Buying a car, heres my list of options have i missed something obvious

alias no.9

Sleipnir wrote:

Fiats are unreliable but spare parts are cheap as chips which is why warranty claims are low-cost.

My last car was a fiat bravo, I bought it with 40k on the clock and put another 40k on it in 2 years before selling it. The clutch bearing went at 75k, hardly unusual for any petrol car and a suspension bushing need to be done for the NCT apart from that all was needed in that time was oil, filters, plugs, tyres and breaks. Hardly unreliable by any streatch of the imagination. My father is on his 3rd punto after 2 unos and a panda since, one uno had 250k on the clock and the second 180k when he got rid of them. Granted the first uno had rust problems fixed under warrenty but apart from that the only mechanical problem was a head gasket failure on the first punto, again a warrenty job. This was hardly unreliable for covering approximately 600k miles on his part.

That's my own first hand experience with fiat's, what's yours?

Oh and yes, parts and service are cheap, the new clutch & minor service cost e300 at a main dealer.

alias no.9

Kaskade wrote:

That is the first time I have ever heard of a cam belt going in a civic. I had a civic with 130k miles on it, sold it a year ago and I still see it around. Brilliant cars.

I was as surprised as you. But it just proves that regardless of a car or manufacturers reputation, if you don't check it out properly, you can get burned.

Sleipnir

When I was in my dad's Fiat Ritmo when it burst into flames outside the Spanish embassy nearly causing an international incident as the fella guarding the embassy though ETA were attacking when a flaming car mounted the pavement and hit the wall.. He had to sit down on the kerb for a bit, poor fella.The Fire Brigade had a good laugh at him.
It had smelled of petrol in the cabin just after a service.

When, every morning after it rained, the footwells behind the passenger seats of my brother's Fiat Punto were filled with water and you had to step over them, use the sponges provided to clear them and then squeeze it out the window as we drove.
That was until the footwells gave way, then you had to be careful you didnt get your foot caught as you went over a speedbump.

Good enough?

Gmodified

i don't think service history will help 70k alfa which could be really dead by 100k.
FSH helps ok but not crusial for some cars. you just have to know what to look for when buying



german cars have some issues too, but i would buy an AUDI A6

Sleipnir

I do like Audi's but Kaskade is right, BMWs and Golfs are seriously over-priced.

alias no.9

Sleipnir wrote:

When I was in my dad's Fiat Ritmo when it burst into flames outside the Spanish embassy nearly causing an international incident as the fella guarding the embassy though ETA were attacking when a flaming car mounted the pavement and hit the wall.. He had to sit down on the kerb for a bit, poor fella.The Fire Brigade had a good laugh at him.
It had smelled of petrol in the cabin just after a service.

When, every morning after it rained, the footwells behind the passenger seats of my brother's Fiat Punto were filled with water and you had to step over them, use the sponges provided to clear them and then squeeze it out the window as we drove.
That was until the footwells gave way, then you had to be careful you didnt get your foot caught as you went over a speedbump.

Good enough?

Fair enough. The ritmo was probably the worst fiat ever. As for the punto, the body is galvanised steel so even if there water collecting in the footwell, corrosion will be at best, very, very slow which makes me wonder why he didn't get it checked out during this time. Any half assed mechanic should be able to find and fix a leak.

Kaskade

alias no.9 wrote:

the only mechanical problem was a head gasket failure on the first punto, again a warrenty job.

head gasket failure is huge!! I would go mad if that happened to my car. Honda have made over 15million v-tec engines and they have never once had a warranty failure. Now that it reliable.

Fiats and alfas didn't just get a bad reputation for nothing, they earned it!! Even considering this I dont hate them, I think they have good styling and a bit of spirit (not boring like the germans). They are cheaper so if you pay less you have to expect slightly less quality.

I did find from past experience when we had a brava that fiat were really helpful about repairing it even though it was not under warranty because the mileage was so low. It needed a part of the injectors to be replaced and although we had to pay for the labour £70 they paid for the £400 part and gave us a replacement car with no hastle.

Sleipnir

Yeah I'd agree. I wouldn't buy a Fiat if I could avoid it because they're not as reliable as a Honda but they're not 'bad' cars.
They break a bit but it's cheap to repair them and they're cheap to run, which is fine.

alias no.9

Kaskade wrote:

head gasket failure is huge!! I would go mad if that happened to my car. Honda have made over 15million v-tec engines and they have never once had a warranty failure. Now that it reliable.

Fiats and alfas didn't just get a bad reputation for nothing, they earned it!! Even considering this I dont hate them, I think they have good styling and a bit of spirit (not boring like the germans). They are cheaper so if you pay less you have to expect slightly less quality.

I did find from past experience when we had a brava that fiat were really helpful about repairing it even though it was not under warranty because the mileage was so low. It needed a part of the injectors to be replaced and although we had to pay for the labour £70 they paid for the £400 part and gave us a replacement car with no hastle.

Head gasket failure is huge as you put it but not that uncommon among many manufacturers. But as the only mechanical failure in 600k of driving fiats, it hardly supports the arguement of fiats being supremely unrelaible.

VW didn't get a reputation for reliability for nothing, they earned it. However, that was in the past but the reputation continues though it is no longer deserved.

Kaskade

alias no.9 wrote:

Head gasket failure is huge as you put it but not that uncommon among many manufacturers. But as the only mechanical failure in 600k of driving fiats, it hardly supports the arguement of fiats being supremely unrelaible.

VW didn't get a reputation for reliability for nothing, they earned it. However, that was in the past but the reputation continues though it is no longer deserved.

I dont think common in many manufacturers. Like I said, honda never had a warranty vtec engine failure and thats the way it should be.

The reputation does continue and it makes me sick, but dont worry I am doing my best to make sure everyone knows. My friends mum had a passat and then changed to a honda accord, even though water leaked into the floor on the back and numerous other things she still preferred the VW but she has just bought herself a new model accord - 1 down, 3.99 million to go!!

Gmodified

Kaskade wrote:

Honda have made over 15million v-tec engines and they have never once had a warranty failure. ...........

but they managed to release doggy series of civics with f@cked up igniter units which caused distributor failure or integras with blowing radiators

honda is still very reliable car in general except small things but nobody is perfect

Kaskade

I would prefer the small problems any day to head gasket failure. Them too problems are so easy to fix, one part and you could nearly fit it yourself.

ken90

The main thing wrong with a honda is some of the dealerships.

I had 14 breakdowns in 12 months in an almost new, entirely dealer serviced, CRV.
Was'nt fixed until I threatened Honda that I would spend 3000 euro to place an add to sell the car and that I would tell the truth!

Turned out to be the radio stereo.

W'er of a dealer

Gmodified

Kaskade wrote:

I would prefer the small problems any day to head gasket failure. Them too problems are so easy to fix, one part and you could nearly fit it yourself.

i wouldn't call them small as in both cases you will be left on the road where punto with blown gasket will you get home on few bottles Tipperary water.

ok issues are sorted now but it happened to the best .

Kaskade

I hate most dealers, they want to sell you the car, then you but it and the wont talk to you. The honda dealer in galway crashed my civic and then would give me a replacement car while they fixed it because I was under 21 and didn't have comprehensive insurance. I had such a fight with them. They said the company they get rent-a-cars from wouldn't give me a car because of my stats. So basically they can only cater for you if you have comp insurance or you are over 21 otherwise if anything goes wrong you get treated differently. They had no problem taking the money off me for the service though. Bet they would have no problem selling me a car either. I hate dealers nearly as much as I hate german cars!!

Kaskade

Gmodified wrote:

i wouldn't call them small as in both cases you will be left on the road .

A puncture can leave you on the side of the road if you dont know how to change a wheel, I think when you buy a car you need to reside yourself to the fact that you might end up there.

Gmodified

Kaskade wrote:

A puncture can leave you on the side of the road if you dont know how to change a wheel, I think when you buy a car you need to reside yourself to the fact that you might end up there.

that's why you carry spare wheel in your car, not spare radiator or distributor
:rolleyes:

HashSlinging

Sleipnir wrote:

When I was in my dad's Fiat Ritmo when it burst into flames outside the Spanish embassy nearly causing an international incident as the fella guarding the embassy though ETA were attacking when a flaming car mounted the pavement and hit the wall.. He had to sit down on the kerb for a bit, poor fella.The Fire Brigade had a good laugh at him.
It had smelled of petrol in the cabin just after a service.?

:eek:

Seth Brundle

Gmodified wrote:

Kaskade wrote:

A puncture can leave you on the side of the road if you dont know how to change a wheel, I think when you buy a car you need to reside yourself to the fact that you might end up there.

that's why you carry spare wheel in your car, not spare radiator or distributor
:rolleyes:

erm, no point having a spare wheel if as kaskade said, you cant change one!

changing a wheel should be something done on the test (as should knowing how to check you light bulbs, oil, water, etc.)

Gmodified

well, it's kind of sad if you are a bloke and can't change the wheel,

Seth Brundle

In fairness, many wheels are placed on by the Kwik-fit air guns far too tight and they can be difficult to remove.
However, this does not excuse anyone (incl. wimmen) not knowing how to change a wheel!

Gmodified

wimmen can get help but God help the blokes