Skoda Fabia Estate (2015 – 2022) Review

The Fabia Estate is testament to Skoda’s straightforward approach to car design. While other small hatches do their best to eke out the most from their compact cabins or try to be sporty, the Fabia wagon just gets on with delivering the maximum amount of room given its dimensions. This isn’t to say Skoda’s small estate is a one-trick pony and trap or dull, it’s just dutiful and honest and easy to live with. That extends to the way it drives, which is comfortable, smooth and unruffled. Admittedly, the entry-level models are sparsely equipped, but it’s affordable to move up a grade or two and enjoy some luxuries along with the simple life.

A lot of it has to do with the way the Fabia sidesteps all of the one-upmanship that can afflict decisions when picking a car. Instead, the Fabia marks you out as an independent thinker.

On top of this, the Fabia Estate does practicality like no other in its, admittedly niche, sector of supermini-based estates.

Lift up the tailgate and you’re presented with a huge boot of 530-litres with the rear seats still upright and in use. That’s getting on for executive estate dimensions. Tumble them down and the Fabia has 1395-litres to play with.

As well as all this space, Skoda makes it easy to use thanks to a low loading sill height and boot sides that are free from interruptions that might snag a bigger bit of cargo as it’s slid into or out of the car. The optional variable height floor is well worth ticking on the options list as it means the base of the luggage bay is all at one level, again making it less hassle to fit in bulkier items with the rear seats tipped forward.

Throughout the rest of the Fabia Estate, there are all the little touches that make the Skoda such an appealing prospect for anyone who has to live with car day in, day out.

Details such as the large bottle holders in the door pockets and centre console, and even the ice scraper hidden in the fuel filler flap that’s a trademark of the company. It all adds up to a car that fits into your life without asking anything in return

The Fabia Estate won’t ask much of your finances either thanks to a range of petrol engines that are frugal. They come with a choice of 1.0-litre engines in models from the 2018 facelift forward, or you could have a diesel motor by choosing a used version from when this Fabia Estate was launched in 2015.

Whichever engine takes your fancy, the Fabia wagon is very comfortable and glosses its way over bump-battered roads with calm efficiency.

Granted, you won’t feel entertained at the steering wheel of a Fabia in the way you would with a Ford Fiesta, but the Skoda has chosen comfort and quiet over an overtly sportier feel. Still, it deals with twists, turn, motorway and towns with the same relaxed air of competence.

Such an unpretentious approach doesn’t mean you have to wear a hair shirt when driving the Fabia Estate. Base versions are quite Spartan in the amount of equipment they come with, but it’s easy to choose a higher grade version and enjoy all of the luxuries you could want in a small hatch while also lugging large amounts of cargo.

This is not to say the Fabia Estate doesn’t want to go round corners. It makes the most of its available grip to thread its way through bends and the steering is light.

All of this makes the Fabia Estate more fun to drive than you might think. Even so, it is still primarily the comfort of its ride that leaves the longest lasting impression. Choose the models on smaller wheels and the Skoda is especially good at dealing with the humps and bumps of most roads.

In town, there is a slight firmness to the ride when you encounter sharper edges such as road joints or badly repaired potholes, but at higher speeds this translates to excellent control. Even when the Fabia Estate is fully loaded with people and luggage, it remains stable and happy to cruise all day at the maximum speed limit.

The Skoda Fabia Estate does without the 1.0-litre MPI petrol motor with its slovenly 60PS. What you get instead is a straight choice between the 1.0 TSI turbo petrol with 95- or 110PS.

The 95PS motor comes with a five-speed manual gearbox and takes 10.8 seconds to get from 0-62mph. On the road, the 95PS engine always feels just a little too slow, especially on the motorway.

So, we’d take the 110PS engine with its six-speed manual gearbox that covers 0-62mph in 9.7 seconds. Much more importantly, it’s more flexible in each of its gears and cruises in a more relaxed fashion at any given speed as a result.

It’s also a useful extra slug of power when the car is weighed down with passengers and their bags. Given there’s barely any detrimental effect on fuel economy or emissions by choosing the more powerful engine, it is by far the most sensible choice in the Fabia Estate.

Skoda fits autonomous emergency braking called Front Assist as standard to the Fabia Estate. The Fabia Estate also comes with twin front, side and curtain airbags, as well as three-point seat belts and headrests for four occupants, but you have to pay extra for the same for the middle rear passenger. All models have two Isofix child seat mounts in the back. 

Optional safety equipment is offered with the Driver Fatigue Assistant to spot and warn if the driver is due a break. Rear parking sensors are offered for the S, but standard on other models, while the SE Drive has front parking sensors included rather than being an option on the rest of the range.

The roof line of the Skoda Fabia Estate ensures there’s plenty of headroom for the driver and front passenger. It makes the Fabia wagon one of the best choices for taller drivers, especially as the seat can be moved for height in all but S trim.

Whatever height you are, the driver of the Fabia Estate has a good all-round view thanks to the larger than normal glass area of the car. Even glancing over your shoulder to change lane is not hindered by the rear-most pillars, which gives an added sense of security on faster roads.

With the tailgate swung open, you have a large, wide opening to access the boot through and the load sill is a good deal lower than in most supermini hatches. Inside, there’s 530-litres of carrying capacity and this isn’t an exercise in measuring every nook and cranny to get to that figure, it really is a massive load bay.

The black interior isn’t as unremittingly bleak as it first sounds as there is some variation in the tones and textures of the materials used. You can also have the central band that cross the dash in a lighter colour, while the Monte Carlo version has splashes of colour in its seat fabric.

Such a sombre approach would be tough to accept if it wasn’t for the Skoda’s excellent build quality. As we’ve come to expect from the Czech manufacturer, it may not do flash, but it does solid very well.

Every Fabia Estate comes with Skoda’s 6.5-inch infotainment touchscreen. In the base S model, it’s the simpler Swing radio version and the two rotary buttons either side feel a little flimsy in use. It has DAB radio, Bluetooth, and USB and SD card ports. In the SE model, this is upgraded with Skoda’s Smartlink+ to access apps from your smartphone using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Choose the SE Drive or higher trims and you get the Amundsen version of the infotainment. It comes with sat-nav and one year’s internet access from new. It’s easy to get to grips. It may not be as whizz-bang when it comes to features, but we’d take the Skoda’s ease of use every time.

Choosing a pre-registered or nearly new Skoda Fabia Estate with only a few miles on the clock can save you around £3000 on the list price of a brand new version. There are plenty of these cars available from dealers.

If you’d rather have a brand new Fabia Estate, Skoda offers a variety of options to finance a car for private and business users. For private owners, there are five routes to funding a new Skoda and they start with contract hire. You could also use a personal contract plan, lease purchase, hire purchase or a finance lease.

Skoda also offers finance on its approved used cars, which also come with driveaway insurance and a used warranty. The company also regularly offers deals including some with zero per cent finance for cars up to two years old from its stock of used models.

Go back a bit further and a facelifted 110PS SE version with 20,000 miles under its nose will cost you around £9500. Look for a car from 2015 when this generation of Fabia Estate was launched and you will pay from around £7000 for a car with average mileage. Depending the exact number of miles covered and slight price variations, this will get you a choice of trim levels, so there is no need to settle for a used Fabia Estate with a hair shirt basic specification.

Even the least economical versions of the Fabia Estate still provide official figures of 50.4- and 49.6mpg for the 95- and 110PS models. Look at Real MPG figures and the 95PS motor can offer 52.8mpg, while the 110PS unit gives 51.0mpg.

If you choose a used Fabia Estate, the best of the bunch is the 1.4 TDI 90 turbodiesel that returns a Real MPG number of 61.3mpg.

The cheapest Skoda Fabia Estate to get insurance for is the 95PS S model that falls into group 8. The 110PS version moves up to group 12.

The other 95PS trims of the Fabia Estate all reside in group 9, while all of the 110PS-powered cars are in group 12 except the Monte Carlo, which is in group 13.

Every Skoda Fabia Estate you can buy new falls into Band G for Vehicle Excise Duty, so you’ll pay road tax at £175 for the first year and £150 in subsequent years.

+ Rating out of 4/5

Skoda offers the Fabia Estate in S, SE and SE L trims. The S that has 15-inch steel wheels, electrically adjusted and heated door mirrors. Inside, it has black cloth upholstery, a 6.5-inch touchscreen that provides DAB radio, Bluetooth and USB port.

Switch to the SE and you get alloy wheels, roof rails, front fog lights, and rear parking sensors. The infotainment gains six speakers and Smartlink+ and you get air conditioning, an umbrella stored under the front passenger seat, and a height adjustable driver’s seat.

The Colour Edition has 16-inch alloy wheels, cruise control, and roof and door mirror covers painted in black, white or silver to contrast with the body colour.

Next is the SE Drive with front parking sensors, Amundsen touchscreen navigation system and 12 months’ internet connection from new. Choose the SE L and it has different alloy wheels, cruise control, keyless ignition, and climate control. It also has satin black cloth and suede covering the seats. At the top of the range sits the Monte Carlo with its black-painted alloy wheels, LED rear lights, and sport steering wheel and front seats.