2008 FIAT SEDICI reviews

Fiat Sedici Van 2008

This FIAT Sedici business has been an adventure. Similar to the review above I’ve had enormous trouble with the gearbox and the transfer box resulting in many tows/lifts from many different places. AA calling out, etc. etc. Mucho trouble with the running gear. Odd, considering Suzuki are meant to be the experts at 4x4s. I get this amazing noise from the differential on full lock. My mechanic (not FIAT’s) informed me when he was servicing the Sedici last year that there was no oil in the differential. This is peculiar because the first year of it’s life on the road spent at least four months in a FIAT main dealer garage. This eventually got so bad with the drive-shaft or gearbox thrashing itself so regularly that an ’expert’ from FIAT England had to come over to investigate. Needless to say the only one to benefit from all this was the FIAT main dealer because it was all warranty work that they got paid for. First the transfer box could not be ordered without the gearbox so it was repaired and then the gearbox was repaired when it went again and all I got were reports and a Sedici that clapped out soon after. Having had my fill of in and outness from the garage; e-mails back and forth from FIAT Assistance I decided to threaten legal action in a very long nasty sounding e-mail in Italian and Irish and since your man came over from England the problem hasn’t re-occurred . . . . Although there’s a new oil leak under the gearbox now where it parks. As mentioned above the engine is a rocket! Good for 220kmh. It will get you out of any bother if you need to whisk out of someone’s way in a hurry. Problems with it cutting out at the traffic lights were solved by not actually trying to accelerate away but rather letting the engine move the car the first few inches and then apply the throttle. There was always a problem with immediate acceleration from start-up, unlike normally aspirated diesels where the power is there for the asking. When the engine is started you need to check for a tiny waver on the rev counter during tick-over which (to me) indicated that the computer had caught up (woken up more like) with the agenda of the moment and ’allowed’ you to accelerate to your heart’s content. Failure to observe this resulted in two of the most annoying habits the Sedici has. Number 1. The vehicle sits there and does nothing. I can floor the throttle in 1st gear and there is no response. I can’t release the clutch because I know it’ll cut out, so I up and down on the pedal like a nut seeking a hint of a rev . . . not happening. So, off with the engine and start again. The lights turn red and we all just wasted half a mile or a minute’s time. I don’t know how many hundreds of times this happened but I eventually sussed the rev counter needle flicker after starting and no throttle yet. Now I’m an ace at ’start n go’ in the Sedici. Number 2. is when the acceleration and the clutch don’t match up as you would normally expect and the engine just clunks to a stop. Numerous times this has happened at traffic lights, gates, side roads, and furious acceleration just to get going is not the most eco of solutions. It’s a car you have to learn! Now with nearly 99km on the clock the whole thing is loosening up and getting more economical. I’m currently at 6.3L/100km. The most I got out of a tankful (small tank at 50L) was 835km for 46 liters a few months after buying it - never to be repeated because I lowered the tyre profile by 5. But I reckon it’s as economical as the rest. I will say, though, FIAT were very helpful and on the ball during the first year of troubled motoring. Since I started using my own mechanic (complete with out of date dongles) I’ve had none of it. I had great fun in the snow and ice with the four wheel drive but I couldn’t throw the car around like the old Mirafirori or the 306s. One more thing, again repeating what written above - the seats need rethinking and the fabric is woeful! Within a year I need to re-upholster two front seats, it’s that bad . . If you’re going to buy one, make sure it’s had all it’s gearbox problems already. By the way. 2nd gear is impossible to select until it’s warm so be patient