General Which Coupe?

[Dobby]

I have made the life changing decision that I am going to sell Barney for a Fiat Coupe.
I won't be doing this until August when i have my next no claims and as his MOT is due in August I'll be able to sell him with 12 months MOT.

Anyways,

Which coupe is the best one to go for? I've heard the turbo can have quite a few costly problems but i don't really know about them, any views would be greatly appreciated so i don't end up buying a lemon thats gonna cost me loads (apart from insurance and petrol of course lol)

 

[jug]

the 16v is a 2.0, and also comes in turbo, so there are 4 choices of engine. (you obviously need to do A LOT more research )

if you can afford the 20vT then get it, if you cant then get the 20v, if you cant get that then dont get one at all.

 

[Dobby]

I'd rather keep away from the turbo really (insurance) So are there many problems with the 16v?

Ps, i know, thats another reason i'm leaving it till August so i can find out much more about it and go armed with the right info

 

[jug]

to get the best info you should read the many hundreds of threads devoted to choosing the model thats best for you on fccuk.org, and also the buyer guides, and the threads about costs of ownership.

i want a coupe, the only reason i do not have one is the running costs. insurance and maintenance are crazy, for less insurance i could get myself an impreza or evo.

i can almost guarantee you will sell barney for less money than a coupe requires only in maintenance and servicing in the first year you own it.

 

[ChrisUK]

Id stay away from the 16v'ers. The 16v Turbo needs oil changes at 6k at the most!. Its also less reliable and more thirsty. Only benefit is its slightly cheaper for servicing (belts clutch etc) as theres a bit more access.

Jug is right as usual . The 20v's are much better the 20v N/A is the best choice on a budget IMO. I would seriously recommend against the 16v ones unless your very handy at doing DIY stuff yourself.

Good wiki article on the coop:-

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Coupé

 

[Dobby]

i can almost guarantee you will sell barney for less money than a coupe requires only in maintenance and servicing in the first year you own it.

I was offered £600 for barney from a px garage so i'm using that as my guideline (£600-£650)

Even if i only own the coupe for 12 months i want one to be able to say i've had one

 

[jug]

damn you dobby now i'm hunting a coupe again.

i'd rather have an alfa GTV or spider with a 2.0 twinspark engine, better engine, better interior, more exclusive, better badge, but same car at the end of the day.

 

[ChrisUK]

I want one too but I know there a money pit .

The 2.0TS isn't perfect . Someone in my street had a 2001 X reg GTV and had 2 engines in 3 years . All Under warranty thankfully .

 

[Dobby]

damn you dobby now i'm hunting a coupe again.

mwuahahahaha

(please don't buy one before me)

 

[custard]

with a coop buy the best,most well documented and serviced one you can.
they do not like skimping on servicing in any way shape or form.
also bank on keeping £1k in the bank ready for expansive bits

 

[jug]

The 2.0TS isn't perfect . Someone in my street had a 2001 X reg GTV and had 2 engines in 3 years .

topping up oil every week and changing timing belt every 35k isnt asking that much of owners. if you dont give a toss about your car you get whats coming to you.

 

[Vickster]

I've had two 20v non-turbos, having had puntos - smashing cars, and would never have a turbo due to the potentially expensive maintenance (bit breaking - all the big jobs can cost £500+) and need for constant upkeep (i.e. oil checking!). That said, buy the best and newest non turbo you can find - the later models had a VIS engine with a little more grunt and nicer wheels etc. In addition, all of these cars are getting on - to be realistic, even for a non-turbo, you would be best to budget £500 a year for upkeep - service, MOT and the inevitable bits. Buy one that has had the belts done once for a late model, and twice for an early or leggy model - demand proof in the form of receipts!

Also, if you don't plan on keeping it until it dies, buy one with leather and aircon as well as fsh (preferably from a coupe specialist like Motormech or Powerfiat) - these will help value and speed up resale.

If you want virtually limitless speed and power (given that all UK roads have a speed limit no higher than 70 ), get the 20vt, but take advanced driving lessons as you can as many people have been caught out by the power and have stacked them. If you do a lot of urban driving, get the non-turbo, it'll be plenty quick enough.

Note - they are all thirsty compared to a small engined Punto - 25mpg urban, 30mpg at best to be honest - and the turbos should be run on V Power at some crazy cost currently. You'll be lucky to get more than 350 miles out of a £55 tank, unless you drive everywhere at 56mph and never accelerate (won;t ever happen in a coupe ). The turning circle is utterly cr*p on all coupes - if you constantly have to do tight manoeuvres, I would think twice - they are also long if you have to park in tight spaces!

Go for it would be my advice - don't bother with the 16v, getting old now, use more petrol and many seem problematic. There is a coupe section on here which is good, but IMO the best place for advice and to find a car is www.fccuk.org/forum.

For a good, fully loaded 20v n/a, I would expect to spend at least £2k, less if you are not bothered about the bodywork or are very handy with a spanner and plan on spending your weekends working on the car! I just p/ex'd my IMO mechanically very good one for that which still need a few hundred spent on the bodywork.

HTH. Let me know if you need any further advice from a non ex-coupe owner

 

[Rockbottom]

Budget £1000/year in maintenance costs and get friendly with Motormech in Birmingham or Powerfiat in Essex.

And check the oil every day.

 

[Vickster]

I've not needed a grand a year for either non-turbo

However, my first MOT and full service was >£800 at a specialist as I needed a whole new rear brake set up plus other stuff For a benchmark, belts and a full service is around £550 from PF or MM

 

[Rockbottom]

I was just saying it's best to budget that amount, you won't necessarily spend £1000 every year, but a few big jobs in one year could easily amount to £1000 or even more... you don't want to get a repair bill that you can't afford to pay!

 

[Vickster]

Isn't that what credit cards are for

No, you are right, you need to be prepared for big bills. Then I've had £600+ bills on a mk 1 punto. I am now prepared for big SLK Bills

 

[Dobby]

What sort of things can go wrong and be costly on a non turbo 20v? Just the kind of common faults, cause if most could be covered with the AA parts and labour.....

 

[ChrisUK]

What sort of things can go wrong and be costly on a non turbo 20v? Just the kind of common faults, cause if most could be covered with the AA parts and labour.....

Brake disks warping, rear calipers failing, suspension components (bushes, shocks, trailing arms mostly) tend to be a bit weak mainly because theres a lot of stress on them as its basically a Tipo chassis.

At least on the N/A you don't have to worry as much about the engine as long as the cambelts are done, oil changes regular and the Variator fully working

 

[Vickster]

Not a lot would be covered I reckon as all the cars are now 7+ years old - I wouldn't bother coughing up lots for a warranty - most common needs are the belts (£400ish every 3 years or 36k miles from a spec), clutch if you tend to kill clutches, around £450, brakes - pads, discs (see http://www.powerfiat.co.uk/services.htm for specialist costs), tyres - Toyos around £60-70 a corner fitted; full service will cost a couple of hundred

Then you can get the usual Fiat electrical gremlins, gearbox issues, suspension renewal - the usual stuff really. I would say the non-turbo is no more unreliable than a Punto, just the bits cost more.

A thought - If you cannot afford the extra turbo insurance, I would say you would not be able to afford the additional running costs (new turbo £500+, same for a manifold, wishbones more prone to go and a couple of hundred to replace). Plus, the need for religious oil checking - if not a forte, you may well end up killing the engine at a cost of many thousands Oh and the £60 and acceptance of points because of the silly speeds that are far too easily attained!!

 

[bulldog5046]

i think sometimes the price of running a coupe is taken way out of proportion, they arnt as expensive as nesseserily described, it really depends how confident you are working on the car yourself....

as for parts prices,

Turbo - £395 on exchange basis
Manifold - £150 second hand
Clutch Kit - £125.99 new Valeo standard replacement
HG Kit - £99.95 new
Cambelt Kit - £139 new
Pistons - £333.01 New from Fiat
Piston Rings - £166.13 New from Fiat

just depends if you can fit it yourself