Technical Is the marea estate any good? advice please

[martbass]

Hi all

Im having to sell my multipla to get some cash for new business, so I'll have to get a cheap run around again.
I've looked at some local ads for cheap marea estates... I quite fancy the look of the car!
Are there many issues with reliabilty with these cars.
I have always bought fiat some good some bad.
what can I expect with them?

thanks

martin

 

[Hellcat]

Generally good. A few little niggles but not bad for a 10 year+ old car.

JTD models are typically buleltproof - occasional issues with crank position or mass air flow sensors.

 

[Bravo_Pro]

In the past 2 years of owning a 2.4jtd weekend I have had;

Clutch & Cambelt (£450)
2 x rear springs and shocks (£70)
Engine temp sensor (£20)
Rear wiper motor (£20)
New door handle (£20)
New Ariel (£5)
and it needs a new rear electric window motor (£20ish)

Most parts were second hand and replaced by myself.
The clutch went and I got the cambelt done at the same time so that would of been half price if I had just had the clutch done.
Door handle was because the missus snapped the metal hinge in the cold weather and the wiper motor was an easy fix as the motor was just worn out.
Rear window was my own fault as the window was jammed and I broke the teeth on the motor so that needs doing soon.


I don't think that is too bad for a 10+ yr old car which has done 155k miles on the clock!

As said the diesels are bulletproof and they get good mpg also. My 2.4 is returning about 45mpg on a run and I'm sure the 1.9 will be better.

If you have owned fiat's before then you will know about some of the age old problems/features the cars have.
i.e. airbag warning light is always on and make sure you remove the leaves from the drainage holes by the windscreen. also frozen handbrake in the cold months can happen depending on the condition of the handbrake cable.

all in all I have had 2 x Bravo's and 1 x Marea Weekend and I loved every one of them. If you look carefully you could find a excellent 1.9jtd 110bhp with leather and service history for a good price

Hope that is helpful and doesn't discourage you for a great car


Darren

 

[johnson550]

I would just like to clarify you wont find a 1.9JTD 110 with leather unless like me someone has had a retrim. The 1.9 comes in ELX or SX theres no HLX. Ive had my 1.9 110 JTD for 4 year now its a great motor if you could keep the revs to 2000 to2500 in by yourself on a run you could get over 60mpg. Ive had a new MAF sensor mainly because I didnt follow instructions properly when I attempted to clean it. I had a new clutch prematurely due to some idiot before me must of been riding with his foot on the pedal and welded the thrust bearing to the pressure plate. I thought it had a naturally heavy pedal but when the new clutch was fitted its light as out . I cant think of any sort of regular fault engine wise. Its just a case of inspecting it like you would any other car really. It responds well to good quality engine oil. Nearly forgot I had the cambelt changed was about £100.

 

[01marea16v]

I have had my 2001 Marea Weekend 1.6 16v for around 6 months now

Nothing has gone wrong on it so far, replaced the door handles (common problem on lower spec cars), performance and economy are both very good

For the money they cost to buy you would be hard pushed to get better value for money

 

[Bravo_Pro]

sorry about quoting the leather, I have had leather in all my fiats and automatically thought you could get it as an optional extra

get a 2.4 with leather

 

[hagar]

im on my 2nd 1.8 weekend really rate them my first on got 35000 miles put on it in a year and never missed a beat 2nd one is just as good

 

[Notorious131]

Marea's are the only car I've owned/driven since 1997, owned my current Marea 155 weekend for the last 10 years now.
Cam belts are a worry on the 20v models but I've looked after mine and will keep it until it achieves classic status..