Has anyone else experienced excessive running costs for their Multipla?

Mine has just been recovered as the water pump looks to have seized and potentially taken out the cam belt, it was still running when the other half stopped it so fingers crossed its not completely shot.

I had the belt changed a year or so ago and im convinced we did the pump too, whether that will make any difference witht he manufacturer of the pump only time will tell.

However the main reason for the thread is the costs of runing this car. Its an 05 jtd with 65k on the clock.

So far i have had to replace 2 front suspension arms, front discs and pads, complete new rear brakes, exaust back box, all handbrake cables, clutch and dual mass flywheel.

I think its a disgrace to be honest, this is the newest car i have owned and its cost me more money than a van i have had for ten years.

Anyone else suffered the same fate?

I suppose they are all wear and tear items really...who told u that you need the dmf changed?
Who changed your belts for you? I would take it back to them, ill bet you they never changed the water pump as it takes that much longer to do the pump and many just change the belt...did they change all tensioners and pulleys?
But like I said all the items you've mentioned other than the clutch and dmf, are fairly easy and cheap diy repairs!
All cars cost money to keep on the road...your is probably just at that age when eVerything seems to need doing at once...
Good luck with the diagnosis of the engine

I kind of agree with boilermansab, these (exception of the pump) seem to be "consumables".

What's the mileage?

I've owned my 2001 JTD ELX since new, so I know about everything it's done and had done to it. It's now covered 174k miles.

I'd say that the areas of disappointment on the wear & tear front for me would be:

They gobble up suspension/steering arms/bushes.
Rear brakes (mine's early, so it has drums) and handbrake cables are rubbish. The cables in particular, I'm on my 3rd (or even 4th) set.
Upholstery.

I'm reeling from a £1000+ bill that I had to pay yesterday for a load of stuff (including the rear brakes & cables). More than the car's worth I'd say.

Part of that cost was a new clutch (my 2nd replacement) a dual mass flywheel was also required. I saw the old one, it was a mess.

In reality, I've spent almost nothing on it for 3 to 4 years. Truth be told, I was going to get rid of it, but Mrs Disgusted (who loves the car) demanded repairs instead (sentimental memories of our 4 children in it. They've all left home - what do we need an MPV for?).

To sum up, if you've already done all that stuff, you've probably got a car that's good for a couple of years now. I think that you've probably been unlucky (like me) to have a load of items crop up at the same time.

Unless you're willing to fork out for a new Toyota, get used to it!





If you really want some big running costs, go for a V6 Alfa!

I have to agree
I just sold my multipla this week and i know what you mean about getting expensive to run...
In not even a year i spent nearly £2000!!
Yes those were wear parts but to many things went wrong
I had to replace twice the anti roll bar links, and those were fiat parts not cheap ones
The rear suspension radius arm on both sides had to be replaced
Wheel bearings, brakes, brakes cables, crank pulley, belts etc etc
i did cambelt and water pump as soon i got the car and those were ok
the multipla was lovely to drive but suspension is a poor design
The interior plastics reminded me of my dads mk1 uno just crumbling and snapping by jus looking at them
I hated the fact that the rear seat were not in a runner to make them go forward easyly like in my previous scenic...
I had to sell it as every 2 months i was spending £300+ to keep on road
I was a lucky owner of a mint alfa 156 2.5 v6 sp3 and im sorry yes it was more thyrsty and had to run with the right oil etc etc but i never spent all the money that i have spent on multipla...same for my bro that he had at same time an alfa gtv 3.0 v6!
the multi is a clever idea but poorly designed and with poor materials
i wish somebody would buy the rights of the project and make it better
Maybe my multi was the "wrong one" but i won buy another one now

It will likely re-appear as a 2012 Fiat 500 MPV, based on a modified Panda platform, and it will be available with five or seven seats, with 900cc TwinAir petrol turbo / 1.3-litre Multijet diesel / 1.4-litre petrol turbo. Expect manual and automatic gearbox from the Serbian plant.

Road testing incognito

I have seen that on italian magazine "quatroruote"
is nothing like the multipla
Is more likely to replace the fiat idea
im italian and now i live in uk
In italy we had the "innocenti" brand which used to sell rebranded fiat cars
When the new punto arrived in 1994 innocenti was selling the fiat uno mk2 with the name of innocenti mille
was very popular with the people who just wanted a cheap reliable new car
Unfortunately innocenti is not there anymore and a good idea like the multipla is now been sold to the chinese population but not in europe
Is a shame that fiat did not invest a little bit more on developing the car instead of pulling the plug...

here's a great innocenti motor car..

http://www.imcdb.org/i305799.jpg

Fiat had the Palio and the 'classic' range to take over where the last Innocentis left off now.

I agree that its disappointing fiat has dumped the multipla concept as it was definately appreciated.
Imagine a modernised multipla grande with 3 rows of seats! Although the doblo is now the car for this with all its new refinement and europe get a long wheel wheel base people carrier.

I am wishing I found a decent multipla a couple of years ago as for running costs the 1 owner 80000mile 525d touring I bought has cost plenty more than I expect a multi would have cost me.
I do all of the work myself so the fiddling on the multi isn't much of an issue.

Thanks for the replies peeps.

I agree its mostly consumables but id prefer it if it didnt consume them so quickly! Like i said at 65k miles i dont expect to have to change the clutch let alone the DMF. I saw the DMF and it movement/play on it was ridiculous.

The cambelt i had fitted was a full kit but the waterpump didnt need doing, it was checked and the garage who did it for me is my best mates. In fact if it wasnt for him keeping the parts at cost and the labour at beer money id have binned this car LONG ago.

The diagnosis this time is i have been extremely lucky, the pump was shot the aux roller pulley (flat one) was also mangled due to the slipping caused by the pump. He has put a new pump and belt on it and she fired up an ran a dream. Just got to wait for the overpriced Fiat cambelt covers as they were melted and broken. Will her the car back Friday...then shes for sale!

thanks again for the replies

Shop 4 parts will get you the covers.
There are 3 in all..only buy the ones u need.
They about 25 each...u won't find em on the website.
Contact them, they cheaper than Fiat plus your discount from this site.
Marty.

martyc5674 said:

Shop 4 parts will get you the covers.
There are 3 in all..only buy the ones u need.
They about 25 each...u won't find em on the website.
Contact them, they cheaper than Fiat plus your discount from this site.
Marty.

Click to expand...

Thanks Marty, I did consider 2nd hand as i have an alfa breakers locally but Fiat wnated £60 plus vat for them so i told him to get them.