SteveinTurkey
New member
Update on my 2009 1.9 MJ Doblo.
I am still really pleased with the Doblo after four years and 48,000 km.
After 47,800 km a brake light bulb failed! To replace this bulb proved to not be as easy as the front indicator bulb I replaced at about 25,000 km! Like another forum member, I dropped the large nut that secures the rear light cluster! The nut dropped into the hollow rear pillar and I could not locate it. I tried to fit a new 6mm nut on the locating stud but the stud fits through a large hole and so a large washer is needed. I tried to get a replacement nut at the main dealer but they do not keep them. I will have to spot weld a large washer to a 6mm nut to replace the original nut.
One year ago during torrential rain at night I hit a pothole on a main road, where the rain had washed out a previous poorly repaired pothole hole and it destroyed the front right hand tyre. On later inspection I really needed all four tyres replacing due to some other slight damage. As the tyres were fairly worn and the rubber was quite hard I decided to change them all. With new tyres the car was so much smoother and quiet on the road and was like driving a different car. When you drive the same car all the time you do not notice the slight deteriorations in performance over a long period.
The car had it's yearly Turkish MOT test this week. The test is done at a purpose built TUV Test centre (based on the German TUV operation) and is quite thorough. The Dobbin failed the exhaust emissions test with some black smoke, apparently due to not being driven hard enough!! The tester tried to get it to pass by revving the engine and retesting several times but he said to go away and drive it hard using high revs in the gears and then return within 30 days for a free retest. The MOT and exhaust emissions tests have separate tickets, so an MOT pass ticket was issued but advisory notes were that the left hand dip headlight and foglight were low illumination. On looking I noticed that the foglamp had a spider's web inside the glass! I removed the foglamp mounting panel from the front of the car very simply by loosening the 3 internal star-headed (torx) screws around the lamp and pulling the panel out (there are plastic clips on the inner-most part of the panel). I could not see any gap that a spider could
have entered the lamp as it seemed perfectly sealed, so how it got there is a mystery! I managed to vaccuum the web and the dead spider out.
I removed all four headlight bulbs to clean them and was surprised how easy it was after reading a post on this forum saying that it was really fiddly and would take a long time. I was shocked that someone would assess this as a tricky and hard job!
So to sum up my total spend on this car (excluding scheduled servicing) after four years and 48,000 km is: four new tyres, one indicator bulb, a stop bulb and a wiper blade. Surely this is great value!!
I am still really pleased with the Doblo after four years and 48,000 km.
After 47,800 km a brake light bulb failed! To replace this bulb proved to not be as easy as the front indicator bulb I replaced at about 25,000 km! Like another forum member, I dropped the large nut that secures the rear light cluster! The nut dropped into the hollow rear pillar and I could not locate it. I tried to fit a new 6mm nut on the locating stud but the stud fits through a large hole and so a large washer is needed. I tried to get a replacement nut at the main dealer but they do not keep them. I will have to spot weld a large washer to a 6mm nut to replace the original nut.
One year ago during torrential rain at night I hit a pothole on a main road, where the rain had washed out a previous poorly repaired pothole hole and it destroyed the front right hand tyre. On later inspection I really needed all four tyres replacing due to some other slight damage. As the tyres were fairly worn and the rubber was quite hard I decided to change them all. With new tyres the car was so much smoother and quiet on the road and was like driving a different car. When you drive the same car all the time you do not notice the slight deteriorations in performance over a long period.
The car had it's yearly Turkish MOT test this week. The test is done at a purpose built TUV Test centre (based on the German TUV operation) and is quite thorough. The Dobbin failed the exhaust emissions test with some black smoke, apparently due to not being driven hard enough!! The tester tried to get it to pass by revving the engine and retesting several times but he said to go away and drive it hard using high revs in the gears and then return within 30 days for a free retest. The MOT and exhaust emissions tests have separate tickets, so an MOT pass ticket was issued but advisory notes were that the left hand dip headlight and foglight were low illumination. On looking I noticed that the foglamp had a spider's web inside the glass! I removed the foglamp mounting panel from the front of the car very simply by loosening the 3 internal star-headed (torx) screws around the lamp and pulling the panel out (there are plastic clips on the inner-most part of the panel). I could not see any gap that a spider could
have entered the lamp as it seemed perfectly sealed, so how it got there is a mystery! I managed to vaccuum the web and the dead spider out.
I removed all four headlight bulbs to clean them and was surprised how easy it was after reading a post on this forum saying that it was really fiddly and would take a long time. I was shocked that someone would assess this as a tricky and hard job!
So to sum up my total spend on this car (excluding scheduled servicing) after four years and 48,000 km is: four new tyres, one indicator bulb, a stop bulb and a wiper blade. Surely this is great value!!
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