General what is the fiat coupe like

[murtagh1]

have been looking for a coupe for some time now and was just wantin to know what they r like only ever drive 1 once and that was only for a few
miles, the 1 i am looking at is 97, black and has 88k on the clock. Do they give much problems and wat should i watch out for on them other than makeing sure when the last time it had the timing belt done through this would be the best place to ask sorry about the spelling

 

[hmallett]

What is the coupe like? Blisteringly fast in a straight line, particularly the 20V Turbo. Do they have many problems? Sadly, yes. Don't expect to run one cheaply. Budget a lot for repairs, maintenance, fuel and insurance. Cambelt is not such a big deal as it used to be. you can get it done for £400, rather than the £1200 some Fiat dealers will quote you.
Are you looking at turbo or NA? 16V or 20V?
As well as lots of helpful advice on this forum, there is also plenty of help on FCCUK - aka "The dark side"

H

 

[sammiboo]

if you have a tight budget i wouldnt reccomend getting a coupe, i know on of our members that sold his as it was costing too much to maintain, they are great cars though as H said which car are you after then we should be able to help you a bit more.

 

[murtagh1]

the one i am looking at is 20 20v turbo and i thing that is the only 1 i would consider

 

[pinin__prestatyn]

Hello

As a different perspective, I have owned Coupe's for a year now, my first one was a 16VT that was nothing but trouble, luckily I bought from a garage so they paid for all costs (and we're talking something like 1K in the 3 months) and in the end they refunded me and flogged it at auction for 2K (they lost a total of about 2K on it )
I then bought a High mileage 20VT from ebay (!) and have only spent money on consumables (Brake discs and pads all round, exhaust, oil, air filter and so on) I bought the parts from a Coupe specialist and my coop has proved to be somewhat of a bargain, nothing has gone wrong touch wood.
I'm not blinkered though, I realise I may be in for some big bills in the future, you can't have Cossie beating performance too cheap

 

[sammiboo]

the one i am looking at is 20 20v turbo and i thing that is the only 1 i would consider

The first thing you should do is work out whether you can afford one, you can pick them up at a reasonable price but as we have said they are not the cheapest of cars to run and whatever goes on it is expensive, the parts in general for a 20vt are more expensive then a NA.

If you do decide to go for one, ideally you want one with very good service history and cambelt change, have a look at some of the old threads on here and it should give you some idea what you are looking at.

Lucky nothing major hasnt gone on mine but i had a new exhaust manifold fitted to it as these are renowned for cracking, mine had cracked and i had to find over £450 that week to get it repaired as the car wasnt drivable.

Dont get me wrong these are fantastic cars to have but in honesty they are dear to keep and you have to be realistic to what you can afford.

If you want a car with the looks and not as dear to run then go for a NA.

 

[timr69]

As well as the running costs of the car you should also remember that they're expensive to insure.
Anything with mods that are declared seems to be costing at least £600 even for the older owners and a standard car will also be expensive to insure if you're young or have a bad history.

 

[sammiboo]

i know this sounds like we are putting you off but to have one of these cars can work out very expensive and they need to best attention money can buy, it is a sports car so whatever you get done you will be paying sports car costs so you need to be very sure before you buy one.

 

[dave]

they need to best attention money can buy,

on that subject, how many miles you done since last oil change?

 

[sammiboo]

on that subject, how many miles you done since last oil change?

dunno mate, its having a full service soon anyway.

 

[dave]

best harry up then ive done 6k since i got my car, and you do more miles than me, an with a turbo its good idea to do oil n filter every 4k miles you have had brakes done, so if money tight just do oil n filter for now, that what saves the engine,

 

[sammiboo]

best harry up then ive done 6k since i got my car, and you do more miles than me, an with a turbo its good idea to do oil n filter every 4k miles you have had brakes done, so if money tight just do oil n filter for now, that what saves the engine,

no i had new pads my discs are warped to hell they really need replacing NOW

 

[binki]

ebay

 

[sammiboo]

ebay

been looking at the ones on ebay, fccuk have a group buy on some decent ones unfortunatley i have missed this

 

[pinin__prestatyn]

It's been 5K since the last oil change, and the oil is black too much turbo for the Selenia to cope with
Just phoned the local Fiat dealer (Meredith and Kirkham in colwyn bay) to see how much they charge for selenia 20k. I was expecting to be shocked by the price. Well I was - £24 for 5 litres That's cheaper than Alternative autos who I usually get it off. Good on ya Fiat
So it's Plugs, oil, oil filter and fuel filter change soon.

 

[hmallett]

Pinin, the oil will go black again well before 5k - have a look at it after about 100 miles, it'll probably be black already.
The standard maintenance interval on the coop is 12k, but the oil is like the lifeblood of the engine, so I change mine and the filter every 6k. For the £40 it costs, it's worth it.
The 20VT's brakes are both a strength and a weakness. They're good because of their size and power, they're poor because of their seemingly endless ability to warp discs. Decent pads make a good difference though - I have Red Dot pads in at the moment, and while driving in a spirited fashion down some back lanes, I had heavy stops in to two corners, then the next corner, when the pads had heated up, I almost put myself into the windscreen! They can be very effective...

H

 

[dave]

oil will stay oil colour longer if you do a good flush with home made flush

 

[murtagh1]

Thanks for the help guys some food for thought as they would say, the running side of it, the brakes, service and other minnor thing doesnt worry me that much nor does fuel it more like electrics, and turbo problem that would **** me off had a punto gt which give bad stick, but also had a Fiat Tipo 20 16v/Sedicivalvole which was the best motor i ever had. Really want a coupe but i have had 2 marea's 2.0 20v and both of them have given me problems with electrics the engine management light coming on every other day dont get me wrong they r still a very good car but a bit tempermental but all that said i usually follow my heart and not my head so it looks like a coupe then.

 

[hmallett]

I reckon in a year I spent around:

£2500 on fuel (15000 miles)
£120 Oil
£800 on insurance (26, 5 years NCB)
£500 Cambelt and service
£300 Front suspension replacement of worn components
£270 Exhaust manifold
£230 Oil cooler and pipes
£200 New radiator
£20 Clutch slave cylinder
£300 brakes (disks, pads and fluid)
£100 Tracker subscription
£165 Road fund licence


£5385 TOTAL

Plus there were the extra bits I bought:
£350 Exhaust
£100 Decat
£35 Chip

...and so on.

In terms of reliability, I have been let down twice, by a failure of the clutch slave cylinder, and a leaking radiator. If you own a 20VT, don't expect it to be problem free. The best you can do is look for something that's been well looked after, and then cross your fingers.

H

 

[sammiboo]

eeek H i am sure my list would be looking somehing like that by the end of the year, the car has donr 106k so i am expecting to be spending lots of cash unfortunalty