Last week, after a long day driving to Essex and back from Cornwall, to collect our new Croma, we stopped at Cullompton services on the M5 for some much needed sustenance (and coffee). We happened to park in front of the window and, as I was gazing at the new purchase, lo and behold a near identical 06 Croma pulled up in the space next to it!! The driver had a quick glance at the back of ours to check the model and disappeared. Before I had a chance to do anything about it, he jumped back in and drove off. It had the smaller wheels but it did have fog lights, so I'm guessing it was a 1.9 Eleganza? Or a petrol one? I haven't seen one on the roads for several years and as soon as I buy one, another one appears :O)

That's the thing with Cromas, they are dead easy to find in the car park, I had a similar experience to yours a few months back, I pulled into a car park and wasn't paying much attention, when I looked in the next bay there was another Croma. I guess Cornwall won't have too many either.

halilson said:

.. It had the smaller wheels but it did have fog lights, so I'm guessing it was a 1.9 Eleganza? ...

Click to expand...

I believe the normal wheel pattern is ...

Dynamic 16" (9-spoke), Eleganza 17" (7-spoke) & Prestigio 18" (10-spoke).

120210

I love it being so exclusive.Pull up somewhere and people say "what is that?"Not many 2.4s about.Was there only about 200 2.4s in this country?

WK56 VYP 2.4 Prestigio was up-for-sale in Liskeard around 2 years back

Edit
WN06 PVT 2.2 Eleganza is listed for auction at BCA Brighouse on Mon.

120210

WK is a Cornish reg too! Yes I love the exclusivity too. I was considering de-badging it to confuse people even further but gonna leave it as it is for now. I read somewhere that there were approx 80 2.4's sold from 2005 - 2008 but not sure where I saw it. Lucky the parts are shared with other cars!!

A quick check of howmanyleft.co.uk shows that last year 30 2.4 Cromas were licensed, down from 34 a year before. Have a look here for a better breakdown.

I might of said this before.I cant understand why Fiat act the way they do.The vehicles have such short production runs before they bring a new model out to replace the previous one.Which then turns out to be no better,look at the Stilo replacement,the Bravo.Not exactly doing brillant.The Stilo seems now to be better thought of,so why not just do another facelift and get the marketing people to do their job better.
I allways fancied a Multipla,but for me towing the van the brillant 1.9 which i ran for years in the Stilo fitted to the Multi is massively detuned in the torque department(155lbs ft) and therefore not suited to us.Why is this,Fiat again doing half a job.For me the car would have been perfect and i still love them.
Then the poor old Croma getting ditched,A friend of mine once said "what is it,an estate,a hatchback,what?" and i said what ever it is its perfect.So is it just the fiat marketing thats crap?

You've hit the nail on the head! But it's more than just the marketing, it's the sales and after sales service too. We all know how crap Fiat servicing is, but to be fair Renault are even worse. I spoke to the manager of my local Fiat franchise last week and he had nothing but good things to say about the Croma, it's just the fact that very little, if any, publicity was given to it in the UK. One of my colleagues is Italian and he says it's a very popular car over there (Schumacher famously announced on Top Gear that he had one) and he can't understand why there are so few over here.
Another example is that I persuaded my boss to get me the new shape Scudo a couple of years ago (against his better judgement), it cost somewhere in the region of £18k with all the extras, yet 12 months later when we wanted to trade it in for a new one (he thought it was a fantastic van), the Fiat dealer offered us a measly £3700 against a new one! So we went back to Renault because they gave us £8k. It's like there's no insentive to sell Fiat's here. They have the attitude that if it sells, it sells, if not never mind. I have owned loads from a 128SL coupe (my first car) to a 131, Coupe 20vt Marea etc etc and have loved them all.

So in other words the uk doesnt matter to fiat.This is the gut feeling ive had for along time.Shame really.So the 500 and punto must be enough to carry them through.Surely though the range is going to need another large saloon soon with a decent size diesel engine fitted.I understand the Freemont is not going to land on our shores too.

It seems to me that we Brits are a peculiar race when it comes to brands and cars. Basically, I think we are terrible snobs on the whole. If a car was made that was brilliant in every way and dirt cheap then hardly anyone would buy it. We like decent cars to be expensive and have a posh badge.

When I say "we" I mean the UK on the whole. I don't agree with most of the UK's attitude, but the snobbery seems to be deeply embedded from centuries of the class system, the royal family, knighthoods, lords, ladies, earls, public schools etc.

I don't blame Fiat for staying away from the UK with their big cars after their Croma experience. It was a perfectly good car, but nobody bought it. It's the UK population's fault, not Fiat's.

Not disagreeing with what you said.But some people think of Fiats as trouble.A friend of mine not long ago asked me what vehicle i had,i told him and his responce was "that is one make i wouldnt touch with a barge pole" Nice thanks for that.I then brought another work friend home last week,he got out of my van which is also Fiat looked up the drive and said "i take it you like Fiats" looking at the Croma and the 500.Then remarked "fix it again tomorow".Sadly this is how Fiats are pecieved,we know its not true,and maybe Fiat could do something to help ease this situation.Until the 500 came about i cant remember seeing any Fiat advitising,the last i think was for the Stilo way back.Image is everything nowadays.

The trouble with opinions about cars is that everyman and his dog consider themselves to be experts. I work in the motor industry for Jaguar Land Rover, in some parts of the world we have a bad reputation for reliability, in other parts we are well regarded, FIAT in this country is looked upon by many people as a liability, but to be honest I have owned many makes over the years, they are no better or worse than most other makes, Ford have the best reputation in this country, I have owned several and they have been good up to a point then literally fell apart, to be honest I am glad Fiats are shunned, this predjudiced snobbery has allowed me to buy a car (Croma) that is an absolute bargain, I would have paid double for a Beemer or similar.

+1...trouble is, what do you replace a Croma with..? What is the next "underrated bargain of the decade"?

Nearest would be the Alfa Estate a Saab 93 Estate. After that then possibly a GM equivalent.

At the moment IF I was forced to change tomorrow then I would probably go for a Bravo Multiair Sport.

PLUS roofbox! to make up for the loss of luggage space. (box won't help large load capability though).

As far as I can tell the Bravo is almost pure Fiat in all departments. Engine, box, shafts etc. etc. - If you know otherwise then I would love to know the details!

Personally I doubt I will return to a diesel car. Compared to petrol there is too much extra stuff to go wrong. EGR, inlet etc. clogging with raw soot. Swirl valves. DPF. Glow Plugs. etc. etc.

Also the UK cost of diesel fuel does not warrant the extra cost for mileages below 12K miles.

I tow a caravan so will miss the diesel grunt but I've towed our caravan (1000kg) with a Tipo 1.6ie (to Italy and back), Punto HGT, Stilo Abarth and of course the Croma. The Tipo did admirably despite its lack of BHP and torque). One just has to adapt!

Sadly lack of space is something that is difficult to get round.

What about a Citroen C6? It's big, comfortable and disregarded, just like the Croma!!

cjlar said:

What about a Citroen C6? It's big, comfortable and disregarded, just like the Croma!!

Click to expand...

They are proper lovely cars. £7k to drive the same car as the French president!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-57-C...omobiles_UK&hash=item4cfe19d256#ht_500wt_1361

Bit high mileage, but I'd buy it.

New list price £40,160 so it's lost 83% of its value in just over 4 years. That's £690 per month in lost value.

For: The C6 is refreshingly different from the ubiquitous German cars. It has two fine diesel engines and a good motorway ride.
Against: Body control is poor. The C6 is a potential disaster to own: it’s expensive to buy and run, and the aftersales service and resale values are both big worries..... What Car? Aug 2011 (p173)

cjlar said:

... just like the Croma!!

Click to expand...

120215

Doofer said:

It seems to me that we Brits are a peculiar race when it comes to brands and cars. Basically, I think we are terrible snobs on the whole. If a car was made that was brilliant in every way and dirt cheap then hardly anyone would buy it. We like decent cars to be expensive and have a posh badge.

When I say "we" I mean the UK on the whole. I don't agree with most of the UK's attitude, but the snobbery seems to be deeply embedded from centuries of the class system, the royal family, knighthoods, lords, ladies, earls, public schools etc.

I don't blame Fiat for staying away from the UK with their big cars after their Croma experience. It was a perfectly good car, but nobody bought it. It's the UK population's fault, not Fiat's.

Click to expand...

I totally agree with you and to add more woe, its the car media who are to blame!! Fiat and Alfa for that matter still cannot shake off the rust stories. As I have a Stilo Multiwagon and she has her second Croma, most people just look at them and " have they rusted yet "

The likes of Whatcar, Autocar, TopGear, etc etc have always slated Fiat's and Alfa's, quite annoying really, Maserati is now being thrown into the mix of it now. I was a VW guy, the wife has been with the Fiat brand since 1993 ith her first Fiat Uno, and swears by them, she converted me to the Fiat / Alfa brand, and I have not looked back.

Fiat Marketing of the 500, Grande Punto, Panda is not bad, but over the years what marketing was done with the Idea, Stilo, Multipla, Qubo, Multiwagon, Barchetta, Coupe, Not much if any.

My sister has a IDEA, great little car with a 1.3 Multijet Diesel, All her friends think its a Renault Modus!!

Doofer said:

They are proper lovely cars. £7k to drive the same car as the French president!

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2007-57-CITROEN-C6-EXCLUSIVE-2-7-HDI-AUTO-GREY-HEAD-UP-DISPLAY-XENONE-ETC-/330680619606?pt=Automobiles_UK&hash=item4cfe19d256#ht_500wt_1361

Bit high mileage, but I'd buy it.

New list price £40,160 so it's lost 83% of its value in just over 4 years. That's £690 per month in lost value.

Click to expand...

I feel sorry to who bought a Alfa Romeo's 166 3.0V6 24V. They lost 80% over 2 years and/or 30,000miles. But Jeremy Clarkson once said its in his top 10 great cars with a V6/V8 growl, that obviously did not help the resale value!!