Help needed Freemont 2.0 diesel 170hp

[Swedishguy]

I bought a Fiat Freemont 3.6 V6 2014 in other words a a Dodge Journey with a pentastar 3.6 V6 with 280hp about a month ago.

Now I and my wife have argued a lot about the fuel economy of the car witch is right now at about 1.3l/100km and we got a chance to swap to a exactly same car, same color, same equipment level, But except a Pentastar V6 it is a 2.0 multi jet Diesel engine, where the fuel economy is at about 0,7l/100km

I am trying to find arguments to not swap the car but guys I am loosing this battle, so guys help me find arguments to keep my pentastar V6,

The joker in this game, is that I did try a diesel, and it was really sluggish, and you could really feel that the engine was not made for this car, even the tranny felt wrongly mated with the engine,

So I told the sales person that this is like a bad joke, the difference was that big, between the petrol and diesel version

So the sales guy asked me if I wanted to try his diesel Freemont with a tune chip(I think it's called that way, correct me if I'm wrong) this added 30more hp, and a very very more responsive gas pedal/better acceleration The thing is that this made the diesel version more equal to the petrol V6 version, but with half the fuel consumption,

This made me actually confused,

This means that I could get almost the same performance but with cheaper fuel (diesel is cheaper here in Sweden) cheaper, insurance (the diesel version is so much populare here in Sweden,so the insurance is cheaper for the diesel version) better fuel economy, and also to add a lot of more torque, a better second sale price(I think it's called that way)

So guys what should I do? Suggestions?

The sales guy told me that the chip would not damage anything,

Should I do the swap? It would not cost me a penny. Or should I stay with my V6

And apparently the service intervals are more tighter with the petrol version.

Do we have any people that own a diesel version that would like to give me some feedback about the car?

Regards

Sry for my bad English

[redtomatoman]

No diesel DJs here in US (or at least very few). Other diesels are great. Based on your post, I'd consider changing it out as long as you go with the computer chip. It would have to make financial sense too. Don't lose so much in the swap that you can't recoup it. Good luck.

Peace.

[bigtsr]

Does not make economical sense to swap out , how long would it take

to recover costs with savings.

There's is a lot of hardware/software involved in an idea like this ,if it was a diesel

I would go with the chip as many of the European diesel owners have in the past.

[Swedishguy]

The difference that I would have to live with is about 600 in dollars, and then I have not talked about the price with the salesperson,

My car have traveled about 23000km and the other is at 13000km, and I will keep my winter/summer tires if I want to and as the diesel is so much more populare here in Sweden the resell (not sure if it's called that way) value is so much more I can probably lower my monthly fee.

I am going to try the tuned diesel tomorrow for a longer time to see and get a feeling of how the car will handle,

The only thing that bothers me is the negative responses about tuning a diesel, some say it really shortens the engine and component life, some say that there is no problem at all and really recommend it,

Gaahh why is there no Eco button in the car or if the V6 could shut off like 4 or 2 cylinders, like the grand Cherokee Srt does, haha

Or why can't Sweden lower its bloody petrol taxes, that would actually be the best solution in my case,

Edited March 13, 2016 by Swedishguy

[2late4u]

what is the price of gas there with and without the taxes? how much cheaper is the diesel . gas here is about $1.60 a u.s. gallon and diesel about $1.90 per gallon

The difference that I would have to live with is about 600 in dollars, and then I have not talked about the price with the salesperson,
My car have traveled about 23000km and the other is at 13000km, and I will keep my winter/summer tires if I want to and as the diesel is so much more populare here in Sweden the resell (not sure if it's called that way) value is so much more I can probably lower my monthly fee.

I am going to try the tuned diesel tomorrow for a longer time to see and get a feeling of how the car will handle,
The only thing that bothers me is the negative responses about tuning a diesel, some say it really shortens the engine and component life, some say that there is no problem at all and really recommend it,

Gaahh why is there no Eco button in the car or if the V6 could shut off like 4 or 2 cylinders, like the grand Cherokee Srt does, haha

Or why can't Sweden lower its bloody petrol taxes, that would actually be the best solution in my case,

Edited March 13, 2016 by 2late4u

[Swedishguy]

Just made a quick search at my local gasstation

Standard petrol in Sweden, 95 octane cost 11,95kr/liter roughly 5 dollars and 40 cents for 1 gallon of 95 octane petrol

Standard diesel cost 11,82kr/liter that's 5 dollars and 35 cents for a gallon of diesel

And as I noticed now that I looked at the current diesel price witch I haven't looked for a long time, it have become a lot more expensive, in the last months, but still a little bit cheaper than petrol.

Holy crap what a difference in price compare Sweden to USA,

Edited March 13, 2016 by Swedishguy

[2late4u]

ouch couldn't afford them gas prices.....

[bigtsr]

Just wait until they start "carbon tax" ours supposedly

starting next January it is reported to be 4.3 cents/liter

or about 16 cents/US gallon.

[BlindSquirrel]

Yowsa! That's almost AUD$2 per Litre!

Our fuel prices have dropped markedly in the last 6 months for 91RON. I fueled up this morning and (with a coupon and in store promo) managed to get fuel for 86.4c/L; I haven't paid that little per litre in nearly 20 years! Even longer if you count inflation! For the last several years it's been hovering around $1.30

1.3 * 3.78 =~ $5 per gallon

Edited March 14, 2016 by BlindSquirrel

[pacman]

I live in Spain and own a diesel DJ. Mine isn't tuned, so it's 140 bhp and 350 Nm (torque). As far as I know, Fiat has 2 engines, 2 litres both, but one is 140 bhp, and the other one is 170 bhp, ¿are you talking about tuning the 170 bhp to get more power?

About fuel economy, now you're going to test a diesel unit, and you'll realize that it's really difficult to get 7 litres / 100 km., you'd better figure about 8.5 instead. That's real life. Difference will be 3 litres / 100 km, depending of your style of driving, of course.

If you intend to drive 15.000 km per year (or less), and to keep your car 10 years (or more), I think swapping isn't worth, enjoy your V6, but, finally, it's got to be your choice.

[silenze]

Great post. Pacman.

I agree

[Swedishguy]

Thanks for the advice, and sry for the late reply.

I can start by saying that I did try the car two days ago (Monday)

So got the keys whent to the backside of the building and noticed that the doors where not locket, got in to the car pressed the start button. Nothing happens, only a lot of alarms going off on the hud, check this and that, and suddenly the wipers engaged without me doing anything and the switch was off, so I went back in to the sales guy, he told me that the battery is probably empty. (Why?) and that's why you get all these alarms.

So after he started the engine with a battery booster, I took it for a ride, and the car felt really sluggish, now I know the diesel is sluggish but this time it felt even more sluggish, like something was blocking the engines performance, and the front of the car had a strange vibration when going faster than 35mph, so i didn't had the guts to take the car out on the freeway, (probably the tires)

Now i did a big calculation about the economy, so even if I pick up this car, with a new loan it would cost me about 8 dollars lower every month and I have included in this calculation, a loan, fuel, insurance and the loan its self,

The only thing I didn't include was service costs, and after watching the manual the diesel have longer intervals between service, so that would probably be a advantage to the diesel, on the other hand, the diesel has a cam belt, witch cost a lot to replace here in Sweden, but the V6 doesn't (am I right?)

I actually think that I would make the change If not the diesel behaved as it did on my test run,, really annoying, maybe the salesperson is hiding something,

I might take the diesel and borrow it for like 2-3 days, and while testing it I just might take it thru a service guy and let him check everything,

Or I just might screw this and put on a "post it" note on the fuel meter on my car, haha

Hope you guys understand, I am really busy at the moment with work, but I try to correct my English as often I can

Regards

Yes Pacman if I buy it I would tune the diesel 170hp to 200( ad lest that what the page says)

I am driving about 1100km per month with work and some leisure road trips so that's equals 13200km per year

Edited March 16, 2016 by Swedishguy

[jkeaton]

I would avoid that car if you are noticing issues before even purchasing. The 3.6L does not have a timing belt.

[Steve_T]

I'd have to agree with jkeaton. Sounds like that diesel is hiding some issues.

For a 'new' car with only 13,000kms, it should feel and drive like a new car.

[pacman]

If we suppose 14.000 kms per year, mileage of 11,5 l/100 km for petrol and 8,3 l/100 km for diesel, and prices per l (in US $) of 1,45 and 1,41 (petrol and diesel), we can do this easy calculation:

14000 * 11,5 / 100 * 1,45 $ = 2334,5 $ per year (petrol)

14000 * 8,3 / 100 * 1,41 $ = 1638,42 $ per year (diesel)

So, difference is about 700 $ per year, certainly, that's a lot of money.

I think services in petrol engines are cheaper than diesel ones, with diesel you'd only need 1 oil and filter change per year, I don't know how often oil have to be changed in petrol engines, but that's not use to be an expensive service. I have no idea about insurance costs neither. The most relevant amount to be considered, IMO, is the swap cost itself, I mean, how much will you get for your trade in and how much have you got to pay for the new car?

PS. Of course, if you don't feel the diesel unit you have tested works ok, don't even think about buying it, it can be a nightmare.

[Swedishguy]

Hi guys

So I did borrow the car over,the weekend, about the sluggishness, it just might be That I am not use to a slower car(Diesel) but what I discovered was three annoying things,

and I would like to check with you if this rings any warning bells or if it is ok,

Nr1 the drivers door is hanging a little bit low so it hits the locking rodd before closing, not a big deal but really annoying, the sales person said that they will fix that,

Nr2 The disc brakes are not straight, when braking especially from high speeds (Highway) the car starts to wobble and you can hear the uneven surface from the brakes been applied on, (the sales person said that all 4 disc brakes are going to get changed)

Nr3 when turning, especially tight turns, Let say the last quarter of the turning cycle on the steering wheel it changes and becomes stiffer, like there were something in the way of the steering wheel, sales person said that this was something they did not notice when testing the car, but will fix it.

But everything else looked, good, the oil, the engine and so on.

What still makes it interesting is that it's white, (Not many white freemonts in Sweden), got a really really god price, and the sales person told me that I could try the car after the "service" and decide if I want it or not. The price would almost be the same as for my car,

What makes me surprised is how could a car that's less than one year old and traveled about 23000km be in that bad shape?

PACMAN if i bought it, I would probably save even more money, my trip meter after a lot of driving in downtown and some freeway gave me 7,3/100km

Sry for my English. I am really tired right now,

Regards and good night

Edited March 22, 2016 by Swedishguy

[Swedishguy]

Soo a little update, bought the diesel. And I feel that I made the right choice,

All the problems were fixed and the car feels, smells and handles like a new car,

And I don't know if I mention it but I forgot to add the insurance cost to the calculation and because this diesel is one year "younger" I will save about 900$ If I keep it more than two years (witch I hope I will)

But the best part is that I did drive with one full tank about 1100km (about 685miles) mixed driving town and highway and that's about double the distance compare to what I was getting wth the V6 in similar conditions, and that's with 19inch tires, my V6 was at the moment equipped with 17 inch I am going to try my 17 inch tires on the diesel and I am courious what mileage I will get with them.

So far it's all good I will report further down the road,

Regards

[bramfrank]

The mileage should be the same, since the outer diameter of the tires is the same and the weight is not significantly different, not that even this makes all that much difference; It is mainly the amount of work the engine has to do to travel the distance that impacts on mileage one can achieve - and again, this is unchanged, even if the diameter of the tires is, all other things being equal.

[Steve_T]

Great news!! Glad to hear it worked out for you!