2001 Fiat Siena EL review from South Africa

1. (when the car was new) When I take my foot off the accelerator while driving with the car in gear I hear a very noticeable hiss sound coming from the firewall near the gearbox, when the car is in neutral (free-wheeling) the noise vanishes when I informed the agents of this they assured me that it was nothing.

2. (when the car was new) The car had a vibration on the steering wheel, the agents assured me it was nothing serious. At 40000 Kms I had the wheel balancing done for the fourth time since new and I was informed that three of the four wheels on the car and the unused spare wheel was buckled (deformed).

3. The car is now on it's third set of front brake disc's (the agents claimed to have replaced them at 20000 Kms) then I had them (privately) replaced at 50000 kms again.

4. All the plastic components on this car (interior and exterior) are very cheaply made and very brittle.

5. In winter when I start the car in the morning the starter doesn't disengage properly making a very annoying sound.

6. The air-con in Summer is very ineffective.

1. This car has been very reliable.

2. The car offers surprisingly good performance.

3. The car seems very high off the ground and suffers serious "body roll" in corners and windy conditions throw this car all over the road like no other car I have ever driven.

4. this is the most expensive car to maintain that I have ever owned.

5. In South Africa the local agents offer very poor support and do not seem very bothered when you bring concerns to their attention.

6. the overall finish of the car is very bad compared to similarly priced rivals.