Marea Weekend - my experiences (Fiat Marea in general)

Member Name: 137699

Product:	Fiat Marea in general
Date:	14/11/02 (873 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Practical, Comfortable, Good equipment spec

Disadvantages: Expensive to run, Suspect build quality, Depreciation

This car was purchased by my partner before I met her. It is a 1998 R-registered Marea Weekend 1.8 16v ELX model.

Specification wise, it is excellently equipped, to say that this is a low-range model. It has climate control air conditioning, electric front windows, power steering, central locking, rev clock etc.

To drive, it is OK. The biggest gripes I have with it are:
- It is very underpowered - a 1.8i 16v enine should perform a lot better
- It does not handle too well round corners, but then it's hardly a rally-car!
- It has no ABS, and locks up far too easily in the wet.-
- Engine noise in the cabin is harsh

Living with the car on a day to day basis is fairly easy. It is average on fuel economy (approx 30mpg), seats four in comfort, and has a huge boot, with the added advantage of a lowing rear bumper, and stowage compartments in the load area. It is also a comfortable car to drive on a long journey.

The stereo is a mixed bag - the original cassette deck unit was OK but expensive to add a CD changer to. I changed this for a Sony CD unit, which improved the sound. The front speakers are reasonable, but the rear ones are a waste of space.

Keeping the car on the road is a very expensive game. It is expensive to service, and as I have found to my cost, as the miles mount, it starts to self-distruct, with very expensive consequenses! This car has now covered 115,000 miles. Parts are not cheap, and Halfords rarely stock anything for Fiat models - you end up having to go to the dealer, and they rip you off.

Things I have had to do on this car are:
- Blown coil (72,000 miles) - £250 repair, plus loads of added fuel consumption
- Cambelt change (75,000 miles) - £300
- Blown head-gasket (80,000 miles) - £1800 repair plus 6 weeks off the road
- Dear rear wiper motor (110,000 miles) - £130 for part alone!

The head-gasket was a killer, and we nearly scrapped the car when that
happened. Basically the engine management light came on on the dashboard one evening. Now this would usually make you stop, however with Fiat's it is common for the engine management light to flash without any meaning whatsoever, so unfortunately you soon get used to ignoring any time that light comes on. 5 miles later, the car lost all power. Basically what had happened was that the impellor on the water pump had fallen off, hence no cooling to the engine, followed by massiave overheat, and nigh on £2000 worth of damage. Unfortunately, Fiat's are not equipped with a safety shut-down mechanism in the event of serious mechanical failure, like other brands are.

The under-engine tray fell off a few months ago, and generally that seems to be the way of this car. Things start to come apart, or fail on you. The boot doesn't close properly any more, and if you inadvertently push the handle up on the boot lid while the car is locked, the spring mechanism no longer returns the handle back down, meaning you can't open the boot! Similarly the doors sometimes need a hefty slam to make them shut. The rear air-vent has long since disintegrated. The fuse box panel doesn't shut securely any more either.

All this probably contributes to why Fiat's depreciate so heavily. Our car cost £14,000 when new, and is probably only worth £1500 now. A similarly spec'd Mondeo with the same age and mileage would be worth £2,500-£3,500 now.

Tyre wear is reaosnable - I get about 45,000 miles per set, and the bodywork seems to stand up well. It is nearly 5 years old, but still gleams when clean, and has no rust, it's just a shame the rest of the car is not given the same level of quality.

There is one other really annoying niggle about this car - the upholstery. The carpet and seats simply attract dirt. You can spend a good 2+ hours with a brush and vacuum cleaner trying the clean the inside, yet it still looks dirty. It is simply
not possible to get this car clean inside! Oh, and it steams up really badly in the wet weather!

So if you're thinking of buying one, then make sure it's cheap, and don't buy one with high mileage. If you're a low mileage driver, and want a workhorse, they make a reasonable buy. If you're buying a car to last for the long haul, with a quality build, consider a mondeo.

Summary: