I've had my Croma for almost a year. Ours is used as normal transport, but also does some serious load-lugging for the renovations on the house.

I've found it very useful - see attached picture of my "pickup truck conversion". It had carried everything you see in the attached picture. The sand and ballast was shovelled directly in and out of the boot box, about 250kg at a time. By the way, if anyone wants to borrow this contraption (based on a forklift pallet), just ask.

However, I now need to collect a big lump of foldable scaffolding. I had always thought of the Croma as a slightly shorter, taller estate car but that isn't actually the case. For such a tall car, the boot opening is actually fairly short. This scaffolding will fit into an Audi A6 estate (which is actually 10cm shorter than the Croma overall) but, according to my measurements, is too tall for the Croma.

Looking again at the Croma, I can see why. The roofline tapers down a lot towards the back. I guess it's what's called Kammback design, and it probably gives a few more mpg. I just wish I'd noticed it when I bought it, as I'd have got an estate car instead.

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kammback[/ame]

I just wish they'd made the last foot or so of the roof part of the tailgate, as I've seen on various other cars (Hondas I think).

nice conversion in the boot

How many 1 tonne bags can you get in at a time

An Audi A6 estate was also £10k more when new. With perhaps the exception of the Vectra or the Rover 75 estates there was nothing in the Croma price bracket that could touch it for space. (And before anyone says a Mondeo - it would be too short).

Unless of course you went for a transit pick up.

The Croma is such a very good and versatile load carrier.

Eleganza 150 (diesel) list price was £18,500 and cheaper than the competition. Many of us provate buyers secured huge discounts. I only paid £12,000 for mine so have £6500 worth of repairs / depreciation to yet painlessly absorb.

My local dealer recently sent me a private letter looking to buy my Croma for their second hand car sales business, and of course by another Fiat on special terms.

I politely pointed out to them that the only other car/vehicle with caravan towing capability and bags of space for pets, cages etc. (yes we take our pets caravanning) was the new Doblo.

The Doblo is a great vehicle but not yet my cup of tea, Yet

We had a previous model Citroen Berlingo, so we got a bit spoilt for load-lugging capacity.

I do like the new Berlingo though. It looks much more car-like now, but for me it was the bargain price that decided in the Croma's favour. I also wanted something nearer a car than a van.

As I said though, it's a shame about the boot opening. If only they'd made the hatch a bit cleverer, it would be an unbeatable all-rounder.

I managed a 3.6m length of 4x2 timber today. Sticking out of the passenger window, but not by much. It's still a belter of a car.

I'm loving the box! Is it ply or metal?

I'm spoilt by having use of a oversize trailer which can carry 8x4 sheets flat, and is rated upto something like half a tonne.

It was carefully hand-crafted out of whatever was lying around the garage and garden!

It's a forklift pallet (I forget the dimensions), with a sheet of 10mm OSB (Oriented Strand Board) nailed on top as a floor. I made the back and sides from more OSB, with a bit of 2x2 wood in the corners. I made a flip-up door, using bits of wood and bolts as pivot points at the two bottom corners. I screwed and glued a length of thick rubber sheeting across the gap between the open door and the floor, to stop the muck falling in the gap. Finally, there's a handle on the flap made from a length of bath waste pipe and a couple of pipe brackets!

Due to the weight I had to drop the adjustable boot floor to the bottom. The box spans between the back of the folded back seat (after pulling out the seat base), and the other end sits on a row of four house bricks. The whole lot sits on a sheet of vinyl flooring that covers the entire back of the car and laps up the insides of the back doors. The vinyl sheet is long enough to flap out over the bumper after opening the boot.

It took me a day to make but was well worth it. I had previously dug the huge trench you can almost see in the bottom right of the picture (by hand). I just reversed up to where I was digging and shovelled directly into the boot box.

I considered a trailer, but the towbar expense put me off (aswell as doubting whether I could reverse with a trailer). This box cost me pretty much nothing.

I guess this picture has probably ruined my chances of ever selling the car via the forum! Seriously, it's still spotless inside - I also have a waterproof seat cover and have tailor made several disposable driver's floor mats from cardboard. I love the fact that it can switch between luxury cruiser and builder's truck.

A couple more piccies, taken after loading, and just before I decided it was sagging a bit too much at the back and took a layer of bricks back out...

So much for weak breaking Croma springs

It's easy to forget how heavy people are. That stack of bricks weighs about the same as the in-laws.

I think I read somewhere that the Croma is rated to carry 500kg. That's minus the driver though. But any 5-seater should be able to do 400-500kg, otherwise it wouldn't be fit for purpose.

The only problem with my boot box is that it's a lot further back than people sitting in the back would be. I just have a look from the side of the car. My guideline is that if the back wheelarch is level with the tyre then I take some back out. This is nowhere near the end stops of the springs.

I'm also only taking this lot round the block, gently rolling in 1st gear. I'd put less in for a long journey.

I'll probably be on the "broken springs" thread before long though.