Hello everyone.

Just joined your forum after buying a 2003 doblo 1.9 jtd elx. One owner, full service history, years mot and 97000mls. Had a new panda in 2007 and loved it but later indulged in xj6 and lexus gs300 but small grandchildren and dog mean head must rule heart.
Looking forward to lesser running costs and a fun drive but a little concerned about reliability having read some of the stories on forum.
I noticed an insurance advert on forum, anyone recommend?
Also does anyone know of a decent independent specialist in the Glasgow area.
Ciao for now.

Hello , and welcome,

we've had a panda for years and YES they are tough little cars,
I think the doblo is basically sound - , BUT yes modern diesels CAN be hard work,

have a look through the GARAGES section for a recommendation,

Charlie

I had one and it was a great car, but the starting became difficult in the end and they (various garages and the dealer too) couldn't determine exactly what the problem was. I'd spent a lot of money replacing parts and still not got to the bottom of it before I finally gave up when the AA man became a regular caller in the depths of winter, and I changed the car.

Engine oil matters though, and a tech asked me what oil it had been running on - answer, an appropriate spec one, but not Selenia. He said nothing but I could sense what he was thinking. I'll stick with the Fiat recommendation in future since although the Doblo is a van all modern Diesels are very sophisticated.

There's a mass of information here about oils, and quite possibly the oil wasn't the problem with my car, but once upon a time Diesels regularly ran to 200K without problems - not any more it seems.

Insurance: just gone with John Lewis. Not the cheapest, but the ones that were (Moneysupermarket) have awful customer feedback. I need full insurance including for use at work, and easy access by phone to real person when things go wrong by the way.