Got my Mother-in-law into a Monte Carlo plus short review

[muggo05]

Hey guys/girls,

Thought i'd put up a quick post to say that i converted my mother-in-law into buying a new Fabia Monte Carlo.

She got it in Red.

Few points about the experience.

Positive:
- Engine feels nice and strong, although can be caught in between gears a little in a flatspot.
- Clutch and gearshift action are nice and precise and have a nice feel to them.
- Handling is great and really fun to drive if you want to get a bit "spirited".
- pedals are great for heal-and-toe.
- looks great!
- seats are excellent and have great support and nice bolsters. keep you in place when cornering hard.
- lots of space for a car this size. i'm 6ft and have plenty of leg and head room in the rear
- lots of storage compartments and bins, including cup and bottle holders
- visibility is good and easy to park.

Negative:
- Engine can be caught in a flatspot or off boost down low. Obviously due to being only a 1.2
- Awkward to change gears with the centre armrest down, gets in the way.
- Door release handle/latch requires an unnatural bend of the arm to open the door. Might get used to this in time but requires an adjustment intiailly.
- accessing the MFD menu is a bit fiddly and hard to work around. Pressing the "enter/confirm" button sometimes sees the windscreen wipers coming on due to being on the underside of the stalk.
- navigating the MFD menu is clumsy. much easier in the Octavia.
- Dealer said that the car doesnt come with Bluetooth. I wont be naming the dealer but despite it being said in the brochure, press release and manual, was adament that it wasn't a feature. Once i accessed the MFD, was right there in front of me.
- lack of steering wheel controls. this has been covered but would make things so much easier.


I think thats all for now. Very cool little car i have to say. exceeded my expectations of it. If for some reason the RS Fabia doesnt live up to the hype when it arrives (not that it will), i might be swayed into buying a Monte.

Any questions, feel free to post them and i'll do what i can to answer them.

Josh.

[K1W1]

I think thats all for now. Very cool little car i have to say. exceeded my expectations of it.

What does your mother in law think of the car? Her opinions are probably more relevant in the sense that I suspect that she is not going to be concerned about heel and toe pedal operation or seat support cornering hard but flat spots and fiddly door handle may be more important to her.

[RSwag]

What does your mother in law think of the car? Her opinions are probably more relevant in the sense that I suspect that she is not going to be concerned about heel and toe pedal operation or seat support cornering hard but flat spots and fiddly door handle may be more important to her.

Probably best not to ask, if she's not happy with any if it she will remind you until your last breath that you made her buy it. Best to let sleeping dogs lie (no mother in law pun intended).

[muggo05]

haha yeah true, in the end, she knows that I have a Skoda and love it, and all i did was show her a picture of the Monte Carlo. The rest was all her doing.

She hasn't reported anything yet, the review tips were more pointed towards us "enthusiasts" on this forum. No complaints about anything.

[bobski]

I gave up giving the mother in law advice on cars... She had reasons to not like them that I couldn't comprehend. No more