The vehicle is well looked after. Serviced every 9000 miles Timing belt every 40,000 miles , Water pump every 40,000 miles, MOT is every 12 months with the local authority testing it at their own test centre. Warrenty expired after 3 years or 70,000 miles . In the last three months i have spent over 2500 pounds in repairs and services. That includes the fault i have now. To quote a fiat mechanic " Get shot of it and buy a skoda, These are made out of chocolate". In addition to this I get through at least 2 front tyres per 9000 miles. This being due the the potholes and traumatic conditions of the roads in west scotland. Hey i'm not looking for any patronising comments or sympathy here just a bit of good old help from fellow sufferers.

Have you tried a new crankshaft position sensor? My 54plate Doblo 1.9jtd had the same random stopping, cool down, start ok scenario. Easy DIY job once up on ramps with undertray removed. Rear of crankcase with inspection lamp. There is a post with photos on the site. £37.00 was the cost so its worth trying prior to diagnostics. It us a known fault with this engine apparently.

Dillon1505 said:

To quote a fiat mechanic " Get shot of it and buy a skoda,

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DET (Fiat master tech) at dealership near me uses a doblo, infact I know 3 DET's including to European DET's that use the 1.9 engine. The 1.9JTD engine has been around for years which is a testament to it & the fact its used in many models, NiallG has done nearly 400,000 miles in his.

Just because you have an issue its unfair to condem what is overall a decent versatile car.

One further point, why not pay the £75 to get it diagnosed correctly? Garages have to make money just like taxi companies.

Dillon1505 said:

The vehicle is well looked after. Serviced every 9000 miles Timing belt every 40,000 miles , Water pump every 40,000 miles, MOT is every 12 months with the local authority testing it at their own test centre. But your OP said it had just passed its first MOT Warrenty expired after 3 years or 70,000 miles . In the last three months i have spent over 2500 pounds in repairs and services.A service is an essential, you cannot factor those prices into your moan (my bus is serviced on contract every 6 weeks & gets four MOTs per year) That includes the fault i have now. To quote a fiat mechanic " Get shot of it and buy a skoda, These are made out of chocolate". In other words - not a very good mechanic, one of the new breed who don't want to get their hands dirty In addition to this I get through at least 2 front tyres per 9000 miles. This being due the the potholes and traumatic conditions of the roads in west scotland.So not the fault of the car then? Hey i'm not looking for any patronising comments or sympathy here just a bit of good old help from fellow sufferers.

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If the roads really are so bad, have you considered that maybe whatever you buy will be shaken to bits after a short while?
And if you wanted help, why not ask for it instead of the scare tactics title.

As I have said my freebie Doblo was to me not a lost cause! OK I had to do some work but it is a versatile vehicle, perhaps not got the same build quality as the Octavia but you wont get the same in the back of the Octavia as the Doblo.
Its the old story stick with devil you know........
If you really are sick with it I will take it off you, for nothing of course, it is just a clapped out old taxi remember!!!!!

I think you are somewhat confused or your medication is not working. A new vehicle does not require a MOT test until its third aniversary. Taxi Authorities test all vehicles annually regardles of age. [You buy a brand new vehicle for taxi use and it has to be tested at the local authority MOT station before they will issue your plate] . So in fact i was wrong it hes had 4 MOT tests plus its 3 year old standard test which makes 5 in total. I do not factor servicing into my moan but unfortunately the fiat parts for this model are extremely high. Mechanic best there is and had his own shop for 40 years. He gets it sorted when the fiat dealers are still scratching their heads. Tyres are still an issue especially front tyres but hey that goes with the territory. I havbe noted your comments with concern as you only appear to try and score cheap shots off anyone you respond to. If you had researched taxi testing by local authorities maybe you would not be posting utter rubbish. Thanks anyway but the Doblo is fixed an running fine - No thanks to Fiat or their incompetent dealers.

Dillon1505 said:

Mechanic best there is and had his own shop for 40 years. He gets it sorted when the fiat dealers are still scratching their heads.

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how many dealerships did you try, I reckon it was only one as I think I might know who this mechanic is but anyway your entitled to your opinion as well as anyone else....so are you keeping the doblo now?

dave said:

what brach of arnold clark?

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I was wondering that...

North of border, take your pick as they have 90% of dealerships there!

T14086 said:

ever...............?

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i have won just over £70 since this

Dillon, I think you have just listed your main problem with the car.. " Arnold Clark want 75 pounds just to try and diagnose the problem."

If your Arnold Clarke are anything like as useless a company as the branches in Stafford and Stourbridge then that's where your problem is!

A genuine Fiat dealership will only charge you £50 to diagnose the problem and they have the proper diagnosis software (Arnold Clarks cannot even reset the oil degradation counter in Stafford)

If the car has been serviced by Arnold Clarke then you can expect huge bills for work that did not need doing and lots of things not done that should have been done as per Fiat service schedule.

Well I can only speak from my own experience (and lots of complaints from passengers in my Taxi about the same company).

Dillon regarding tyres..

I also have had problems with high tyre wear.. not helped by bottom suppression arm bushes that like to fail after stupidly short mileage.. also had problems with steering rack control arms. Just a 1/2mm play in the joint will result in 3 to 4mm wobble in the front tyres and that wears them very quickly.

I have been told by another Doblo taxi driver that there are some very good tyres made by Federal, I think they are extra load van tyres 185/60/15.. slightly smaller than the standard tyres but they will last 20k miles if blown up to 45psi,

They are also very cheap and on my list for next tyre change time!

Hope this helps?

Glad you got the main problem sorted.

Sorry to hear you are having probs with your Doblo, find yourself an Italian Car Specialist, they have to deal with some of the most strange of Fiat maladies so your Doblos should not be too much of a problem. I am lucky because I have Motormech Birmingham in my locality and he deals with Coupes and Stilo's every day......

One thing about tyres, When I learned to drive, power steering meant having arms like Arnold whatsisface or a passenger willing to help out . Although steering was easier as tyres were a lot thinner.
But one thing that was drilled in - never turn the steering wheel unless the tyres are rolling - even slowly as it'll grind away at the rubber.
Of course, with the advent of power steering I cringe at the huge number of drivers I see spinning the steering wheel with their little finger & the wheels aren't even rolling. I reckon power steering was the best thing that ever happened to the tyre industry.
So bearing this in mind, I wonder at how many times a taxi pulls out with the driver spinning the steering wheel without rolling the tyres? (as a taxi is, in the course of it's life going to be performing this manouvre far more than your average car).

Somebody mentioned a poster on here who used a doblo for courier work, I recall this poster getting many more thousands of miles out of a tyre than the rest of us, but then again, the mileage was done on motorways.

Wad, what's a "bottom suppression arm bush"?