We have a few long trips to make later this year with another family of three, and as much as i enjoy driving my old Chevy, 23mpg, lack of luggage space and poor reliability have conspired to put me off driving it several thousand miles. Been looking at a few people carriers and the Multipla has caught my eye, perfect on paper, seating for 6, significantly better than 23mpg and reasonable luggage space...

However, the internet seems to be littered with horror stories, so i was wondering if any of my Coupe owning peeps have also owned a Multipla and how you found it. Are the horror stories of dodgy trim, electrical issues and self destructing engines at all unfounded? Any specific faults i should look out for and any extras worth having?

I'd be looking at an early 'ugly bug' model.

Never driven a Multipla but surely a lot of the mechanicals are shared with other Fiats.

Eg the diesel engine is the 115 BHP one shared with the Stilo, etc. - the 80BHP version in my Stilo is still fine (until I drive ithome tonight probably!) at 112k miles and electrical issues appear to be a common problem to every car on the roads - just make sure it doesn't get a soaking under the bonnet.

I once rode in one and thought is was excellent, good ride, good visibility, robust and plenty of space.

Have you seen the vid of the one in E.Europe fitted with a 20VT engine

I have indeed and i just happen to have a spare 20vt engine etc sitting here.

Sadly, mrs jimbob's going to need alot of convincing as she says the idea is to improve fuel economy, so she's probably going to force me to buy a diseasel.

With the 3 rear seats in the boot space is crap.

Surely better than the Chevy though?

Boot space is okay. I've got a multipla and its the only mpv I'll ever buy now. So practical. Few problems but you'll get them with a 10 year old car.
I had a zafira before it which was alright but once the two seats were up in the boot you were left with......no boot.

I keep thinking I would rather like one as a tool, I dont see how they can be that bad when there based of well known platforms

Mind if i ask what problems you've experienced?

Engine related none except for exhaust downpipe.
I've fitted a new gearbox and clutch. This was only because the previous owner hadn't realised that the inner cv had split and had no gearbox oil in. I drove it like that from Birmingham to lands end and back for holiday and it still survived.
Cam belt and drive belts and full services.
Rear swing arm bearings, top front suspension mounts, drop links and arb bushes.
Mine is a 1999 1.6 sx model. No aircon but we ain't fussed. Only thing i can fault is that the heater blowers are weak and the handbrake freezes in the winter, but i sorted that by removing the cables and submerging them in old engine oil.
My friend at work bought one after seeing mine but he has had loads of problems with his just because he doesn't look after it and abuses it.
Check jacking points as sometimes these can rot through.
Apparently aswell the diesel engines go forever if maintained properly.
Mine has done 93000 and runs sweet but when it does die Im dropping in a 20vt.

Not much better I'll try and dig out a picture of mine 'loaded' for a family holiday. I had to go and buy a roof box because I couldn't squeeze in 2 full size suitcases and the rest of the stuff.

And as for mechanical problems, I've had less in 4 years of Renault Megane Grand Scenic ownership than I had in 18 months of Multicrap ownership!!

Thanks for that, Gavlar. I'd already read in quite a few reviews about the arb bushes/droplinks and the rear trailing arm bearings. After a couple of Coupes the handbrake issue's not really anything new. Hadn't heard about the poor heater blower or rotten jacking points though, i'll be sure to check those thoroughly.

bezzer, i'm afraid the Renault Megane Grand Scenic is waaaay off our shopping list, glad you've got a good one though. Did you have any serious mechanical issues in the 18 months of Multipla ownership, or was it a collection of smaller niggles?

Jim it was a collection of very annoying and sometimes expensive issues -

Wiper motor packing up, door mirror motor dying, central locking unit replaced as original was temperamental, relay for fan replaced.
Had to live with the handbrake warning light being on when handbrake was off and the abs light flashing occasionally, handbrake cables freezing like the coupe, rear wheel bearings, drop links, suspension mounts and sunroof seal.
Oil level sensor, constant rattle from speedo cable, temperamental alarm, 1 rear seat mechanism replaced as it broke, bonnet release catch replaced, drivers seatbelt mechanism replaced and the radio reception was rubbish!

Mine was a 07/07 1.9 Multijet Dynamic Plus.

It was probably a lemon but it cost me more than my 2 Galaxy's and my Grand Scenic did between them!

Just as an aside, have you considered the doblo? Drove one around Spain last year with four people+paragliding equipment on board, and really rather enjoyed it.

Citroen Xsara Picasso? 3 full adult size rear seats, and a boot. Also doubles as a capable van with the rear seats down. And can come with a soft top roof for extra top down sun fun!

Family had a 1.9 JTD original from new.

Epic car. One of the best cars I have ever seen / had. Fun drive, once remapped it was a hoot. Couldn't recommend enough. Only problem we had was the interior seats wore a little but this was fixed on later models.

and the fact it is bug ugly!

bezzer, it does sound like you got a bad one, sadly i've seen alot of reviews very similar to yours.

barnacle, does the Doblo not only have 5 seats? We really need 6 minimum, 4 adults & 2 baby seats. It would also feel like i was still at work....

Hovedan, same thing with the 'picasso, is that not just for 5? I could possibly be tempted otherwise, haven't owned a citroen since the old BX.

I think there are 2 versions of the Picasso Jim, the one with 7 seats is based on the C4, the smaller one on C3 mechanicals.

Jim, do you mind me asking what your budget is? And also what cars you don't want?

Ah, okey dokey, i shall investigate further.




As i already own 5 cars, which is fast becoming a very expensive hobby, this one will probably just be used for the year then moved on once i pop a new engine in the 'short bus', so i'm really not willing to go much higher than £2000, unless something really sticks and i end up with 6...

The only cars i really can't come to terms with are those like the Zafira, with the 2 pointless inaccessible tiny boot seats, sadly quite a few mpv's seem to be made that way.

As Pete says

Ah Jim, I missed the six seats requirement. Sorry!

One with body coloured bumpers is a must. If you get the tope end model they do not look bad. Even more so with the Abarth kit.

all the early type look crap no matter what fiberglass tat you decide to bolt on

You can get a 7 seater doblo.

Just to add that the 1st generation Picassos were all 7 seaters and would come in under the £2k budget. They were based on Xsara mechanicals.

or a fiat ulysse seven seater jtd?
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/2004-Fiat-Ulys...=item2ec22ba22a

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fiat-Ulysse-2-...=item1c2f1ba835

Our 1.9 jtd 16v is on 163k atm and no signs of dying as yet.

No worries Neil, i've said in a couple of van related posts that i'm a fan of the Doblo anyway, best vehicle we have in our fleet. That however would be the biggest set back as i don't think i could handle driving one for work, then hopping straight into another to drive for 9-10 hours.



Just reading between the lines here... And correct me if i'm wrong... But i somehow sense that you don't like the Multipla much?

Coupedummy, i'm liking the look of the Ulysse. I'll check out a couple of reviews.

Jim, I had a van version of the Ulysse, badged as a Peugeot with a 1.9 turbo diesel engine back in the late 1990's.

It was a first rate bit of kit and only ever went in for routine servicing in the 3 years and 90000 odd miles I ran it from new.

I still see it being driven about by the local building company who bought it off me in 1999.

You can get the passenger versions badged as Citroen or Peugeot as well as Fiat.