Ok been thinking about this....

After 25 years of 'enjoying' a classic 'toy'...including Porsches, Alfa's, Scimitar's, Capri's and a couple of classic kit cars....normally run as a second car with a modern in the daily driver position...I've been reading lots of 'oh my gawd - the wheels/engine/gearbox/doors have fallen off' threads on this forum and thought I'd stick my oar in on the side of the beastie...so here goes:-

All of my cars have been bought in various stages of delapidation - I've usually selected car's that need some work rather than pay top dollar...then at least I know the cars had the work done recently..The reliability assessment is based on the car post niggle sorting and following a full service...so my current yellow beastie isn't included as that's on the improving list.

Coupe (16v na) after initial sort out (Lambda, Thermostat, MAP sensor hose, Temp sensor, Discs/Pads) Took on 1500 miles per week through Feb - May..never missed a beat USED NO Oil!!! mainly motorways/B roads...started first time everytime...now with my son where it continues to perform faultlessly and now with a Flea chip - -so 100%

Alfas -Had 3 Suds, Alfetta GTV, Guilietta, 3 155's, 1 916 spider, 156 plus other new Alfas (not included)....Suds 100%, 80's GTV appalling 10% everything failed/broke always breaking down...and the rust!, Guilietta poor 50%...and the rust again!!, 90's Alfa's (155 is a favourite) 90% - mainly niggles as per coupe (same floor base).

Porsches - 911 terrible..similar problems with early injection/sensor issues as a coupe - gearbox weaknesses/oil leaks...and RUST!! (this was not a basket case car either) - 924 - 80% - head gasket and warm starting, 944 - rear wheel bearings at 27 years old - (going to complain to porsche )- 928 (had 5 different models)about 80% - mainly electrical / vacuum related issues - same problem as the coupe with ageing vacuum hoses...only so many more of them!

Scimitars - poor - gearbox/headgasket/tunnions/Electricals/interior trim about 40%

Capris - Rust..and that's it 80%

Kit cars - surprisingly good - Dutton Phaetons...just head gasket on my factory built pinto engined car - earlir V6 bought with a seized engine and knackered front suspension - 100% after that was rectified.

My cars are used - at least 5 - 10k miles per year..usually many more....I think that makes a big difference

So in summary...is the coupe unreliable - once the initial faults are ironed out (why is it every used car I buy has wheel wobble??) and the car is then serviced properly..then no it's a good reliable car in standard form...now if you go and modify it - that's a differnt story.

Reliability is up there with the best - better than my Porsche 928's (remeber they cost £40k - £75k new), better than the Alfa's from the 80's but on par with the 90's models (no surprise). Better than the Scimitars and better than the Capris (due to rust) and only bettered by the Porsche 944 ...and surprisingly the kit cars...but that's probably due to the high maintenance demands of running a kit car!

Jon

I've had mine 7 months and all I've had to change was the downpipe.

Errr, very reliable I think

Touch wood, but I don't have any issues.

Having said that, if you look back at the history of "Project Jigsaw" and the total rebuild, it is, mechanically, as good, if not better than when it left the factory*....

I guess you could argue that "Project Jigsaw" isn't like most coupés, but if you can do the work yourself and have the time/space/facilities, than I believe you can make it as reliable as any car can be.

Then again, she did throw a belt and take out the timing belt but, in her defence, that wasn't her fault: I removed and retensioned the ribbed belt several times over a weekend, and they don't like that at all! Hindsight, a wonderful thing, I'd have replaced the belt with a new one if I knew then what I know now!




*That sounds a bit arrogant, but at least the metal brake pipes are now copper, the undersealing doesn't have gaps in it, and all the interior fixings have been tightened up properly so she doesn't squeak and clonk! Oh, and she has HiD's fitted, which is far better than the factory-fitted candles!

Just listening to one of the guy's at work tlaing about how his Audi needed a £5 coolant hose replaced and how it was going to cost him nearly £200 becuase of the labour

It's the 3rd coolant related problem he's had on the car in the last year. He previously has had 2 new radiators fitted.

For me, other than things i've known about when i bought the car (ie the clutch needed changing, the thermostat STILL needs changing), i havent had any problems.

Oh excpet for the ol' cracked manifold and now the sheared bolt on the new one. But nothing that has left me sitting at the side of the road waiting for an RAC van. And thanks to the many coop specialists, i'm not forking out £80 an hour like my Audi owning colleague is.

Good post there Jon. I've been around a bit & have savoured some cars in my time, but although a petrol head,I'm a tight git so I haven't owned too many expensive vehicles. This has been mainly down to be an early marriage & mostly spreading my wealth on the family. I was an apprentice mechanic/welder in the early 70's & drove a fair few exotica of the time by the way. They came into our garage with various faults, but with no ecu & carbs being the order of the day they could be easily fixed.

As you say Jon basic servicing & the lack of proper good parts have led to the demise of a few Coops. I firmly believe they are silly money for what you're getting, & if you keep on top of things like you say, well apart from the odd niggle like the electrics, the Coop is great value for a car that is up there with more exotic models.

I expect proccy will have some input shortly lol

Mine seems to be very reliable.

I've had it for four years and it's used every day as a run around car and for work, etc.

It's only let me down properly once and that was just the pipe coming off the turbo.

Other than that, one puncture, which is normally not a problem, unless you have Brembos

Also, a failed injector, but still got me home, etc.

If you look after your coupe then it should be very reliable.

5 years of ownership and 75K miles for mine (I bought it at 25K miles). Used every day as only car. Kept outside in all weathers. Never failed to start. Never broken down. No major mechanical problems (yet). Pretty damn reliable as far as I can tell.

The odd niggling problem creeps up now and again though like central locking being difficult, squeaky brakes and doors icing up in the winter etc. Nothing serious though.

I've had my 20VT for nearly 4 years and like Theresa I use my Coop everyday. In that time I've had some breakdowns (Oil cooler pipes leaking/alloy wheel breaking up/clutch worn out/collapsed cat/degraded injector wiring) but I've never been stranded and she's always managed to limp home for me to repair .

All of those faults were to be expected (with the exception of the alloy wheel) due to the age of the car but weren't really expensive to sort,unlike some slightly more modern cars that are getting on a bit (how about spending £1K on replacing an electric power steering system on a 2002 Seat Ibiza !).

Compared to the reliability of other cars I think the Coupé sit just nice in between older cars using points+distributors and the newer cars that have too much technology on them for their own good and won't do anything unless they're hooked up to a diagnostic tool IMHO .

Yes,I think for the time being I'm quite happy with my Coupé's reliability and long may it continue *.

Baz


* And I know I've just cursed my Coupé with that last bit .

Isn't having to get the spanners out on a regular basis half the fun of owning the car - whether it's maintenance, repairs or upgrades.

That's right Matt,

my point was that the coupe (and most Italian semi-exotics) of the 90's seem to have the unreliability tag applied by default.

If I look down the list of cars I've owned (and there have been over 50 so far) some of the percieved rock solid performers have been a real let down - rust and unreliability...indeed some of the new cars I've owned fall into this category (we won't mention Rover 75's, Jaguar X type, Alfa 156 turbo diesel, VW Scirocco)

As for the coupe and it's contempories, they're probably the last cars us mortals will be able to sort out without major computer input..

...and I like to be involved with my cars - can't help it with the Porsche...no electric anything, the scooby...just brute force and pace involves you in an olde worlde sort of way...the coupe...even in n/a form is a real GT car....and don't let anyone tell me otherwise..even if it does not have rwd...

For a GT, reliability is essential...i wouldn't want to charge about - sometimes covering over 1000 miles in a day without...

So, I'm happy for the prices to remain low and the coupe to be an undiscovered gem...means I can afford to run and correctly maintain the beast ...and one day move up to a turbo without breaking the bank!

When i am sobecr,i wil hav sum input! hi

sounds like you've had a great afternoon!

I have owned TVR's which were sporadic with their reliability a Triumph Dolomite which was disasterous. Both Coupes I have owned, so far, have been a joy.

I had the joy of working on Doli's when they were new....especially the sprint

Nearly bought a TVR back in the eighties...one of the wedgie coupes...but the dealer couldn't start it for the test drive....and again a couple of days later when I returned for another try

I had the exact same experience. I bought it after a drive, on the way home it dumped its water on the M6. Fortunately I live in Blackpool so the TVR was taken to the factory. The beauty of the coupe is its reliability.

Ah the sprint, first production car with multi valves. Rapid in their day, but they suffered head trouble. My father treated himself to one when he retired, no problems at all. I gave it a good blow out when I drove it.

Coupe's are not unreliable at all but they are high maintenance and require decent quality parts.

There is no problem that you could possibly have which cant be fixed with the help of this forum, and the only thing that will cost you more than a few hundred is a new engine.

Getting stranded at the side of the road can happen in any car. Big deal, call a tow truck.

i have to say that even though this coop has given me a little heartache, the previous one never missed a beat in 4 years. on balance i'd say they are reliable if maintained properly. the one i have now was obviously very poorly maintained by the previous owner

Any car 10 plus years old will give you problems, a performance car twice as many but like Matt says its half of the fun getting the spanners out isn't it.

I spent 11 hours yesterday replacing the exhaust manifold. It was a byatch of a job, every corner turned presented a new problem and whilst all the bits go together and fit in the space provided when they are assembled, there was no room to actually get the bits where they needed to be at times. I have skinned knuckles, cut fingers, a squashed thumb and now have three snapped spanners but do you know what, I enjoyed it and the test drive after was

IMO they are as reliable as anything else similar of their age, the one thing I will say is that I was surprised that I have no rust and I have inspected hard, this was something I was almost certain I would find given that it is a fiat and everybody said when I bought it . . rust buckets them, it'll fall apart within a couple of years. What do they know!

Proccy, yours has been a tale of woah. Respect you keep coming back for more.

Having spent 2 laborious days changing the turbo you cant beat that first test drive where you gingerly set off with eyes glued to every gauge there is, listening intently with the windows open, gently letting it warm up, then tentatively giving a little bit of throttle and letting it spool up, then suddenly, foot down, whoooOOOOOAAAAAARRRRRR - yes!

And then bang . . .oh b**ger!!!!!!!

I have just come back to the fold with my second 20 VT, you would not believe what i paid for it!!!..it was insanely cheap........
...reason being it had a very stiff gearstick, to the point where it was nigh on impossible to change gear, it had a major oil leak and the engine management/injector light was on, other than that, it is in superb condition and has obviously been well maintained in the past but due to these issues, had been standing for 7 mths with the MOT now expired!!!

Thanks to this forum, i have sorted the gearshift with the 'gearshift not centralising' technical how to. (Thanks chaps)
The oil leak was just the filter not seating correctly!
The engine management light was rectified by removing the battery overnight and re-fitting !!!! Amazing!!!

Now for the MOT tomorrow!.........Fingers crossed here but i have a good feeling

ps, my previous '98 20VT in portofino gave me no trouble at all in the 6 mths i had it!........i have the same optomism about my new turbo.

I'd say they can be ultra-reliable, but we need to put a proper service schedule together to achieve this.
A lot of failures are the result of overlooked service items like radiators, power steering tensioners, Aux belts, and so on.
What I battle against mostly is rust on anything Fiat chose to paint black or gold.
Surely this community has enough experience to put a mileage on all of these things?

7 years of 98% flawless ownership

2% = bulb replacement, odd remote central on some days and thermostat issue..ohh and a dead battery i.e. nothing major.

Ultra reliable, never ever let me down in any weather or situation.

Secret of my success = replaced every worn part with the most expensive alternative, bilsteins, SS exhaust, HIDs, DBA brake discs, rally brake pads etc.

I earn well, so spend on her handsomely = 2-3K year. It may sound bad but annoyed on how reliable she is, as it means never think of a new car

Last coupe I had never broke down once in over a year.....got shot of it after.
Missed it so bought another and this has not let me down in the 6 months I have had it........have spent mega bucks on servicing and things though.
With the proper maintenance,I am sure they are as reliable as any car.
ps.....learnt the first time so this one is going nowhere.
Paul

A good friend of mine loves BMW's. He has a 5 year old 330 Coupe and a 5 Series from the late 80's. Every time I see him he asks "Has your car caught fire yet?" Each time I reply "no it hasn't"

Then I ask him about his BMW's. Both of them have been a complete money pit. I don't think either has actually broken down, however he possibly spends more some months on maintenance that I do in a year.

Just goes to show doesn't it that some perceived premium brands are not actually as reliable as you might think. Sure, the Coupe requires regular preventative maintenance to keep it in tip top condition but other more expensive cars often require much more tlc.

Mine's now past 200000km's (had it since 84400km (2002)) and it just keeps rolling.. Considering the tuning level it's just amazing.

I've spent a lot of money getting mine to a reliable level and love it. I had to use the brakes for real today and it amazed me just how quickly i came to a stop and i have kept it standard (drilled discs on an LE).