Hi,

Just got back from a UK holiday with the family and I have to say the Ulysse was a great travelling car. Loads of room and the air conditioning easily coped with the 30 degree plus heat. The little fridge in the front kept the drinks cool too !!!.

Even more amazing was the fact I averaged over 30mpg in a petrol automatic without even driving carefully.

Andy

I make frequent use of the fridge with the amount of driving I do for work. The only drawback is remembering to replace what I use. We've used the car for numerous family trips since getting it last September, and will shortly be using it to go on holiday. As my last car was a Grand Espace, it'll be interesting to see how using the Ulysse conpares. I suspect the SatNav will be useful though!

I love driving the Ulysse (as does the wife - you should see the rush to be first to get to the driving seat at the weekend), and the kids still enjoy being driven around in it.

I know the car has had some problems (some minor and some major), but in retrospect, the level of non-dealer-induced problems has been about on a par with other cars I've driven, and there's a lot more to go wrong on this one than previous cars I've had.

With the recent spate of warm weather, even with the aircon, it's nice to be able to open the sunroofs up and let some extra light into the vehicle!

I look forward to taking mine on holiday in August.....

John

Hi,

Your right the problems have never stopped the car from working and to be honest the majority are just poor quality assembly problems and lack of QA inspection. I have also managed to fix them all myself, including the gearbox sensor.

What I still can't understand is why they car mags claim the Ulysse has dodgy build quality and the C8 and 807 don't, they are made by the same people in the same factory using the same parts (except some trim).

Andy

Perhaps they've only tested the Ulysse and so are only commenting about that?! Who knows?!

John

Unfortunately this is all to do with Fiat's past reputation over the last 20 years. Most of this was to do with it's rust problems and dodgy electrics. The Customer Service response was also extremely bad. This reputation has always stuck with Fiat and they are always rated poorly even though other equivalent cars have the same problems..What most car reporters now fail to realise is that, especially on the Customer Services front, most other manufacturers have caught up (or should that be down) and some Customer Services are in my opinion much worse then Fiat were 20 years ago.

Though this does appear to be the trend in most industries these days.

Lou

Oh well.....

Who would you rather listen to - a magazine writer (who may have his/her own agenda anyway), or the people who actually use the car day in day out.

The nature of these forums is we tend to see problems more than anything else, because people only tend to want help when there's a problem, but if you look at the numbers, the Ulysse/C8/807 is no worse than a lot of other cars on the road.

It's a fact of life that if things are going well with something you tend to forget about it and deal with problems elsewhere - it'd be nice for a change to see more posts from people with positive comments, however I realise that it probably won't happen!

From my own viewpoint, I realise there are better cars on the road than the Ulysse, however there are few comparable full size MPVs on the road (and lets remember that we have MPVs for a reason!). If I didn't need it, I wouldn't have chosen an MPV at all, but as I do need an MPV, I'm happy with my choice.

Safety and space were my two main decision makers with cost a 3rd factor. There are only two full-size MPV types with a 5-star Eurp NCAP rating (the new Espace, and the Eurovan2 [aka Ulysse, C* or 807]). Of these, the EV2 has more space than the standard Espace, and the Grand Espace is way too expensive, and of the various EV2 vendors, the Fiat was the cheapest in the UK at list when I made my decision (and as it's a company car the list price is all important).

Once you make a decision like that, you tend to be stuck with the outcome, however it wasn't made without a good comparison (including long test drives, searches for user experiences on the web, etc etc), and at the time I could find nothing to counter the base decision. Renault Espace owners are having their fair share of 'fun' also.....

John

Has to be said that one of the most annoying points about the Ulysses is the material they have used inside the car especially the seats. All it does is malt and the grey always has a dirty look about it. I am glad to hear that you got 30mpg as I am going on holiday to south Wales next month and mine is also an auto so I should hopefully do the same. Has anyone had this problem my car has twice cut-out when I have been driving, It happens when I am turning left and the last time I was nearly hit by another car as when it happens I lose all power and steering, it is like someone pulling off the battery lead fiat have booked it in for a week on the 24th but they don’t seem to have a clue.

Cutting out? That sounds very dangerous.

What was the fuel level like each time it happened?

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Hi,

Mine has been fine, no cutting out. I had the same problem with the seats looking dirty. Believe it or not, use a pair of rubber kitchen gloves and rub the seats, the dust and fabric just comes off.

Andy

Good tip poggy will try that.I had about half a tank so was not low on fuel the funny thing is when it has happend i have always been turning left. Was very pissed when i phoned fiat and the closes they could fit it in for repair was nearly two weeks. I would have thought that the fault would be classed as dangerous but they siad that as the fastest i have been traverling was under 30 it should be ok. Should cut their brake lines and see if they think it is ok lol

Had a similar problem on a Fiat Regata years back. Fault was finally traced to loose wires on the fuel pump which on this car was under the back seat. This happened usually in a straight line but I suppose depending on the position of the wires etc. G forces could have made it happen when turning left or any other direction. My wife had an incident when it cut out in the fast lane of the motorway doing 80 MPH. She just managed to get across to the hard shoulder in time.

Lou

Not had a problem with the car cutting out (but did have a recent issue with an interesting loss of power as a result of the turbo air intake hose coming away because the dealer couldn't be bothered to tighten a screw properly).

You should get that checked ASAP as it sounds like a loose connection somewhere and could be dangerous. If needs be, try another dealer to see if they can get you in quicker, as this should be warranty work!

I've been seeing between 31 and 32mpg lately on trips......

John

Hi.

It is not driveable like that so call the breakdown services and get it recovered to the garage. Normally it will be repaired quicker and you get a loan car through the breakdown assistance.

It is not good for safety, so be careful if you continue to drive it.

Andy

We will be taking the car to Eire this September for a week long holiday.

I will probably make sure its first service is done beforehand, so will be interesting to see the cost on the so-called fixed service plan!

I know this has been mentioned on other threads, but I intend to buy a roofbox for it. Has anyone got one yet for their car?

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