Technical Doblo Mk2 reliability issues

[n00bmaster]

Hi all,
I own a Doblo Cargo Maxi 1.6 Euro 6 which is about 5 years old and has covered a distance of about 109,000km. However, it's faced a few mechanical problems, such as a worn serpentine belt last year, when it had covered only about 80,000km, which led to a loss of battery power and power steering. I also had to replace the EGR valve. Just a few days ago, the engine overheated from a coolant leak at the thermostat and I had to send it in. Not only that, the engine warning light has been on for about more than a year now, and it's been discovered that it was because the lambda sensor was faulty, which the servicing agent told me not to worry about. 2 of the 4 glow plugs also failed, leading to slow starts. I'd just like to ask, how often do Doblos face these issues and are they serious issues?

 

[bugsymike]

Hi all,
I own a Doblo Cargo Maxi 1.6 Euro 6 which is about 5 years old and has covered a distance of about 109,000km. However, it's faced a few mechanical problems, such as a worn serpentine belt last year, when it had covered only about 80,000km, which led to a loss of battery power and power steering. I also had to replace the EGR valve. Just a few days ago, the engine overheated from a coolant leak at the thermostat and I had to send it in. Not only that, the engine warning light has been on for about more than a year now, and it's been discovered that it was because the lambda sensor was faulty, which the servicing agent told me not to worry about. 2 of the 4 glow plugs also failed, leading to slow starts. I'd just like to ask, how often do Doblos face these issues and are they serious issues?

I have a couple of the 2010 Fiat Doblo 1.6s, one at 100k miles had an oil leak into the coolant tank from the oil cooler housing, I have seen this on several other makes of vehicle including Audi and VW so not uncommon in other brands with aluminium coolers.
I recently changed the heater plugs as warning on dash, but no problem starting.
If yours has DPF filter etc. and later more stringent emission regulations, that can cause more issues possibly like the EGR valve.
My other one is more for spares and has covered around 188k miles as a courier vehicle so hard life and power steering rack has bad oil leak and gear linkage breaking.
The other faults you mention, serpentine belt failure, coolant leak, engine warning light for lambda sensor issues tells me more about poor servicing than a vehicle inherent fault.
If regularly serviced correctly those issues should have been fixed before anything serious, so should not be happening.

 

[n00bmaster]

Thanks for sharing. I also thought that it could be that the servicing was not up to standard and failed to prevent these issues from occurring. The vehicle has been serviced by the Fiat agent here and has been serviced at the stipulated intervals of 6 months. Given the low mileage over the 5 years, the maintenance and repair costs have been higher than my previous Toyota Corolla that I owned and drove for 10 years. I'm not sure whether to disappointed with Fiat or the service agent

 

[bugsymike]

Thanks for sharing. I also thought that it could be that the servicing was not up to standard and failed to prevent these issues from occurring. The vehicle has been serviced by the Fiat agent here and has been serviced at the stipulated intervals of 6 months. Given the low mileage over the 5 years, the maintenance and repair costs have been higher than my previous Toyota Corolla that I owned and drove for 10 years. I'm not sure whether to disappointed with Fiat or the service agent

I suspect the service agent side.
Mind you it is difficult for even a good mechanic if boss says you have .5 of an hour to do that service etc. or you are out the door!
When I did servicing I would always make a note of any faults or issues I noticed that would need attention later, that way my customers could prepare for costs and vehicle stayed reliable.

 

[n00bmaster]

I guess it is possible that mechanics are not given enough time to properly inspect the vehicles for faults. Good of you to inspect and let customers know of potential faults ahead, no such service quality here, considering how the agent brushed off the engine warning issue. It is quite difficult to find workshops here that have proper knowledge on servicing the Doblo, so it is quite the dilemma on whether to stick with the current agent.