2001 Fiat Multipla JTD ELX review from UK and Ireland

At delivery the car was covered with stone chips, there were well over 50, many over 3mm across. It is a black car and it looked like it had ash all over the front.

On delivery the drivers mirror often would not retract, it took 4 attempts to get the right mirror.

On delivery the rear parcel shelf had missing rubbers and rattled.

On delivery it had an old set of Punto mats with holes in the driver's mat.

1 headlight, both fog lights and both front indicators have had serious water entry, indicators several times.

Internal trim on rear nearside door pillar falling off, still not fixed.

Drivers seatbelt buckle jammed and would not do up.

I love the car, it is very practical for a family of 3 plus in laws. Our 6 year old can join us in the front and this has made long journeys much better.

Some call it ugly, I like it. From where I am sitting when driving it looks great, it is a bit like driving a greenhouse, but what visibility!

I love my ugly bug, every time I get in it is like stepping into a Tardis. It is comfortable, ever so easy to drive and park despite it's width and incredibly practical.

Performance is adequate, fuel consumption pretty good, but I have marked down running costs because of the massive cost of servicing.

What would I change?

I would like a long wheel base version as although boot space is OK as far as volume is concerned it is very difficult to get suitcases to fit.

The climate control only goes down to 18 degrees which is too hot.

The local dealer is appalling and the next nearest is 40 miles away, they promise to phone and don't, give me a barely roadworthy bottom of the range midget Fiat when they do manage to provide a pool car, order wrong parts repeatedly and have no pride in their work.

The car was in a disgraceful state when I collected it and hadn't even been properly washed.

The car has been in the garage at least 6 times in the year I have had it, and only one of these for a service. All of the faults have been fairly trivial, but they rarely fix them first time.

The build quality is very poor, my wife has a Fiat Punto she bought new and this has had only a couple of minor problems so it seems to be Multiplas rather than Fiat. What concerns me is what is going to go wrong after it is out of warranty?