Hi there
It's new (to me anyway) car time. The venerable Camry at 13 years old and 150K is going to be put out to pasture and I'm looking for something new. Bizzarely, after test driving 2 year old (new) Mondeos, (new) Mazda 6's and an Insignia (all well and nice, about £11K ) the car which most caught my eye was a Fiat Croma in a local dealership.
Had a look online and discovered that you can pick up a 56 plate 20K or thereabouts well-specced example (1.8 petrol) for around 5 grand. I like the high driving position and the 'bum in first' seating, reviews seem to be favourable (Schumacher had one as his run-around!) and from what I can tell, that 1.8 is the 140 bhp GM cam chain unit which is in the Vectra/Zafira so the mechanicals seem fairly well-tested.
But it's a Fiat, a big Fiat and nobody bought them (I assume Schumy was given his!) this will be the first post on this forum about one (I know I've searched!).
If I bought one would I be guaranteeing myself first name terms with the car dealers
with one of the worst reputations in the business or is the Croma potentially one of the great unsung bargains out there?
Should I go for something more mainstream?
Be brutal!
ps: I should add that the car will do the 50 mile round trip (mainly dual carriageway) commute in the week and then family hack at the weekend.
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Its everyone else that is mad - buy it.
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Be brutal!
F I A T = FIX IT AGAIN TOMMOROW!
Seriously they have come a long way from the old days saying that i won't buy one but it's like everything your budget the best deal you can get etc
Shop around keep asking about if it's what you want buy it.!
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There are thousands of them doing starship mileages in Italy, if it is in good nick, go for it. Stuff the badge snobs.
Edited by Old Navy on 14/02/2010 at 18:25
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Having just spent the entire day in car dealers I can honestly say the money FIAT build quality impresses more than most. They seem to have an honesty about it too. Said that they still suffer from gremlins.
be warned that a Croma will loose value very quickly.
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be warned that a Croma will loose value very quickly.
I think there was a thead like this the other day.... it doesn't matter if the percentage depreciation is on the high side when the original list price is so low? You need to think of depreciation in absolute and not percentage terms. I'd go for it if I were you.
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It depends on the sum the percentage comes to and if the person is using a loan or paying cash. If they are paying cash (no interest) a more expensive car with much slower depreciation may in some cases work out cheaper.
However every man deserve an Italian car once in their life :) If it was cheap enough I would easily have a Croma. If its good enough for a german F1 driver....
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Sounds like a bargin. One of my neighbours has one and the neg who sold us our house was running one and when asked he had nothing but praise for them.
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I've owned nigh on 40 cars over the years, but I've never owned an Italian car in any way, shape or form.
I've owned a couple of French cars and they were ok (ish)
The Croma LQQKs like a nice mota (on paper) ~ en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Croma
and its almost an Opel it seems.
Would I buy a 4 year old rare (in UK) Fiat ...
Nah.
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I drove one in Turin. Its a damn fine car. It seemed pretty well screwed together too.
It wont loose any more value, the value has already disapeared like a rat up a drainpipe.
The only issue is spares. Apart from that, they are the bargain of the century.
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I bought our 2002 FIAT Marea back in 2007 - it had over 200,000km on the clock then.
It's now knocking on 300,000 on the clock, used daily, and apart from the alternator melting last summer on a particularly hot 48 degree day it's been reliable as clockwork.
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A reader's Croma burned out last week. Fault with the heater fan motor.
HJ
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I bought a pair of the original Cromas a few years back, £650 the pair and made one decent one out of it.
At least it had a 2.0 turbo engine which provided some Italian character
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i would buy one if i thought i needed it
probably regret it the day after mind
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As always thanks for all the replies.
My inclination is to go for the 1.8 GM 140 bhp chain cam petrol rather than one of the 120/150 multijet diesel combo's that are also in the Vectra (and Saabs?) purely due to anxieties over reliability/big repair bills on the oil burners.
A wee bit more research seems to suggest that Cromas are based on the Vx Signum chassis which makes sense given the size/engines etc.
Bit worrying about the heater fan fire though!
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Have a look at Seat Toledos if you're set on a Latin inspired carry all. they seem to drop in value like a filing cabinet thrown down a fire escape, and the diesel engine makes a similar racket on a cold morning.
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Have a look at Seat Toledos if you're set on a Latin inspired carry all. they seem to drop in value like a filing cabinet thrown down a fire escape and the diesel engine makes a similar racket on a cold morning.
hmmmm.....further investigation is called for...thanks!
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Second-hand, the high depreciation always works in your favour.
You are looking at a 4 year old car there. If it's 5 grand (surely more like four?!?) it doesn't have much further to go.
I can't say I have heard any massive horror stories about the Croma -- the Stilo was a pile of carp but this is a later model and they seem to have improved.
Always buy the car with the monstrous depreciation is my motto. They all last much the same length of time if looked after and I can't see this Fiat being any worse than a Peugeot, Vauxhall or VW which will all cost more.
Not mad at all.
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