Lancia Thema Reviews - Page 3 of 4

Electronic suspension failed; changed to standard struts due to high cost of parts.

Minor electrical faults, mainly caused by poor earthing in the engine bay area.

Electric windows sluggish.

Rust around rear window pillars and rear wheel arches.

Alloy wheel finish very poor and prone to severe corrosion.

Excellent performance for little money compared to similar cars.

Heavy on fuel and front tyres if used hard, but fun to drive.

Anonymous car that surprises all passengers with its performance, comfort and level of equipment for such a low second hand price.

Minor electrical problems and belt services.

On the whole a wonderful car that's a match for all, but the fastest vehicles.

Enables four adults to travel fast and with complete anonymity, because nobody knows what it is.

Gear lever developed rattle at 132,000 miles.

Exhaust manifold gasket failed at 134,000 miles.

O/S rear door lock jammed at 134,500 miles.

Speedometer failed at 144,000 miles.

The car is most impressively fast for it's size. You can carry 5 adults and still out-accelerate most other cars on the road.

The levels of comfort and equipment are very high.

It has been reliable. None of the faults I have experienced have ever stopped me getting home.

Spares can be expensive and, sometimes, difficult to get.

These cars are incredibly cheap to buy, especially when you look at what you are getting for your money.

There are numerous electrical faults, mainly warning lights switching themselves on even if there is nothing wrong really.

The brakes have never been that good, we had a seized rear caliper once which required half the braking system to be replaced.

The battery has often run down completely flat for no apparent reason.

Windscreen wipers are really poor.

The rear window broke once for no reason at all.

Starter motor failed (got overhauled by dealer).

Needed a new water pump.

There are a few rust points showing up, mainly at the bottom of the rear screen, the inside of the front doors and on one wheelarch.

The engine is quite hard to work on (most parts are hidden underneath other parts).

I am sure there have been many other faults, but I can't recall them all off the top of my head (we've had the car for 16 years now).

We bought the car new, back in 1986 when it was still was quite a novelty. Through the years we've seen it go from luxury new car to old banger (although ours is still very nice and fresh looking, it won't have anyones pulse racing).

Its the rare 2.6 V6 Manual version, so it has always performed well and taken us through many trips across the whole of Europe. I would still jump into it today and drive more than 1000 kms with no problems.

The car is nice, rare, comfortable and very spacious with an enormous boot. Our main regret has always been not specifying air-conditioning as an option.

Its getting to be quite difficult to find and buy spares for it now. Have recently joined the Lancia club so hopefully they should help on that aspect.

If there are any other 2.8 owners out there please contact me at rgubbioli yahoo com