General Another new Multijet customer

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General Another new Multijet customer

Joined
Feb 11, 2008
Messages
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Location
Haddenham, Bucks
Howdo all,

I've placed an order for a new Multijet last saturday. The Dealers (Perrys, Aylesbury) are quoting 20th march for a delivery date - is this accurate in peoples' experience, or do they come down? Keen to get the car, as I'm bussing to work at the mo, and it's quite literally a pain in the a*se.

I'm moving from an old Citroen CX prestige auto, so it'll be rather different - no aircon and no clever suspension, but then it won't ruin me either :D - will miss that old bus, but needs must!

Anyway, I've got a Harmon/Kardon Drive+Play to fit, which looks like it will connect to the yellow ISO connector on the back of the head unit (been reading the forum, see!) However, does anyone know if there is a permanent 12v feed nearby, (Behind the head unit or in the glove box) along with the Accessory feed from t'ignition switch? I'm plotting the install already.

Also, how much of a faff is it to route cables from the glovebox to the gearstick area, or the right-hand side of the head unit?

I guess I'll find out in due course, but forewarned is four-armed, or summat!

cheers,
J
 
JHD,

I got my MJ from Perry's of Aylesbury. Nightmare, I'm afraid. I went for it because they could offer a near immediate delivery ('it's on its way..'), as opposed to Fiat SS, who had a wait.

On Mondays, I would phone (never, not once did they call me with any info) and be told that it would be there mid-week. So I would call mid-week, and be told it would be end of week. End of week: oh dear, it'll be next week now. This went on for weeks. :bang:

I wouldn't have minded if they had been up-front at the outset, and said it would be a month, and kept me informed. But as it was, I was in 'car imminent in next few days' mode for a month. Which is a pain.

Basically, I couldn't believe anything they said. And when it did turn up, I had to wait days for the PDI to be done, as there was a 'shortage of mechanics'.

I turned up to collect it, and the salesman was on the phone to a friend. He motioned me to sit, and he wandered off. After 20 mins of waiting, I had to go and look for him. He had lost the keys. And then there was no fuel in the car. And then he couldn't find the fuel card. Hopeless. The handover took 90 mins, due to raw incompetence on their part.

But the price was OK, and I'm loving the car.....

Good luck with Perry's.

Adnap
 
CX Prestige wow that is one of my all time favorite cars!! My Panda is partner to a 1983 Merc W123 (Which has Citreon self leveling rear suspension), but since I seem to use the Panda all the time these days the Merc will have to go too :-((

JON
 
JHD,

I got my MJ from Perry's of Aylesbury. Nightmare, I'm afraid. I went for it because they could offer a near immediate delivery ('it's on its way..'), as opposed to Fiat SS, who had a wait.

On Mondays, I would phone (never, not once did they call me with any info) and be told that it would be there mid-week. So I would call mid-week, and be told it would be end of week. End of week: oh dear, it'll be next week now. This went on for weeks. :bang:

I wouldn't have minded if they had been up-front at the outset, and said it would be a month, and kept me informed. But as it was, I was in 'car imminent in next few days' mode for a month. Which is a pain.

Basically, I couldn't believe anything they said. And when it did turn up, I had to wait days for the PDI to be done, as there was a 'shortage of mechanics'.

I turned up to collect it, and the salesman was on the phone to a friend. He motioned me to sit, and he wandered off. After 20 mins of waiting, I had to go and look for him. He had lost the keys. And then there was no fuel in the car. And then he couldn't find the fuel card. Hopeless. The handover took 90 mins, due to raw incompetence on their part.

But the price was OK, and I'm loving the car.....

Good luck with Perry's.

Adnap

Yes, I have heard less than stellar reports of them in the past, so I went with open eyes. To be fair, they were up front about delivery time, and have been so on the phone since I ordered it, so maybe someone has whispered 'Customer Service' to them in the interim. The salesman (looked about 15, bless im :) ) was on the ball, and knew his stuff. It remains to be seen about their after-sales service, so I might be looking for independent garages in Oxford/Aylesbury area in the future.

Price was also right (same as the supersaver price) so I'm not going to knock them yet!

Cheers,
J
 
I'm moving from an old Citroen CX prestige auto, so it'll be rather different - no aircon and no clever suspension, but then it won't ruin me either :D - will miss that old bus, but needs must!

Anyway, I've got a Harmon/Kardon Drive+Play to fit
J
Was on holiday in Paris a few weeks after the CX was launched and wandered into the Citroen showroom on the Champs Elysee. To say my jaw hit the floor would be an understatement. Even though the DS was really futuristic for its time, the CX was stunning. I've wanted one ever since but never had the courage. I think they probably frightened everybody else with their complexity as they did me.
I don't know what Harmon Kardon car steros are like, but their home hi-fi was superb. If what you're fitting in the car is half as good as the home gear, then you are in for a treat.
Oh, almost forgot, well done on ordering the MJT. Mine will pass the 30K mile mark tomorrow. Only fault so far is the front pads wore down to the rivets 2 days before it went in for its 24K service. Be warned, keep an eye on them. The only thing I don't like is the excessive roll and understeer going into sharp higher speed bends. I'm looking at going up a size to 175s when the tyres need replacing to see if that helps.
 
The only thing I don't like is the excessive roll and understeer going into sharp higher speed bends. I'm looking at going up a size to 175s when the tyres need replacing to see if that helps.

Reckon a seriously uprated rear anti-roll bar would help no end with quelling the awful understeer. Trail braking really helps, but you've got to be going for it a bit to get it to work. At lower speeds (like round biggish roundabouts) it seems that pretty much no matter what to do you can't do much about the understeer.

I do wonder if there is an uprated (ie bigger diameter rear arb) available for the Panda? The 100hp has a wider track so I would guess that a rear ARB off one wouldn't fit a standard track panda.

Wider tyres will help in terms of mechanical grip but you'll still experience just as much roll if not more and you will still get the same understeer.
 
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Yes, I have heard less than stellar reports of them in the past, so I went with open eyes. To be fair, they were up front about delivery time, and have been so on the phone since I ordered it, so maybe someone has whispered 'Customer Service' to them in the interim. The salesman (looked about 15, bless im :) ) was on the ball, and knew his stuff. It remains to be seen about their after-sales service, so I might be looking for independent garages in Oxford/Aylesbury area in the future.

Cheers,
J

To be fair to Perry's, it was the case of one salesman not being too bothered about doing his job. I started to call by as I was fed up with getting fobbed off on the phone, and I found the FIAT supervisor and other sales staff to be really helpful. Sounds like you've got one of the helpful ones.

FIAT phoned me up to ask what I thought of the buying process, so maybe they got some feedback from that.

I intend to get servicing done by a local independent, as FIAT dealers have a none too good reputation. As I understand it, if they use FIAT parts the warranty is still valid.

Adnap
 
If youre looking fro a decent independant garage around the Oxfordshire area, try Palmer & Philips, who are an Italian car specialist on the Horsepath Trading Estate opposite Fox FM & very near the Mini factory in Oxford.

Ive had about 6 services, cambelt, front & back brakes & an air con pipe all sorted by them on my Punto JTD & never has the car had to go back coz something hasnt been done properly. I recommended them to a mate when he got an Alfa 147 & he's had suspension, brakes, cambelt & services done by them & has had no problems either.

There's no glamorous showroom with masses of drinks available & shiny courtesy cars (they hav a mark 1 Punto, which takes me back to my first Fiat), and finding a parking space can be tricky, but my experiences of workmanship & knowledge have been spot on, hence my recommendation.

Any more info, lemme know! Enjoy the Panda :)
 
I do wonder if there is an uprated (ie bigger diameter rear arb) available for the Panda? The 100hp has a wider track so I would guess that a rear ARB off one wouldn't fit a standard track panda.

According to the press pack, the 100HP doesn't actually have a rear ARB at all, just an uprated front one.
 
If youre looking fro a decent independant garage around the Oxfordshire area, try Palmer & Philips, who are an Italian car specialist on the Horsepath Trading Estate opposite Fox FM & very near the Mini factory in Oxford.

(y) Wicked, thanks geezer - That's the right side of Oxford, and I can get the bus to/from work (have used the car hire place up there before).

Cheers,
J
 
Was on holiday in Paris a few weeks after the CX was launched and wandered into the Citroen showroom on the Champs Elysee. To say my jaw hit the floor would be an understatement. Even though the DS was really futuristic for its time, the CX was stunning. I've wanted one ever since but never had the courage. I think they probably frightened everybody else with their complexity as they did me.

They're not that bad, if you know your plumbing :D - The biggest problem with them is dodgy electrical contacts everywhere. I spent $SHEDLOADS on new components only to find cleaning the contacts of the old ones made them work again :bang:

I don't know what Harmon Kardon car steros are like, but their home hi-fi was superb. If what you're fitting in the car is half as good as the home gear, then you are in for a treat.

The Dirve+Play is an add-in box that connects to the Aux inputs of whatever headunit you have, or via a wired FM transmitter if you don't. It has a small LCD screen to show what the iPod is doing, and a jog control that mimics the iPod control wheel and you can mount them both somewhere useful. It also has a passthru for a mobile phone device as well, which is trick. I was going to fit it to the CX, but the wiring in there has, well, suffered 20 years of modifications. :yuck:

I'd put the link up, but I haven't posted enough yet, apparently. You can get to it from harmonkardon dot com though. They also go cheaply on eBay, where I got mine from.

Oh, almost forgot, well done on ordering the MJT. Mine will pass the 30K mile mark tomorrow. Only fault so far is the front pads wore down to the rivets 2 days before it went in for its 24K service. Be warned, keep an eye on them. The only thing I don't like is the excessive roll and understeer going into sharp higher speed bends. I'm looking at going up a size to 175s when the tyres need replacing to see if that helps.

Excessive roll? You've not driven a CX, have you :D - It's as near to land-based yachting as you can get, although the totally powered and self-centering steering is one thing I really will miss. The non- self-cancelling indicators are another - I really like them when going round roundabouts - in fact the whole PRN switch pods are genius. And it looks eeeevil when you storm up in someon's rear-view mirror :devil:

Cheers,
J
 
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