General In praise of the Fiat Croma 194

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General In praise of the Fiat Croma 194

Joined
Oct 6, 2004
Messages
56
Points
77
Location
east London, UK
The 194 Croma is excellent – comfortable, spacious, safe and stylish.

My Croma is a pleasure and easy to drive, performing well, in all driving conditions – during stop / start, slow traffic, local journeys and fast long motorway journeys. The Croma has ample legroom and headroom for 4 adults, enough for 5 adults over shorter distances.

Mine has done 115,000 miles, 80,000 miles with me in 8 years. It’s a 2005 Fiat Croma 1.9 JTD MultiJet 16V 150bhp, manual, Eleganza.

I get 36 mpg commuting and 40 mpg on a fast 200 mile mainly motorway run. These measurements are brim to brim, the trip computer exaggerates by about 5 percent.

The Fiat / Alfa EGR restrictor plate has been fitted. The EGR and MAP / Boost sensor are cleaned when serviced, as required.

I use the Archoil 6200 diesel additive, costing about 60p each time I fill up with regular diesel.

The Croma is quick and smooth, with enough performance for comfortable long motorway journeys. The brakes are excellent. It’s a little noisy inside though compared to modern cars.

My Croma has sometimes been expensive to maintain (the power steering system failed twice) but the last 2 years have been straightforward.

Since the inlet manifold, with its coked up swirl valves / flaps, was replaced, I can now relax and crawl easily in bad traffic in first or second gear without having to touch the accelerator pedal.

In this hot weather, it is useful to wind down the windows using the key fob when 50 yards away and walking to approach the Croma. Once on the move the AC / Climate Control system is good.

The DPF has never been troublesome.

The cam belt, water pump, and tensioner(s) will be replaced as part of a full service, along with another (the third) wheel bearing and the boot lock solenoid, next week.

Then I have to decide whether to spend more to repair and paint bodywork scuffs and chips, refurbish well scuffed wheels and fix the parking sensor system. I’m wary of Clutch, DMF and turbo failure. All 4 off side (front and rear, exterior and interior) door handles have been replaced and I think the off side front interior door handle is failing again.

Or I could save up and budget for a 2.0 petrol Alfa Guilia instead:).
 
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