General Which Doblo?

[ifekas]

I am looking to buy a s/h Doblo estate soon. I've testdriven the 1.9JTD which was lovely, and more recently I've driven a demonstrator Doblo with the 1.9 Multijet. Have not yet testdriven the 1.3 Multijet though have read some comments on this forum.

HonestJohn says in the car by car breakdown that the 1.3 Multijet is best, and 'blown turbos are common' with the 1.9.

My problem which others on this forum has pointed out, is that is seems very difficult to source 1.3 Multijets with a/c. I have looked on autotrader, availablecar, ebay etc on quite a few occasions.

HJ does not state whether both the 1.9JTDs and 1.9MJs are affected. Do the blown turbos on the 1.9 engine tend to happen at high mileages? I don't do a high mileage so perhaps sourcing a low mileage example is one option. I was hoping to spend under 6,000

If the 1.3 is much better I suppose it may be worth waiting another few months to see if more s/h models with a/c crop up. Obviously, the 1.3 is in a lower CO2/tax band and it has a chaincam which doesn't need replacing, but in the scheme of things these don't represent a huge advantage... but I'd rather not have a blown turbo!

I also gather it is best to avoid models with DPF as fuel consumption can suffer and they can be troublesome in the longer term; I assume only the newest 07 and 08 Doblos have DPF, or is there an easy way of determining whether a Doblo has DPF?

TIA.
​

 

[NottsCharger]

I had a a 1.9 JTD ELX Doblo for three years with no problems what so ever, I have certainly never heard of blown turbo's on the 1.9. I too red Honest John's column but think he may have on this occassion got this wrong. I now have a Panda Multijet and can confirm the 1.3 engine is superb. In the Panda it has less torque than in the Doblo, however, the noticable difference between the 1.9 and 1.3 is punch or rather lack of it. I'd say if your regularly carrying full compliment of passengers and luggage and also do lots of motorway work then the 1.9 is best. If not then the 1.3 will be nore than adaquate.

 

[RodV.]

I've had a 1.9 JTD "estate" for the last four years and just replaced it with a 1.3 Cargo Multijet - due to a change in circumstances I needed the van format.

The biggest difference is the absence of low down torque on the 1.3 but this is a mixed blessing as the 1.3 feels more balanced in traffic - the tyre wear was bad enough on the 1.9 without the added problem of wheel spin at every roundabout.

There doesn't seem to be much difference in fuel consumption with the 1.3 Multijet which is slightly disappointing but, with only 1300-odd miles on the clock, it's still early days. The 1.9 was giving 53 mpg, having done 70,000.

It remains to be seen which version will ultimately fall foul of the new road tax charges. A friend with a Jag has just heard she will have to pay £400!!

 

[Broadpete]

The 1.9 was giving 53 mpg, having done 70,000.

It remains to be seen which version will ultimately fall foul of the new road tax charges. A friend with a Jag has just heard she will have to pay £400!!

For your dilemma 'ifekas' the great consumption quoted on the 1.9 above doesn't seem to possible on the newer 1.9's. Most of us driving these are in the low 40's. A separate thread covers the road tax situation, but my newish 1.9 isn't going to be adversely impacted.

 

[RodV.]

I should have made it clear that my '04 1.9 JTD's 53mpg was as shown on the dash display (the 1.3's is 4.8mpg but it's only done 1300-odd miles).

A seperate thread indeed covers the current road tax situation but only serves to highlight the inconsistencies in it. Anyway, is there not another set of changes already on the cards?
Maybe, if a grown-up helps him this time around, Mr Darling can come up with a scale of duty that actually has some logical basis to it.
Either way, the smaller engined Doblo is less likely to attract a higher rate of duty and this may be worth considering when making your final choice.

 

[RodV.]

Sorry that should have read 48.5mpg!

 

[NottsCharger]

On the fuel consumption of the 1.9's it seems the 120bhp model is far poorer for mpg than the 105 because it has a variator and a DPF. Having driven both I prefer the 105 as it feels torqu'ier as the 120 although quite quick needs to be reved which diesels inherently do not like!

I hired a 1.9 105 for a two week holiday earlier this year and got an average of 48 mpg, measured by the tank not the computer, though as it happens that was only some 2% inaccurate.

 

[ifekas]

Thanks for all the responses to my questions; it's good that the blown turbo problem on the 1.9 engine do not appear to be as common as HJ says; I suppose compared to many cars, some Doblos have quite a hard life as they are popular airport taxis (well they are here), and obviously there are lots of Doblo vans.

I'll keep on looking for a 1.3MJ with a/c, but if I fail, the 1.9 will do fine and in some ways I think I would prefer it; my current car is a SEAT Corboda with a 1.9TDi engine, and I do enjoy having lots of power lower down the rev range.

 

[mingsect]

i suggest you go for a 1.9 multijet, if possible manfactured after 2007

if you test drove both 1.9 jtd and 1.9 multijet ,
you might have notice a bit difference in the handling.
how the 1.9 multijet rear seems more stable , and turn in better.

reason, other the obvious engine upgrade / exterior upgrade

internally

new front spring, new leafspring, new rear wick /bump /absorbers

other bits include, new clutch kit ( uprated) , new flywheel nuts,

for a full list of the items. valid till 2007

check out this 2 threads

http://www.fiat.sg/forum/index.php?topic=187.msg1188#msg1188

http://www.fiat.sg/forum/index.php?topic=186.msg1182#msg1182