Fiat Multipla - a car which makes men redefine what makes a 'true' car!! (Fiat Multipla in general)

Member Name: snootybutnice

Product:	Fiat Multipla in general
Date:	28/01/09 (214 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Doesn't look like every other car on the road, fantastic family car

Disadvantages: Not everyone appreciates its fine lines - and may have plastic quality issues

"urghhh..you can't possibly want THAT monstrosity?" said my partner. "It's so...ugly". I dug my heels in...I liked the fact that it looked so different from most cars. But..."it's so un-aerodynamic..." he finish lamely.

Aerodynamic? ... why do men gush over cars with smooth lines and give it lots of "ooh's and aah's" about "aerodynamics"...and then conveniently bypass the fact that it guzzles 4 times as much fuel as 'normal cars'? (Correct me if I'm wrong but I thought the whole point of aerodynamics was to decrease wind resistance and thus make the car more economical to run?). Yeah...right!

I got my monstrosity! He got the bill. :-)

After 5 years of daily use, this car has been a veritable BARGAIN.

The pro's were (and are!):
* We bought left hand drive so we could take it to Spain with us when we emigrated. But now returning to the UK the car is still easily driven. Most left hand drive cars mean that your views are obscured - but because of the way the windows are built this doesn't happen.
* There are 6 seats (3 up front and 3 behind) - great if you have lots of kids or your kids have lots of friends - or you want to go somewhere with your mates and need a vehicle to get you all there!
* The back 3 seats can be removed and you're left with a high van/storage space - great for picking up ebay items, small household removals, taking things to the dump or for going on holiday!
* The handbrake is next to the door on the drivers side - so lots of space for the person sat in the middle.
* The 2 middle seats can be made into tables with cupholders etc - which is great for stopping with the kids and bringing out the picnic hamper and eating!
* The windows are all really LOW so the visuals are superb. My daughter now hates getting into any other car, because she can never see out.
* I don't do fuel consumption - I just fill it up when it needs more diesel - but my partner now ditches his Saab in favour of my car because it's cheaper to run!
* I've needed very little in the way of costly repairs on it over the last 5 years. So far, I've just had to replace a few tyres + the clutch went on the car costing me about £1K last year - but other than this no other repairs (and I bought the car second hand 5 years ago!)

The cons are:
* When I hit things, the sides of the car dent!
* When I took the car to Spain for 3 years, I found that the dashboard started to melt?? ...I guess extreme heat will do this? Fiat said to contact my local dealer but the local dealer said "they say that but we don't have a test centre...and they're not going to do anything for you" - so we now live with the sticky melted plastic which dust adhers to!!
* The plastic at the back of some of the seats and along the boot has cracked. Again, I think it was a heat issue which weakened the plastic but perhaps with all our household moves/freezers thrown in the back etc we may have inadvertently cracked the plastic near the hatch due to weighty objects?

In summation, if you're a family, and need a practical family car, you can't go wrong but I have to rate the quality as 3/5 only because of the plastic issues above.

Summary: Every family should have one!

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