General Croma 2.4

[Benmondo77]

Hi all. I'm hoping somebody on this forum can help me. I'm after a Fiat Croma 2.4 mjtd. I know they are rare beasts so I'm not holding out for one in a certain colour or spec. If anybody knows of one for sale or a member is thinking of changing there car please let me know. It has to be the 2.4 as I was such a fan of it in my alfa. Many thanks.

 

[buster]

More chance of finding rockin horse pooh.Originally 32 brought to the uk if im not mistaken.I think theres about 3 or 4 on here.Sadly one got written off not long ago.(halison)

 

[keithglos]

Hi Ben

I have one of the few, at 42000 miles, and still got the DPF and 200 bhp.

I have had it 6 years, now done the last 25 years with Fiat makes.
Mine has Leather seats, Sat Nav, and I am not sure what to replace it with.

Keith.

 

[Benmondo77]

That must be the Holy grail of Croma 2.4!

Dpf's don't worry me its the understanding of them and driving conditions that cause the problems.

I've been driving Fiats and Alfas since I've passed my test too. Doing your apprenticeship at a fiat/alfa dealer can have that effect. If you are considering selling yours I would be very interested.

Ben

 

[evo-number-one]

Hi Ben

I have one of the few, at 42000 miles, and still got the DPF and 200 bhp.

I have had it 6 years, now done the last 25 years with Fiat makes.
Mine has Leather seats, Sat Nav, and I am not sure what to replace it with.

Keith.

....and there lies the rub. Other than a fully loaded F/L 166 3.2 Ti (rarer than rockin horse poo fleas!), nothing would really tempts me without spending loads.

Mines 10k up on Keiths, minus Navigator (although that's in-hand) and on our recent Cornish Hols returned early 40s mpg (and she was used hard up some of those hills).

I believe mine is approx 255bhp/365 torque?.

What's a dpf

Good luck in your search Ben - much underated car IMHO.

 

[buster]

Hello Evo,do you tow with yours?

 

[evo-number-one]

Buster - no, nothing to tow here. Did think about getting a 'van many years ago but got out voted on the idea!

Mind you, a trailer would mean I could take the Coupe away with us.... :idea:

 

[Benmondo77]

One has just turned up on autotrader the reg number is WV06YVW. It's in Cardiff so its a fair drive away. Does anybody on here know of it? Many thanks Ben

 

[buster]

Bloody hell you beat me to it,just been looking at it.Nice machine.Low miles to.Are you interesed in it?If so i,ll leave it.My dads looking at replaceing his 1.9mjet croma,thinks hes a bit miffed at my 2.4.lol

 

[evo-number-one]

Ben

I had to travel to Cardiff (Barry) for mine from Essex - t'was like something out of Gavin and Stacey

Where are you based? Unless its silly miles, I wouldnt be put off by distance if you want one mainly because they are so rare!

Don't know that particular car, but it looks quite nice and good mileage - no leather, Navigator or roof rails but they might not be your thing anyway (I sourced and fitted the latter after I bought mine). As said seeing there are only approx 34 on the road you could be waiting ages for the "right spec"

Good chance if you're a cash buyer they'll take less than that as well, and if the "Full Service History" doesnt include the cambelts etc., then even more for you to negotiate over. If they havent been done they are 2 years overdue. Given your background I guess the belts are all within your capability (you dont have to lift the engine out or chop bolt heads off as has been claimed) or if not someone you know?

Make sure its got the right load tyres on (95Y) as well - a few 1.9s I looked at and also my 2.4 had 91Ws on. Another bargaining point Then go and buy some Acceleras!

While you're at it tell them you can only find one front cup holder (its actually the ashtray moulding next to the handbrake and there is only the one) as they've quoted plural - another fiver off

Evans Halshaw have so many dealerships I reckon you could go to view and if you decided to buy but had no way of getting it home (or only decided to purchase when you got back), then you'd get them to transport it nearer to home - I know someone who did this with another dealer chain from Manchester to Essex and they put it on a lorry shifting new cars from site to site so he paid zilch for delivery - might be worth a discussion.

Summary comment: Get it bought

 

[Benmondo77]

Hi all I'm very interested in it. I phoned the dealer to see if it could be transfered to a dealership nearer but as its in there (budget range) they couldn't, I even offered a deposit to show I was serious. I'm in Eastbourne near Brighton so its not a bad trip. The dealer is phoning me back today as it has only just come in and letting me know about service history and cambelt.

If you look closely at the first picture there is a dent on the wing. I'm hoping the dealer hasnt done this yet as I would love to try and sort out a sold as seen deal. It's only got a short mot too. They said they would put a years on it. Even so I would rather knock money off and do it all myself that way you know its done and done properly.

Would of been nice to have leather, sat nav and roof bars but like you say you can't be fussy. Would love to fit roof bars and sat nav at a later date.

 

[keithglos]

Hi Ben, The sat nav is a huge installation, was £1100 extra as was the leather, and the instruction book runs to 160 pages. It does telephone, trip mileage etc.

A few Stilos had it.

Keith

 

[Benmondo77]

Hi everyone, I travelled 4.5 hours by train yesterday to view the croma 2.4, I had asked all the right questions about service history and cambelt and they said yes it had all been done. The said the dent on the wing had been repaired so with the mileage of 55,000 I was confident it should of been a nice car.

How wrong could I have been! Every panel on the car has a dent, scratch or scuff. The bonnet had bird poo that had taken the laquer off. The dented wing had just been hammered out an was all peppered with smaller dents. The drivers seat base had a small tear on it and the foam had worn through to the frame. I expect a few marks on a car of this age but even the alloy wheels where scuffed one across the whole face of the wheel. The sales guy was not interested in dropping the price a penny. Saying it the cheapest one around and prices are dictated buy head office. He told me my expectations where to high as it was a budget car! The service book was fully stamped with fiats in dealer stamps and a hand written bit about the cambelt change. But all the brakes on it was cheap nasty pagid ones so I cant see a fiat main dealer fitting those. There wasn't any receipt for the cambelt and the dealer had no proof of it being done. The hand writing in the service book was the same pen and writing. At that point I walked away and got the train home. Even my wife said to the salesman how tatty it looked. I'm back to square one looking for a 2.4 croma. Ben

 

[JimbbobW1977]

Pagid brakes - They are actually okay and OEM for some VW cars. I had them on my GP

 

[Benmondo77]

Unfortunatly Euro car parts have bought the name Pagid now and they can put any brand of brakes in a pagid box and sell them. We have had a lot of trouble with judder and wearing out very quickly.

 

[buster]

My dad is now the new owner.went this morning to view it after they rang us to tell us it was still for sale.
In all honesty and after having read a few posts on it,i was pleasently surprised.It does have a few knocks,but one things for sure it drives brillant and much better than my 2.4.Its now been left at a local bodyshop to have the bits done.Thats 3 cromas in the family now,im i nuts?

 

[Radlet6]

Positively certifiable.

 

[BrianMcL]

Radlet maybe we were unlucky (!) but I think that with 3 to hand you could maybe make 1 that works

 

[Radlet6]

It's just knowing which one.;-)

 

[BrianMcL]

It's just knowing which one.;-)

I sort of remember something from a thread years ago that reckoned that at dealer prices they were worth about £100k as spare parts. And about £1k as an assembled car