1999 Fiat Brava 100 HSX

Summary:

Good looking, but extremely unreliable

Faults:

Car owned for I think three years or so.

Engine broke down and needed to be replaced.

Start motor broke. Twice.

Temperature sensor broke. Twice.

Exhaust needed replacing. Again, twice.

Rear wiper worked inconsistently: sometimes it did, sometimes it didn't.

Headlights (particularly the right one) needed replacing every few months on average, but sometimes even every few weeks.

The ceiling fabric developed ugly stains, small brownish dots.

Had trouble getting in second gear at times (produced ugly rattling noise). Also had trouble getting in reverse (pump the clutch twice as a workaround).

Door handle covers (all of them) deteriorated very badly and needed replacing.

Randomly had trouble starting (even with replaced starter engine and battery).

Two of the heating wires on the rear window were broken.

General Comments:

I found the car comfortable and good looking.

However, it is marred by some very nasty reliability issues, making it a very expensive and annoying car to own if you're not very lucky.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 1st February, 2007