Auto Plus, the French weekly car mag, did a list of the 10 worst newer cars from the point of serious engine problems. As diesels are selling at over 70% of the French market, most of the cars on the list were diesels. ALL of them were either French or German. They noted that Fiat and Alfa were NOT on the list and had some of the best records. They said that if anyone had mentioned that Italian cars were reliable 15 years ago, it would have been taken as a joke. It went on to say that buyers could safely put away their prejudices now as many Fiat/Alfa/Lancia diesels have run up very high mileages without any real problems as long as they were properly maintained. I've also seen mentioned over and over that Fiat diesels tolerate water in the fuel much better than anyone elses and that VW diesels are the worst in that department. Almost all of the cars on the list used Bosch emission controls and that was where the main problem was. Bosch equipment has cost the car makers plenty in warranty claims and I hope they have a way to recover the costs of this from Bosch. Two strange things here. One is that Bosch has not yet seemed to solve these well known problems with mass airflow sensors and EGR valves. Two is that the other carmakers have not turned to Fiat Group to source the same parts given that Fiat's parts don't normally fail with such amazing regularity.

It is said that the JTD range of units is one of, if not the, best in the buisness.

My Brava 105JTD has certainly been excellent and hasn't let me down yet

It didn't surprise me that as part of the recent agreement that Fiat will supply GM with Diesel engines.

Lets hope they can cure the electrical problems aswell.

A number of Opel/Vauxhall cars already use the 1.3 and 1.9 JTD engines.

Even The Economist says that Fiat makes excellent diesel engines. Not exactly a car mag, but still a rather good endorsement.

about the electrical problems. it happens to all makes of cars and is nothing serious. cause old fiats had electrical glithes, when the new ones have a problem peepole always seem to think cause its a fiat it common. however all cars have it but no says it a major prob. every electrical product has some kind of pproblem (my wega tv for example)