Thanks for the info E-Cie.

Having Fiat run in my veins I'm really struggling in my choice of next
vehicle, bearing in mind the towing issue.

Having always maintianed my Fiats since my 600D back in 1972 (except when in
warranty) recent experiences with large engine cars, like my Stilo 2.4l
Abarth have made me realise that self maintenance is becoming a real problem
for the likes of me, and very expensive if out of warranty.  I love to open
the bonnet on a Punto or Panda and see the room and ease of maintenance.
The same cannot be said to the Stilo or Croma, especially the larger engine
sizes.

This last weekend I had to replace the radiator on my Stilo Abarth.
Absolute nightmare.  Bearing in mind it was my first attempt at major
surgery on the Stilo and I was being very slow and cautious, it still took
the best part of my weekend.  Basically one had to totally gut the the LHS
of the engine compartment.  All lower engine bay wheel arch and pan shields
remove.  Battery out.  Battery box and fuse boxes out.  Air filter box out.
Air intake tubes/resonators out.  Air box to plenum chamber hose out.  Air
mass flow meter out.  The radiator drops out absolutely vertically from
underneath the car so high lift ramps or car hoist are also required!

Bloody stupid design error is that one cannot bleed the radiator.  The bleed
screw is not accessible with the battery box and air intake/resonator tube
in place.  If you put the battery box and fusebox/wiring back to fire up the
engine and run/pump and bleed the system you then have to take the battery
box and fuse box back out to refit the air intake tube and resonator.

Whilst under the car I also admired the subframe drop/remove or engine
forward shift (requires whole front of car to be removed) to replace the
starter motor and cooling hose across the back of the block.  A clutch
change with the Stilo Abarth (Selespeed) is also very expensive and the
selespeed/clutch system is far from ideal for towing in slow moving traffic
jams where the electronics slips the clutch most of the time.   I soon gave
up looking for good news :-)

With caravan pulling capability in mind I'm kind of restricted to Punto,
Idea, Stilo, Croma, Doblo, Mulipla or the very expensinve Fiat Espace.  The
other point is that in the past I only ever change my car after 9 or more
years, well out of warranty and fully depreciated.  I'm note a 3 year new
car person.  Can't afford that.

On paper the Idea 1.3 multijet has the low down pulling grunt, modest top
end/cpabale bhp, and is maintenance and service friendly.

The alternative (not by me!) is to dump Fiat and buy a different brand.
That is what my colleagues want me to do!!!!

Nick /////

We've just bought a 12 month old Idea 1.4 and it's been fine so far - we
just had a Brava and a couple of Citroens before hand, so maybe that's
why I don't mind the suspension and handling.

Depends what you're looking for - we moved from a Brava, and this has a
slightly smaller boot size as standard, but we can slide the back seats
forward a bit, and you've got the extra depth of the boot as well which
is fine for buggies etc. The other advantage we have, is that we have a
disabled son, and lifting him in and out of the Idea is a lot easier
than the Brava was.

Don't know if the diesel has firmer ride or not, but all the reviews
I've seen say the diesel is the pick of the bunch in the Idea, and the
torque is there through the whole powerband.