Another satisfied Fiat owner (1 Viewer)

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Worrying statements not portrayed by existing Fiat owners. Does the truth about Fiat come out pre sale or post sale. Either way it’s not good for potential motor home purchasers.
Are they going to end up with a heap of junk or are they spending £4k unnecessarily.:Confused:

So at long last i got rid of my 2008 Fiat after 20 years of motorhoming
it was the worst heap of junk i ever had. The dealer only took it of me because it had 3 months warranty left on it and yes it had all the fixes
done on it and it was still a heap of junk. My father told me once never
say never son but ill say this i will never never never have a Fiat M/H
are car in my lifetime ill give up motorhoming first or walk but never will Fiat get me to drive there heap of scrap again. Over the 20 years
i have 3 times been going to buy a Mercedes M/H and people have said to me why pay £4000 just for a pointed star but i wish i had because it
is just magic in every way worth every penny of the extra £4000 and more for the quality. When i came home with it it[align=justify][/align was just magic to be able to reverse into my driveway it is on a Sprinter 315C D I/ 2148cc with a full auto box i can say the ride and drive is out of this world and it
would eat the pants of my Fiat2.3 130B H P on the road . So the best of luck with the judder fight . PS i have had it mow 3 months and put 4500 on the clock i just love it to bits and cant stop driving it.

 

[Munchie]

I've heard similar sentiments from the owners of all makes of m/homes and cars too. It depends on your personal experience with a particular brand. Personally I would not pay the extra for a Merc or any other brand. I love my:thumb: Fiat and would buy another like a shot.

 

[Snowbird]

Well IMO taking the judder out of the picture for a little while.
I know of MB diesels in cars,vans,etc, that have covered 500,000 miles and more, I have heard of MB diesels covering 1 million miles.
I have never HEARD of 1 Fiat that has covered anywhere near this millage.
So in this case,its a case of you get what you pay for,and you do get a bit more than a 3 pointed star when you buy a MB.
But then again thats only my opinion.

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[bluelass]

I've had three Fiat MH's and never had a moments bother, having said that, only done about 40K miles in total. Wonder how long I'd have to be alive to drive a million miles?

 

[Snowbird]

This judder is not the first problem that Fiat have had over the years.
There are dedicated companys like Delfin designs that have made a comfortable living for decades putting Fiats cockups right.
Just a few that spring to mind are,5th gear to high in gearbox,dosn`t get enough oil,had to be replaced regulary.
Gear linkage,bad design, on a Autostratus I once owned I had to wear a cricket glove on my left hand to stop me bashing my knuckles to pieces on the dash when changing gear.
Bonnet airscoop had to be fitted so that the cab heater would do the job it was designed for.
Years ago you wouldnt buy a Fiat or Lancia for its anti rust properties,so why did you buy them, becouse they were cheap.
Most Fiat MH are coachbuilt,so the only part that is Fiat is the running gear,if they cant get that bit right,Why buy a Fiat MH at all becouse its only the engine and box thats Fiat anyway.

 

[kenspain]

When i moved over to Spain 11 years ago my MB308 had 600,000 on the clock I sold that to buy another MB my Spanish friend that bought my 308 put the engine into his van that was 4 years ago and its still working fine next time we meet i will ask him how may km he thinks he,s done in it.:Cool:

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[buttons]

I've heard similar sentiments from the owners of all makes of m/homes.
.

[FONT=&quot]Apart from the Fiat Peugeot Citroen group which come from the same production
line ksebruce I would be interested in what other makes you are referring to.


[/FONT]

 

[simsy56]

l couldn't agree more. l would never but a FIAT vehicle at all. Just look at the price of a second hand FIAT car. Their value drops like a brick.....why? because no one wants a second hand FIAT. Thats the same for commercial vehicles, you can pick up a FIAT in auction for not a lot. l have found them unreliable, noisy, draughty, and tacky. A lot of you will disagree and will say "l love my FIAT", but you treat your pride and joy with kid gloves, serviced, cleaned, gently used, little miles. It would be different story if you used it in a commercial way, used daily, motorways, stop start, day in day out, heavy traffic, etc; Give me a MB anytime!

 

[AuldCodger]

Hi all,
I look at this scenario from both sides.
On my second Fiat based MH and love it, absolutely no problems with either.
In my business I run MB Sprinters and the fleet has been predominantly MB for the past twenty plus years.
In the early days yes MB were something a little bit special in that the components outlasted all the opposition but "built to price" has crept in and we are now aware of items such as brake discs requiring replacement at roughly half the mileage of previous years.
On balance don't reckon there is anything between the two marques.
To put the cat amongst the pigeons - driving style - how many MH's do we see thrashing up a steep motorway incline at seventy plus mph ?
Ok some white van men drive in that manner day in and day out but the associated high maintenance costs are built in to there charges.
Happy New Year to All
:thumb:

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[buttons]

Hi all,
I look at this scenario from both sides.
On my second Fiat based MH and love it, absolutely no problems with either.
In my business I run MB Sprinters and the fleet has been predominantly MB for the past twenty plus years.
In the early days yes MB were something a little bit special in that the components outlasted all the opposition but "built to price" has crept in and we are now aware of items such as brake discs requiring replacement at roughly half the mileage of previous years.
On balance don't reckon there is anything between the two marques.
To put the cat amongst the pigeons - driving style - how many MH's do we see thrashing up a steep motorway incline at seventy plus mph ?
Ok some white van men drive in that manner day in and day out but the associated high maintenance costs are built in to there charges.
Happy New Year to All
:thumb:

[FONT=&quot]Very true you auldcodger... but the brake disc lifespan has as much to do with asbestos free pads material as it does with cheap manufacture. Personally I find that the extra purchase price still reflects in the end product. If you buy cheap you get cheap, however, cheaper purchases that are not fit for purchase is something totally different and from what I have read this could apply to Fiat. riving2:[/FONT]

 

[Kon tiki]

Had a few Fiats in the past, the last one being a late 2.8JTD. When we were looking at vans last year we nearly bought a motorhome on the new Fiat , at the time the 'juddergate' was being dismissed by all the dealers we spoke to of just a couple of troublemakers blowing it up out of all proportion. We put off buying for a while & I asked loads of the new Fiat owners both in the UK & abroad what they thought. Most really liked the vehicle but I would say almost half the ones we talked to had a judder to some extent. Some reckoned it was minor but there were at least half a dozen who were having serious issues. One German owner said he wouldn't reverse at all unless he had to as the juddering made the van feel like it was breaking apart.

I wouldn't say I would never buy another Fiat but it won't be for a few years until they have some proven track record, what made it worse was they way they treated the customers & reluctantly fixed vans. Some friends have had their van done even though it has never juddered on the basis of it might effect any resale value if it wasn't done.

I'm happy with my Renault at the moment, would seriously consider another :thumb::thumb: when we look for another MH.

 

[DESCO]

That's what gets me in this case the way it has been handled, and still the 3 litre van owners are being told there is nothing wrong with their vans, and some are worse than the ones they have been supposedly fixed.

As they say you pays your money and takes your choice, I know my choice.


Dave :thumb::thumb:

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[Munchie]

[FONT=&quot]Apart from the Fiat Peugeot Citroen group which come from the same production
line ksebruce I would be interested in what other makes you are referring to.


[/FONT]

Have a look on the Ford and Mercedes forums. The Ford not so long ago had a Judderproblem in 1st gear and the Sprinter has reported problems too.

 

[vindiboy]

Whilst at S n J Poole today I spoke to Steve about the FIAT JUDDER, and the cure, I was told that they had done 41 modifications and it involved new engine mounts drop the gear box [ simple says he ??? ] and fit a modified reverse gear ratio, new clutch and other parts, the cost to Fiat he recons is £1000 per vehicle. when I said it took Fiat long enough to admit to a fault , he said it didn't, what took the time was finding a suitable cure ,which he says they now have as Fiat didn't want to rush a cure that didn't work and so require more work later.I said I would be nervous about buying a used Fiat in the future and he stated and showed me a printed statement that HE issues with each job done to prove the Mod has been done, apparently FIAT don't issue anything. After doing 41 mods he said they can now do a van in 7 to 8 hours and they don't use a ramp but jack the front of the van with a high lift jack.
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Happy Camping Malc.v Hi all , I posted this the other day, I have had two Fiats to date, Eura Mobile and my current Hymer, have to say I have been happy with both, I have never had a Merc to compare with so can't comment, My son has Merc cars and has problems but none to serious, and he runs a Fiat van for his business and I know he thrashes it and generally has a lot of weight in it , I have not heard him complain about the van.:thumb::thumb::thumb:

 

[warwick]

How many motorhomers do the silly high mileages that a previous post refers to, most modern cars etc suffer from electrical/control problems long before engine problems anyway. This myth that the Motorhome built on the Fiat will lose anymore than they ever did is what it is a myth, put out by those with a chip on their shoulders. I have a Peugeot same same Fiat X250 - not perfect but actually far better than the previous Fiat 2.8JTD or 2.8TD that I owned. Some of the Merc Based Coachbuilts with their high prices look as if the manufacturer could`nt actually put a decent caravan on the back and keep the price anything like reasonable.

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[trophychap]

We based our purchase decision partially on the fact that No 1 daughter delivers groceries for a supermarket most often to homes in very our of the way places and they run both Ducato and Sprinter vans. They have had terrible trouble with a lot of the Sprinter gearboxes - not in reverse LOL

If you rev enough you can cause judder on virtually any vehicle you care to name in reverse.

I'm not pooh poohing it. If you have trouble with anything from a dormobile to a 5-er then you have trouble with it - but it never means the next bloke will have the same probs. We were parked between 2 others of the same ilk and not a lot older than ours - theirs were both apparently falling apart - but then so was the Hymer we'd been in the day before which cost a full £20k more than our one and didn't have half the kit ours did. (eg an oven, 4 rings, a microwave, a shower you can get in, 2 sofas you can lie on and odd little things like that)

But I'll grant you, I did like their curtains a lot more than ours. But not £20k more!

We are totally happy - so far! but I'll grant you we've only done 4,500 miles in it since 04 Aug 09 when we picked it up, so it is very early days for us .........

 

[david32]

I've heard similar sentiments from the owners of all makes of m/homes and cars too. It depends on your personal experience with a particular brand. Personally I would not pay the extra for a Merc or any other brand. I love my:thumb: Fiat and would buy another like a shot.

Don,t knock it till you have tryed it the Merc is the best M/H going and i can tell you the
£4000 is well worth it once you drive it the quality of the ride the quality of workmanship
and most of all the safety of the cab check out the crash test on the web no other van comes close yes it is well worth it. I was going to buy a Merc before now and people like yourself would say all that money for a pointed star thought about it and did not bother i wish i had not listened to them i would have been driving a class M/H before now. After
i got my Merc my wife sitting in the passenger seat turned to me as we drove along and
said this is like in Sam car it so smooth that our son and in 20 years of M/H not once did she say that yes the wife loves it and says to everyone it is the best M/H we ever had. After having it 6 weeks i checked the tyre P S I it was 75 P S I Front and back first class

 

[smifee]

When looking to buy 5 years ago I wanted a rear wheel drive transit.

I had done a few years parcel deliveries driving Ford, Mercedes, Renault, Peugeot & LDV. I liked the Ford and they are made 5 miles from where I live. I had owned a Granduca coachbuilt on a non turbo Transit and had no problems with it.

A mate had a Mercedes MH with sprintshift which I had read about and liked the sound of. We went to the Dusseldorf MH show in his van. I'm glad we did because the body roll was horrible. I'm told it's because the wheels are too far inside the bodywork.

Layout is the most important thing about a MH for me and the layout I wanted came on a Fiat. 5 years on and no problems so far.

My mate's Mercedes sprintshift gearbox packed up in Spain and made a big hole in his bank account. Mercedes don't make sprintshift anymore do they? I wonder why. Did they tell owners there is a fault and recall them for modifications? No they just stopped making them.

I don't think there's any difference between the manufacturers when it comes to faults. They all try to get away with whatever they can.

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[haganap]

the knocking of the fiat based vechile is really getting monotonous in my eyes.

I personally have one, I love it, I wouldn't change it end of.

I have a Merc powered car. problems? no none. Love it and wouldn't change it for the world.

What I really find odd is the ammount of people that simply jump on the band wagon whom have not had never had, or never wish to own a fiat. They work on the basis that they are attempting to help the people that have the reverse problem but appear to take great joy in the fact they do not own a fiat? strange that.


To the original poster, thanks for that input, I will be sticking with my fiat and wish you happiness in your Merc choice. For the record though I would add, I test drove a merc and thought it the biggest pile of overated sxxt I had been out in.
Thats my opinion of course and I am entitled to it just as the next person is entitled to tell me how they hate the ford based motorhome because they are taller than 6ft and have no headroom.
So to answer your question if thats what I think it is? is that the value of the fiat won't go down because I and many many others will buy the right choice of MH on a fiat chasis all day long.