Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo 2019 Review

Skoda’s entry-level small car the Fabia has been facelifted for MY19 with minor styling changes to grille, headlights, taillights and instrument fascia.

LED daytime running lights and one-touch up/down power windows are new across the range, while the sporty, upper-spec Monte Carlo reviewed here now gets black-painted 17-inch alloy wheels with matching black roof, pillars and rear spoiler and LED tail-lights.
The cooled glovebox has been deleted, as has the Monte Carlo’s sunroof (which is now an option).

New for MY19 Fabia (and soon across the Skoda range) is drive-away pricing. Before this model year 19 update arrived, the Monte Carlo hatch was $24,990 plus on-road costs.

Now, it’s $26,490, drive away. There’s also a Monte Carlo wagon, which is $26,990.

For that wedge of cash you get (in addition to the equipment mentioned above) black door mirror scalps, grille frame, roof spoiler, side skirts, front spoiler and rear diffuser and Monte Carlo logo on B-pillar and sill plates, front fog lights, privacy glass, sports seats, sports cruise control with speed-limiter and a front armrest with storage compartment.

There are two option packs for Monte Carlo: the Vision Pack ($1400) which gets you blind-spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, LED headlights, auto lights, auto wipers and auto dimming rear vision mirror.

For $1800 there’s also the Tech Pack, which includes keyless entry and engine start, rear parking sensors, adaptive cruise control, climate control, driver fatigue detection, digital radio and dual USB ports in the rear.

Stand-alone options include panoramic glass roof ($1000), metallic/pearl effect paint ($500) and Satnav ($950).

Also considered options are what are called ‘service packs’ – that is, pre-paid capped-price servicing, for either for three years ($760) or five years ($1600). Services are due every 12 months or 15,000km and warranty is five years/unlimited kilometres.

Even though it looks the part and is a sweet thing to drive, the Fabia Monte Carlo isn’t a hot hatch.

The three-pot turbo is eager, smooth, responsive (once past the initial turbo lag) and sounds great, but it’s not all that quick and needs a minimum of 95RON premium unleaded fuel to feed it. On test it consumed 10.4L/100km in mostly city running – more than twice the claimed average of 4.8L/100km.

The seven-speed dual-clutch (DSG) transmission snaps through the gears seamlessly. The steering is quick and light but the chassis isn’t the most engaging. The idle-stop feature is a bit slow to get the engine running but you can either lift off the brake a little in anticipation of moving off or disengage the feature altogether (until the next ignition cycle, at least).

While brightened up by the red seat material, the interior still looks a bit cheap and basic for a $25K car, and sat nav should be standard rather than an option.

At least you can access navigation through your BYO device via Apple Carplay or Android Auto. You almost need to be double jointed to move the ignition key to the start position; it is at an odd angle.

The MY19 Fabia Monte Carlo has been on sale since late last year.

It is a facelift of a car that we first saw in 2015, and is a generation behind other Volkswagen Group small cars with which it shares (or shared) platforms. The Volkswagen Polo and Audi A1 have moved onto fresher MQB AO architecture.

Singles or couples who are not badge snobs and want a compact city car with a Euro feel will find a lot of appeal in the Fabia.

The interior is tall and roomy enough for four adults; the back seat isn’t anything special but the fronts have plenty of support for long transport stages.

The boot is versatile (with various hooks and a clip-in semi-circular bag enclosure) but is pretty small; enough for a couple on a holiday but a family of four will be packing light.

The Fabia Monte Carlo is a player in the light vehicle segment and comes up against compacts like the Mazda2 GT, Peugeot 208 GT-Line, Suzuki Swift Sport and the Volkswagen Polo Comfortline.

Like its competitors, it’s an entirely suitable first car or a couple’s city run-about or family second car.

The Fabia Monte Carlo is in an odd position: it is not a hot hatch in terms of price positioning (thankfully) or performance/handling, but neither is it a basic $15K shopping trolley.

You could say it is a warmed-over hatch, although the warmed over bit is more with its looks than performance. Even though the $25.5K is drive-away (where most competitors’ prices are not), it still looks expensive against other upper-spec compact hatches on the specs-for-the-dollars equation.

What is clear is that this car is characterful, versatile, fun and well suited to those who don’t want to follow the horde in their car-buying habits.

How much does the 2019 Skoda Fabia Monte Carlo cost?
Price: $25,490 (on-road costs included)
Engine: 1.0-litre three-cylinder turbo-petrol
Output: 81kW/200Nm
Transmission: Seven-speed dual-clutch
Fuel: 4.8L/100km (ADR Combined)
CO2: 111g/km (ADR Combined)
Safety Rating: Five-star ANCAP