Fiat Doblo 1.9 Multijet Review/Buyers Guide

Is the Doblo the best MPV/Van for under £2k?!

Just a note on reliability for all the people thinking about buying one of the diesel Multijet engines.
Since this video I have had a number of unfortunate issues with this car.
EGR (Exhaust gas recirculation valve) - The solenoid failed and needed replacing – Symptom / Engine light come on – The engine does run better when this fails!
Alternator free wheel clutch pulley seized – This was the cause for my auxiliary belt tensioners to fail so often. To do this this job to need to take the alternator out of the car, which is a very long/difficult job, which includes removing most of the suspension from the right side of the car, and even when you do get to this stage, the pulley maybe so seized on – like mine – they you need to buy a new alternator!
Suspension top mount bolts sheared when trying to access alternator – Needed new top mount.
Water leak – New water pump needed, which involves removing the timing belt!
These from reading on the forums seem to be relatively common issues, so makes sure there is history of them being done when buying these engines.

Stay tuned to see all the following repairs!

[michaelwaldock]

You are really good at this. Well presented with lots of useful unbiased information and humours.
I'm enjoying them enormously, please keep going.

[rudolphbondefangerer]

The only thing I do not like about the Doblo, is that the driver seat is to far away from the door. You can not rest your left arm (or for you people that are driving on the wrong side of the road, right arm) on the door. The door is waaaay out there, comming from VW Transporters its almost scary that theres so much space around you when driving these things. Oh, and the steeringwheel is to small, its almost impossible to steer the thing with your knee while rolling a cigaret. Even with the steeringwheel way down low, where you cant see the instruments. So, roll up what you need, place a block of foam on the door to rest your left (or right) arm, and its a great little big car.

[vincemarshall]

i have the 2002 1.9, been a great van reliability wise but its a shame they attract so much rust but i try to keep it alive as long as i can because its so handy

[sbomorse]

I've just bought a wheelchair accessible Doblo with the 1.4 engine. Only 39K miles from new and a full service history.
It does 38-40MPG which I'm really surprised about.
The Doblo was also the best driving Van/Van MPV on the market when it came out.

[andrewcrookes]

Great review as I didn't know that regarding the DPF so 2006 /2008 is the way forward for my mountain biking

[karlos]

I've had a dpf delete and remap on a 120, absolutely flies, probably around 150/160 now. Just remember a full clutch is quite expensive, 170 quid for a fly wheel and a big job. First motion shaft bearing and seal around 50quid. That being said, it's a real workhorse. Have no idea what to replace it with when it dies.

[georgegeorge]

Ford touran is another verry good competitor! They have one long version, witch i Think is a little biger

[kwakkers]

Are there parallels with the French equivalents? Various come with a 1.9 ... Common engine?
Friends of mine had a Doblo, they called it the 'Pope Mobile' ... Put 150k (miles) on it, very few
problems ... Sold it, got a Nissan Qashqai <> LOTS of issues, spent a fortune on it ...
Japanese reliability not as bulletproof as it once was

[Torque_Motor]

What's the mileage on yours? am in South Africa and there's very few of them on the road, am thinking of getting one 1.6 multijet it's go slightly over 92K miles on the clock, but worried about availability of parts if something goes wrong.

[kwakkers]

I'd rather have basic all day long - less to go wrong, easier to fix.
Seems that Citroen have ruined their latest version Berlingo ... yes, refined, but more complicated,
and a lot more money!

[MarisGlazers]

I live inside of fiat doblo, good space for short man like me😅

[sbomorse]

I've never heard anyone pronounce it "Do-blo" it's pronounced "Dob-lo" 😅

[contfordiff]

Ugly? The first edition looked much better. It was a really groovy van.

[petrucartog]

Pls tell me how much çan you load on thé lenght ?how many feet?