1999 Fiat Brava SX 80 16V review from UK and Ireland

I got this car after the original Brava that I purchased from the dealer was sent in 5 times for clunking out at idle. This one has been no better and has been back to the dealer 3 times for the same problem and it has eaten through several ECUs in the process. This seems to have fixed the problem for the moment though.

The Frame of the Driver's seat has collapsed. Fiat want £400+ for a new one.

Driver-side switchgear for the electric windows has broken.

Rear-view mirror has fallen off. Apparently a design fault on Fiat's behalf. The unit is too heavy to be glued to the windscreen.

The aerial has broken, so that it no longer stays up and instead lays flat against the roof of the car resulting in poor radio reception.

This car is appalling, an affront to drivers everywhere. Fiat should be ashamed of themselves.

Even if the faults above had not occurred, this car would still be dire.

The interior plastics are low quality and nasty to the feel and the switchgear is decidedly flimsy. This is not a nice car in which to spend any amount of time.

There is no performance of which to speak. This car struggles to over-take milk floats and Motorway cruising with more than 1 other passenger is a very painful affair. If you decide to load up and take a trip, turn back as soon as you see the first incline. Any attempts to climb it at speed will only prove infuriating and futile.

The ride is unnecessarily over-firm. It's a 1.2 Family Hatchback, if you buy this car because you think it makes a suitable Nurburgring candidate, you need help, not harder suspension. The car fidgets at all speeds, particularly town speeds where poor road surfaces will send vibrations and booms into the cabin. This restlessness is all the more annoying at motorway speeds when coupled to the dead, over assisted and stupidly light power steering which makes if hard to keep going in a straight line without constant, tiring readjustment.

On the - albeit very dim - bright side, This car is cheap to run, Fuel efficiency is average and the insurance premiums are low.

But if you can see past all the negatives and this still looks like a promising purchase (no matter what the asking price) then don't buy the car, instead spend the money on a psychiatrist, you need it.

Would I buy another Brava? Would I even buy another Fiat? This car is so bad it makes Ken Livingstone's Integrated Public Transport Plan seem like an idyllic Utopia.