So far:

The gearbox bearings collapsed.
The rear shock absorbers failed
The EGR blocked.
The rear springs cracked
The exhaust flexible split
The turbo failed (twice)
The ESP, ASR, Hillholder are inoperative
The crome door handle fell off.

and now..

the altenator and/or battery have failed.

People say we should get rid of it and get a new car.. I argue it is a new car the number of parts it's had recently!

Hellcat said:

I argue it is a new car the number of parts it's had recently!

Click to expand...

I'd agree with that, get another one and you may have to do the same things all over again.

Sounds like a normal Croma to me

The latest What Car reliability survey lists Vauxhall's most unreliable car as...the Signum. And the Croma is based on..?

Suspension and electrics by Vauxhall, EGR valves by Fiat. A match made in Heaven

DoIDon'tI said:

Sounds like a normal Croma to me

The latest What Car reliability survey lists Vauxhall's most unreliable car as...the Signum. And the Croma is based on..?

Suspension and electrics by Vauxhall, EGR valves by Fiat. A match made in Heaven

Click to expand...

:bang:

Sorry, shouldn't be flippant

You beat me on price but here's my list:-

Misaligned rear wheels
Rear shocks and springs replaced
Rear suspension arms replaced
Three parking sensors
Two front drop links
Two rear drop links
Rear ARB bushes
Broken front spring
On its third EGR valve
Courtesy lights faulty
Fuel filler flap broken

And it's currently got play in the steering track rods, the strut top bearings are worn out, the shock dust seals are worn through, both front wheel bearings have play, front ARB bushes are perished, play in both front wishbones and most importantly the gear lever gaiter has a rip in it again. It's not even done 80K yet..!

It's no coincidence that we are now starting to see these cars in 'spares or repair' advertisements after a mere six years. From a personal perspective I will be making mine last another two years, by that time it will owe me nothing and will have about 120K on the clock. Skoda Yetis should be a bit cheaper by then so that all works well

Being constructive and serious for a moment, if you view the suspension, battery, alternator and manual gearbox as consumable items then you should be able to count on the same amount of life out of the new ones, therefore it makes sense to get some use out of the money you've spent. Just make sure you change the car before the next big expenditure is due

These are cars for people who can fix stuff themselves - if you had to pay garage prices for all the problems I imagine it might get a bit wearing after a while...

I reckon there might be some people out there who would give you a good run for your money in the race for the 'Unluckiest Croma' title though

Well if we are counting cost then I can claim most of the stuff reported above and add a broken clutch coverplate spring ...... add dual mass flywheel and massive labour costs .....

Maybe we should all drive our Cromas to Fiat HQ in Middlesex and do a mass protest.

On second thoughts scrap that idea ...... we may not make it that far

I'll be buying another for spares when they get into the £100s - should keep me going for a few years then.

Doofer said:

I'll be buying another for spares when they get into the £100s - should keep me going for a few years then.

Click to expand...

Then what? A Freemont or Doblo.

At the monent a replacement for the Croma in the Fiat camp is probably one of these two vehicles. Alfa 159 is long in the tooth now and just a Croma with a different skirt.

Could a Fiat Freemont/Chrysler Dodge Journey be a vast improvement and worth replacement for the Croma?

Sounds like you have the title, I thought mine was bad:

Two front springs broken,
One rear spring broken,
EGR replaced,
Alternator replaced,
Rear screen wiper motor packed up,
A/C stopped working
Waterpump failed - coolant thermostat mistakenly replaced first

All this and the car still has only covered 57,000 miles

Mind you though, I had a work colleague who had a Renault Megane that made our cars look positively reliable by comparison.

And "Renault Megane that made our cars look positively reliable by comparison" is welcome news. As much as I hate/love to complain about my Croma (worst Fiat I have EVER had) in some respects it is better / more consistant in its failings. We all here know about common problems. From what I can gather some makes (French / German ?) have "out of the blue" and unexpected and expensive problems thrust upon their owners.

Meanwhile ......

I'll stick with Fiat.

I had the alternator(46.7K), EGR (47.6K) & battery (51.4K) go within a five month [2010] envelope. Outside of belt change etc., new brakes (exc front discs) & new tyres – I’ve lost a OSF spring. (Sky mechanism, a recon EGR & wheel align were prior to my time).

55 Prestigio 1.9/16v150 (66.2K mls)

Well I must say that in comparison my Croma must be one of the most reliable built:slayer: Most certainly the most reliable Fiat I ever owned.

bought @ 46k miles, 06 Prestigio 150

Barring serviceable items (brakes, belts, oils etc.) it had "only" done:
alternator@47k miles - under warranty
EGR solenoid serviced by myself every 12months so no cost
front drop links @ 55k
track rod ends @ 60k
Rear banana arms replaced @ 68k
Thermostat @70k
Front and rear door handles broken on the drivers side few months ago
Now 77k and no springs broken

My only complaint is that it goes very quickly through tyres - I seem to replace one axle every year. All tracking done when suspension bits were replaced. It might be my driving style though

arti_abarth said:

Well I must say that in comparison my Croma must be one of the most reliable built:slayer: Most certainly the most reliable Fiat I ever owned.

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You call all that lot reliable and claim your most reliable Fiat......I'm astounded.

What on earth were your other Fiats like.... I hate to think

I had a new air con condenser last week. The air con bloke said they do tend to go on Vectras. However, on current model VW Golfs the compressor commonly fails just outside the warranty. Due to other connected work needed to replace it, it's a £1500 job.

I know the Croma's no saint, but I'm sure there are lots of far worse cars about.

I suspect that all cars have become less reliable over recent years, due to higher complexity and cost-reducing (designing for a 3-year lifespan).

Hit or myth?
I smiled at your recent comment to RH of Worthing about the myth of VW Group quality and reliability. I have ploughed a similar lonely furrow for many years, mainly as a result of a succession of problems with VW Group cars owned by family, friends and colleagues. If you had a hour or two, I could relate a few of the worst. You allude to the continuing public belief in VW’s reliability and status, but I believe this results from clever advertising (which seems to have affected quite a few motoring journalists, too). I trust you will keep slaying a few dragons … MH, via email

Many thanks for your support. I am not going to to be very popular with VW, but my point was based on a deluge of reader feedback. HJ

Telegraph/motoring 2011/08/14

+1 from me - my last car was a Sharan and it was much, much worse than the Croma. I've already done more mileage in the Croma than I did in the Sharan but the difference is that at this point, I'd already had to drop the gearbox twice, replace all the brakes, all the suspension, and all the driveshaft joints...oh, and the aircon evaporator too. It's amazing how big the dashboard is on a Sharan when you have to remove it

These days it seems not many cars are reliable over long periods of time, but the Japanese and Koreans seem to do better than most.

Well whilst driving behind a Kia I said to my wife "I wonder what the Kia dealer servicing costs are like"?

Kia had 7 Year Warranty sticker! Not checked on the website to see what the exclusions are in todays climate of "built to last 3 or 5 years" then a 7 year warranty might be turning a few drivers off other makes.

And whilst typing this I found:

http://www.warrantyexpert.co.uk

Quite informative

Shame Fiat aren't covered in their listings - only Italian origin car listed is Maserati .....

s130 said:

You call all that lot reliable and claim your most reliable Fiat......I'm astounded.

What on earth were your other Fiats like.... I hate to think

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well the only parts that should have lasted longer is the alternator and door handles, all other bits relate to car's use pattern - suspension will eventually fail, just come to east yorkshire and see the state of the roads, 18 inch rims don't help in that matter
and thermostat will fail early if you do a lot of short jurneys - i do 8 miles in the morning and 8 in the afternoon (not including weekends)

so yes, i think my car is reliable, not everything can be blamed on fiat!

if youre curious about my previous fiat than check my posts in stilo section, that one costed me over £4k in maintenance over 2 years and 25k miles - i traded it in for a croma to cut losses

i know many people with other makes of cars, and in terms of reliability my croma is deffinately not the worst, and everything seems to be alot cheeper for it (compare VW parts prices with fiat...)