I bought my skoda fabia ambiente 1.2 tdi diesel 1 year back. It has done about 16000km so far. I was actually looking for a diesel sedan after driving alto for 5 years. Our baby was 1 year old then, and we drove long distances with lots of luggage. making the alto somewhat inadequate.
Unfortunately, I live in calicut where raods are narrow, making reversing sedans difficult. Fabia had the best boot. I test drove swift, ford figo, swift dzire, mahindra verito, indica, punto, accent, i20( all within my budget of 7 lakh) and petrol honda jazz. I found the fabia had the best combination of looks, comfort, space and practicality.
It was a stable car, slightly heavy, with good steering feedback, adequately weighted steering, good back seat, which can seat two adults and a child( large central column on floor made it uncomfortable for 3rd adult) . The back seat had good seating position and head rest, making it comfortable for old people on long drives( contrast etios liva diesel) . The engine was the same as VW polo 1.2 tdi, which although noisy, had terrific pickup, pulling adequately from 1500rpm onward( had to learn to control the acceleration!).
After 1 year, I feel its a very good car. I have spent 5800 rupees after 15000 km on oil and filter, no other costs so far( except interior cleaning and wheel balancing) . Fuel economy is 15-16 in city( a/c on all the time), in 2-3-4th gears stop start traffic
