Used Car Roadshow

Im going to the used car roadshow next weekend as the "buyer of the week" Im looking to buy a fiat coupe 20v turbo but they also supply 3 other cars to test drive which are:

Peugeot 406 coupe:

Toyota Celica:

BMW 3 series:

has anyone owned one of the other cars? what are your thoughts compaired to the coupe?

Rich

Rich,
When will show be shown on T.V?
Havent driven any of the cars but dont think can touch coupe for style, performance, practicality especially at the price.

To be frank, it depends what you are looking for from your purchase in terms of power, handling, build quality, reliability, servicing costs, comfort etc.

The Fiat Coupe 20v turbo is undoubtedly a very quick and entertaining car, easily the pick of the bunch on looks, acceleration, raw performance and speed, but servicing costs can be monstrous if you buy one with 'issues' that need addressing. I am speaking from raw experience here. You have to buy on condition and servicing history alone. Buy wrong and it will hit you hard in the wallet to rectify. Need to take an expert along with you when buying one who knows what he's looking at.

Known weak points a few examples: Corroded oil cooler and pipes 400 quid to renew. Interference engine, if the cambelt or an auxiliary belt goes taking the cambelt with it, it will trash valves and pistons so prob engine replacement. Mega money, cheapest is 750 quid for a used engine plus 500 odd quid fitting. Debris from valves could also trash the turbo. Cambelt service at 72,000 or 5 years is 500 quid, but belts have been known to fail much sooner resulting in the above! New clutch 400 quid, Turbo 500-800 quid. Cracked exhaust manifold 200-300 quid to renew. Front wishbones 200 odd quid to replace, Italian electrics arggh! You start getting the picture?

I would class the car as an iconic design which is still capable of turning heads and surprising the uneducated with its raw power, hee hee especially some of the BMW fraternity. Can be easily modded from 220bhp to 250 bhp plus. Looks very nice in a black leather interior and has good spec. Crap lumbar support on the seat though.

At the risk of being torched here I would say the BMW would offer far better build quality and good rear wheel drive handling, cheaper servicing, would go wrong less often, but here's the rub - much more conservative performance. Again the Celica will prob be exceptionally reliable but the best it can muster is the 190bhp format, trounced by the Coup on performance again chucking out a standard 220bhp. The Pug again prob v good ride and steering but the styling just doesn't do it for me even with the Pininfarina credentials. Also, performance is nowhere near that of the fast Fiat.

A quick summary then. If you want super fast, an iconic design, nice spec e.g leather, aircon, abs, airbags etc, but with some maddening servicing and build quality issues go coupe. plus the handling/steering through bends is less than excellent. E.g Power steering feels too light/understeer.

Stick on here for brilliant advice, and collective empathy on the motor. Always go to the independent specialists for servicing, never the main stealers. Coupe, you know it makes sense, doesn't it?

Lights blue touch paper and retires to safe distance ....

I think it will be transmitted in april/may time ill find out when im there and post it on the forum

I'm probably thinking more with my heart than my head but the other cars listed are so souless but as you say they will cost less in the longterm as they are more likely to have higher reliablity.

Hopefully Mr morgan and Mr Stanley will still be talking to me this time next year!!

I would have said build quality was quite good seeing as it wasnt built by fiat I was expecting it to be poor but its actually quite good compared to the other fiats I have owned. the rest is all down to routine maintenance. Forget it and regret it.

I would prefer to eat my dogs vomit than buy a Peugeot Coupe.

Am not saying build quality is that bad, but for example, I didn't get paint flaking off my bumper whilst washing my car or irritating cabin squeaks and plastic panels falling off with my BM. Also despite being galvanised, the Coop body is far from bomb proof with regards to rust in the wheel arches etc. Just making potential buyer beware. Agree with the comment on the Pug.

The others just leave me cold, except if the BeeEm is a 328 or above, what is your budget?

Expect them to quote £1200 for a cambelt change so you can of course correct them. The Coupe is not cheap to run (buy a Seicento) but DON'T have to cost the earth.

The Pug was allegedly penned at the same time-ish as the Coop but the lines on the Fiat are more swoopy and, for their time, were way more radical.

The Pug may be quicker in 2.7 V6 flavour (anyone) but was IIRC more of a motorway cruiser so higher geared.

Surprised they didn't do the Hyundai as a comparison!

The Celica is just dull... Clarkson once talked about Japs not knowing how to do soul.. and if you look at the Celica, you'll probably agree!!

TwinBarrels I have to agree with most of that except cheaper servicing on a BMW! The BMW inspection 3 is like assuming the position in a prison shower.
An inspection '3' from BMW cost me £700+vat after they changed my water pump because it was a tad noisy, never again BMW never again.
mind you saying that it was the main dealer, had I'd found a specialist it would have been cheaper but then their is an element of snobbery of having BMW stamps in the book makes the car easier to sell.

was guna look at buying a 406 coupe,but sat in one and the interior is boring as hell.same as estate ,saloon etc and quite slow.bought the fiat coupe to be different

LDN you hit the nail on the head when you said main dealer.
Ever had a quote from a Fiat Main Dealer?

I think we're all agreed its best both on expertise and pricing to stick with the specialists whatever the brand.

The cars in question on this line up are all at least 6 years old so I don't think the main dealer stamp is that important at this age. Agree on that on new there is an issue if you are trading it after 3 or 4 years.

I had good inde servicing on the BM and it cost nowhere near as much to maintain on the coupe. Still got it on the driveway with 160,000 on the clock.

Hi...

Just done some quick research on the pug 406...according to the reviews on this car the 3 litre V6 could only manage 0-60 in 7.8 seconds??!!

Seems a bit slow for a huge engine??

Dan

Its a weightier car and as already mentioned the gearing is all set up for motorway cruising, vice balls out acceleration.

A local used car dealer has a mint looking one up for sale at the mo at a tad under 4 grand in a rather fetching pale yellow.

Not as in your face as the Coop's broom yellow. Can definitiely tell Pininfarina has styled the motor but not as curvy as the Coop at the end of the day. Horses for courses and all that. Need for speed.

have a peek in the video section of the forum...my 20v na was on it a while back - Jason likes them...penny didnt think they flicked her bean!!!

The Pug Coupe design was rejected by Fiat who then went on to design their own (nicer) one

Presumably, because they didn't want to make their own 406 to base it on

I'm now the owner of Tommy's coupe

There should be some good footage of the coupe on the show as they did a really good "drive by" shot of me driving it. Apologies in advance for the commentary as I only know a little about the Fiat Coupe atm (except for the potential impact of repairs to the car on my credit card) but trying to learn more using the forum!

It's being shown on ITV4 at 7pm starting next month on Wednesdays not sure which episode it will be as they tend to mix them up its not in the order they shoot them.

Cars new home in London so give me a flash if you see me

I saw this weeks about the junior exec diesel estates but think missed week before, has the coupe been on yet, know which week it will be on?

Rich,

Looks like your appearance is being screened on ITV4 Wed 2nd May @ 8pm, then repeated on Saturday 5th @ 7pm

 Quote:

Next week buyer of the week Richard Thomas sets Jason the challenge to find him a sporty car for under £3,000. Jason and Penny take a look at Jason's latest Free Motoring offering, an Aston Martin DB7. Pipes will tell you everything you need to know about windscreen wipers and Zoe is back at the auction ring with buyers Anna and Robert. Wednesday 2nd May 20:00 - 21:00

Have set my reminder already...lol

I was just going to post this link http://www.usedcarroadshow.co.uk/

With the details of this weeks show but it looks like ive been beaten to it.

It's hollywood or bust for me now

I wonder what muppet woman has to say about the coop this time ? I really do dislike her and the thought of tuning in to that show depresses me. But I probably will still watch tho.

My Sky planner shows it at 7pm and not 8pm

As does Digiguide

But ITV website still says 8

watched it today, he gives the coupe a good prod and you can see it rip him into his seat, the lady on the show didnt seem keen on the coupe! the guy, who was actualy on the 1st series of the new top gear (pre james may) seemed to get quite excited about it. All in all defo worth a watch as a coupe fan.

Don't know about BM's being cheaper to run and more reliable. One of my best mates runs a specialist garage and for years he's said that if it wasn't for BM'S breaking (mostly electrics) he would be running an ordinary garage instead of a specialist one to make money.

I'm on my 4th Coupe because I find them easy to look after as long as they are reularily serviced, and touch wood I've never had big expense.