Re: OT: Buying Car Spares

It's a 1997 Fiat Cinquecento 900cc. Main bit I'm looking for is a new thermostat, as it's running a bit hot and I don't think the thermostat is opening fully. Perhaps also a new fan switch.

The thermostat you might get in Halfords. The fan switch might be a Fiat only part.

That sort of thing can be bought at any local Joe Bloggs corner car-parts shop can't it? Have a look on ebay as well. The websites that want the reg and full details, then send on your requirements to breakers yards and if a yard has what you want, they contact you.

I've used

a few times for various bits but you don't want to be messing about with a secondhand thermostat as they're only a few quid brand new. John

Take the thermo out and dip it in water that the engine temp per normal runs at? to see if its functioning properly.

What possed you to buy her a FIAT?

To be honest, if you take it out you might as well just replace it.

Replace the Fiat? I certainely would....

Mike P

The manual says that you need to use a new gasget when re-fitting the thermostat, so I might as well put a new one in if I remove the old one.

Small, cheap, low insurance.

2 other things to consider - radiator and water pump.

Perhaps because he doesn't believe in 30 year old stereotypes?

Change the coolant at the same time. Most require this every couple of years or so - and unless you know it has been done a good time to do it.

£10 worth of bits from any motor factors. If by gasket you mean O ring, you can get that at the same time.

In message , SteveH writes

Why, aren't you real or are you an older stereotype?

2007 J Power survey, care of What Car? Magazine. My bits in [brackets]

"29 Fiat Punto [out of 31 in class] Rating 74.9% Overall ranking 106th [out of 113]

...

The Punto scored poorly across the board, but its real Achilles heel was its quality and reliability: every part, from the switchgear to the seats and stereo, caused an above average number of complaints, and the suspension and engine were particularly weak points."

Andy

Ahh, yes, that's such an accurate survey.

That's the one that placed the Skoda Superb in the top 10 with the mechanically identical B5.5 Passat way down in 50th-ish place.

For that reason alone, I take absolutely no notice of it.

Maybe, just maybe, the Skoda is easier to build properly than the Passat? Later design than the Passat it's based on, and the Czechs appear to work a bit harder than the Wolfsburg crew.

From what I've been told, the VW's that are built away from Wolfsburg tend to be better made than the German ones. The Mexican built Beetles tend to have less faults per car than the German jobs.

That and Skoda drivers expecting more problems than VW ones, but getting better made, simpler cars that don't tend to break as often would quite possibly account for the JD Power results.

I'm always impressed when I drive a late model Skoda, but very rarely impressed with a new VW.

Erm, well, the outgoing Superb and the old B5.5 are identical, other than the Superb having an extra few inches in the floorpan.

I was comparing near-idential models.

Also, many of the comments made about the Passat's shortfalls and the Superb's strengths were to do with parts which would be made in a common facility.

Perception, innit.

The JD Power survey is a crock of s**te.

(There was a lease survey done a few years back where the Bravo family got pretty damned good results, but they got slated in the JD Power survey - mostly because the lease survey was done on actual data and not perceived issues)

But the Superb was a slightly later design wasn't it? Based on the B5.5, yes, but done slightly later.

A lot of the problems I've found with late model VWs tends to be to do with shoddy assembly. Wiring looms chafing, washer pipes dislodging that kind of malarky. Coil pack failure seems to be spread across the whole VAG range though (apart from Lamborghini and Bentley)

Partly, yes. But I find the Skodas to have better judged damping and ride than the VW equivalents. VWs tend to be biased towards motorway and A-roads, whereas the Skodas tend to be better suited for the worn out crater lined jokes the UK calls roads. Maybe it's because Czech roads are about the same as ours, whereas German ones tend to be in much better condition.

So the Bravo did badly because it actually broke, rather than feeling like it was about to break?

No, the Bravo family did well in a lease survey because it concentrated on stuff that actually did break. JD power results are based on people thinking it might break.

Ah, my mistake. As is obvious from my sig, I don't take much notice of these survey things.

If you know a better data source, please let us all know.

Here's an alternate - much more heavily subsetted, to avoid breaching copyright of a subscription service - Which? Magazine say of the Grande Punto (to choose a Fiat at random):

Brand Reliability: Poor Model Reliability: Breakdowns: Acceptable Faults: Very Poor Niggles: Acceptable.

Andy