1996 Fiat Bravo 1.6 16v from Netherlands

Summary:

Best beginners car ever!

Faults:

About nothing, had to replace one shock absorber in seven years.

General Comments:

My first car, and I absolutely loved it, matter of fact, I still do. I have had my Fiat Bravo for seven years now, and haven't had one major repair. We have pretty tough winters here, but the Bravo always starts first time. I've traveled to Berlin in one straight drive (800km), and a few days later, the same way back, and never had any problems.

The only thing wrong with it that I can think of, are the doorhandles, they were covered in rubber, but the cold winters here crack the rubber, and they have peeled off. But they are not broken, they work fine, just don't look nice anymore, but the car is 14 years old...

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 28th December, 2010

1996 Fiat Bravo SX 1.4 petrol from UK and Ireland

Faults:

Was dodgy when idling when cold in winter - seemed to be solved by driving it with a bit more gusto.

Fuel injector warning light comes on sometimes, especially when in a high gear at not too high a speed. Sorted by restarting the car.

General Comments:

Car looks interesting, if not good. Saying that, the quality of the bodywork leaves something to be desired - very thin in places, and as I found, very easily dented.

Excellent value - bought for £550 and has electric windows, sunroof and 6 speaker stereo as standard kit.

Drives nicely enough too - granted the 1.4 engine runs out of puff above 75 on the flat, but accelerates reasonably around town. Light but fun handling, hardish suspension at least seems to mean it's pretty composed around corners.

Fuel consumption isn't so good - I drive fairly conservatively, but only get 35 tops, more like 30 on my 30 mile round trip commute. Saying that, on the motorway to Swansea, I manage 50+mpg with the car full and doing 70-80mph the whole way, so not too bad, depending on the type of driving you do.

Keep an eye out for rubbishy done repair work to body damage and rust - unfortunately we didn't notice it early enough, so it's now beyond repair rust-wise, and will probably have to be scrapped in the near future :(

Finally the stereo unit itself is rubbish. The cassette bit doesn't work and the radio is rubbish at picking up signal, around me at least. Speakers are good though, plenty loud and bassy enough!

All in all, a fantastic value car, would be fine still if there wasn't the rust thanks to rubbish repair work problem!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 7th November, 2010

1996 Fiat Bravo HGT 2.0 from Lithuania

Summary:

Catastrophe

Faults:

Some kind of small computer located in the engine blew off, and it cost a lot of money to change it. Very expensive parts.

General Comments:

I don't recommend buying Fiat. This one was not reliable at all.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 27th August, 2009

1996 Fiat Bravo HGT 2.0 from Lithuania

Summary:

Superb

Faults:

I can't say anything bad about this fiat. One of the most reliable cars I ever owned. Of course you need change oil and other important things, but you do this with every car.

General Comments:

Spacious, fast, fun to drive. Ooh almost forgot it's not very built like for example German rivals, but it's so much more than get in a car and drive. It has a character and charisma.

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes

Review Date: 15th May, 2008

1996 Fiat Bravo L 1.4 from UK and Ireland

Summary:

Poor performance, expensive repairs

Faults:

Thermostat went after a few weeks, due to Fiats amazing mentality, they build it into a huge metal lump...£60 to replace.

Clutch burnt out leaving me stranded on a roundabout, gearbox went due to this, with other problems added to this...£900 bill!!!

AA called 5 times in 6 months, towed home twice!

General Comments:

Poorly built, poorly designed, expensive, all round awful car.

I feel sorry for the poor person who ended up with it after I P/E it for a 306!

Awful interior design, stereo built into dasboard so well looks stupid to change for a non standard, even with a cover plate!

I will never own another Fiat!!

Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? No

Review Date: 22nd April, 2003

12th Sep 2003, 14:24

I've own a fiat bravo 1.4 12v I've also found that my gearbox went after 40k apart from that I think the cars are OK.I'm a mechanic and have done a lot to my car and think its good, currently looking for a bigger engine to go in it.