Fiat Coupe 20v Turbo

[Adamp]

Hey Guys,

Does anybody or has anybody have any experience on a fiat coupe 20v turbo, I have a friend who is looking to buy one for back and forth to work but is not sure if it will break every two minutes and what is it like on fuel.

He has been on the Fiat Coupe Owners Club forum and they say that they are are built very solid if maintained well regardless of mileage and can return 28-30mpg for average driving.

Any comments much appreciated good or bad.

[Jonboy_t]

Immense cars when maintained well, will eat your bank account if not!!!

[Pilgrim20vt]

There are a lot of good threads already on here. The FCCUK forum is excellent it's not unreasonable to believe them.

Before anyone writes it: cam belt change is NOT an engine out job. Servicing should be done at one of the many reliable specialists.

They are great cars.

Edited by Pilgrim20vt on Thursday 15th April 23:12

[spaceship]

Pilgrim20vt said:

There are a lot of good threads already on here.

Agreed. Do a search or scan a few pages.

The last post on this one was today!

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

[kambites]

Pilgrim20vt said:

Before anyone writes it: cam belt change is NOT an engine out job.

It's still a pain in the arse, though.

[dylan0451]

Pilgrim20vt said:

Before anyone writes it: cam belt change is NOT an engine out job. Servicing should be done at one of the excellent specialists.

that's what i've heard by the bucket also. can you support the engine and take the mount off then?

[kambites]

dylan0451 said:

that's what i've heard by the bucket also. can you support the engine and take the mount off then?

My understanding from when I looked at buying one, was that you have to lift one end of the engine up a few inches to get access to things. You can do it with a trolley jack though, you don't need a crane.

[Adamp]

Thanks for your comments so far guys I think he is feeling a bit more positive about the vehicle now.

Best bang for your buck as they say!

[Adamp]

Can anybody think of any other cars which can give you the same bang for your buck in the £1500 - £2000 area?

[kambites]

Adamp said:

Can anybody think of any other cars which can give you the same bang for your buck in the £1500 - £2000 area?

There are plenty of things that will be faster, but probably not many that can also offer the same level of usability. Obvious competitors are things like the Alfa GTV V6, Corrado VR6, Integra Type-R (perhaps a bit over 2k for a good one). Maybe a 200SX, although it lacks the style.

Edited by kambites on Thursday 15th April 22:17

[Crafty_]

known for running hot, eventually leads to head gasket failure..

[Pilgrim20vt]

Crafty_ said:

known for running hot, eventually leads to head gasket failure..

rubbish

[Vidal Baboon]

Crafty_ said:

known for running hot, eventually leads to head gasket failure..

Never had any run hot & never heard anything about that tbh.

I've had two, bought my first one for around the £7OOO mark a few years ago. Standard 20VT in portofino Blue, and took a punt ona very cheap 20VT in silver that had been remapped.
Only had minor issues with both, the silver one had a problem with the alarm key fob.
Which reminds me, make sure it comes with the red key!

People bang on about the cambelt being a big deal. A good indy can get it done for sub £400. It costs about that for it on my Passat!

Other than checking for rust in usual places- the Coupe is pretty well screwed together
The main 3 areas are:

Cambelt
Clutch
Cracked Manifold which manifests itself as a ticking noise.

All 3 of those are expensive to do, and IMO are one of the main reasons people get rid of them. And probably why the have the reputation of costing a fortune to keep going. Plucky new owners land a +£600 bill and moan on the internetz.
If it's cheap, it may need one or more of those jobs looking at, so bear them in mind and bater hard!

They make a wonderful noise and are very fast in a straight line. Good luck with the hunt! My money would go on a sprint blue 20VT.


ETA, another thing that I just remembered- oil cooler and pipes- check the condition of those. They have a habit of rusting out & cost a bit to replace.

Edited by Vidal Baboon on Thursday 15th April 22:39

[Crafty_]

Saw several in the early 2000s that were running hot and probably had been for some time, all lost compression.
What was causing it I couldn't say - bit of a pig to bleed if I remember rightly.

Meant to be pretty quick for their time though.

[Pilgrim20vt]

Crafty, I'll still call you on that. Don't know where you were looking. The owner's club is a hotbed of paranoia where every possible fault is echoed and re-echoed to the point of absurdity, running hot and CHG problems are just never mentioned. In fact when one of the owners did have a CHG problem it was poured over as a real rarity.

The engines do not like running on low oil.
The oil cooler pipes are vulnerable to rot and damage.
the anc belt can go and take out the cam belt.
One or two of the sensors have been known to cause real buggerance problems
Turbos get old and smokey
The manifold cracks on the 5th stem

All the above can be sorted by good maintenance.

But running hot and CHG issues don't arise.

Edited by Pilgrim20vt on Thursday 15th April 22:51

[gj88]

See here;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

here;

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

and here for pictures

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a... (soon to be updated with a sound clip)

[Ed.M]

I had a 20V Turbo Plus for several years and loved it.

No mechanical,electrical or engine issues.

A great buy now too. Get a plus or an LE though as they have the better seats and a few other cosmetic bits.