Jeep [Official] 2019 Jeep Renegade (facelift)

[Giannis]

So, FCA decided to stop making Fiat cars in Italy and to make this instead. Interesting times we live in.

Here, it outsells the Panda 3 to 1. It's almost shocking to see a car (which is kind of expensive for what it is) to sell that good given the condition of the economy.

 

[Centurion]

Yet I wouldn't like to be in the position of a poor mechanic trying to locate a water leak.

Don't get me started about VAG engines. Even the simplest of repairs can be an engine out job. Last week I had the EGR valve in my X3 2.0d replaced under warranty. Out of warranty it cost £345. The same replacement job for a 1.6L VAG diesel is 3-4 times the price because the engine has to come out.

I hope that as engines get more compact and components are more integrated, out of warranty repairs don't get prohibitively expensive.

The last FCA car I drove was a 2016 Fiat 124 Spider. It was a breath of fresh air to drive a small engine that's rev happy by today's standards.

 

[Giannis]

I hope that as engines get more compact and components are more integrated, out of warranty repairs don't get prohibitively expensive.

Sadly, it's exactly the opposite. Integration costs more, as you have parts that are massively more complicated. Out of warranty repairs of modern vehicles are a nightmare.

I am under the strong impression that the dawn of the direct injected turbocharged era of the last decade brought an unprecedented increase in service costs. Pressure and specific output have rose dramatically, and usually efficiency and reliability are not easy to achieve at the same time.

I read about normal oil consumption of modern engines that leaves me wondering if the manufacturers should add an oil port next to the fuel port and make our lives easier.

I don't know if I'm just grumpy or we live in a marketing driven world, where the need to bring something new to the market is more important than the need that this damn thing should work properly.

 

[anti-VAG]

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