bozzy said:
LOL my apologies,ghettomoose started the thread
You were right about the caution
Very Important Poll
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Very Important Poll
LOL my apologies,ghettomoose started the thread
You were right about the caution
The Trooper
Established member
As Tsaid before, you can't really label a particular car company for being 'unreliable'. Some Fiats are, some aren't. In general, are Fiat's REALLY less reliable than direct competitors? From my personal experience:
- '92 Uno Formula = NO PROBLEMS
- '98 Punto 1.2 SX = Only one problem: New clutch @50,000 miles
- '04 Punto Sporting = NO PROBLEMS
Also my Dad has an '01 Stio JTD, again, NO PROBLEMS.
And when I say no problems, I mean no problems, not even an electrical glitch like an airbag warning light or something. So from what I know in the real world, Fiat's are extremely reliable and I am always confident with it being good on long journeys. Perhaps good servicing does have something to do with it, seeing as my Dad had 4 Citroens over around 10 years (Citroen not exactly being know for being reliable), and not one of them let us down once.
- '92 Uno Formula = NO PROBLEMS
- '98 Punto 1.2 SX = Only one problem: New clutch @50,000 miles
- '04 Punto Sporting = NO PROBLEMS
Also my Dad has an '01 Stio JTD, again, NO PROBLEMS.
And when I say no problems, I mean no problems, not even an electrical glitch like an airbag warning light or something. So from what I know in the real world, Fiat's are extremely reliable and I am always confident with it being good on long journeys. Perhaps good servicing does have something to do with it, seeing as my Dad had 4 Citroens over around 10 years (Citroen not exactly being know for being reliable), and not one of them let us down once.
wotnowarninglight
Member
Would say you have all got bits of the puzzle here... buy well, look after it and if its a real Friday afternoon car (i.e. cursed/doomed, some I have owned have been: Seat Malaga :bang: ) get rid! As T' said looking at other forums / Honest John will illustrate that, as all cars get more technically complex (looked at grande punto on the net earlier jeez does that have some kit to go wrong on it) there is more to go wrong. Since I have been on this forum I have come to realise that my Stilo aint a bad example (GOD I hope I don't live to regret that last statement)
to go wrong on it) there is more to go wrong. Since I have been on this forum I have come to realise that my Stilo aint a bad example (GOD I hope I don't live to regret that last statement)
My Tipo was first registered in 1992 and manufactured in 1991. I'm the 8th owner of My Tipo. My Tipo came from another country and I've had it for ermmmm... almost 4 years and its still running.
Marjor problems encoutered since Ownership have been parts that wear out:
Had the odd electrical problem, mainly Central Locking and loose connections, all fixed for free by myself and would have cost nothing from a garage or for under a tenner with spare parts from a breakers.
other problems have been to do with tuning they were cured easily.
Current Problems are:
Thats about it.
Yes I do thrash it but I also make sure it gets the best of everything, Expensive Petrol, Proper Oil, Genuine Parts etc.
Does reliability mean if you spot a problem and have it fixed before it becomes unreliable and you break down or just if there is a problem which needs fixing?
I'm not going to vote because I've only ever owned this car.
Marjor problems encoutered since Ownership have been parts that wear out:
- Cluth
- Carburettor Seal
- Wishbones (changed Twice.. they seem to die quickely)
Had the odd electrical problem, mainly Central Locking and loose connections, all fixed for free by myself and would have cost nothing from a garage or for under a tenner with spare parts from a breakers.
other problems have been to do with tuning they were cured easily.
Current Problems are:
- There is a leak from somewhere and I don't know where
- Something is tapping in the engine bay and I think it is one of the pullies
- The heater screams at me on occasions and scares my passengers
- I want a full exhaust system to be ASBO with
- I want tinted windows to scare people with
Thats about it.
Yes I do thrash it but I also make sure it gets the best of everything, Expensive Petrol, Proper Oil, Genuine Parts etc.
Does reliability mean if you spot a problem and have it fixed before it becomes unreliable and you break down or just if there is a problem which needs fixing?
I'm not going to vote because I've only ever owned this car.
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My fiat has been reliable, however reading posts on this and other fiat forum's, and jd power surveys, etc, would lead me to conclude that on the whole fiat's aren't that reliable unfortunately.
I realised something recently...
You only ever hear about the un-reliable cars. People never tell you "Oh, my car's really reliable"... I dunno why though. they only tell you about the bad things
You only ever hear about the un-reliable cars. People never tell you "Oh, my car's really reliable"... I dunno why though. they only tell you about the bad things
I've owned at least one Fiat continually for the past 20 years and covered close on 1/2 million miles in them in total, and can honestly say I've never been stranded at the side of the road. Things break, electrics can be dodgy, head gaskets blow, but in general the running gear is tough enough to limp home in virtually any situation. The most important item is the timing belt, I always replace it when I get a new car (new to me!) no matter what the service history says and continue to replace every year; overkill? possibly but for £25 and an hour of my time it's very cheap insurance.
I voted no
Thats cos you are gifted at destroying them
From all my experiences, they've never gone wrong for me. Ive always gone with this ethos.. Look after the car, and the car will look after you.
From all my experiences, they've never gone wrong for me. Ive always gone with this ethos.. Look after the car, and the car will look after you.
sumplug
Established member
all fiat servicing should be done on half the mileage they recommend. cambelt as i have repeatedly said on here changed at 36k. oil service 3-5k. a car is only as good as its last service. weekly inspection of the car is warranted. how many people take the wheels off the car and regular inspect the brake system and copper grease to keep it free and working for winter? proper servicing is not dropping the oil every 6-12k. this post is to all members.sammiboo said:My car was three years old and had done 42k..... your clutching at straws
sumplug said:all fiat servicing should be done on half the mileage they recommend. cambelt as i have repeatedly said on here changed at 36k. oil service 3-5k. a car is only as good as its last service. weekly inspection of the car is warranted. how many people take the wheels off the car and regular inspect the brake system and copper grease to keep it free and working for winter? proper servicing is not dropping the oil every 6-12k. this post is to all members.
i copper grease
sumplug
Established member
thats 2 of us thenLuke1985 said:i copper grease
iv got a 01 sei and everyday throught the winter its started first time but i think there like most makes, the older they get the less reliable they get
but i think there like most makes, the older they get the less reliable they get
very trueLuke1985 said:Thats cos you are gifted at destroying them
From all my experiences, they've never gone wrong for me. Ive always gone with this ethos.. Look after the car, and the car will look after you.
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Fiat Fan said:iv got a 01 sei and everyday throught the winter its started first time
An old car doesn't necessarily mean unreliablility
The technology might be older fashioned and therefore may require more/different maintainence (e.g. Classic Minis had grease nipples up until the end in 2000, but how many other cars built in 2000 had grease nipples? Not many, if any), but if its been looked after, then there is no reason why it can't go on for many miles yet sumplug
Established member
the demise of grease nipples seems to of made suspension/running gear parts less durable. they are sealed for life parts that need no maintenance. yet they dont last 1/2 as long. a laborious job sticking grease up the nipples[some cars had loads of nipples], but very much worth it. british leyland stuff had front trunnions that needed regular greasing. if you forgot, the whole hub fell offchaos said:An old car doesn't necessarily mean unreliablility
saw plenty of these by the way side on three wheels.
arc said:
You forgot to mention that the other Mercedes' didn't even make it to the poll.
not sure if this is actually that accurate a post, but from the posts I've read, it seems that all the people who are commenting on FIAT reliability, have only owned fiats... (or mostly)
having owned a reanult, metro, vauxhall nova & ford fester a top of my fiat. I can say that this is the most reliable car. having said that. the others were old cars.
but all the negative posting is like, well i've owned x fiats and they all broke down... i'm sure that if you'd got other cars from other manufacturers the same would happen... for example, you might find yourself with a fiesta where the gear box broke on 3 seperate ocasions...
Cars do break, the more so the older they get. My fiats have always suited me fine, my uno.. sh.t that's still on the road, and in fact is the only car i know to be able to get up the mainroad outside my house in snowy weather...it's a trooper...my fester and metro are both very very dead. the clio is rife with problems for it's current owner (but i didn't expect him to have not written it of by now) and god knows where the nova is.
I've voted yes, simply cos my uno never had a problem in the time my mother, my brother and I have driven it. and my stilo, though it's had it's niggles has always run fine...(the engine management light - not a major breakdown).
And one further to that... some cars are just plain bad luck. you may own 2 cars of identical spec, and year. but one of them will get keyed, smashed up, brakes will fail, head gasket will go, paint will flake, horse will jump over fence and stand on car.. (it's happened)...
having owned a reanult, metro, vauxhall nova & ford fester a top of my fiat. I can say that this is the most reliable car. having said that. the others were old cars.
but all the negative posting is like, well i've owned x fiats and they all broke down... i'm sure that if you'd got other cars from other manufacturers the same would happen... for example, you might find yourself with a fiesta where the gear box broke on 3 seperate ocasions...
Cars do break, the more so the older they get. My fiats have always suited me fine, my uno.. sh.t that's still on the road, and in fact is the only car i know to be able to get up the mainroad outside my house in snowy weather...it's a trooper...my fester and metro are both very very dead. the clio is rife with problems for it's current owner (but i didn't expect him to have not written it of by now) and god knows where the nova is.
I've voted yes, simply cos my uno never had a problem in the time my mother, my brother and I have driven it. and my stilo, though it's had it's niggles has always run fine...(the engine management light - not a major breakdown).
And one further to that... some cars are just plain bad luck. you may own 2 cars of identical spec, and year. but one of them will get keyed, smashed up, brakes will fail, head gasket will go, paint will flake, horse will jump over fence and stand on car.. (it's happened)...
arseofbox said:
Got to disagree with this, THE most unreliable car I have ever came across was my mates 93 MK3 Golf GTi 8V, it was an absolute dog of a car, he bought it at 5 years old, the first MOT was £750, the 2nd MOT over £500 the clutch went twice in first 2 years, then it started to run rough and VW diagnosed ECU, lambda, air flow meter failure which was going to cost £900 to fix, so he scrapped it. I have also have 2 other mates with MK2 Golf GTis that have both had ECU failures which cost a fortune to replace, and the airflow meters seem to go all the time as well, mechanically strong, but crap electrics I have found, sounds familiar, lol
