The Venga is on my list, it ticks most of my boxes, but the new Dacia Duster is still in the lead at the moment. I love the ground clearance and the space inside the thing.

When I configured the Qubo with the 95hp engine it came to @£2000 more than the Duster too

If it wasn't for this particular Qubo fault, and it does appear to be chronic, the Qubo would be on the list too... bloody shame.

This only seems to be a fault with earlier models, say from 2008 to 2010. I have a 2011 Trekking 95 with 27000 miles and have not had any of these problems. If you read back through these posts you'll see that Fiat changed the part at the factory. What's been a big problem for some is their car had the original defective part and it was replaced with another one from the first batch which was also defective. I haven't heard if Fiat/Peugeot/Citroen have destroyed all of the old parts when the new ones came out of if they are still on dealers' shelves waiting to be installed.

i'm sorry to say Raton, the new bearings are just as bad as the old ones, and the fault is still showing up in 11 and 61 plate Qubo's. We had both bearings changed with the new ones at 6.000 miles and they were starting to click again at 9.500, plus after the bearing change the car shafted a ser of front tyres in 3.000 miles. Its a chronic fault, and its showing up in far to many cars, and now its starting to lose Fiat customers. Who would buy a Qubo after reading the replies in this post.
As was said in the previous post its a Bloody shame as it could have been a great little car........thats Fiat for you.

Ian.

Thanks for all the valuable advice

I'm going to look at a Venga in a few days; they seem to be well specced and solidly built.

I love the general utility and siding doors of the Qubo of course, but I just couldn't face a chronic structural and safety problem, the anticipation of which would always be lurking at the back of my mind.

My Doblo began to pull to the left under power quite badly a year or so ago, but this was simply worn wishbone bearings and the problem was sorted with new wishbones, and an immediate tracking and alignment job at my tyre shop. Since I drive quite quickly I put this down to routine wear and tear (@80,000 miles), but the top mount problem in the Qubo is a different thing altogether.

Fiat probably has sorted it now, but if the company had owned up and done a recall I'm sure everyone would feel far more generously towards them and be prepared to forgive the inconvenience and be glad of the honesty.

In the US this would have been a public scandal; here we hear nothing. Not good for the purchaser, and not good for Fiat either because it saps confinence in the whole company.

Saying that, I hardly ever see any new Qubos anyway, and my dealer only has Pandas and 500s, plus a Punto, in the showroom. Shows what sells I suppose

Morning Fellow Qubist all,
Always good to read your posts, Re this top mount bearing problem. Personally I have no problem with 'my outcome', I accept that Fiat have identified the problem and corrected it with a totally new part, and hence new part number. So I am happy to continue with my Qubo. As to tyre wear, what can I say, mine have now done just under 14 thousand, and look good for at least another 4-5 thousand, I'm happy with that, plus they are the original tyres.
I had a Kia, a Carens prior to going with the Qubo, and all in all it was a good car, though perhaps because of where I live, it was let down by poor Dealer servicing, and ability to correct faults.
Take care all,
Cheers Qube O.

Gor to agree with Ulplan in all aspects of the Qubo. Fiat have known for a long time about the bearing fault, yes they have introduced a new part, but from what i've heard from our dealer and what happened with out own car, the part is no better than the old one.
Qube O, I do with you all the best with your car, but I still reckon this bearing fault is the reason why Fiat never put the bigger 1.6 m/j unit in the Qubo.
Anyway time will no doubt tett with regards to the fault, but I do feel Fiat should have put out a Recall.

Ian

Highlander said:

Gor to agree with Ulplan in all aspects of the Qubo. Fiat have known for a long time about the bearing fault, yes they have introduced a new part, but from what i've heard from our dealer and what happened with out own car, the part is no better than the old one.
Qube O, I do with you all the best with your car, but I still reckon this bearing fault is the reason why Fiat never put the bigger 1.6 m/j unit in the Qubo.
Anyway time will no doubt tett with regards to the fault, but I do feel Fiat should have put out a Recall.

Ian

Click to expand...

Morning Ian,
I totally agree that 'time will tell' as regards this repair. But beyond that, I am assured by my 'Dealer' that these new parts are a 'fix' for the problem. As to tyre wear, which has never been a problem with our Qubo, since the change of these two top mounts a couple or so weeks ago, I have covered about 1000 mile, (school holidays), and I've kept a close watch on the front tyres....absolutly no visible excess wear at all, I still expect to get best part of 20,000 mile out of them.
As to the larger engine, I have no idea if or if not Fiat were thinking of putting it into the Qubo, but purely on a personal basis I fail to see any advantage.........it would just mean, higher insurance, higher road tax, less MPG..........so it may be .8 of a second faster to 60 MPH......would I be bothered ?
Anyway, its a wait and see. Good luck with the Kia, after owning one I look forward to hearing how you get on with it over the next 12-18 months.

Take care,
Cheers Qube O...

Had Fiat offered the 1.6 Multijet in the Qubo I would have bought it without hesitation. 50 to 60% more torque and another 10, 20, or 25 more HP would make a world of positive difference. As it is, the 95 HP 1.3 is four seconds faster from 0-62 than the 75 HP version so I'd expect the 1.6 with 115 or 120 HP would make it in just about 10 seconds rather than 12 or 16. Even with the 95 HP in my car there are times when it's not up to scratch. That includes climbing long hills and having the AC on or both. I also carry heavy loads from time to time and that's another area needing a bit more performance. Other than the excess body roll, the chassis should have no trouble with the extra power but upping the tires from 185/65 R15 to 195/60 or similar might give a little more grip. Actually, what a I really want is an Alfa version of this car, sort of a sports van if you will.

Me too!

I couldn't agree more. Fiat always under-engines its cars, and the fuel consumption realtime is never that great because the small motors have to be gunned like hell to keep up with the traffic. My present car gives an official 0-60 time of 12.5 seconds, and I wouldn't want less than that under any circumstances. Indeed, 12.5 barely keeps up with modern traffic, and torque is always essential on motorway inclines and to keep the A/C going without noticing it cutting in and sapping power: NO, I don't need that I said from the beginning of the Qubo that what it needs is the 1.6. More torque, easier driving and I'll bet better economy too. I do wonder if the chassis could handle it though?

They might have needed to widen the track a little front and rear, but why not? The Dacia Duster in its essentials is really only a jacked up Logan with a wider track for stability. Trouble is, the Qubo is a fine car, but only a gussied up van, so it should be very cheap - but it isn't. I configured the nearest to my requirements and came up with over £14,000

As the Qubo/Nemo/Bipper is built on the Punto3/Corsa platform there shouldn't be any problems with installing the 1.6. The Punto had the 1.9 with up to 130 HP when it was launched, so a Qubo1.6 with 105, 115 (Belgium only because of our motor taxation) or 120 HP should not present any technical challenges.

I've only had my qubo a few weeks but I can already guess the cause of the top strut bearing faliure. In every other car I've owned the top strut bearing sits in the rubber mount in the top of the inner wing..... i.e. the upper side of the bearing cup is under the bonnet. In the qubo it is in the inner wing but housed in the channel in front of the windowscreen, cleverly placed right under an open grill. It nicely collects rain (and any other Liquid) which gradualy works its way through the bearing etc.
I think the bearing design was probably fine if it was situated in the dry. You'll probably find the faliure you experience is more related to how close you live to the sea, and how much you drive it in the winter. Simple solution is to remove the wipers, remove the windscreen surround then after packing the upper recess of the turret with LM grease, and find some handy plastic to cover it up and keep it dry.

Hi Chimpy,

Nice idea, and no harm in giving it a try. I guess most mechanical/electrical bits are affected by salt laden water/air.

Take care, Cheers Qube O.

Hmm its worth a try chimpy thats for sure.....right plan for the weekend then!

(although I may get a strange look from OH if I ask for help carrying a large tub of grease)

I'll be doing that task next weekend, along with finding a spare wheel cage to fit under the rear end(the studs are there plain to see )
This weekend I fitted new plugs and changed the transmission fluid. The tranni oil didn't need changing but I wanted to be sure it had the correct amount in (which it did fortunaly) and that there were no bits of metal floating around from manufacture..... always a good sign

It's a good idea Chimpy, but dont you think its Fiats job??.
Any new car should be "fit for purpose", and bearings going within the first 6000 miles, in my mind just is not fit for purpose.
I'm quite sure that in this day and age Fiat are more than able to produce a lock down cover to keep out moisture and debris.
It's a design fault, which is the manufacturers problem to rectify, its not up to the owners to find ways of sorting out Fiats problem or having to start pulling their cars to bits either.
I am still of the opinion that the Qubo is a great little car, but it does have this weak spot at the front end with the bearing failure and heavy tyre wear.
Now whether or not these faults are related, i dont know, but I do think Fiat should be doing a bit more, with regards to the amount of failures.
I heard at a local dealer that one in three Qubo's have bearing failure within the first 10.000 miles, not a good advert for the car.

cheers Ian

I suspect I have the same problem with my Qubo, knocking/clonking noise front off side on low speed turning.

I have it booked in at a local reputable indy to have it looked at on Monday.

The vehicle is 3 years old and done 18000 miles. 1.3 multijet.

Will keep you posted on the outcome.

Monkeyboot said:

I suspect I have the same problem with my Qubo, knocking/clonking noise front off side on low speed turning.

I have it booked in at a local reputable indy to have it looked at on Monday.

The vehicle is 3 years old and done 18000 miles. 1.3 multijet.

Will keep you posted on the outcome.

Click to expand...

Hi Monkeyboot, Those symptoms sound like just what I had a few months ago, my car also 3 years old. Get on to Fiat, they sorted mine, with only a small contribution from me, and a 2 year warranty on the repair(both sides done) parts, and labour. Good Luck, Qube O.

Highlander said:

It's a good idea Chimpy, but dont you think its Fiats job??.
Any new car should be "fit for purpose", and bearings going within the first 6000 miles, in my mind just is not fit for purpose.
I'm quite sure that in this day and age Fiat are more than able to produce a lock down cover to keep out moisture and debris.
It's a design fault, which is the manufacturers problem to rectify, its not up to the owners to find ways of sorting out Fiats problem or having to start pulling their cars to bits either.
I am still of the opinion that the Qubo is a great little car, but it does have this weak spot at the front end with the bearing failure and heavy tyre wear.
Now whether or not these faults are related, i dont know, but I do think Fiat should be doing a bit more, with regards to the amount of failures.
I heard at a local dealer that one in three Qubo's have bearing failure within the first 10.000 miles, not a good advert for the car.

cheers Ian

Click to expand...

Sorry Ian, I do like your post..........hit not liked by mistake....Qube O.

only up till 3 years, mine will be out of warranty in january. Perhaps you should think about the long term damage to steering components etc. It will be well out of waranty by the time those expensive bits fail. If all it takes is to pack it with grease then prevention is far more cost effective than letting it break then getting fiat to fit a short term fix.

A turret bearing only costs £15 and you can fit one in less than an hour on most cars

BTW my 1 million mile K&N panel filter has arrived. Wonder if it will give my little petrol engine a bit more go

if someone does the grease & shrouding of these bearings, any chance of some photo's as a bit of a 'how to'?

LC