Hello,

I currently live in Italy, and I'm searching for a Doblo in the UK to purchase next month when I'm back visiting. Yes, sounds ironic, but they're more expensive here, I have trust issues with the Italians, and the insurance I can get in the UK is much better.

Budget of £4000 and looking for a diesel. I would LOVE a high roof Doblo as we're prone to camping trips and driving around Italy.

Here's my main question:

Would you recommend a 1.3, or a 1.9 diesel? It's just the two of us and a dog, and we won't often fill the car up with stuff. But fuel expenses is a consideration of course. Speed and performance is not so much of a consideration. Am I right in saying the 1.9 gets about 40 mpg combined whilst the 1.3 gets closer to 50 mpg combined?

I'm currently looking at a 2007 1.9 Multijet Dynamic (Freedom model) with just 36k miles, listed as £4000. Any thoughts? Should I hold out for a 1.3, which I believe is the newer engine? Less to go wrong?

Many thanks for any advice!

I've not had a Doblo, but I've had a Punto and Stilo with the 1.9 JTD and an Alfa MiTo with a 1.3 JTDm engine - I'd go with the 1.9.

My 1.9's felt like they were ready to go as soon as you pressed the throttle. The 1.3 had a fair bit of lag until the revs got past 1500 - if you got it in the wrong gear, it was unbearable, where the 1.9 would just pull itself out of it.

The 1.9 has a cambelt which needs replacing. The 1.3 has a chain, which should be better, except they can rattle & fail, ending up more hassle than just having a belt to change. I believe the 1.3 engine can have injector problems sometimes too.

Not sure which of the Mk1 Doblo's (if any) had DPFs, but I'd bet you're more likely to find one on a 1.3 than a 1.9 - another reason to avoid the 1.3 in my view - by this stage, they'll be getting to the point where they might give aggravation, so better off not having them in a car that age.

Just to point out, none of my Fiat/Alfa diesels have been any problem, but the 1.3 is known to have more weak spots, so I'd just go with a 1.9. The extra grunt alone makes it more suited to a Doblo I think.

Thats very helpful, thanks!

I will contact the seller of the 1.9 today.

Was was the mpg gap like between your two engines?

Bizzarely they all got around the same MPG - the Stilo (1.9) and MiTo (1.3) were both particularly closely matched at between 46 & 53mpg, though the Stilo would need more hard driving before it dropped below late 40's. The MiTo would lose 100 miles off a full tank quite easily. I think the way I needed to plant the throttle to pull away around the turbo lag had a negative impact on the 1.3, whereas the 1.9 didn't need driving hard at all to make swift progress.

Hi. Please see my recent add under Classified section (Commercials) for my 2004 top of the range Doblo 1.9JTD Dynamic. It has no DPF filter, just EGR. I know it is an earlier model, but 1) it is in great condition, 2) it will save you money! If you are at all interested just call me........Regards, Kevin.

Twosheds said:

Hi. Please see my recent add under Classified section (Commercials) for my 2004 top of the range Doblo 1.9JTD Dynamic. It has no DPF filter, just EGR. I know it is an earlier model, but 1) it is in great condition, 2) it will save you money! If you are at all interested just call me........Regards, Kevin.

Click to expand...

Many thanks Kevin. I had a good look and it seems like a great vehicle, but we're investing a bit more money on our next vehicle because we intend to a) eventually convert it into a campervan (hence why I'm after a high-top) and b) own it for many years to come as we've had some bad luck with our last two (both written off by drunk drivers!)

You should put it on Gumtree at least; there's not a lot of Doblos on the market at the moment and yours looks very tidy.

Thanks for reply Ash.......hope you get what you are looking for, Regards, Kevin.

Well I got one. Now looking for a sun shade kit as it's around 35 degrees over here and rising.

Very nice

Good job , well done.