1992 Fiat Tempra 1.6 petrol
Summary:
A good car it may be, but spoilt by poor back up service!
Faults:
Engine stall if caught in a jam for an hour or so, will start and run like nothing happened after 15 minutes.
The carburettor is so complicated, many vacuum/pressure lines to connect, even the agent's mechanics are not sure how to deal with them.
The problem was never solved, so this car is only fit for domestic use within Singapore, could not go to Malaysia because of the possible jams!
Fiat refused to sell a service manual even though their workshop could not fix the car properly.
General Comments:
Fiat should not sell their cars in Singapore, cars here are expensive and servicing is costly. If their mechanics are not experienced/well trained, and they refuse to sell service manuals for owners to help in maintaining their car, they should not be in the market at all! It is unfair to the consumer here.
Very often a Fiat owner have to wait for spare part to arrive, and the worst is, their reliability is horrible! Their cars are not built for tropical usage.
My temperature gauge failed two years back, the agent said I had to change the whole instrument panel for S$ 2000 plus!
Stay away from Fiat, all tropical country people.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No
Review Date: 25th December, 2000
9th Dec 2002, 06:47
Concerning your engine stall problem: I had exactly the same problem with a Fiat Regata. It was a "thermal" short-circuit in the digiplex ignition control unit. Whenever the temperature in the engine compartment would be high (as is especially the case in a traffic jam), the unit would just stall the engine. Going full speed for hours on the highway was no problem, because of the good under-hood ventilation.
A replacement of the digiplex unit solved the problem permanently. By the way - the Fiat service is really lousy. The dealer told me "Fiat electronics NEVER fail", but wanted to sell me the part for the equivalent of 550 US$.
I got my unit from a used part dealer for 180 US$. This guy told me, that a lot of people asked for the same part because of a similar problem.
Bye
Martin, Austria.