Volkswagen involvement is obvious here – Fabia achieved a Euro NCAP rating of four out of five, making it one of the safest superminis. Comfort and Elegance models also come with ABS and a passenger airbag. Despite its new found kudos, the Skoda badge is hardly a thief-magnet. An effective immobiliser, plus an alarm and deadlocks on top models, should deter the opportunist thief.

Load area is big for its class and similar to that of the 206 SW. Plenty of room inside and it has split/folding rear seats for extra load lugging. Plastics do tend to mark quite easily.