Middle East Exclusive Long-Term tests: Skoda Fabia Top, Renault Megane Flop

Auto Arabia was the first, and is still the only, automotive media to conduct 100.000km and 50.000km long-term test-drives in the Middle East and North Africa region. ´

Such long-term test-drives are extremely important for the customers and automotive consumers in the Middle East region, as such tests are the only reliable source for them, before they decide which car they should buy.

That is why we decided to start our long-term series with cars from the compact segment, and decided to chose cars which are either extremely overrated or extremely underrated in our region.

The extremely overrated model we picked was the Renault Megane 1.6 sedan, which, besides some major problems with its service center and customer service, proved to be extremely unreliable, extremely bad-assembled, of very low quality and last but not least extremely unsafe due to the lack of ESP and several braking-system recalls.

The extremely underrated model we picked was the Skoda Fabia 1.6 Hatchback, which is known in some Middle Eastern countries as the Skoda Fabia Mini. Besides some minor problems during the first part of our long-term test, the Fabia proved to be very reliable, very good-performing, enjoying a very good stability and again, last but not least, very safe due to its ESP and active-passive safety features.

Unfortunately most of the readers and consumers are not aware about the great models Skoda is building these days, such as the Skoda Superb, the Octavia or even the Yeti. At the same time many readers are not aware of the lousy quality of the Renault Megane II as they are simply blinded by its elegant French design.

That is why we at Auto Arabia are here and doing these long-term test-drives to educate our readers and make them aware of which model is top or flop after 50.000km or 100.000km.

So, stay tuned for the complete and final review of the Skoda Fabia 1.6 Long-term test and many other long-term tests to follow soon.

Mohamed Sheta