General 5 cylinder Marea

[Dawes]

Hi guys, been looking for a Marea weekend. I was at a Fiat dealership this week with my Mrs when she was buying her Multipla and I saw a Marea Weekend going for £790 on a V reg. I didn't get a chance to ask much about it but the dealer reckoned it wasn't what I was looking for as it was a 5 Cylinder model & he knows I need something less thirsty than my Rover 620 Auto (31mpg on motorways, don't ask about mpg around town!). I prefer deisel to be honest but I'm happy enough with petrol if it isn't too thirsty and reasonably reliable. So any opinions on this one? Sorry I didn't get more info, wasn't sure if there is more than one 5 Cyl Fiat engine in the Marea.
Many thanks

 

[beau]

i think the only 5 cylinder is 2.0L 20 valve- i can imagine this would be very heavy on fuel, servicing etc.

get a jtd.

 

[Dawes]

There is a 1.9 JTD going on ebay just down the road from me. Think it's an X reg with 110,000 miles but just serviced with cambelt changed too. £900 a good price do you think?

 

[beau]

id say 900 is great price if good condition

 

[Dawes]

Seems sound mechanically but the body has shown signs of a hard life. It's the second time it has been on ebay, the bidding didn't get close enough to £900 first time round!

 

[mountainmachine]

The 2.0 20v will get around 30-33mpg so stay away if you want economy.

 

[Dawes]

Thanks for the advice guys, much appreciated

 

[bulldog5046]

i get 18mpg average around town and 32mpg average if i sit at 60 on the motorway.

if your after economy just leave it, if your after performance its an excellent car!

BTW i'd highly suggest you dont take it for a test drive unless you can afford it because you will fall in love with the noise when you press the loud pedal and get over 4.5k

 

[h2ypr]

i get 18mpg average around town and 32mpg average if i sit at 60 on the motorway.

if your after economy just leave it, if your after performance its an excellent car!

BTW i'd highly suggest you dont take it for a test drive unless you can afford it because you will fall in love with the noise when you press the loud pedal and get over 4.5k

U should get more MPG than that i think bulldog. Have u ever been bothered with the mpg?

Ross

 

[Dawes]

Bulldog, how much roughly are you for a service on your car & anything to watch out for reliability wise?

 

[h2ypr]

Bulldog, how much roughly are you for a service on your car & anything to watch out for reliability wise?

Lol. Just realised where you are from. My mate has a mk2/3 golf gti for sale. He lives near aberdeen!!!

Ross

 

[Dawes]

Lol. Just realised where you are from. My mate has a mk2/3 golf gti for sale. He lives near aberdeen!!!

Ross

Thanks, not really a fan of Golfs, find them a bit over rated, too small and just too many of them on the roads. I like to be a little bit different!

 

[h2ypr]

Thanks, not really a fan of Golfs, find them a bit over rated, too small and just too many of them on the roads. I like to be a little bit different!

The marea's are nice cars. Probably better with the diesel tho. Very good MPG.

Ross

 

[bulldog5046]

U should get more MPG than that i think bulldog. Have u ever been bothered with the mpg?

Ross

i'm not perticually bothered, i have been meaning to change the lambda to see if it will improve but havent got round to it due to other things recently

Bulldog, how much roughly are you for a service on your car & anything to watch out for reliability wise?

the cambelt is the major thing, should be changed at 60k and if it hasnt try and get about £400 off the asking price unless its already cheap.

Motormech in birmingham will do a full change for £400 but thats a bit of a trek for you, local places will vary, if your lucky you might be able to get it done from £250 upto £1000+

wishbones get eaten up pretty quickly, not really that expensive or difficult to change if your handy with a spanner.

spark plugs can be annoying if sold in packs of 4

other than that its a really reliable car and i've done about 15,000 miles in this one with only minor repairs and modifications, did about 4,000 in my old one before i kinda crashed it.

if you get the 155 engine (with plastic engine bay) you can probably get much better MPG, i guess alot depends on your driving style, i have a bit of a heavy foot.

i do find i'm changing the front tyres pretty often, last set of P-Zero Nero's lasted 4months, about 4k miles

if you want something equally fast but better MPG take the time to find a 2.4JTD thats a 5pot 10v and as i believe is awesome

 

[h2ypr]

i'm not perticually bothered, i have been meaning to change the lambda to see if it will improve but havent got round to it due to other things recently

Just wondering because the n/a engines are usually better than the turbo's. Around town and motorway. I would get the lambda changed and take it from there.

Ross

 

[bulldog5046]

Just wondering because the n/a engines are usually better than the turbo's. Around town and motorway. I would get the lambda changed and take it from there.

Ross

i've been told the opposite, turbos getting more 22mpg town so been looking forward to my conversion!

 

[h2ypr]

Nah. Because the turbos have less torque off boost (stnd cars) then its more effort to drive and more right foot in most cases. However the turbo conversion is more than worth it!!!

U not fancy just buying a turbo coupe? or defo wanna swap it over?

Ross

 

[Dawes]

The 2.4 might be worth looking at then. To be honest I love the performance of my Rover 620, 198bhp from a £800 car is pretty impressive. But the servicing and petrol costs are getting to be a right pain in the behind and I could really use the space of an estate.

 

[bulldog5046]

Nah. Because the turbos have less torque off boost (stnd cars) then its more effort to drive and more right foot in most cases. However the turbo conversion is more than worth it!!!

U not fancy just buying a turbo coupe? or defo wanna swap it over?

Ross

i could get a Coupe and they are nice but it just doesnt have the same appeal as a turbo marea, i had my heart set on a marea and now i just need to bring it upto brazillian marea turbo spec! Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

The 2.4 might be worth looking at then. To be honest I love the performance of my Rover 620, 198bhp from a £800 car is pretty impressive. But the servicing and petrol costs are getting to be a right pain in the behind and I could really use the space of an estate.

20v wont be as fast as your rover i doubt but it sure as hell supprises alot of cars, its not the fasted thing off the line but it dont half pull once you get moving!

i'd look for a 2.4JTD (make sure you dont get the TD), they are the hens teeth but you can have it remapped to 180bhp and silly torque, should be able to pee over the 20v's

 

[h2ypr]

i could get a Coupe and they are nice but it just doesnt have the same appeal as a turbo marea, i had my heart set on a marea and now i just need to bring it upto brazillian marea turbo spec! Wolf in Sheeps Clothing

Cant argue with that!!

Are you gonna get in contact the brazillian guys for a copy of their ecu? or are you gonna run standalone?

Ross