Hey Scotty.
I am aware of the fact that you are not fond of Fiat products, but let me tell you my experience with one. (I'm in Europe).
My mom has driven 4 cars over the last 11 years
(1997 Ford Ka, 2003 Fiat Punto, 2004 Peugeot 206 SW, 2004 Volkswagen Polo).
She still has the VW. However, all the listed vehicles except the Fiat were absolute piles of garbage (especially the VW). They constantly required repairs, always broke down - they were not dependable at all.
We bought the Fiat in 2012 ( a 9-year old used car), IT DIDN'T BRAKE DOWN ONCE. We were very satisfied with it. The vehicle was really nice inside and out, drove nicely, and didn't require any maintenance at all apart from oil changes. It was the best car we've ever owned.
My mom regrets selling it.
I know Fiat vehicles sold in North America are assembled in Mexico (where there is lower output quality), so I assume the perception of Americans of Fiat producing low-quality vehicles in somewhat biased.
Here in Europe, lots of people like them and are satisfied. They are very popular.
P.S. I really love your channel. I never miss a single video!
Trends for reliability are statistical in nature, meaning that as a general rule a particular manufacturer's products will be more reliable or less reliable but you cannot predict the outcome for a specific vehicle. You can get a lemon Toyota or a reliable Fiat but those are outliers.
In general terms the words "reliable" and "Fiat" should not be used in the same sentence, but there may be individual examples that for whatever reason did not quickly fall apart.
How many kilometres on odometer?
I had 1999 Uno for 2 years. Car was 12 years old and had around 80k km when I had to sold it to junkyard because underbody was rotten. Yes, it was nice to drive and suitable for for city parking. It was smaller but had more space inside than Yaris has.
It is bad that it was so poorly built. And folks I know who had a Fiat 15, 20 years ago, nobody has the same car now.
What went wrong with other cars?
Where was it built?
I researched and found almost all of them are made in Italy, while other cars of Fiat like the Linea Egea and Ducata are all made in Turkey's Tofaş factory, which I would assume does a better job than Italy.
GTK.
My family is from Turkey, and there are many Fiat Doblo's there, which is sold in the US as the Ram Promaster City. 2 year old Doblo of a family member, could not go up hill (similar problems in US reported about stopping after speedbumps), doors adn windows would not open (electrical issues). The Fiat's in Europe are definetly better but still not as good as other companies like Honda Toyota Mazda etc. Plus, it really depends on where it is made. The Doblo is made in Turkey, and so is the Egea etc. Nissan is not that good in US after 100k miles (160k km) because of there horrible transmissions, but Renault, which owns Nissan has a better reputation in Europe.
Yeah, Renault has the reputation of high priced parts there.
I see. @g-t, In Turkey, parts are produced in Turkey and Reanults are very popular and cheap to maintain, they aren't the French cheaply made ones. Im sure the export them all over Europe, but I dont see many in like Germany compared to like France or Turkey, where parts are heavily produced.
well you are comparing your anecdote of one car to Scottie's lifetime of experience. There are always exceptions.
they are horrible
Yes. But I would want to point out that I have been to Turkey many times and, rental cars and Taxi's are all fiats. The reason for this is because the Fiat's are manufactured in Turkey and thus cheaper. They commonly are 15 20 years old and run perfectly fine. You can also find 30 40 year old Renault's rollling around. Judging on this, I would say European Fiat's have low quality, but still manage to have some reliability because of the decent crasftminship of the Turkish. I don't really know. I also borrowed a family member's 2 year old Doblo pile of junk it was doors would not open engine would stall up hills. I'm confused. Better safe than sorry so just avoid Fiat from now on. Remember the new ones are Fiat Chrysler I believe before that they were actually decent because you can see 15 20 year old ones with no problems but 3 4 5 year old ones falling apart.