Might buy a 1.3 Multijet Doblo, but slightly put off by scare stories of dodgy reliability.

Ms Spanner has had two Puntos, both of which have been bombproof, but I’m not 100% convinced.

Please tell me about your experiences, good or bad.

FIAT is an acronym for Fix it again Toni.

FIAT? Fixed In A’Talian factory..

Mind you that was yrs ago might be better now..

I had a Multipla for a couple of years (worth considering over a Doblo btw). Never had one mechanical murmur in al that time, despite (over) loading it with towbar-mounted bike rack, two 13ft kayaks on the roof and the capacious rear absolutely packed with tent and camping stuff.

I’d have another in a flash if I hadn’t moved on to a van.

Folks have had three small FIATs over the years (two Puntos and a Panda) and again never a problem.

My father has owned one BMW. It was the most poorly built car he’s had in many years. He won’t buy another.

I rather like Fiats, and I’m not convinced they’re nearly as unreliable as people would have you believe.

Just sold my Bravo TJet. Overall very good but, each service has warranty work and previous mot also had warranty work. Also had the gear selection cables replaced twice. Aside from warranty work it was a very nice car to drive, had toys and was nice to look at. If it wasn’t covered by a warranty I’d have got rid but a few mates have them and no issues, so I think mine was unlucky.

Doblo is very reliable from what I’ve heard.

Which reminds me…I’ve got roofbars to sell!

Owned several over the years. Uno, Tipo, couple of Puntos, Bravo. All been very reliable

I had a 1999 Bravo HLX until about 4 years ago when I finally killed it.

Failures from memory.

Handbrake detached from the floor.
Exhaust bracket broke dropping the exhaust, which also broke.
Rear wiper motor.
Central locking.
Alarm.
CD player.
Heated seats.
Seat tilting mechanism (front)
Seat folding hinges (rear)
Crank shaft sensor.
Lamda censor.
The entire instrument panel.
Seals on sunroof.
Rear washer (separate failure to wiper)

From memory that is it.

Utter, utter piece of shit. Never again.

The mrs had a 1.9 non turbo diesel doblo from new for 7 years and the only thing that broke was the radiator, got one for £80 new from euro car parts and did it myself, she replaced it with a 1.9 multijet that’s now 4 years old and been faultless, good buses they are
I’ve got a panda multijet that’s been reliable, and a hoot to drive too..

Mine was great except when it spat me off! Oh and it was actually a Yamaha!

Parents are on their third,

Tipo
Tempra
Grande Punto

Radiator went on the Tipo, fixed and sold.
Turbo pipe went on the Tempra (bodged with reinforced hosepipe and good for several 10,000miles before sold).
Punto has been good so far.

All bought arround 4 years old and kept for ~4-6 years each.

We had fiat brava’s as surveillnce cars back in the day (the gti type version)and use to thrash the tits off them. Always seemed to last ok apart from the stereos – not the most comrotable car for fourteen hours or so 🙂

Fiat Panda 1.2. Thrashed mercilessly (as only a small low powered car can be). Utterly reliable.

Had an X plate Punto Sporting that had 100k hard miles on the clock before it died of a valve problem. Only things that needed replacing during that time were 1x set of brake pads (after 80k) 2 x exhausts 2 x exhaust bushings (and something else that can’t remember but was fixed cheap).
Would have sorted the valve problem but got another car free 🙂

2006 Grande punto, good engine, but all electrics sh1t from 1 year/12000 miles onwards, replaced door lock, interior fan, resistor pack, lots of v odd things going on with electrics

My Bravo died on the way to a weekend camping trip in The Lakes. To be fair it had been brilliant for 10 years and it was the timing belt that failed, which the MOT garage should’ve replaced after 60,000 miles. I scrapped it and got a Toyota.

It’s a timing chain on multijets fwiw

1.2 Punto on a W plate (2000?) Owned from new, fully serviced. Head gasket went pop at about 50,000. Dies at 60,000 and we sold it for scrap for £500, 5 years old.

Windscreen wiper linkage broke after a couple of years.

Wouldn’t own another

I had a 1999 Bravo for 5 years. I only held on to it that long as ownership remained economical because I do all my own maintenance. Radiator burst, EMS needed diagnosed and repaired twice, door handles perished, airbag warning light keep coming on*, brake pipes rusted out at 6 years old.

Other parts failed at a younger age and lower mileage than comparable cars. E.g. first new exhaust required at 3 years old at 30k miles, alternator seized just under 100K and just before I scrapped it, inner CV joint needed done at 70k (boot failure), clutch needed replacing at 75k ish.

Would I have another? Yes, after all the depreciation has taken place, bought at scrap value, as a hacker for a dog walking business over one winters harsh use.

*Air bag light could not be reset meaning I had a car with no airbags. The issue related to the airbag module disliking a new battery and any subsequent battery fitted to resolve the issue.

My Mrs has a 2003 punto which hasn’t missed a beat. She doesn’t do many miles but its mainly short daily trips around town. Never let her down on a cold morning

Ah yes, I forgot my windscreen wiper linkage went at night, on the M62 when it was pissing it down, not fun

Fiat engines are excellent, the rest is shite.

Interiors are nasty with cheap switch gear, parts are expensive and not for any good reason i.e they are not well built.

Then there’s the electronics….

I know this because I have two friends who for some weird reason are into Italian cars – Lancia, Fiat, Alfa etc.

I recon they would tell you the same.

Hired a fiat tipo afew years ago, drove down to Tewksbury, ansd as i reversed into a space caught thye passengerr rear door on aanother car , large dent, went to find a shop selling a screwdriver to take the iner pannel off the door to see if i could push it out, couldnt get the screws out, so slammed the door really hard in anger, the dent popped out.

Took car back a few days latter, met a mechanic, who saiud we habve been looking for that car, they gave you the wrong one, its got a dent in the rear passenger door and needs fixing before we rent it out, i pointed at the door, no dent, the mechanic looked as well and then went round the other side, all he could say was weird.

The belt on my Multipla went.

I’ll never buy another car with a timing belt. It could have been catastrophic.

im sure its a fiat engine in the new bmw mini thing, and also the ford KA, VAUXHALL ASTRA, INSIGNIA, SAAB, SUZUKI AND ALFA ROMEO,Chrysler,
as well as a few other manufactures who use the engine in their cars.

Fiat Coupe 20v turbo. Gave me a boner. Went like stink. Cost me more than I care to remember to run. Sold it for a fraction of what I paid. Probably wouldn’t get another.

Apparently fiat poached the head of QC at BMW in 02-03 ish, so later ones are much improved of old allegedly, and I must say the two we’ve got are much better compared to the ones of old
I remember sitting in old pandas and stradas with no floor or sills, or electrics, Same as old alfas really..
Engines tended to be good though…

My Panda has been great so far. Only had it 6 months though.

A colleague’s Multipla’s gearbox died last week. Six years old and now a scrapper. Sounds like it had been a dog from new.

Have a 3 year old Panda 100hp that has been no bother. Also have an older stilo which has been a bit more bother (had a coilpack and one of the sensors go) but nothing major.

Certainly compared to the old school Fiats they seem a lot better.

I’ve had a couple of Unos (15 years ago) and a Punto (had for 2 years, Part exh’d 2 years ago)

I think Fiat make great small cars, bigger ones not so much. our Punto was brilliant, never any problems in two years, drove it to the south of france and back, as well as down south quite a few times

My dad’s 2001 Bravo:
Brake leaks
Speedo was about 50% out
Throttle cable always loosening
Sunroof leak
Rear wiper motor
Central locking would lock/unlock randomly of its own accord any time of day/night
Suspension bushes
Serious corrosion
Lights would blow every few weeks

Apart from that ok.

Electrics from the Titanic.

Speedo was about 50% out

Surely he realised he was doing 140 mph when he was passing all the other cars, even thopugh the speedo was saying 70mph

FWIW

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturer

Our Multipla was fab.

I have a 1.9 jtd 120bhp Doblo for child and bike duties.
Its the ugliest thing ever and handles like a barge, but its great.
42 mpg average since Jan when i brought it.
Fold the single rear seat down and my xl Chameleon fits straight in, no lowering of the seat or taking wheels off, just roll it in.
The only thing i have had to replace is the aerial mount, i knocked it off sliding a big open canoe
onto the roof bars.

joolsburger – Member
FWIW

http://www.reliabilityindex.com/manufacturerOi! Don’t come on this thread with actual evidence!!!

I had a 1989 Panda from 6 months old & put 80k miles on it in 3 years. Ragged as only a teenager can and then sold it. Never let me down.

Was an ace car, liked it so much I’m trying to convince Mrs Wombat that we need a 100hp Panda as a second car 😉

I’ve had Fiats since 2004.

Punto for four years. All that went wrong was the driver’s electric window, which was an easy fix.

Panda for three years. Nothing yet has gone wrong.

* touches wood like crazy *

The Fix It Again Toni thing is old news. But, it appears, still a good joke.

Over the years the wife & I have owned an Uno, Punto, first generation Panda 4×4, second generation 2WD Panda and Panda 4×4. Apart from the last Panda 4×4, they’ve all been as reliable and hard wearing as various Fords, Peugeots, Citroens, Vauxhalls and Renaults that we’ve owned. Not as good as some BMW’s or Mazdas I’ve owned – but then the Fiats cost less than half the price! (er..and in some cases less than a fifth the cost 😉 )

(the last Panda 4×4 was an impulse buy by my wife…because ‘it looked cute’ – turned out to have been owned by a farmers wife who’d been using it off-road every day for 4 years…all the underside and running gear was completely shot)

No personal experience of the Doblo car, but neighbour had the van version. He bought it 2nd hand and really liked it – he’s quite a conservative bloke, and I think he was surprised at the reliablity & cheap running costs of it. He had it for about 3 years, and only got rid because he needed a larger van.

I notice everyone complaining is talking about old(er) cars. Not really fair to compare them to new cars is it???

And I notice nobody has has the guts to mention the 500, which is easily the best small car on the roads right now…. 🙂

That said, I had a 1990 Panda from new, and did 56,000 miles in it in 3 years. In all that time it cost me £9 for a snapped engine mount bolt and £50 for a carb strip and clean other than servicing and consumables. I thrashed the tits off it all the time and got 42mpg average!
Seriously the best car I’ve ever had, and the only one I miss. I loved it.

We test drove a 2008 Bravo the other week and I have to say I was impressed. I don’t think it was much worse quality inside than a VW and probably better than anything French, and it felt a bit more special than either IMO, no acres of black plastic, it had a bit of style, and it was VERY well equipped. VFM wise it wipes the floor with a Golf.
I think we may get one for our next car.