So the damn car is broken again and this comes up on ebay UK...

[smjcuk]

Typical. Thank you Fiat for your wonderfully unreliable MultiJet engine which went into limp mode this morning and is throwing random error codes. You have robbed me of toys:

 http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191549520953

[Monkeh]

I'll swap you for a gutless wonder Fiat which won't idle straight. But at least it doesn't limp.

[wagon]

Fiat= Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Why people buy such shitboxes is a mystery to me. 

[SteveyG]

That's a great lot, the TTi stuff is really good gear. The Metcal has seen better days, but a new handpiece is relatively cheap.

[AHT52]

Fiat worse than death

[nctnico]

Fiat= Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Why people buy such shitboxes is a mystery to me.

I agree. Before I buy a car I do a thourough investigation into known problems. I don't even trust a certain brand but in general I stay away from French and Italian cars.

[BradC]

I buy old Volvos. Easy to fix, incredibly reliable and very cheap because nobody wants them!

I'd stay well away from French cars, and I have Italian bikes because I like to work on them. I'm sure their metal is a distant cousin of Cheese.

[NiHaoMike]

Fiat= Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Why people buy such shitboxes is a mystery to me. 

Or Failed Italian Automotive Technology. Chrysler (now part of Fiat) = Chris Hendler Recommends You Start Learning Engine Repair.

Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily/Found On Road Dead. They're great for learning auto service.

BMW = Breaks My Wallet.

GM = Government Motors. They could have taken over the green car market with their EV1, but they decided to give Toyota a free pass instead, then stole from taxpayers to make an initially way overpriced Volt.

If you actually want something modern that just gets you where you need to be with minimal service and very good efficiency, I recommend the Prius. The CVTs in them last almost forever. Or an EV, if the ones on the market are good enough for you.

What I don't recommend is anything with a DCT inside, unfortunately that means most of the cars on the market today. DCTs are known for reliability issues and many don't even give a very good driving experience.

[smjcuk]

That's a great lot, the TTi stuff is really good gear. The Metcal has seen better days, but a new handpiece is relatively cheap.

Yep - had a couple of PL supplies. I'd fix and shift all this on ebay again for some £££ in this case, apart from the Hameg and 465 perhaps. Even the 2MHz function generators tend to go for a bit.

As for the FIAT (Ferrari In Affordable Trim) I hooked up the laptop to it (joy to £7 cable from ebay) and had a look and it looks like the EGR valve is jammed again. Fehler In Allen Teilen (German for failure in every part).

Someone mentioned Volvos. Not a bad choice. Got an XC90 on the ebay watch list

[SeanB]

Well, stay away from any non German automatic gearbox, and any that have electronic controllers not made in Germany. A clutch may be a regular service part on a manual gearbox, but it is a cheap part ( even if it is a 2 day job on some cars), and something you can do yourself.

Avoid anything with Gallic influences, and any vehicle that has not been in production essentially unchanged for at least a decade. The French are rather infamous for a service workshop to need a large selection of "tool, special" to even do simple things like change the engine oil. Then you need even more to do any repairs that are above that level.

Buy a VW beetle, the old one, not the new. At least that you can fix with simple tools, a hammer, a pair of pliers and the nearest wire fence. Just be careful of the rear seat and that battery........

[PChi]

Sorry to read about the problems. Surely FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
I believe that Fiats can be reliable but their reputation, model range and sales in Britain are bad.

[SeanB]

Sorry to read about the problems. Surely FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
I believe that Fiats can be reliable but their reputation, model range and sales in Britain are bad.

Made as far as I can see with Russian hot rolled steel, so it has built in rust. An engine that will make you best friends of a machine shop to replace spark plug threads as they wear out ( why do you have to dismantle the engine to change a single spark plug, but hey, at least it is not Rover) and, like the stable mate Alfa, they have some rather well known failure modes.

Thank goodness Land Rover was bought by BMW, they finally made an engine that did not leak oil from nearly new. Still did from every other part though. Then the "New Mini", a vehicle that has grown so it is bigger than some small SUV's.

[Chipmunk]

Buy a VW beetle, the old one, not the new. At least that you can fix with simple tools, a hammer, a pair of pliers and the nearest wire fence. Just be careful of the rear seat and that battery........

If you do this, buy a later old model, with an alternator.  Don't ask how I know this, but I got very wet and frustrated

[SeanB]

Mine had the generator, and aside from regular brush changes, and servicing the regulator ( helps being an instrument tech there, I was tempted to slap a Harvard regulator in it and be done with it forever, but.......) and cleaning it and the points it ran well. Silicone sealer fixes most leaks, but not on cracked oil galleries. There a big bottle of engine oil to do "top up the petrol and fill the oil" as needed.

[HighVoltage]

Some of the newer FIAT models are more reliable but most of the older models suck big time.
I am actually surprised they are still in business.

Well, .... then you have to realize that FIAT owns Ferrari !

[dannyf]

Thank you Fiat for your wonderfully unreliable MultiJet engine

I generally avoid european cars for that reason.

[sunnyhighway]

The folks making the software of the on-board computers for Peugeot got their priorities wrong.

For example: when you put your Peugeot in reverse, a nice screen comes up telling you where the obstacles behind your car are. Even the beeping sound works as expected. Nothing wrong there.

But... when your phone is making a bluetooth connection with the on-board hands free kit while you are reversing, a stupid message pops up that it successfully synchronized your contacts.
For a solid 5 seconds, that stupid message completely covers the screen and it stops beeping during that time, leaving you in the dark about the obstacles behind the car.
A stupid programming mistake that cost me 1200 EUR on repairs.

 

[smjcuk]

Sorry to read about the problems. Surely FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
I believe that Fiats can be reliable but their reputation, model range and sales in Britain are bad.

Made as far as I can see with Russian hot rolled steel, so it has built in rust. An engine that will make you best friends of a machine shop to replace spark plug threads as they wear out ( why do you have to dismantle the engine to change a single spark plug, but hey, at least it is not Rover) and, like the stable mate Alfa, they have some rather well known failure modes.

Thank goodness Land Rover was bought by BMW, they finally made an engine that did not leak oil from nearly new. Still did from every other part though. Then the "New Mini", a vehicle that has grown so it is bigger than some small SUV's.

That's funny. I had a series 3 land rover ages ago. Had to put as much oil as fuel in it. Very reliable though. Built in smoke screen. Replaced it with a Defender 90. That was pretty good too - drove it for 2 years with a big hole in the turbocharger. When I got the turbo replaced I was told the blades were almost gone and probably inside the engine. When I asked if this was a problem I was told "probably OK; tolerances so loose they are in the sump now. Will just have to put more oil in it more often". Did 80k miles with no work on that!

Then I bought a stupid Fiat Doblo because I needed more load space and didn't want to fish out for a new defender 110. Bad decision.

[SeanB]

They put the manual mirrors there for that reason....... And yes the massive plastic bumper is expensive, here the ieces are collected and taken with the car, so that the bumper guys can put the kit back together, weld it all up again and repaint it to match the car.

[smjcuk]

The folks making the software of the on-board computers for Peugeot got their priorities wrong.

For example: when you put your Peugeot in reverse, a nice screen comes up telling you where the obstacles behind your car are. Even the beeping sound works as expected. Nothing wrong there.

But... when your phone is making a bluetooth connection with the on-board hands free kit while you are reversing, a stupid message pops up that it successfully synchronized your contacts.
For a solid 5 seconds, that stupid message completely covers the screen and it stops beeping during that time, leaving you in the dark about the obstacles behind the car.
A stupid programming mistake that cost me 1200 EUR on repairs.

 

Hahaha. Sounds like my father's Range Rover. Plug the iPhone in and the air con, headlights and sat nav stop working. CAN bus voltage problem apparently...

The dealer has replaced everything and it still does it.

[BradC]

They put the manual mirrors there for that reason....... And yes the massive plastic bumper is expensive, here the ieces are collected and taken with the car, so that the bumper guys can put the kit back together, weld it all up again and repaint it to match the car.

I've successfully welded up a number of plastic items including a plastic bumper with my hot air rework station. Always collect all the available pieces, and random broken plastics on the side of the road make great filler material when cut up. Worst case, plastic welding rods are cheap if you can identify what plastic you need.

And yes, I've met several muppets who have reversed into things blaming a failure in their electronics. Obviously never taught to actually look before and while reversing a vehicle.

[SeanB]

Sorry to read about the problems. Surely FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
I believe that Fiats can be reliable but their reputation, model range and sales in Britain are bad.

Made as far as I can see with Russian hot rolled steel, so it has built in rust. An engine that will make you best friends of a machine shop to replace spark plug threads as they wear out ( why do you have to dismantle the engine to change a single spark plug, but hey, at least it is not Rover) and, like the stable mate Alfa, they have some rather well known failure modes.

Thank goodness Land Rover was bought by BMW, they finally made an engine that did not leak oil from nearly new. Still did from every other part though. Then the "New Mini", a vehicle that has grown so it is bigger than some small SUV's.

That's funny. I had a series 3 land rover ages ago. Had to put as much oil as fuel in it. Very reliable though. Built in smoke screen. Replaced it with a Defender 90. That was pretty good too - drove it for 2 years with a big hole in the turbocharger. When I got the turbo replaced I was told the blades were almost gone and probably inside the engine. When I asked if this was a problem I was told "probably OK; tolerances so loose they are in the sump now. Will just have to put more oil in it more often". Did 80k miles with no work on that!

Then I bought a stupid Fiat Doblo because I needed more load space and didn't want to fish out for a new defender 110. Bad decision.

Bet the FIAT was lighter on fuel though. You know you have a problem when you take a Range Rover, put it in low and drive 500m on the beach and the console starts to beep at you "Refuel soon, range below 80km", and then follows with " light faulty" and "door open", but stays absolutely silent that the engine has popped a hose ( was actually an urgent recall issued a few months before by Solihull, but the agents didn't bother, even though the vehicle had it's own parking spot in the workshop) and was busy cooking itself. Turns out the low coolant sensor is software disabled after the engine runs.........

[smjcuk]

Sorry to read about the problems. Surely FIAT = Fix It Again Tony.
I believe that Fiats can be reliable but their reputation, model range and sales in Britain are bad.

Made as far as I can see with Russian hot rolled steel, so it has built in rust. An engine that will make you best friends of a machine shop to replace spark plug threads as they wear out ( why do you have to dismantle the engine to change a single spark plug, but hey, at least it is not Rover) and, like the stable mate Alfa, they have some rather well known failure modes.

Thank goodness Land Rover was bought by BMW, they finally made an engine that did not leak oil from nearly new. Still did from every other part though. Then the "New Mini", a vehicle that has grown so it is bigger than some small SUV's.

That's funny. I had a series 3 land rover ages ago. Had to put as much oil as fuel in it. Very reliable though. Built in smoke screen. Replaced it with a Defender 90. That was pretty good too - drove it for 2 years with a big hole in the turbocharger. When I got the turbo replaced I was told the blades were almost gone and probably inside the engine. When I asked if this was a problem I was told "probably OK; tolerances so loose they are in the sump now. Will just have to put more oil in it more often". Did 80k miles with no work on that!

Then I bought a stupid Fiat Doblo because I needed more load space and didn't want to fish out for a new defender 110. Bad decision.

Bet the FIAT was lighter on fuel though. You know you have a problem when you take a Range Rover, put it in low and drive 500m on the beach and the console starts to beep at you "Refuel soon, range below 80km", and then follows with " light faulty" and "door open", but stays absolutely silent that the engine has popped a hose ( was actually an urgent recall issued a few months before by Solihull, but the agents didn't bother, even though the vehicle had it's own parking spot in the workshop) and was busy cooking itself. Turns out the low coolant sensor is software disabled after the engine runs.........

True 48mpg easy. Shame it eats up the cash gain in parts.

Things are too complicated. Miss my old Rover 414sli (it only didn't suck because it was a Honda with a rover badge stuck on it)

[SeanB]

work just bought a new delivery vehicle with a 2.0l TDI engine in it. light on fuel ( and with a 60l tank it runs longer than the old one with a 35l tank) but I have hears stories about these engines having issues. Poorer ground clearance though , and a bugger to park as it is so much larger. Many parking bays when it fits in you cannot get out because the door will not open enough.

[iloveelectronics]

Fiat= Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Why people buy such shitboxes is a mystery to me. 

Or Failed Italian Automotive Technology. Chrysler (now part of Fiat) = Chris Hendler Recommends You Start Learning Engine Repair.

Ford = Fix Or Repair Daily/Found On Road Dead. They're great for learning auto service.

BMW = Breaks My Wallet.

GM = Government Motors. They could have taken over the green car market with their EV1, but they decided to give Toyota a free pass instead, then stole from taxpayers to make an initially way overpriced Volt.

A few other funny ones I read somewhere:

Hyundai - Hope You Understand Nothing's Drivable and Inexpensive

Porsche - Proof of Rich Spoiled Children Having Everything

Opel - Old People Enjoying Life

Volvo - Very Odd Looking Vehicular Object