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Looking at a new, to me, bike lugger, as my old Vauxhall combo van is starting to play up, there’s a couple of Fiat scudos around but I’ve not had much to do with Fiats (other than my first ever car Strada 65 and some hot hatch we had at work with no rear suspension bit very rapid) so are they reliable, will they rust away. One 1.6 looks interesting and is quite close to me.
Just need to carry two people and two bikes (at worst with rear wheels in) no commuting etc, not massive mileage, windows that go up and down would be an improvement on the current kilo wagon, not going into the ULEZ either.
Thoughts?
Is it this shape?
If so, it' won't rust. I had a 12 year Peugeot old one that didn't have a spot on it, and it had lived on the coast for at least a couple of years before my ownership.
Not entirely sure if the Fiat has the same Peugeot Citroen HDi engine in, which can have turbo issues if you or a previous owner aren't careful about oil changes. You'd be as well to try and find out. If it is the HDi one and it's ever had a new turbo I think the general advice is to avoid. When I got mine I had the sump dropped off and the oil pick up pipe cleaned to minimise risk as it had a flakey service history. It turned out to be dead reliable though. Another issue with them is knocking from the front roll bar bushes, not a hugely expensive repair which can be done yourself with a non-OEM kit even cheaper. Access is a bit of a pig though.
Yes that shape, cheers for that.
This place is great, isn't it - there's some knowledgeable people around!
So, how do bikes fit into these?
Might be in the market for a bike van myself...
I had a 2007. Was ok but struggled on hills on A roads. Good around towns and on the flat. Had a vunrable placed oil cooler poking out the bottom of the engine. Made me nervous when I. A field. Bikes fitted in back fine.
So, how do bikes fit into these?
Absolute piece of piss. A modern 29er will fit in straight with room to spare. I got 10 road bikes, (wheels off and stacked with cardboard protection) plus most of those peoples luggage for a Belgium lads long weekend. They're about the same size as a VW transporter, a really useful size but just under 2m tall so will go under most height restrictions. Always found it a really comfortable van to drive too - see point above about Belgium holidays. Cheshire to Gent in a one-er with only bog stops and a trip through the Chunnel.
edit - this and this seems to suggest they all shared the same Ford/Citroen HDi engine. If I was buying again, I might look for the 2 litre one as they have a 6 speed gearbox but return the same, (fairly reasonable) fuel economy. Much rarer though.
We had same van Dispatch Combi for 100k / 9 years. Still going strong with new owners.
All as others above - turbo OK provided you keep to oil changes, use proper oil and keep the oil pickup pipe / turbo pipe clean. And make sure injector bolts stay tight.
Arb clonks are just a tiny amount of play in the saddle bushes. Tends to go after 10 mins once the engine (and hence subframe and rubber bushes) warm up. I bought one of the Bush kits and drilled apart the old riveted saddles. New bushes didn't look great quality so I cleaned up and reseated the old ones - clonks gone!
And yes the 90hp hdi is VERY slow up A road hills :-). We had an original shape 1.9td Scudo before that which was much quicker. Now got a new shape Dispatch with 2 ltr 120hp which is much more relaxing on long drags.
1.6hdi still comfy enough - we braved autobahns most years and no problem Rotterdam - Austria in a day.
Just remembered - one and only breakdown (fuel / emissions fault) turned out to be a tiny hole rubbed in a plastic fuel pipe where it clipped to the air filter casing. Sucking Air in. £100 for the new fuel loom and an hour to fit. Could bodge for £10.
I have a 57 reg one. I got it at 3 years old and 27k miles. It's on 65k now. Still on the original battery although I don't think it's going to make it through another winter. Mine is the 2.0 litre HDI
Lives outside and has been pretty reliable. Only had regular oil changes and tyres. Had the cambelt changed at about 6 years old. Only real issue I had was the power steering motor went. Simple enough to change oil although I couldn't work out where the oil filter was the first time I did one.
Now that it's been mentioned there is a knock from the front which makes sense after the comment that the ARB bushes go. No rust and pretty good fuel consumption although I noticed that if I go over 70 it goes up a bit.
Also just remembered. HAd fueling issues which I worked out to a small hole in the priming pump bulb. Sealed with a puncture patch to get us going with the intention of replacing but not had the issue since so the patch seems to be doing well