Faults:

Missing door grommet from new.

Faulty rear seat belt from new.

Welding breaking and stress fractures to door hinges - this is a big safety concern.

Clutch is not heavy duty enough; hold the car on the clutch for a while and it will start to burn.

General Comments:

When we purchased the car, the one rear seat belt was faulty. Had a real battle with the main dealer to rectify the fault. They then damaged the rear trim in the process. The dealer looked at it (a very nasty little man) (the trim was loose and flapped around) and said "they were built like that" (so he was basically saying the build quality is rubbish). I disagreed and pointed out it was not like that on the other side, so he then changed tack and said "we must have done it" (ridiculous). I then pulled the interior trim away so I could see inside and could see that the fixings had been broken by the dealership, he reluctantly agreed to replace it, no apology forthcoming.

I have since gone to a different dealer, which involves me driving an extra 40 miles round trip, but worth it as they are much more help-full.

The most recent and worrying fault is defective welding with stress fractures appearing, namely the drivers door hinges are coming away. The welding on the top hinge is almost completely broken. I see from the posts I am not the only person to have this problem. I am about to take this up with the dealer; it will be interesting to see what they do now the warranty is up? Will let you know.

Mechanically the car is sound and very nice to drive. We love the Multipla's practical design, functionality and low running costs. They are very good value for money, but the welding issue does raise a lot of safety concerns. Fiat please sort out your quality control.

Faults:

At 200 miles the engine control warning light came on and the car suffered a drop in power whilst travelling along the M6. A main Fiat dealer diagnosed a 'clogged particulate filter', fixed things, and the car performed satisfactorily for the next 600 miles when the engine control light came on again with a similar loss of power. A different main dealer has been unable to fix things despite involvement with Fiat and the installation of a replacement engine management control unit. The latest theory is a software problem and I am informed that Fiat are 'close to a solution'. In the meantime I have a brand new car that has been off the road for nearly 3 weeks.

General Comments:

Comfortable and fun to drive and with particularly good all-round vision, but what a pity about this engine management problem.