There’s a lot of safety kit on the Fabia, and even more available as an optional extra. With a five-star result from crash-testing by EuroNCAP, we’d be fairly confident about Skoda Fabia Estate safety levels.

You get six airbags as standard and two ISOFIX child seat mounting points in the back. There’s a tyre pressure monitoring system, front and rear seatbelt warning lights, remote central locking and a safety programme which prevents the car being unlocked from inside.

Moving up to SE trim also nets you an alarm, while top-spec SE-L cars also get automatic lights and cruise control.

Optional safety kit includes low-speed automatic braking (Front Assistant), a third rear headrest and hill-hold control for DSG models only.

It might not surprise you to learn that while a small car, the Skoda Fabia Estate practicality portfolio is hugely impressive. There’s an extra 200 litres of room in the boot, the load space expanding to a whopping 530 litres behind the rear seats.

Folding the rear seats down flat unlocks 1,395 litres if you’ve got no spare wheel fitted. We’re pleased to report the loading lip is fairly low too, which should make loading heavier items or animals nice and simple.

If you leave the rear seats up you’ll just about squeeze a trio of adults in the back, and improved headroom over the hatchback means they’ll actually be slightly more comfortable too.

The interior dimensions are exactly the same as the hatchback, and so is the car’s footprint on the ground. The extra room has been created simply by extending the rear of the car, with the body now measuring 4,257mm instead of 3,992mm for the hatch.

Now, it would be remiss of us not the mention the array of ‘Simply Clever’ features on the Fabia. Depending upon trim level you’ve got up to nine, including an ice scraper in the fuel filler cap and optional smartphone cradle for the central console. You also get some all-new bottle holders in the doors and you can even order a rubbish bin for the door too, if that’s something that appeals.