General Bravo 1.6 Eco issues?

[Professor Peach]

Seriously thinking of buying one of these and am going to take a look at an 09 model this weekend.

It will be my first diesel and I guess that it will suit me well; my daily commute is 30 miles each way, mainly dual carriageway and not much stop / start driving. I do very few short journeys too.

It stacks up very well on paper with a realistic 50+mpg and £30 RFL but I do have some concerns about the dreaded 3 letter acronyms; DPF, EGR, DMF etc...

Are any / all of these a big worry on this model?

Anything else I should look out for?

Many thanks

 

[enor]

With such a long commute every day, the particle filter will not be an issue.

I have an 08 1,6 MJT Eco since a year back (and roughly 20000 miles to date). It's nowhere near the quality of cars from other European countries, but on the other hand - the price tag is significantly lower too.

Things I have had problems with:

* Brake booster was leaking when I bought it (18k miles on the clock). Replaced under warranty
* Brake light switch acting up at times, causing cruise control to malfunction and "Hill Holder not available" on dash
* The rear door windows sag, I need to give the cranks a push every now and then to keep them up
* Buggy software overall. The radio is seriously slow jumping between stations; the washers take forever to start at times; if I go from dipped beam to main beam a bit slower than usual - hi beams come on but lows go off. Normal operation is that the highs come on with lows still on.
* Now at about 38k miles, the left tie rod end needs replacing which is WAY early
* The rear right wheel has a brake issue - it squeals like crazy sometimes (when the weather is really warm) but without being stuck hard enough to actually do any other harm than noise

Are you scared yet? Don't be, these are all minor things and I actually like the car quite a lot! But just don't expect it to be on par with a Golf or a Focus, quality-wise.

 

[enor]

Oh and I forgot to say:

Don't believe the MPG figures. It's a cheap car to run due to its low thirst, but it's not really as low as the handbook claims.

On an everyday mixed cycle I average about 5.5 l/100km; while under the leanest possible conditions (80kph, 5th gear as 6th is actually a bit too tall for the task) it does about 4.3 l/100 km. Although the trip computer claims otherwise of course - it says 5.1 and 3.8, respectively.

 

[david baxter]

plastic heat exchanger for egr valve and anti roll bar is all i have ever reaplaced on a 1.6

 

[enor]

New issue today! A piece of the sliding plastic around the parking brake lever (sort of a "breadbox" design) has broken off, leaving a gaping hole. I still like the car, but it's not... good. Or maybe I'm spoiled rotten, coming to Fiat from Saabs and BMWs.

 

[Jazzist]

I've had a 1.6 eco (with many extras) for just over 3 years, owned from new. Done just under 50,000 miles. Easily achieve 65+ mpg.

Not had any "mechanical" faults.

Have had several "cosmetic" faults that have been solved under warranty. I haven't made a warranty claim now for at least a year.

I also have 2 years left on the unlimited mileage 5 year warranty which gives peace of mind.

Thinking of a top spec Mazda CX-5 next (maybe in another 3 years at 100,000+ miles) but there will be different choices available then...

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Seriously thinking of buying one of these and am going to take a look at an 09 model this weekend.

It will be my first diesel and I guess that it will suit me well; my daily commute is 30 miles each way, mainly dual carriageway and not much stop / start driving. I do very few short journeys too.

It stacks up very well on paper with a realistic 50+mpg and £30 RFL but I do have some concerns about the dreaded 3 letter acronyms; DPF, EGR, DMF etc...

Are any / all of these a big worry on this model?

Anything else I should look out for?

Many thanks

Whats a DMF

 

[JTD_Liam]

Whats a DMF

Dual Mass Flywheel. Used as part of the clutch on many diesels and just started to be used on some vibration prone petrol engines like 2 or 3 cylinders. It's just been introduced on the TwinAir engine on Punto's & MiTo's for example (but not the 500 version).

They can rattle & fail & are pretty expensive to replace, but they don't seem to be a problem on Fiat's/Alfa's from what i can tell. The only cases of failure i've read on here are high mileage or age-related like Prov's, who's just had DMF failure diagnosed on his Bravo at 133,000 miles.

Considering i've read cases of Vauxhall Vectra's with failed DMFs at 40,000, i don't think there's any need to worry where these are concerned on Fiat's. EGR's can clog but a 30 mile commute will minimise the risk. Ive owned 2 Fiat JTD engined-cars over a combined 92,000 miles & i've never had an EGR issue. In fact the only engine-related issue i've had was the Crank Sensor failing on the Stilo, and that's made by Bosch anyway!

DPF trouble does seem abit random on the Bravo's but again a 30 mile commute should keep it happy. As the Eco model has a very tall 6th gear, which doesn't rev high enough at 'normal' speeds to get the exhaust hot enough to burn off the particles, it wouldn't hurt to drive it at 70mph in 5th for a few miles each week just to make sure the DPF is thoroughly clear. It's usually the 2.0 Multijet that gets DPF problems reported on here though, rather than the 1.6.