Just sold my 4 year old Transporter, fed up with paying loads of rental but a great van. Buying the Fiat Combinato 2001, I'm picking it up tomorrow. No service history which I was gutted about but it does look very good and drives lovely for an older motor. I would have thought the belts would have been done given how it looks under the hood but cant risk it, the engine bay is so clean it looks like its about 3 year old, I was thinking of ringing around a load of Fiat dealers to see if I can find out any history, dont know what you guys think, just want a reliable van. Ive read really bad things about these vans and have freinds who have them and love them. I would appreciate any advice as to the best way to approach my not so new motor to avoid tears in the future! Many thanks for reading - Labmanvan

I've got one of those ("window van"), but 2004 2.0 (facelift).

It's eaten:

1 x steering rack.
2 x lower wishbones.

Also consumables: a couple of sets of tyres, [FONT=&quot]a battery (replaced with an E44 Varta Silver Car Battery 77Ah (#57740@£61.97[/FONT] from Tayna, 5-year-guarantee)), a catalytic converter (pipe fatigue cracked, I might repair it), and an exhaust system, all relatively inexpensive.

It's now in for maintenance after a turbo hose cracked.

That's about it, I think. Change the oil every 9K, do the cambelt when needed, erm....

Thanks for that, I had some great news today when I brought the van home, I contacted the previous owner who was an old man who'd had the van serviced every year on the dot, the van was part exchanged and the service book been lost on the way, only thing that needed doing was a cambelt change which he didnt do as he was changing for a smaller car so I'm having that done. Really chuffed I found out the information, hoping Ive got a goodun!