New owner here and just saying hello. I think I have paid top money for a 03/03 FIAT Multipla 115 ELX JTD with 110k. It has had two owners from new, the first being Europecar and the second being a private owner who kept a record of repairs and costs.

It looks like the two recall's I am aware of have been completed - The front springs and the rear brake recall. Please may I ask anyone reading this thread to review and advise if I should look at anything not detailed in the service listing.



Everything seems to work, but there are some minor details I need to replace/repair. The rear/ns tyre is wearing unevenly on the inside, the cigarette flap under the radio is broken and does not latch and the front middle seat is missing its fold down latch. I am visiting my local trusted tyre place for the tracking and to place it on the ramps. I will then have the joy of visiting breakers yard to find the replacement parts.

I noticed on the ob computer that the service interval has not been reset, so as the car needs a service I will book in with a main dealer for a full peace of mind service and reset.

Happy owner so far, thanks for reading and any replies.

First impressions look good. Assume you have all the invoices and reciepts from that list ?? Service book stamped up ??

Note that Clutch was changed in 2009, but DMF was not changed. Or are the 2003 models not fitted witha DMF.

Note no metion of Cats or sections of exhaust / mountings being replaced. Have them checked.

Otherwise looks fine.

Some serious money spent on that Multi!
OUCH!
Should mean good for you though

boilermansab said:

Some serious money spent on that Multi!
OUCH!
Should mean good for you though

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So very true. I looked at it and thought ouch as well. It is like £1000 a year excluding insurance!

FiatFleetFamily said:

First impressions look good. Assume you have all the invoices and reciepts from that list ?? Service book stamped up ??

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Service book is stamped with a mixture of Franchised dealers and independants. Oodles of receipts and old MOT's with full print off's of past MOT results and advisories.

Note that Clutch was changed in 2009, but DMF was not changed. Or are the 2003 models not fitted witha DMF.

Note no metion of Cats or sections of exhaust / mountings being replaced. Have them checked.

Otherwise looks fine.

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I have no idea on the DMF. It will require more google work from me. I have had a productive day. I have had the tracking done.



Maybe a trailing link or bush gone on the NSR. Will require more investigation, but generally tracking is okay. Bad news is they found some oil seepage while on the ramp from under the engine. It is not dripping, but one of the hoses is damp.

I visited a breakers yard and claimed a few interior screw covers, a seat latch and surround, and replacement part of the dash that was broken. Only 5 screws to replace the cigarette tray part of the dash. Swapped in less than 10 mins. Stops it flopping out!! £18 all in. Really lucky as they have two multiplas there for breaking. A bright yellow complete sporting cinquento arrived as I was there.

I have booked in the car to my nearest FIAT dealer for a full 108k service. They will also plug the diagnostics in and clear any faults after checking they have been rectified. It looks like the OB computer was not reset the last time it was serviced, so I am after 'clean' reset computer to aid any future issues.

I was ask about the DMF Thanks for feedback so far. Anything I should ask for on the service?

I think you might find the rear trailing arm bearing is knackered...does the wheel look like its leaning?

Also why pay fat dealer prices...take it town independent....or do it yourself...all very easy on a multi!

The wheel is not visibly at a slant, but the results of the tracking do indicate a slight camber. When I collected the car (Saturday), I noticed the uneven wear straight away. I was wishfully thinking it would could be corrected by tracking, but sadly not.

I have no faith in the worksmanship of any dealership or independent in the local area. I have tried a few, and I have never been confident of the yarn they spin. The last service I had on my previous car, resulted in a partial seizure. When they serviced it and adjusted the tappets, they crimped the rocker cover gasket. One trip to London a few days after, emptied the engine of most of its oil. Another time I had a fault and it was diagnosed as a coil pack. It did not fix the fault, but they made sure I paid for it. Mis-diagnosis and I was expected to pay for it. Engine covers not being tight, tappets louder then when the car went in. Incorrectly fitted parts. As I am not mechanically minded, I pay for the expertise for garages to make sure the car is roadworthy. I rely on it. My complaints fall on deaf ears at the places I went to.

The FIAT dealership I am booked into (Warwick) has been used for 10 years by my father (another FIAT in the family). This will be my first try, my expectations are not that high and I hope for them to be exceeded.

Sorry for the negative vibe of this post.

Cheesy said:

I have no idea on the DMF. It will require more google work from me. I have had a productive day. I have had the tracking done.

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Normally clutches last for around 40,000 miles on average. I recently changed mine at 36,000 miles as was slipping. The DMF is the Dual Mass Fly Wheel, 3 times the cost of the 3 pce clutch kit.

Some here and inc me on the forum want peace of mind and change the DMF when the clutch is changed, or some will change on the second clutch change and so on.

Considering your over 100k in the miles department, I would of expected the DMF to be changed in 2009 according to your service report. If your DMF fails, of which they can, as too many sob stories here in this forum in the past, when the clutch has been changed but left to chance with the DMF, hence bitten in the ****.

I would check with the garages that did the work and ask if it has been changed. Normally they cost £250 just for the part alone.

FiatFleetFamily said:

I would check with the garages that did the work and ask if it has been changed. Normally they cost £250 just for the part alone.

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Thanks, I did contact the last independent dealer who advised me that the Franchised dealer did the DMF around 60k.

The Franchised dealer could not confirm anything and cited data protection on that persons account.

So 50k later, should I be considering changing the DMF as the next belt change, if not sooner? Any symptoms to look out for?

Many thanks

My experience of main dealers is anything other than piece of mind. Without exception they have all been crap. I do 40K a year in a company car so I get around 3 visits a year to judge them on.
My company cars all go to a main dealer as they have to because they are 3 year lease vehicles but my own cars won't ever see a main dealer even if they offered me a free service and a free banana to go with it.
They are all on targets and don't give a **** about your car.
That's how it is.
Ontor

Cheesy said:

Thanks, I did contact the last independent dealer who advised me that the Franchised dealer did the DMF around 60k.

The Franchised dealer could not confirm anything and cited data protection on that persons account.

So 50k later, should I be considering changing the DMF as the next belt change, if not sooner? Any symptoms to look out for?

Many thanks

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If the DMF was changed, then you would see it as you say on all your invoices at 60k. Considering you are a further 50k down the line, I would recommend its changed again on the next clutch change.

Symptoms :
Not always easy to engage gears / still : Check Slave Cylinder.
Poor perfromance moving off or lack of take off = slipping clutch = Clutch change soon.

I would seek out a good Fiat Independent when you do your next Clutch / DMF change. Dealer hourly rates are £80+ an hour. Based on where you are I am sure there are some good indies that forum members can endorse, not just in this forum for the multipla, but also on other model forums, just carry out a search in those forums.

FiatFleetFamily said:

Symptoms :
Not always easy to engage gears / still : Check Slave Cylinder.
Poor perfromance moving off or lack of take off = slipping clutch = Clutch change soon.

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Read with interest, thank you.

My current Gear change is nice and smooth with no resistance. Clutch fully depresses to floor with a good variable feel on bite. Gear lever just needs two fingers to move into position. The pull feels great and pulls from take off all through the rev range. The engine at no time feels like its revving up from slipping.

I have read a few older threads and see you diesel has also been remapped. Have you seen much MPG increase? Thanks

Cheesy said:

Read with interest, thank you.

My current Gear change is nice and smooth with no resistance. Clutch fully depresses to floor with a good variable feel on bite. Gear lever just needs two fingers to move into position. The pull feels great and pulls from take off all through the rev range. The engine at no time feels like its revving up from slipping.

I have read a few older threads and see you diesel has also been remapped. Have you seen much MPG increase? Thanks

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Consistantly 9 mpg on combined cycle and on motorways increases to 12 mpg. Prior to the map, I was gettling early forties, but engine was still being run in, current mileage still a weeny 36k

That's a good increase. How much torque and bhp did you settle with? Did you upgrade clutch springs or is everything but the map standard?

Cheesy said:

That's a good increase. How much torque and bhp did you settle with? Did you upgrade clutch springs or is everything but the map standard?

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140 Bhp / 330 Nm.
Map is an Autodelta Map, Tuning arm of Alfa Romeo. Specific to the Multijet Engine.

Re: DMF - When they replaced the crankshaft oil seal in July 2009, they would have had to remove the DMF (I assume that it was checked when they 'cleaned flywheel'). If it was found to be within tolerance & not making dtrange noises, there would be little reason to replace it. Many here have had well over 100k miles out of one. It's all down to the type of use and personal driving style.

Tell-tales are juddering on pulling away - try doing it in 2nd for a real acid test - judder at very low revs (c.800rpm in 2nd or 3rd gear) and nasty/very audible drivetrain shunt & rattling when coming on/off throttle in gear.

Cheesy said:

The FIAT dealership I am booked into (Warwick) has been used for 10 years by my father (another FIAT in the family). This will be my first try, my expectations are not that high and I hope for them to be exceeded.

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Hi,
an Oxfordshire Forum member has stated that they are now using a Warwick based FIAT Dealer in Preference to the Dismal Oxford area one,
please let us know what you find!,
thanks,
Charlie

varesecrazy said:

Hi,
an Oxfordshire Forum member has stated that they are now using a Warwick based FIAT Dealer in Preference to the Dismal Oxford area one,
please let us know what you find!,
thanks,
Charlie

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First impressions are really good. We went and presented ourselves to the person overlooking the service/MOT department. One point of contact, answered all of our questions confidently without hesitation through out the time were there.

Dropped it off at 9:30 and received the phone call to collect at 14:20. We did spend the day in Warwick, but we were offered a lift home or anywhere in Warwick. We refused as Warwick is so small and there is a charm of walking around.

I know there is not much to go wrong in a service, but I asked for peace of mind and a thorough check as they could do of the vehicle as I have just bought it. I also asked them to grease any thing that they considered needed to be. I mentioned the brakes squealed when coming to a stop in reverse and that while tracking, the guys noticed an oil leak.

As said before in this post, I am not confident with a wrench and I just want to be able for me and my partner to jump in the car and turn the key.

On the receipt, it has cost £330 for the 108,000 mile service.
They changed the Oil (Jarama 10/40)
Screen wash
Sump plug washer and plug
Oil Filter
Air Filter
Fuel Filter
Pollen Filter and Brake fluid.
They reset my OB computer and checked for any previous fault codes (none).
They lubricated the guide rails on the sunroof with silicon grease.
Checked pads and disks and confirmed they were glazed, but serviceable.
Cleaned excess oil off the engine and sprayed some fault finding solution onto it. Advised me to return in 3 weeks.

Advised cambelt needs to be changed if not already done so (routine and has been done).
Found my NSF fog light was cracked
Found my NSR tyre was borderline legal, but did not advise on changing any parts.
Original exhaust, still solid and going well.

They cleaned the car and blackened my tyre walls.

Overall as I expected, a good experience, but a little expensive for what they do. They reassured me that there is a lot of experience in the workshop as they have been there 30 years. Would they use an experienced man to refill fluids.....

I think a true reflection will be when I have some big work done. Like the trailing arm or in a few weeks when they tell me where the engine oil is weeping from.

FiatFleetFamily said:

Normally clutches last for around 40,000 miles on average.

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Sorry... WHAT?

In what world do you expect a clutch to last 40,000 miles on average?

Yeti said:

Sorry... WHAT?

In what world do you expect a clutch to last 40,000 miles on average?

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General rule on a multipla. Read other posts.

40,000 does seem a very low average clutch life..

I have just had a search of clutch topics and of the few I looked at one was your own at 37,000 , another who was on his 5th clutch at 500,000 , another on the first clutch at 118,00 and the OP whos car had its first clutch at 68,000.

37,000 is very low mileage for a clutch and would indicate either a very high amount of stop start driving or poor clutch control.