We bought a second hand one (5 years old) from my mother in law In July, who was selling it as it was too big for her.She said it was a good runner and never really had any problems with it.Well, since July, it has needed a starter motor, 1 month later an alternator, some pipe for a diesel leak, shock absorbers and l cannot believe all this within a few months.l am either jinxed or this is a crap car to have...... Anybody else have one with problems like this??

we've had a 2003 doblo for nearly two years. the driver is window got stuck open and the battery went flat for no obvious reason. they are very popular in our neck of the woods, and we always heard good reports which is why be bought one.

was yours properly serviced? maybe it is just bad luck.

That is why warranty is only 3 years, because when it gets to 5 years old, things will go wrong!

sounds like you have been pretty unlucky though, my friend has about 6 of these doblos as taxis and they do some serious mileage, not known of as many problems as you have experienced on one vehicle!

Seems to be though, whenever something goes wrong, it is the beginning of a series of things!

The Doblo is not a bad vehicle, you do not say what mileage it has which is very relevent to the type of problems you have had. Apart from the piece of pipe, all the items you mentioned are likely to need replacing anywhere from 60k up depending on what sort of usage the van has had.

Often people in your situation get fed up and sell the vehicle then find the new owner happily drives it around for the next 5 years with no problems.

l had a Fiat Tempra diesel (1995) & had a few problems, but in 185,000 miles it seemed fair wear & tear. You said:

a starter motor - my Tempra needed one sometime after 100,000 miles

an alternator - my Tempra needed one, again after 100,000 miles

some pipe for a diesel leak - my Tempra needed one - about £1 & 5 minutes to fit.

shock absorbers - my Tempra never needed them replaced. Do u drive over rough roads or lots of speed bumps or perhaps u put a lot of weight in the boot? Maybe it had an easy life with ur mother-in-law & now it is in a tougher environment.

As someone else has said, typical warranty is 60,000 miles / 3 years, so car manufacturers make sure the major items typically last that long plus a margin. Once you're getting beyond that point, u could start to be unlucky. You have to decide if these issues r symptomatic & u will continue to have other problems, or now that you've spent that money, those issues r solved for several years.

The things u mention (other than the pipe) r all ''wear-out'' items that will not last forever. Some parts r ''random'' failures & r just as likely (or unlikely) to fail in the first year as in the 10th year.

My view is that you've just been unlucky, so stick with it.