General Had a look at my first s/h Multi

[MultiPa]

Hi - new member; I've been thinking about buying a Multi for a while and I think I've read the whole forum now, pretty much.

Yesterday I actually drove one (2001 1.9 SX) - and they're not half bad are they?

I won't be buying the car I drove though because it's the first one I've actually been inside, and because somehow I got my garages mixed up and I thought I was going to see an ELX - I've had air conditioning on my last three cars and I am never going back!

Anyway - I have a few questions, if that is ok.

I had a bit of a look under the car after reading all the sub-frame and bushes woes on here, and it was, frankly, very rusty. The springs had cracked their plastic covers, and everything looked very knackered - is that normal? Do they all look like that after 9 years?

And is there a solution for the bushes Fiat don't make for the subframe? Or is a c£1,000 sub-frame replacement just something to budget for with an old Multipla?

The engine sounded fine to me - perhaps a little tappety, but no worse than my 2.4 JTD Alfa and that ran like a charm. It was missing it's plastic cover though, and there was a fair bit of rust on the bits of bodywork under the bonnet. Didn't look terminal, but I was surprised to see it. Is that usual?

Basically I want a cheap (£2k) diesel ELX with working air con - not too fussed about the inside as I can clean that up, as long as it is mechanically sound and it doesn't end either costing me a fortune in repairs or as a pile of rust in a year. Am I asking too much?

Thanks for all your help, past and, I'm sure, future.

 

[bikes-for-me]

You could of had my black 2001 1.9 JTD ELX 98000 miles multipla ,just traded it in for £700.I have done all the jods that go on the car,crank sensor,pulley,bushes,dampers,and not long put new clutch and slave along with front discs.
Nice to drive good on fuel but electrics are bad and they do seem rusty under floor at the back. Had ours near 5 years , would i buy another one ,no. Fiats seem ok when new but dont last the time when they start to get older. Shame really because they are a nice car,just wish they were built better and the boot was bigger.

 

[MultiPa]

You could of had my black 2001 1.9 JTD ELX 98000 miles multipla ,just traded it in for £700.I have done all the jods that go on the car,crank sensor,pulley,bushes,dampers,and not long put new clutch and slave along with front discs.
Nice to drive good on fuel but electrics are bad and they do seem rusty under floor at the back. Had ours near 5 years , would i buy another one ,no. Fiats seem ok when new but dont last the time when they start to get older. Shame really because they are a nice car,just wish they were built better and the boot was bigger.

Did you advertise that on here? I'd have ripped your arm off for that - sorry if I missed it! Anyone else thinking of selling an ELX JTD let me know

I know getting an older one means I'll have to maintain it a bit, and I don't mind doing that, but the lack of parts (i.e. sub frame bushes) does worry me a bit, and naturally I want one that's reasonably sound - just not sure how sound I can reasonably expect a 9 year old Fiat to be

 

[multijtd]

I've done 50,000 miles in 3 years in '01 Multi ELX JTD (55k when bought, 105k now). I haven't done anything to it until the last 3 months when I have fitted (in the process of fitting) 2 handbrake cables , rear shoes, and one wheel cylinder and ARB bushes. 2 months ago I fitted a front bottom arm (£70). To be honest I am not sure any cars would be as cheap to run over that period with those miles. I am selling mine next month, not due to any fault of the multi , but just fancy a change .

So other than oil changes and tyres I reckon it has cost me around £220.

 

[MultiPa]

I've done 50,000 miles in 3 years in '01 Multi ELX JTD (55k when bought, 105k now). I haven't done anything to it until the last 3 months when I have fitted (in the process of fitting) 2 handbrake cables , rear shoes, and one wheel cylinder and ARB bushes. 2 months ago I fitted a front bottom arm (£70). To be honest I am not sure any cars would be as cheap to run over that period with those miles. I am selling mine next month, not due to any fault of the multi , but just fancy a change .

So other than oil changes and tyres I reckon it has cost me around £220.

Thanks. I have to sell a car before I get a Multi - was going to part ex, but could sell it in a month. Any idea how much you'll want for yours? And where are you?

 

[multijtd]

Thanks. I have to sell a car before I get a Multi - was going to part ex, but could sell it in a month. Any idea how much you'll want for yours? And where are you?

2200 - 2300 , something like that. I'm in north wales.

 

[MultiPa]

2200 - 2300 , something like that. I'm in north wales.

Maybe a bit far then; I'm in South Yorkshire. Let us know when you do put it up though, just in case.

Does the air con work on yours? Is that pretty reliable d o you know? I know on the Alfa 156 the condenser was positioned such that it got peppered with stones, so it's pretty common for them to fail, as mine did. :-(

 

[MultiPa]

Off to look at another one in the morning - 2001 Y. Hopefully it'll compare favourably to the other one - it looks tidier.

 

[MultiPa]

Well I had a look at the Y plate car today.

Pluses: bodywork tidy, tyres have decent tread, no error codes on dash, sunroof not leaking, 41mpg on test drive, comes with 12 months MOT, most of the underneath looks rust free, engine pulled ok, temperature only went to 4 bars briefly when I hoofed it a few times, and it had been idling for a bit before we drove it, sounded fine at idle, started well. Comes with oil service and 12 months MOT.

Minuses: back end looks rusty, but not as bas as the other one. I'm not sure where the bushes that can't be replaced are though. Service history is patchy - nothing in the book I found in it after about 60k, but apparently there is some more in the file, interior is tatty, but no more than you'd expect of a car that has had family use for 9 years. Only got 1 months tax.

The main thing is that the engine sounded quite raspy under load - sort of a combination of a bearing and exhaust rattle. It didn't do it when you revved the car when it was stationary.

Has anyone any idea what this noise might be? And does this look about what you'd expect of a 10 year old Multi? Thanks.

 

[MultiPa]

You could of had my black 2001 1.9 JTD ELX 98000 miles multipla ,just traded it in for £700.I have done all the jods that go on the car,crank sensor,pulley,bushes,dampers,and not long put new clutch and slave along with front discs.
Nice to drive good on fuel but electrics are bad and they do seem rusty under floor at the back. Had ours near 5 years , would i buy another one ,no. Fiats seem ok when new but dont last the time when they start to get older. Shame really because they are a nice car,just wish they were built better and the boot was bigger.

I think it might have been your car I went to see this morning, having clocked your location ...

Does the a/c work on it?

 

[MultiPa]

Was going to edit the above, but I guess there is a time limit on editing - got a bit more time now!

bikes-for-me - I'm gutted I didn't see your post earlier. I guess as you no longer have a multipla you might not be on here so much now! On the off-chance your car is the one I have seen, it'd be great if you could PM me anything I might want to ask the dealer to fix before I px my car for it - I guess the springs will be an MOT advisory again. It'd be great to know if the a/c works too - was a bit too cold to be able to tell today!

 

[loadswine]

Interesting thread. I am looking for a multi at the moment too, has to be a JTD ELX. I had one back in 2002 for 3 years, great car, only got through 2 clutches and 2 gearboxes in 40k miles, but all warranty stuff back then. I loved the car though.
Anyway looked at a 51 plate one yesterday with 120k on the clock. Interior was a bit scuffed in places and the seat material was a little tired, but not as bad as I thought it would be. Suspension clonked, even with new shocks, so suspect top mounts needed attention. A bit rough around the edges, but the surprise was the way it drove, actually very well. I didn't buy that one as there must be some tidier ones about, but encouraging in some ways, though suspension seems to be a bit of an issue to watch out for.