General 2 year on from new Qubo review

[Pirate Pat]

1. The residual value is about 30% at best. Fiat Qubo diesel Mylife dualogic.
2. Faults. DPF pipe replaced under warranty. Blue and me replaced under warranty (still not a lot of use), window regulator still sends it down when you tell it to go up from halfway. Fiat found the problem, then "lost" it.
3. The back seats are heavy to get out.
4. I paid £250 for a remap from 75bhp to 111bhp a year ago. Now it goes like it ought to have done in the first place plus 5% economy improvement. No problems on that at all. Worth it.
5. 30K miles on it, one new set of boots on the front about 26K.

Basically, it's a good car, it handles exceptionally well and will 4 wheel drift if asked, the steering feel is quite nice and MUCH better than the Panda. The dualogic gearbox CAN be tamed but it can catch you out occasionally. Sharpens up a LOT in manual mode if you boot it. Cupholders are nearly useless. It's not as roomy as you would believe in the boot. It will cope happily with a 300 miles journey at 80mph but it is a little wearing. It has doubled up well as a changing room for triathlons and wetsuit donning, it can just about fit a set of golf clubs in the boot but only just (widthwise).

If you want basic reliable transport that won't break the bank, good call. Other cars do intimidate you though, even if you are making good progress and driving correctly.

Hope this is of some use.

PP

 

[widemouthfrog]

Nice update. A few questions:

What makes it 'wearing' on a long journey?
Who did your remap? Any idea what your torque went up to? Does the dualogic cope with the extra power?
What mpg are you getting, real world?
I've seen a YouTube vid where the front passenger seat appears to fold foward/flat, almost dropping into the front footwell. Do all Qubos do this?

Questions, questions.....

 

[chimpy]

To date I've had a vauxhall astral, 2 vw golf's, a supra, a z31 300zx, a 5 series BMW, a lada niva, a vauxhall vectra, a Honda hrv, a suzuki swift gti, a citroen ax. But I have to say, this qubo 1.4 petrol is the easiest car to drive that I have ever owned. It's true, it's slow, but it handles well, visibility is good, and it has plenty of space. It only cost 7k with 16k on the clock at 2.5 years old. Am at 53k now. Very impressed so far. Lot of car for very little money.

 

[Pirate Pat]

Froggy, it is wearing as it's quite a harsh ride (which I like) but it's a high vehicle, at high speeds (80), you need to stay on top of it particularly in a side wind and that little 1248cc diesel is having to work quite hard. You have to think a lot about overtaking etc as you need space to do it and all that is a bit wearing to me.

Eco vehicle did the tuning in Hayling Island, using Celtic tuning software. Apparently the gov'nors wife has a Qubo so they have been able to tweak it quite extensively.

Torque is up to 176lb/ft from 140, it'll spin up the front wheels from standstill especially on a turn. Dualogic seems to handle it fine. All Eco Vehicle tuning was within manufacturers parameters. I SPECIFICALLY checked that for the dualogic box.

MPG at moment is around 47 but although I have replaced the air filter, I really ought to clean the air sensor and reboot. As new, it was getting around 50mpg. I do 15000 a year. 54mpg if you take it easy. It does like a drink at 80mph though. Any BMW or Merc diesel will easily see it off economy wise at that speed. But at a steady 35-40 the Qubo reigns supreme, I have cracked 88mpg on a steady route at those speeds.

Haven't played with the front seat to that extent yet.

Any more, feel free to ask.

 

[Pirate Pat]

Oh yes, and it will do a four wheel drift rather nicely but the high body isn't THAT keen on it. Not that I would ever do such a thing......