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Technical What's broken on yours then?

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Technical What's broken on yours then?

Hi Doofer
I know from personal and expensive experience that the 8v 1.9 has a DPF.

What I can also say is that changing the EGR cured the DPF regen problem that drove me nuts for months and had the dealer pretty much condemn the car.

I've no idea how much mess it makes when it regens though.
 
I'd be interested to see what everyone else thinks but given the relatively small number of cars sold and the relatively high number of faults we've all suffered, especially given that they are still relatively new cars, I can't help but think there are some fundamental flaws in the Croma design.

Most of them seem to have suffered at least 1 EGR failure and the number of alternator failures seems incredible EGR's are "new" technology but alternators???(n)

My previous least reliable car was a VX Sintra (their original people carrier based on the Frontera) and if I had known their was as much GM DNA in this one I'd never have gone near it. However, we'd had a W reg Punto for 3 years and never had a problem so I thought Fiats were OK.

Oh well, lesson learned.
 
In my 4 months of ownership...one front and one rear spring. Bloke before me had just had the alternator done so that does seem a bit suspect so many are going.

Other than that - been great so far! 112k miles and still going well
 
Matt Boulton said:
i keep getting a message saying that the engine temp is too high and that i have to turn off engine then restart car (9 times out of 10 though this is before i have drove any where when engine has been left off all night :confused:)
Click to expand...

do you mean 'excessive radiant temperature'? Happens only when starting the car?

Nickb500 said:
I bought a relatively cheap Croma 1.9 8v

Day 2 headlamp bulb blown
Day 3 alarm failure warning
Day 4 alternator failed
Day 5 Glow plugs warning
Click to expand...

did you not take it back?

BrianMcL said:
I've no idea how much mess it makes when it regens though.
Click to expand...

non, most people dont know its happening, sometimes though you can smell a slight burning smell with small puff of smoke out exhaust.
 
Nickb500 said:
Hi folks - my first post on here... after over 30 years of mainly owning Italian cars my best ever for reliability, performance & economy was a new Stilo 1.9JTD 3dr. After 4 trouble free years I traded up to an Alfa 159 JTDM Lusso 1.9. That then became my best ever car for the same reasons plus fantastic looks. Sadly after 18 months I suffered my own 'credit crunch' and the Alfa had to go. For the last 3 years I have made do with a succession of cheap cars. 3 weeks ago I bought a relatively cheap Croma 1.9 8v thinking that I had almost worked up to a quality performance car again (a close relation to the Alfa 159 I hoped) for not very much money but now I'm not so sure.
Day 2 headlamp bulb blown
Day 3 alarm failure warning
Day 4 alternator failed
Day 5 Glow plugs warning
Day 12 develops oil leak while towing caravan - front of 'van covered in film of oil

From reading this and related threads maybe there is more/worse to come? Oh dear.
Click to expand...

Hi Nick

Did you find that in the North East? If so where?

Looking at the catalouge of disasters on this forum, every time I take mine out I am waiting for something else to go wrong. I know that it is essentially a Vectra in different clothing, but in the name of all that is sainted I can't figure out what FIAT have done differently. I know that the Vectra has it problems too, but given the number of them on the road if they broke in the same way the Croma seems to the highways would be littered with them.
 
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Hello all, well about an hour after my first post on here yesterday more trouble, but I now know what caused the oil leak! Driving home I turned onto the slip road from the motorway and lost all traction. I coasted to a stop on the hard shoulder - the engine revved but no movement. Nothing much to see underneath but a lot of oil dripping off the under-tray. The AA responded quite quickly and after removing the tray found that the os driveshaft had come out of the gearbox. 2 of its mounting bolts were lying on the tray, others nowhere to be seen. Noticing the shiny new alternator above he suggested that when it was replaced a couple of weeks ago the shaft may have been removed and the nuts not tightened when it was replaced. As I was almost home, the car was towed to the garage which did the alternator work and I am currently awaiting their verdict (and the car being usable again!).

To answer some of your questions, I bought the car from a garage in Swindon (ex Fiat dealer). It's an 06 plate with 68k miles, 2 owners and almost full set of service stamps. It came with one of those limited 3 month warranties and this will cover some of the alternator replacement work although I have yet to receive the cheque - they would only allow £40 an hour labour and £140 for the alternator whereas the actual bill came to about £315 - including loose driveshaft possibly/allegedly.

More news as and when it arrives! Nick.
 
Some good news - the garage couldn't comment on the cause of the loose driveshaft but they refitted it, topped up with oil and cleaned off as much surface oil as they could from the underside - all free of charge.

Fingers crossed now!
 
Got my new alternator (from alternatormart.co.uk ordered Monday, delivered Tuesday, fitted Wednesday) fitted today at a local garage and all seems well again.

Total cost £129+vat for the part, £4.95 next day delivery and £87.50 inc vat to fit it.

Wonder what'll go wrong next?
 
You can add a failed water pump to my previous list further back in this thread. I will explain fully in my 'overheating post' I changed it this afternoon (46k miles) and the cam belt while I was at it. This all points to poor quality parts used by FIAT, cost cutting no doubt....simples! (n)
 
Lets keep these issues rolling in.

"Inherent Fault(s)" is beginning to loom on my radar.

From "The Law Relating to
the Supply of Goods
and Services"

"Buyers are entitled to goods of satisfactory
quality, taking account of any description,
the price and other relevant circumstances.
If an item has a fault that is present at the
time of sale (sometimes referred to in this
guidance as a "latent" or "inherent" fault),
the consumer can complain once it is
discovered."

http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

Note there is no specific time limit, only what is just reasonably acceptable.
 
s130 said:
Lets keep these issues rolling in.

"Inherent Fault(s)" is beginning to loom on my radar.

From "The Law Relating to
the Supply of Goods
and Services"

"Buyers are entitled to goods of satisfactory
quality, taking account of any description,
the price and other relevant circumstances.
If an item has a fault that is present at the
time of sale (sometimes referred to in this
guidance as a "latent" or "inherent" fault),
the consumer can complain once it is
discovered."

http://www.bis.gov.uk/files/file25486.pdf

Note there is no specific time limit, only what is just reasonably acceptable.
Click to expand...

Hi s130,
I've been thinking the same thing, part of the reasoning behind my initial post.

I'm really not sure whether a whole combination of seemingly - unrelated failures would cumulatively amount to at least some of these cars being not fit for purpose though. Also, Fiat's first defence will be that they give the cars a warranty so that they can fix any faults that arise.

What is clear though is that given the relatively small numbers sold and the relatively high number a failures related just here, never mind all of the faults that we don't know about, something isn't right.

I'd love to know whether there was any way of getting registered keeper data from DVLA. I'd use it to write to everyone to ask them about their faults, maybe even getting them to get copies of their service records and then we'd know just how bad the cars actually are or maybe just how unlucky many of us have been.
 
BrianMcL said:
I'd love to know whether there was any way of getting registered keeper data from DVLA. I'd use it to write to everyone to ask them about their faults, maybe even getting them to get copies of their service records and then we'd know just how bad the cars actually are or maybe just how unlucky many of us have been.
Click to expand...

Why dwell on it? sell it and but something jap, life is too short.I have owned around 38-40 cars and any I didn't like (or have a good gut feeling about) I sold it/them and got something else I did like/trust:)
 
T14086 said:
Why dwell on it? sell it and but something jap, life is too short.I have owned around 38-40 cars and any I didn't like (or have a good gut feeling about) I sold it/them and got something else I did like/trust:)
Click to expand...

Hi T14086,
Simple reason is that I've lost so much money over the last 3 1/2 years between buying it and what the dealer says it's worth now in addition to the extraordinary cost of constantly buying new bits for it that I can't afford to get rid of it.:(
 
Just a thought/question (and I don't know the answer)...

Does the buyer of a second hand car have any kind of right to complain/comebeck against the manufacturer?

Obviously a new buyer has every right. Once it's second hand then are all rights of comeback only against the dealer/person who sold it?

I'm wondering whether it could be argued that its poor reliability reputation was reflected in the price, therefore I got what I paid for - a cheap but flaky car.

Personally I think all european cars are crap these days. One day they'll wake up and wonder where all their customers have gone.
 
T14086 said:
can you afford to sell and buy private, dealer trade-ins are convient but crap value....unless its a real dog as they rarely check trade in, salesman walks around it once and thats it!
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to bite the bullet on it at some point but there always seem to be other priorities. It just sticks in the throat though given that I bought a brand new car on the basis that I was going to keep it for 4 or 5 years only find that it's a money pit.
 
Hi everyone

Regarding the law - forget it, it's not for us mortals. When I first got mine I had a persistent (but annoyingly occasional) hill hold function failure/ASR failure message keep coming up (hence the changing of lots of electrical bits).

It took the dealer 7 months to fix it, including an online diagnostics check to Turin.

Consequently, we went down this route to find that even though the car was 2 years old and previously owned by a dealer we still had recourse under the Sale of Goods Act. This Act has 3 remedies.

1. To give the dealer opportunity to fix the car.
2. Given that this is not possible, a replacement vehicle (we were at this stage with the dealer and we thought we had a resolution, but they weltched on the deal).
3. Demand your money back.

Now, if you don't come to an agreement you can try and sue them in the civil courts. Now listen carefully for I am about to tell you for free that which cost me £300 in legal fees: Don't bother.

It will cost you at least £3,000 to take the case to court. If you win, you are still not guaranteed 100% of your money back. The court can allow for use of the vehicle, wear and tear and depreciation.

However, that's not the worst part. People are under the impression that if you win you will get your costs back. NOT TRUE. Typically a court will usually award no more than 75% of your costs, and it can even be zero (yes you can still win and be £3,000 out of pocket). If you lose you will inevitably have to make a contribution to the other side's costs (which can be as much as 100%).

Being in the right is no guarantee of winning. You can have them stitched up like a kipper and still lose because the beak in charge argued with his missus that morning and considers your case trifling.

The law is not on the side on the man on the Clapham Omnibus. It favours the rich and the powerful; has done for Centuries and doesn't look like changing in the very near future.

Anyone fancy an appearance on Watchdog? mind watch the value of the Croma plummet further if you do.
 
Last edited:
Radlet6 said:
Hi everyone

Regarding the law - forget it, it's not for us mortals. When I first got mine I had a persistent (but annoyingly occasional) hill hold function failure/ASR failure message keep coming up (hence the changing of lots of electrical bits).

It took the dealer 7 months to fix it, including an online diagnostics check to Turin.

Consequently, we went down this route to find that even though the car was 2 years old and previously owned by a dealer we still had recourse under the Sale of Goods Act. This Act has 3 remedies.

1. To give the dealer opportunity to fix the car.
2. Given that this is not possible, a replacement vehicle (we were at this stage with the dealer and we thought we had a resolution, but they weltched on the deal).
3. Demand your money back.

Now, if you don't come to an agreement you can try and sue them in the civil courts. Now listen carefully for I am about to tell you for free that which cost me £300 in legal fees: Don't bother.

It will cost you at least £3,000 to take the case to court. If you win, you are still not guaranteed 100% of your money back. The court can allow for use of the vehicle, wear and tear and depreciation.

However, that's not the worst part. People are under the impression that if you win you will get your costs back. NOT TRUE. Typically a court will usually award no more than 75% of your costs, and it can even be zero (yes you can still win and be £3,000 out of pocket). If you lose you will inevitably have to make a contribution to the other side's costs (which can be as much as 100%).

Being in the right is no guarantee of winning. You can have them stitched up like a kipper and still lose because the beak in charge argued with his missus that morning and considers your case trifling.

The law is not on the side on the man on the Clapham Omnibus. It favours the rich and the powerful; has done for Centuries and doesn't look like changing in the very near future.

Anyone fancy an appearance on Watchdog? mind watch the value of the Croma plummet further if you do.
Click to expand...

Hi Radlet,
Sounds as if you had an even worse time than me at the hands of Fiat and the dealer.

I got to the stage of formally rejecting my car in writing, with dealer's response paraphrased as being we've fixed your car now, come and get it. If you don't we'll charge you storage (I've still got the emails) and trading standards advice was to give in and take it back.

They even welched on a free second service as compensation for my problems when the dealer said they couldn't find any record of it on their system, despite me having an email accepting their offer and signed by the then dealer manager.

The dealer's main point was that it was a one off and I had simply experienced a few teething problems which I should stop taking so personally.

If I've learned anything here it's that the troubles I've had are anything but a one off or teething problems.

You're probably right in that I'm never going to get anywhere, but equally if I don't try then there's no reason for the dealer or manufacturer to fix anything and things will only keep getting worse.
 
Radlet6 said:
1. To give the dealer opportunity to fix the car.
2. Given that this is not possible, a replacement vehicle (we were at this stage with the dealer and we thought we had a resolution, but they weltched on the deal).
3. Demand your money back.
Click to expand...

I was wondering about the situation when buying used from a non-Fiat dealer or privately. Can you then complain to Fiat if it's poorly designed or not fit for purpose etc? I don't know the answer to this.

Edit: Realised I was talking crap about small claims court, as that's only for claims up to £5k.
 
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