Brand new MH with 'crappy' gearbox. (2 Viewers)

[Lot lover]

I was not implying that 16000 miles in 2 years was a particularly good record for a auto/semi auto box

When compared to some of the complaints it seems a very good record - perhaps it is due to careful driving?

On re-re-reading my post I apologise if I caused any offence, it was not intended.

 

[peterc10]

What we all have to remember is that, by the very nature of this forum, it is more likely that a member will post a bad experience rather than a "normal" or "good" experience.

My previous secondhand 2008 Fiat based 2.3L manual motorhome went over 15,000 miles in 2.5 years of my ownership without any mechanical problems, despite allegedly being part of the "juddergate" group. My 2015 Fiat based 3 litre comformatic motorhome has done 20,000 miles so far, again with no mechanical problems. I suspect that is much more normal than the ones that break down.

 

[Lot lover]

What we all have to remember is that, by the very nature of this forum, it is more likely that a member will post a bad experience rather than a "normal" or "good" experience.

I agree, a bad review spreads more quickly than a **** in a lift but more and more of us rely on reviews. And if people don't post good stuff how can the rest of us judge?

I am delighted with our 1999 Le Voyageur (?) LVX 645, 5 speed manual gearbox. 2.8 Iveco engine but not very relevant to many people is it? Though the numberplate implies that it is much newer than that it is not the latest by a long way.

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[PhilG]

My 'straw poll' of these motors, is that those that love them are more likely to own a PVC than not, and herein lies the issue. There is a point at MH's become too big for the powertrain

 

[peterc10]

I agree, a bad review spreads more quickly than a **** in a lift but more and more of us rely on reviews. And if people don't post good stuff how can the rest of us judge?
.

That si what the review section is for.

 

[CazPaul]

My 'straw poll' of these motors, is that those that love them are more likely to own a PVC than not, and herein lies the issue. There is a point at MH's become too big for the powertrain

I do agree with you to some extent about the engines although look at the thousands of coach builts and A class with these engines

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[peterc10]

My 'straw poll' of these motors, is that those that love them are more likely to own a PVC than not, and herein lies the issue. There is a point at MH's become too big for the powertrain

Again, not for me. My first one was a 3.5t coachbuilt. And my second one is a 4.5t A class. Both perfectly able to go as fast as I wanted them to.

 

[Lynne Roy]

I usually use the manual/ clutchless box rather than auto but I did try the Auto. The MH had 40 miles on the clock when we left home, it has 740 on it now.
Thanks all, I will ring Fiat and hope that my French is good enough when it gets to a dealer.

Fiat Assist will get a translator to ring the garage for you and explain and make an appointment for you,

 

[PhilG]

Again, not for me. My first one was a 3.5t coachbuilt. And my second one is a 4.5t A class. Both perfectly able to go as fast as I wanted them to.

You have an A Class with a 2.3 and Comfortmatic ?

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[Casper46]

Again, not for me. My first one was a 3.5t coachbuilt. And my second one is a 4.5t A class. Both perfectly able to go as fast as I wanted them to.

It is not about speed, it's about the ease of getting to whatever speed you wish to travel. I do not want to have to drive like a white van man, I want to travel on rural roads, and not have to worry about getting to the top of a hill without having to resort to riving the ******** out of the engine.

 

[TinaLes]

Hi Casper
Sorry to hear about your gearbox and under powered engine problems that seem to be dragged out for an eternity. You say you have a Carthago 4.5 Tonne A class, not that it makes any difference, which model is it? We have a brand new Carthago C Tourer sat on our drive with a manual Euro 6 150BHP engine, it seems to be OK,with only 250 miles thus far, its got much better pull than I expected, as its our first Moho,( we were ready for the culture shock if you get my drift) as we are used to driving high powered BMW & Audi cars above 2 ltrs. Having said that the moho pulls away smoothly, keeps up with other road users and can happily sit at 70MPH + if we want it to, but we are not in any rush. We thought we would be disappointed as we had to cancel our original UK built Moho in order to get one without all the usual inherent build quality issues on the 2017 models.
So we chose a 2017 Carthago model from dealers stock and got a decent deal, however its a manual box, something I thought I would regret, but now reading these posts it may have been a blessing in disguise.
Please keep us informed as to what has been discovered and fixed on your van, when it does go to the right place that is, and I really do hope its fixed soon and remains that way, they after after all lovely vans.
Best wishes
TinaL & Les

 

[Xabia]

This is the main reason why we are looking for a Peugeot or Citroen new panel van to convert. Prefer the SCR technology adblue as no issues with egr system.

I was talking to my son about Adblue technology yesterday, his wife has a new Evoque convertible and he was asked on purchase if he wished to take out a service plan in the region of £500 for 3 years.

He initially declined but when being told that on refilling with Adblue the car had to go back to the dealer so that the ECR could be told that the liquid had been refilled at a charge ,which was included in the service plan, he purchased it.

If this applies to Peugeot and Citroen diesels bear in mind any additional service costs.

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[CazPaul]

I was talking to my son about Adblue technology yesterday, his wife has a new Evoque convertible and he was asked on purchase if he wished to take out a service plan in the region of £500 for 3 years.

He initially declined but when being told that on refilling with Adblue the car had to go back to the dealer so that the ECR could be told that the liquid had been refilled at a charge ,which was included in the service plan, he purchased it.

If this applies to Peugeot and Citroen diesels bear in mind any additional service costs.

No it doesn't apply, you just stick some in when you want, you are right that would be big factor if it was the case though.

 

[Cairngorm]

I was talking to my son about Adblue technology yesterday, his wife has a new Evoque convertible and he was asked on purchase if he wished to take out a service plan in the region of £500 for 3 years.

He initially declined but when being told that on refilling with Adblue the car had to go back to the dealer so that the ECR could be told that the liquid had been refilled at a charge ,which was included in the service plan, he purchased it.

If this applies to Peugeot and Citroen diesels bear in mind any additional service costs.

Skoda Yeti ,the car has a sensor , which knows when you have added the fluid. Very poor show when you need to pay extra for that service.

 

[peterc10]

Skoda Yeti ,the car has a sensor , which knows when you have added the fluid. Very poor show when you need to pay extra for that service.

That's what you get from Land Rover nowadays. Their products have gone from all sense and no style, to all style and no sense.

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[ChaosToo]

My experience with the Fiat 'auto' box stems from driving those fitted to ambulances and all I can say is they are APPALLING!

Now, obviously the vehicles are driven in completely different ways, but they have a mind of their own, especially on the downshift. And putting them into 'manual' mode doesn't help, as the box just beeps at you and will only do what it wants.

I was looking for an auto, hoping it would be better in a MH, but reading this, I think I dodged a bullet!

Hope you get yours sorted!

 

[Deneb]

I was talking to my son about Adblue technology yesterday, his wife has a new Evoque convertible and he was asked on purchase if he wished to take out a service plan in the region of £500 for 3 years.

He initially declined but when being told that on refilling with Adblue the car had to go back to the dealer so that the ECR could be told that the liquid had been refilled at a charge ,which was included in the service plan, he purchased it.

That sounds like a typical salesman's spiel to me. Have a look on the Evoque owners forum. A quick search suggests that top-ups are indeed free if you have the 5 year service plan, but some owners without have had free top-ups and others have had to pay in the region of £29 a time. I suppose it depends on your dealer, but that's a lot of top-ups to get to £500.

It also appears though, that you can top it up yourself, and as long as there is a minimum of just under 4 litres (equivalent to the contents of 2 standard refill bottles) in the adblue reservoir at the next start, the system will self-reset without any further intervention.

Edit: In fact the owners handbook shows instructions for topping up the adblue (DEF) tank and makes no mention of any reprogramming requirement. It does suggest that if the EML warning light remains on following a refill, the driver may need to start and run the engine for 30 seconds, and switch off up to three times to reset the light.

http://www.ownerinfo.landrover.com/document/LH/2018/T19948/24931_en_GBR/proc/G2121144

 

[cantonalegod]

You have an A Class with a 2.3 and Comfortmatic ?

We have an A class with comfortmatic and i bet it weighs less than most coachbuilts!

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[PhilG]

We have an A class with comfortmatic and i bet it weighs less than most coachbuilts!

But not a 2.3 ?

I have an 8.1m Tag axle with a 2.8 JTD in it, we chipped out old one, will do the same with this one when i get chance, its a big old bus, but i wouldnt want an auto in it.

 

[KUSKUS]

As Chaos Too says Comfortmatic gearboxes are dreadful, I have posted before about the twenty plus buses that our local council runs and I for my sins have to drive one . most weeks one or two buses fail due to the rubbish gearboxes, not always the same faults . unable to select any gears seems to the most common fault, local Fiat professional dealers know us very well , we have four in for repair at the moment ,
Repair bills are astronomical , most vehicles are 2013/2014 with between 44,000 miles up to about 90,000 miles . we have had to hire 5 buses on long term to cover the failure of these buses.
Vehicles over 4 years old unfortunately still have nearly three years left to run on lease.
these vehicles are run on a five day week , term time only , two trips a day so not like a commercial bus operation. Most of the drivers are professional drivers generally fifty to seventy years old.
To be fair the three litre engines are great its just the gearbox that lets them down!

 

[cantonalegod]

Yep it's 2.3!

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[cantonalegod]

But not a 2.3 ?

I have an 8.1m Tag axle with a 2.8 JTD in it, we chipped out old one, will do the same with this one when i get chance, its a big old bus, but i wouldnt want an auto in it.

Yep, it's 2.3!

 

[Clarky]

You have an A Class with a 2.3 and Comfortmatic ?

Yup, me too.
4.5 ton A class with 2.3 150 BHP + Comfortmatic.
34k miles now and neither engine or gearbox have missed a beat.
I'm not known for pussyfooting in any vehicle and can't stand dawdling along. Impatience is my middle name. Anything underpowered and hesitant would drive me dotty.
Never been a great fan of auto boxes, preferring to have control, but I just can't fault the Comfortmatic. Don't think I've ever felt the need to put it into manual mode, even in the Alps and Pyrenees.
No way would I go back to a manual now, particularly with all those pesky French roundabouts.

Richard.

 

[Casper46]

We have not seen our MH since it went to Billingham on 9th November. They tell us they cannot fault it. When they have repaired the bodywork damage that the York garage did to it they have asked that we should go out in it, so that we can point out what the fault is. It will be another two weeks before the body shop has finished with it!
We have explained about the lack of power when the vehicle is running cold and also the ups and downs in the gearbox. We understand that when running at 2500 rpm we will only get 110bhp, instead of the 180 bhp that the engine is supposed to run at.
We are getting closer to rejecting the vehicle, but hoping that Fiat can do something with it. We have only made one trip in it but if we reject it we will lose thousands of pounds as it is doubtful that we will be recompensed for the extras we have had fitted. We have full air and a birds eye camera.

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