Sorry, I can't agree with this.
We've owned two Dedras, & they were both truly horrible cars. Built down to a price, thirsty, undergeared and talk about rust at the rear wheelarches/cills!
Perhaps the later ones with 16v engines that were available on the Continent were slightly better than the awful 8v but by then it was too late in the UK. Not too much of a surprise then that RHD production ceased shortly after.
Glad to get rid of them as Themas are far better cars.
Sorry but as Dedra Adviser I can't let such scurrilous comments pass unaswered.
I've owned 5 x 2.oie's over the past 15 years & I certainly don't recognise your disparaging comments as being typical to the Dedra's I've owned, & known over that period of time.
2 of them were Auto's which as far as fuel consumption is concerned,was pretty dire, due mainly to the poor choice of ratios in the Volkswagen electronically controlled gearbox.
All my Dedras were purchased used, usually with 50,000+ miles on the clock, and in my hands covered on average an additional 60-70,000 miles each before being sold on, which then covered even more miles, mainly with very little problems.
The rust you write about on the cills is usually where the lip meets the underbody, (I've never seen a Dedra that has had to have new cills) this is caused by the gravel blasting back from the front wheels & literally blasting the protection away, this is easily cured with a once a year re-treatment using Waxoyl underseal, end of problem, however like all cars if you neglect them they rust, irrespective if they have Galvanised body panels or otherwise; you could have course fitted the front mudflaps which would have stopped the gravel rash but as the mudflaps were a pain, & always catching on the road when cornering, I preferred the waxoyl treatment route.
Certainly the 2.0 non turbo cars were never undergeared, with nearly 90 being available in 3rd gear with the engine happy to rev to the red line at 6250 rpm.
Built "Down to a price"? Dedra's weren't exactly cheap and were classed as a middle executive car, which is where a lot of the UK cars went, in fact all my 5 were ex company/lease cars with excellent service records & were never a money pit.
The ones that I've come across with problems have invariably not been serviced or maintained correctly; one thing you certainly can't do with a Dedra is skimp on servicing, it will just come back and bite you.
Equipment & trim levels on Dedra are excellent & the Alcantara trim is exceedingly hard wearing if looked after.
I don't understand your comments about the "awful 8v Engine" the Lampridi designed 8v twin OHC Counter balancer shaft engine is an exceptional engine with great performance & a wonderful engine note when extended. However, once again servicing is all, the Lancia Recommended cambelt change interval of 60,000 miles is too high & I always recommend no more than 36,000 miles before changing, I've never broken a cambelt on a Dedra; quite often when a cambelt has broken & wrecked the head & valves it's because the tensioner bearings haven't been changed, which have then collapsed leading to the counterbalancer belt coming off & taking the cambelt with it.
Having had 2 x3 series 3 Themas I would say that the 16v engine is more fragile than the Dedra 8v.
I loved my Thema's as well as the Dedra's, & have covered very many miles on the motorways of France Germany & Italy in the Themas at high average speeds & in great comfort, however, it the general cut & thrust of modern traffic & for cross country, I'll take the Dedra any day.
Rust has never been a great problem with Dedra, & the rust above the rear wheels is probably the weakest point, but even that didn't usually show in under the first ten years, & if the wheelarches were cleaned & the mud not allowed to collect there,it wasn't a problem.
Rust in the boot which
is a killer is usually due to the drain hoses for the sunshine roof being displaced, & letting the water into the boot instead of draining out underneath.
In fact to sum up, Dedra was probably the most reliable Lancia around
for many years with very few faults, & doesn't have the usual "Italian electrics".
Production of RHD ceased in the UK not because it was a bad car but because of poor support by Lancia & the Concessionaires & some Dealers, it was also marketed incorrectly being pitched at BMW 3 series, although the BMW was better built, it wasn't as good as Dedra dynamically, the Dedra being a better drivers car than the BMW.
It was also a pity that we never got the 1994 facelift or the SW, if we had, things would have been different.
To sum up, it certainly wasn't as bad a car as you imply as it carried on until 1999 with 417,976 produced 1989- 1999, in comparison to a total Thema build of 357,276 1984- 1994. both ran for a ten year period. (Build figures with Thanks to "La Lancia")
Brian Hilton
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