Faults:

The day after I got my car it started beeping and showing warnings about faulty ABS and faulty EBD, worn brake pads, ENG_CTRL FAULT... each fault I reported to the dealer and the computer was reset, the fault vanished... apparently the computer in these cars are very very sensitive.

General Comments:

The car is nippy for a people carrier, it drives like a much smaller car. It's ideal for a family - we have 4 children, nice, roomy and comfy. A very quiet ride and a pleasure to drive.

Faults:

Had new radiator fitted when bought.

Engine wasn't checked for oil when serviced.

General Comments:

The car was the ugliest car I had seen until I sat in it and saw how well laid out the interior was.

Love all the space that is in the cabin even with full load it is still quick and fun to drive.

Also you have all these aux power points for your cooler, camcorder, or your portable TV, ect.

Wife hated being in the car before we got this one now i can't get her out.

Went down south with it twice and felt great when we got out car is very comfortable and easy to drive.

Faults:

A little bit of wear around the radio and ashtray area.

General Comments:

This car is just brilliant! Before we bought one, I must admit I was curious about the adventurous design of the Multipla.

In a conservative motoring country like New Zealand, any car that is not Japanese or Australian tends to stand out a bit.

My wife adored the looks of the car, and while not being a "car person" she just fell for it.

Why is it so good? Well, the interior design is terrific, it is very economical, and has enough grunt to transport nearly every combination of our family. Its small, easy to park in the city, yet has more interior space than most station wagons and four wheel drives.

The kids love sitting in the full size middle front seat on a journey, especially at night when the dash console lights up like a spaceship.

I've figured out that by removing two rear seats, I can comfortably seat 4 passengers and still have more load space than my much larger Holden Commodore Wagon.

The seats are a breeze to either fold up or remove completely.

The only change I would like to suggest is a longer wheel base version for even more luggage space.

Its a very smartly thought out car, making it hard to put up with the grey and black plastic interior of most new cars.

Faults:

At delivery the car was covered with stone chips, there were well over 50, many over 3mm across. It is a black car and it looked like it had ash all over the front.

On delivery the drivers mirror often would not retract, it took 4 attempts to get the right mirror.

On delivery the rear parcel shelf had missing rubbers and rattled.

On delivery it had an old set of Punto mats with holes in the driver's mat.

1 headlight, both fog lights and both front indicators have had serious water entry, indicators several times.

Internal trim on rear nearside door pillar falling off, still not fixed.

Drivers seatbelt buckle jammed and would not do up.

General Comments:

I love the car, it is very practical for a family of 3 plus in laws. Our 6 year old can join us in the front and this has made long journeys much better.

Some call it ugly, I like it. From where I am sitting when driving it looks great, it is a bit like driving a greenhouse, but what visibility!

I love my ugly bug, every time I get in it is like stepping into a Tardis. It is comfortable, ever so easy to drive and park despite it's width and incredibly practical.

Performance is adequate, fuel consumption pretty good, but I have marked down running costs because of the massive cost of servicing.

What would I change?

I would like a long wheel base version as although boot space is OK as far as volume is concerned it is very difficult to get suitcases to fit.

The climate control only goes down to 18 degrees which is too hot.

The local dealer is appalling and the next nearest is 40 miles away, they promise to phone and don't, give me a barely roadworthy bottom of the range midget Fiat when they do manage to provide a pool car, order wrong parts repeatedly and have no pride in their work.

The car was in a disgraceful state when I collected it and hadn't even been properly washed.

The car has been in the garage at least 6 times in the year I have had it, and only one of these for a service. All of the faults have been fairly trivial, but they rarely fix them first time.

The build quality is very poor, my wife has a Fiat Punto she bought new and this has had only a couple of minor problems so it seems to be Multiplas rather than Fiat. What concerns me is what is going to go wrong after it is out of warranty?

Faults:

Loses left hand channel on stereo when rear wiper switched on, dealer cannot fix.

Delivered with headlights all pointing different directions, sorted by dealer after 2 month wait.

Black electrical unit hangs loosely against the steering column down near clutch pedal, dealer just ignored when asked to sort this out.

Main beam lamps mist up, dealer not interested.

General Comments:

This is a great design, with some niggling problems in the build quality.

Servicing, at a main dealer in London, is worse than useless and expensive. They frequently ignore requests to do certain jobs, fail to have parts available for jobs booked two weeks earlier, lie about readiness of the vehicle, fail to obtain promised parts and charge £300 for a basic service. I will not buy another Fiat due to the poor dealer support.