 for an engine flush on his very low mileage jazz, not really sharp practice but a nice little earner from the unwary.

Been to Trading Standards today with a print of the photo showing the notice regarding paint and upholstery treatment. The chap said that the dealer is very close to crossing the line but they confirmed what I suspected i.e. they could do nothing for me since I had not suffered any kind of loss, I got the car I ordered at the price I signed for. They did say that other dealers locally had been doing similar and were being watched and now this dealer is on the list. They also asked me to contact Skoda informing them of the dealers practices, messaged them just before posting this. What surprised me was a comment made by the chap I saw. He said that the treatment is unlikely to cost the dealer more than £100 even if they have a company come in to do it. If they DIY (more likely) the cost of materials is about £30. A nice little earner.

After that we had a ride out and have to say we are most impressed overall with the car. Performs better than the 1.8 Focus ever did and if the dash display is true we are looking to save a small fortune in fuel costs. HJ suggests about 48.8 mpg for the 110 PS (it not a 115 PS like I thought, that did not arrive until September 2018) but we saw 56 mpg on the dash at the end of a 70 mile drive stopping off for lunch. Traffic was appalling as well, took forever. Focus would do about 35 mpg on a good day.

With regards to naming the dealer I would love to but the forum moderators would remove it before most people read the post so why waste my time and potentially get banned for breaking forum rules.

It's assumptive selling which was well acknowledged to be a shady practice many years ago.

Never heard of that phrase so looked it up.

Cambridge Dictionary says its "the practice of trying to sell something by acting as though the person that you are trying to sell it to has already decided to buy it:

Assumptive selling assumes the person wants to buy, so the salesman says things like "Do you want the red one or the green one?"..

From another site

"The assumptive selling technique, also known as a presumptive close, takes place when a salesperson intentionally assumes that the customer has already said yes to the sale. For example, an assumptive statement from the salesperson might be "give me your credit card and I'll get the paperwork started."

The assumptive close works well because it comes across as professional and is used as part of an intentional sales process. To implement it effectively, you must have a clear understanding of the customer's needs and desires beforehand. If you have listened well and matched the customer up with the perfect product or solution for their needs, then there is nothing more to discuss with the customer, except for how they intend to pay for their purchase."

No mention of it being illegal.

So nothing whatsoever to do with adding extras after the deal has been signed.

Time for an update. Had the Fabia for 7 weeks almost and have to say its all good news. Other than what can only be described as "bland looks" (and they are easy enough to spot before you buy) its a truly excellent car. It rides well, is spacious, is incredibly quiet (compared to the 2008 Focus) and goes like a little rocket when you press the RH pedal.

But the best bit is the economy. Only done about 1,200 miles so far and the longest run has been about 35 miles but its looking brilliant compared to the 33 mpg average the 1.8 Focus did. Calculated its doing about 49 mpg which is spot on what my research had suggested I should get. HJ's figure for the car is 48.8 mpg and What Car achieved 49.2 mpg long term (but that was a 95 PS 5 speed car not a 110 PS 6 speed like ours). It further confirms what I have suspected for a while, the people who come on here claiming between 60 and 70 mpg for the 1.0 TSi either require maths lessons or the dash read out re calibrating.

When you consider that our late 2005 1.6 TDCi 110 PS Focus (Euro 3 - no DPF) only managed an average of 44 mpg over the 12 years we owned it there is sufficient prrof haw much small petrols have come on. That Focus was slow compared to the 1.8 petrol Focus and the Fabia is much quicker than the 1.8 petrol Focus. If I could compare the TDCi with the TSi I am pretty sure the TDCi would feel like a slug, and a not very economical one.

But I suppose there is one small issue with the car, the Mrs prefers it to the Pulsar 1.6 DIG-T, surely that says a great deal about the all round abilities of the Fabia.

But while overall efficiency has improved, much of the gains have been cancelled out by increased vehicle weight, plus the ability to sustain higher speed, which most drivers like to exploit.

Good point. I suspect that the Fabia is lighter than the Focus thus not a good argument between those 2 but it is certainly heavier than a Mk 2 Golf from the 80's. Stick the Fabia engine in that lighter Golf and you would have the same power a a GTI of that period, better torque, more gears and about 200kg's less to drag around (possibly more since the 1.0TSi is all alloy whereas the 1.8 in the Mk 2 Golf was a cast iron boat anchor).

Wonder if any enterprising owner has actually tried it?