Fiat to take over Chrysler??

Getix ha scritto:

It has to be said that quality issues mainly had come from one specific manufacturing plant (Pomigliano d'Arco) that has been reorganized. Believe me, i haven't even got any Fiat/Alfa/Lancia.

Bye,

Yes, well, Daimler-Benz tried that ...

As regards Fiat cars, they are said not to rust on the assembly line anymore...

A few years ago, when booking a car to hire at Milan airport -- trying to get an Alfa Romeo -- I had a chance to speak to the Avis station manager about the quality of Alfas. He said he would never buy one and himself had an Opel (GM-owned), IIRC.

In fact the Alfa 147 I hired was a great-looking little car with a punchy

1.9 l (turbo-) diesel, but some warning light wouldn't go out... The following year I booked another 147 and it had no problems the whole fortnight.

So the answer for driving Fiats/Alfas is... make sure you have no responsibility for maintenance.

DAS

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Goodness, you were smitten by a PT! Dreams of Bonnie & Clyde...?...

:-) DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"

My wife has lusted after a PT Cruiser ever since they first came out. In December, we finally retired her 255,000 mile Vision TSi for a lightly used 2005 PT Touring. I just handed the keys and title for the Vision over to the new owner today- thus closes the chapter on one of the best cars I've ever owned, but I digress.

I wasn't expecting much from the PT, other than a very happy wife, low fuel bill, and purchase price that was unbelievably low. Its a

4-cylinder: strike one. Its transverse-engine front-drive: strike 2. Its small: strike 3. It seemed to derive its whole market share from its styling: strike 4. Should have been out at 3 ;-)

But damn, after a month of ownership I'm IMPRESSED with the little thing! Its got a solid feel like few other cars I've driven that were built in the past 20 years. ESPECIALLY unlike small cars. Its quiet. Its smooth. It actually handles remarkably well for its height/width ratio and simplistic (but rugged) suspension. Its actually got GREAT headlamps from the factory. The interior is unbelievably practical and useful- lots of different ways to reconfigure the seating and cargo areas. Its no speed demon (a lot less power than the old Vision) but its not a pig either. Everything about it just exudes "well put-together" in a way that most modern small cars don't.

Too bad they didn't replicate that feel with the Compass, Caliber, and Patriot. :-(

Dori A Schmetterl> Goodness, you were smitten by a PT! Dreams of Bonnie & Clyde...?... >

"Dori A Schmetterling" wrote in news: snipped-for-privacy@pipex.net:

After 40 years of driving and owning cars from Volvo's to Audi's to Olds and a multitude of others; my 2001 PT Cruiser is the most reliable, trouble free car I've ever owned. Bought it new late in 2000. It's the smallest, slowest car I've ever owned and had had the most fun with it and made more friends with it. I know a lot of people slam them, but that's OK with me. I love mine.

Jeez Steve, I thought I was the only one....although I would give a classic Ferrari a long, second look.

I still remember stopping dead in my tracks at the turd-brown plain '66 or

67 charger with the baby moons, hidden exhausts and the tiny little 'HEMI' emblem on the front fender at Hershey a few years ago,

Mark in Harrisburg

Opel? LOL. Do you know that Opel uses FIAT's turbo diesel?

What about multilink and double wishbone suspension?

I'm sure it's better the Astra's torsion beam and McPherson. LOL.

Even here (UK) I have heard/read a number of positive reports about the PT Cruiser in tems of capaciousness and quality. But the styling... it's a bit like Marmite. You either love it (like me) or hate it (my 11-yr-old boy). (I must ask him what he thinks of the Cruiser next time we pass one.)

DAS

To send an e-mail directly replace "spam" with "schmetterling"

I think he was talking of overall reliability. From my personal observations in the Milan/northern Italy region I don't think Alfa has the market share even in Italy one might expect it to have.

Personally I think the Alfa 147 is the nicest-looking in its class.

5-door: The 159 Estate is pretty cool, too. Click on appropriate button on site after following the above link

DAS

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I know. We have in our Enterprise fleet ALFA - 159/147 - and FIAT - Grande Punto/Croma. I know those automobiles pretty well. :)

Don't tell anyone, but a Lambo Miura makes me drool too ;-)

Jay Leno's Hemi Coronet is a perfect example of a super-sleeper like that. Avacado green, bench seats, everything-delete option, goes like stink. :-)

Its a funny thing how razor-thin the "love/hate" line is, too. Some colors on a PT ruin the whole car for me. The convertible just looks all wrong. And the Chevy HHR (same concept, designed BY THE SAME DESIGNER after he was hired away by GM) looks and feels horrible to me. I will give him credit, he drew on Chrysler history to style the PT, and on GMC truck history to style the HHR. But the HHR just doesn't work for to my eyeballs, but the PT does. And I'm sure there are others who feel the opposite.

For good or bad, my whenever I see the HHR from the front, my fist thought is "Studebaker pickup truck".

I had to look up the Lambo, I like it....

The problem is Chrysler hasn't been offering cars many want since 2004. As a result Chrysler's sales have been dropping for years.

Honda and Toyota make very reliable small cars. The NA manufacturers always make cheap less reliable small cars.

I rented a Fiat Uno in the UK in the 80s. It was spacious, but not designed for my 6' body to drive. I shouldn't have been driving it as the steering wheel was too close to the brake & clutch for me to get the flat part of my foot on them. Very dangerous when braking quickly.

BTW I had this same leg room under the steering wheel problem with the Toyota Corolla, until they wisely added telescoping steering wheel on the current model.

The Fiat Uno ran OK and seemed peppy with a light push of the accelerator, but pushed harder there was no more power, just noise. Fuel mileage was reasonable at 44mpg (Imperial) highway, but not that great when you consider how small it was. IMO an OK town car, but definitely not a highway car for me.

Bite your tongue. Stude trucks are WAY more attractive than an HHR.

nate

(still dreaming of a 3/4 ton C-cab with 289 and the "big truck" 5/OD)

I looked at the PT when it came out. Two things turned me off.

1. The styling, particlarly the rear.
2. The board like rear seat back.

I didn't bother to test drive it, from what you say I missed it's greatness. A friend has one and experienced the common problem of the fog (?) light switch burning out and the dealer saying there was no fix. I suggested he just install a proper switch; he said no it wouldn't match. >:)