Hi all,

Looking to take the plunge and go for a Multipla soon, so have been reading up a bit on here. I quite like unusual/uncommon cars, and the Mrs wants a bit more comfort/practicality, so the Multipla ticks the boxes.

I've made a bit of a mental wish-list, just need to wait to see if the right kind of thing comes up.

1 - Has to be a mk1

I don't really like the mk3 Punto look of the facelifted Multipla at all, and it loses a lot of it's unusual appeal, so I'm going for an earlier model.

2 - Preferably in black

As is the case when you're after a 2000-based car, they are all in bloomin' silver! Damn you fickle fashion. There's really any black ones out there for sale, so am I aiming too high with this? Do they crop up?

3 - Probably a diesel

I'm useful with the spanners, so the DMF doesn't put me off. I've read enough to suggest that the JTD is the only fulfilling option.

4 - Decent spec

Again, I prefer fixing things to blank buttons, so hopefully a decent spec. Full moonroof looks good on these, but compromises will have to be made based on what comes up at the time.

Whatever happens, I'll be looking to scrub one right up to a decent standard, and will probably have longer term plans to make something of a cleaned up example.

Although there's loads of guides around, keep an eye out for me and let me know if there are basics I should need to be aware of

Hi. And welcome.

Good vehicles..their nature means lots will have had a hard life..suspension knocks are all too common..

Go to see -drive at least 5 so you know whats Normal..

Charlie

The best thing about black is that black gaffer tape fixing the inevitable sunroof leaks is not so obvious, the colour match is very good.

The petrol version is good to drive, haven't driven a diesel.

It's one of the best vehicles I've had for practicality.

Hi Chuff.

I bought my JTD 115 in April this year for £500 and have spent approx £300 getting it up to a standard I am happy with. I luckily found a scrap yard fairly local to me who had three Multi's in for breaking, so a number of bits came from there, with the rest primarily from Euro car parts and some useful bits bought from a member of this forum.

Biggest improvement so far for me has been the changing of the EGR valve which has improved driveability, reduced the black smoke and improved my mpg.

My biggest gripe is the sticky plastic trim that many early multi's suffer from

I honestly wish I'd bought one years ago, as mine has proven to be a really useful vehicle which still puts a smile on my face when I drive it

Thanks all!

The Mrs isn't too impressed with the idea, but with starting a family we need a more practical car (current car is a Boxster, which she's hated the whole time I've had it).

I've told her that people will act all reluctant to own a Multipla, but there's not really any reports out there of reluctant owners, with the common theme seemingly to be that they're an acquired taste, but a great car.

Quite happy to spend a bit of money refreshing things and can do the work myself.

Any tips on what is worth having and what is just a giant pain in the bum?

Do these also have the Alfa style timing belt intervals of 15 mins / 5 miles (whichever comes sooner)?

The biggest fans of the Uglybug are children, my grandchildren and their friends absolutely love it. One son, who has a footballers'wife type blinged up Landrover is quite put out when his kids elect to go in my car.

My wife didn't want to drive it when I first got ours but was the saddest to see it go eight years later. They are fantastically great cars and analogous to a Tardis.

The biggest mistake I made was selling it to get a Zafira.......now there's a piece of ...T

I have done more work on the Zaffy in 4 months than I did on the Fiat in 8 years and it only had 13K on the clock when I bought it.

The only car I would honestly say is better than the Multipla in my personal experience is our other car which is a SEAT Alhambra (old shape). My previous Chryser Grand Voyager was also nice BUT way too big for a mum and kids to use as a daily drive around. This is where the Multipla ticks all the boxes, spacious yet compact with great fuel consumption if you buy a diesel. Also easy to find in a parking lot as there tends to be very few. Now I have a Zaffy I never know which one is mine.

As for the timing belt, every 50k or 5 years. I think the official figures are a bit longer but I always err on the cautious side. REALLY easy job to do. I got mine down to around 35 mins.

Yes they have their common problems but if you believe there is a var without any ....... good luck

chuff said:

Thanks all!

Quite happy to spend a bit of money refreshing things and can do the work myself.

Any tips on what is worth having and what is just a giant pain in the bum?

Do these also have the Alfa style timing belt intervals of 15 mins / 5 miles (whichever comes sooner)?

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pretty sure all the Mk1's ,
105 ,110, 115 are all 8valve JTD's - pretty tough ,
whereas the Alfa's are @150BHP - so 16 Valvers..

not had a multi - but 2 x Marea JTD's .. so mechanically very similar

DO check for structural rust.., but the biggest issue is wear to interior and suspension. Electrics are pretty robust AFAIK

More by luck than judgement, I bought a 2004 roundnose ELX. I don't regret my choice one bit. For me, it's the best spec of all Multiplas:

JTD 115 engine - simple, smooth (by diesel standards), 8V reliability and best of all NO DPF! Multiplas only ever got 8V diesels. Emissions are if anything slightly better than all but post-2008 models, so there's no RFL penalty on that front (in fact I think the Multijet that superseded the JTD 115 is in the next band up). The 105 doesn't have a VGT turbo so lacks even more low down torque. If you're used to PD and Duratorq engines the JTD is distinctly lacking in low down torque anyway. On the plus side, it doesn't mind being revved. I'd say its character has more in common with the old PSA XUD diesels than other common rails or PD's. Don't expect Boxster performance!

Harder-wearing trim: The later ELX's (from late 2003 until the squarenoses came in at the end of 2004) have what I call 'crazy paving' fabric. It's a flat cloth that was previously the standard fabric on the lower-spec SX models but from what I've seen it's much harder wearing and easier to keep clean than the loop-pile fabric used on earlier ELX's.

2002/3/4 ELX spec gets you 4 electric windows. Curiously the rear two can only be opened by the switches on the rear doors, even though other European markets got a small panel on the dash with switches for the driver. Not sure why that never made it to the UK. Perhaps Fiat couldn't be bothered to make the necessary mirror-image tooling? Other standard kit on the ELX was climate control (seems to work OK), twin electric sunroofs (which I love even if several folks have been on here to complain about the leaks), front fog lights (all but useless, but that's by no means unique to the Multipla), 15" alloy wheels (bloody heavy), headlight washers, a mirror and courtesy light in the passenger-side sun visor and side airbags.

Optional extras were not very extensive: Metallic paint, rear parking sensors, a fridge (most UK models with that fitted will be ex-Hertz hire cars), leather steering wheel and gear knob, remote audio controls on the steering wheel, window airbags (how many customers bought those?), a single slot CD radio in place of the standard cassette unit, a 10 disc CD changer under the NSF passenger seat, sat nav (Navigator) / Connect. The last ones are a real novelty. I don't think I've ever seen one on a UK Multipla, though someone was selling all of the bits for it on ebay a while ago that they'd stripped out of a scrapped one.

Metallic black paint was definitely available in Feb 2003 according to my brochure. I've never found a 2004 brochure so can't comment as to whether it was still available then.

Check the rear subframe for rust and also the front ends of the sill box-sections under the car. Rust elsewhere is a rarity. I'd disagree a bit with varesecrazy in this respect as in my experience the Multipla fares much better than for example my friends BMW 330d Touring and Merc 190, both of which are of similar age but suffering from tin worm much more than my Multipla.

Expect a selection of knocks and bangs from suspension, steering and transmission parts. All fixable and will probably have been previously fixed at some point earlier in the cars life. Many aftermarket parts are cheap and of dubious quality because that's what most Multipla owners are looking for (it's a shoesting MPV). Buy cheap, buy twice. Good quality replacements can be found for most items if you go looking.

They're a fun car to drive and comfortable too. Even though the seats-out load bay isn't particularly long, it's well shaped and the floor is almost dead flat from the tailgate opening to the front passenger footwell. It's a shame that Fiat didn't make the NSF passenger removable in the same way as the rear ones.

I agree with all of glowplug's comments. My wife won't go anywhere near driving our Multi (because it's sinfully ugly in her eyes - probably why I've kept it so long ) but even she admits a nice car to travel in. If you need a bigger MPV, get one of the second-gen Alhambra diesels. Superb cars. I had two, one Mk1 as a company car which I replaced with a privately bought new Mk2 when I changed jobs. Did over 100k miles between the two and still regret selling the second one, even though that was nearly 10 years ago.

Brilliant, thanks for taking the time to write that (quite extensive!).

The o/h has a full license but hasn't driven for about 8 years, and seems to think she won't again, so she should fully expect to not be involved too much in the decision process.

The Multipla, in all honest, will perhaps be a little bigger than we need, but I'd rather get something a bit rarer or novelty-like, aside from the other obvious benefits.

Not too many for sale, so I'll just have to keep my fingers crossed that the right car appears for sale. Prices seem to be wild, fluctuating from the <£500 mark for the absolute majority, to £2k for some early ones in the same condition.

I have recently acquired a nose-job multipla - i got this as i wanted something newer and there are extra airbags, however the cars are essentially the same. The diesel pulls well, i can't really add to what has already been said about spec, although IIRC all round nose multi's had the double sunroof as standard (sadly the newer ones do not). We got ours due to having a second child, we use extended rear facing seats (upto age 4) and I could not drive our i20 with the seat behind the drivers seat. Therer is loads of space, I can stretch out more than I can in my Avantime with the baby seat behind, so legroom in the back is amazing, although the ability to move the seats forward before the kids get tall and increase boot space im sure will be a boon. The car is so practical, I have moved a childs play house (only partially dismantled) and 8ft long flooring boards - the ability to remove rear seats means youve basically got a van! Another bonus about the 6 seats is that even though we have 2 children we can still give 2 people a lift - meaning we can go out with granparents and take just 1 car. All this, and the car is the same length as our i20! It's not too big - my wife was quite concerned about the width but really enjoys driving it and doesnt generally find this an issue - the extra mirrors help alot with postioning. My car has already broke down (due to crankshaft position sensor - fixed myself), and has some other things i need to get to, so do be prepared to get your hands dirty, but theres a wealth of info online plus the engine is in vauxhalls and saabs too so you can look on their forums too. The parts prices are also pretty good due to there being a reasonable number about.
Good luck with finding the perfect one, it really is great to drive and is surprisingly refined at speed.

Hi
OK, flameproof sit on, If you want something unusual, practical and comfortable by Fiat (mostly), have you considered a Croma? Only five seats but a bit more luxury than the Multi. Less than 1000 on the road but due to commonality with other cars bits don't seem to be a problem. Known issues are driveshafts (fit Vauxhall Vectra C ones) and gearbox (M32, make sure it has enough oil) and usual Fiat electrics.
Private ones sell for around £1000 or less, top price dealer one on ebay at moment is a 150 hp mJTD Eleganza at £2495 (bit high but only 80K) http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Croma-1-9-Multijet-16v-Eleganza-/152235580831

Robert G8RPI

g8rpi said:

Hi
OK, flameproof sit on, If you want something unusual, practical and comfortable by Fiat (mostly), have you considered a Croma? Only five seats but a bit more luxury than the Multi. Less than 1000 on the road but due to commonality with other cars bits don't seem to be a problem. Known issues are driveshafts (fit Vauxhall Vectra C ones) and gearbox (M32, make sure it has enough oil) and usual Fiat electrics.
Private ones sell for around £1000 or less, top price dealer one on ebay at moment is a 150 hp mJTD Eleganza at £2495 (bit high but only 80K)

Robert G8RPI

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Interesting shout, but not for me.

Looks like the love child of a Grande Punto and a mk2 Seat Leon.

The reason why I'm not considering a nosejob Multipla is that it lose it's appeal when the odd looking front went. I'm quite particular about how I tune in my senses to what kind of car I want, and there's not really anything as well packaged and priced as a pre-facelift Multipla

chuff - this one sold unfortunately. It looks as though it would have fit your wish list nicely:
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Mult...D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557
If nothing else, it proves that black was still available on late-model roundnoses. There's a nice set of photos in the listing that give a good idea of interior trim. This is a very late-plate roundnose; they were still being sold after the squarenose facelift cars came out and I've seen squarnose models on 04 and 54 plates. I have seen one or two roundnoses on 05 plates, so some dealers must have had problems shifting the last of them.

I'll keep a look out for black Multiplas locally and let you know if I find one for sale.

widemouthfrog said:

chuff - this one sold unfortunately. It looks as though it would have fit your wish list nicely.

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I noticed there was a bit of a cross-over (which does kind of make it annoying for saved searches and generally filtering through the nosejob models).

It's a pain that most of them for sale seem to be silver or blue. I guess it's not really the "owned from new" demographic to choose black, as it's not perceived well with the white goods mindset.

I'll probably end up settling for the wrong engine/spec just to get the right colour

chuff said:

I noticed there was a bit of a cross-over (which does kind of make it annoying for saved searches and generally filtering through the nosejob models).

It's a pain that most of them for sale seem to be silver or blue. I guess it's not really the "owned from new" demographic to choose black, as it's not perceived well with the white goods mindset.

I'll probably end up settling for the wrong engine/spec just to get the right colour

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where are you based..?? no point hinting at Scottish ones if you're in devon

varesecrazy said:

where are you based..?? no point hinting at Scottish ones if you're in devon

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Near Bath, so West Wilts/North Somerset.

I'd be very lucky to end up with the right one on my doorstep, so I imagine a little travel will be involved.

chuff said:

Hi all,

Looking to take the plunge and go for a Multipla soon, so have been reading up a bit on here. I quite like unusual/uncommon cars, and the Mrs wants a bit more comfort/practicality, so the Multipla ticks the boxes.

Click to expand...

Oh oh, more competition when a good one comes available.

chuff said:

1 - Has to be a mk1

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Phew! I'm after a facelift.

Good luck with finding one. Perhaps get an alert setup on Autotrader so you get an email as soon as a new advert gets posted? I've seen a few sold within hours of the advert going up. Equally there's a few I keep seeing again and again - must be something badly wrong with them ones.

Hellcat said:

Oh oh, more competition when a good one comes available.


Phew! I'm after a facelift.

Good luck with finding one. Perhaps get an alert setup on Autotrader so you get an email as soon as a new advert gets posted? I've seen a few sold within hours of the advert going up. Equally there's a few I keep seeing again and again - must be something badly wrong with them ones.

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All I seem to be seeing are facelift ones

Squarenose ones in black seem to be much easier to find for some reason.

The latest quarterly figures are up on the How Many Left site. Multiplas continue to head for the scrappies in their droves.