Faults:

Power would drop notably with A/C on.

General Comments:

I drove this car for 8 months in 2000 and have been very happy. Although the quality of the dashboard and the interior in general was only average, the body seemed well-built and solid to me. Seats were to small and soft and quality of the carpets, as with all the italian cars I've owned, disappointing. I would recommend looking for one that comes with sports seats.

The engine is at its best above 4000 rpm, that is, on motorways. Consumption was relatively high, usually over 10l/100km. Steering and gearshift smooth and precise. The trunk is small compared to other cars of the same class (Golf, Astra, etc.)

Faults:

About a month after I bought the car.

First the gear box went wrong, I had to drive 5 miles in 3rd and had to stop and pull off a number of times in 3rd.

Brakes started Squealing.

Squealed when I turned right.

Annoying rattle in cylinder 1 at around 20,000 revs.

Then the Clutch started knocking, when I press pedal all the way down, there is a knocking, now it is worse and it is slipping like hell and squealing too. Burning like a beast smells like bacon.

But when I bought the car it had 4 new tyres 12 months MOT, crack in rear bumper, crack front reg plate, and an odd wheel trim.

General Comments:

I do like it though, they are good cars because apart from the faults I have mentioned, it still goes like hell lol.

Don't like the interior of it quite bland.

But pretty comfortable in there, I have fallen asleep in there, good full lock on the park it anywhere. I have fallen asleep in there a few times.

Faults:

I purchased this car in March of this year, from a decent garage. It had full service history clean throughout and No marks on body work, it did have quite high mileage, but thought if it had been looked after it would be fine!

I had it for about 3weeks and the slave cylinder on the clutch went, luckily this was covered by warranty, but it still cost me £30.

Two months on the Cam belt snapped which resulted in me having to fork out £600 as the warranty only covered the first £500 of any claim, I couldn't believe it! the car was serviced when I picked it up and the cam belt had been replaced just one year ago!

This is not good, plus the fact that it is quite expensive on fuel and servicing is pretty bad, I'm looking for a diesel if anyone can recommend one!

Please make sure you have this car checked when you buy it, this one starts to leak intermittently, I have not figured out the exact spot, but it seems to be coming from the sunroof, as it just forms a puddle in the roof lining and runs down the screen when your driving, its not always which is strange!!

General Comments:

Handles well, sometime bit too well! I haven't yet had it skid.

Performance is really good and I haven't had any problem with it starting although if you gently rapidly tap the accelerator, as if your tapping a beat the engine stalls, weird!!

Driving position is fairly well situated, plenty of leg room in the back and the height adjustments are handy for my girlfriend, I'm 6'2" and shes just 5'3"

It feels well made and generally a nice car, just shame about those little niggles at first that have put me off, plus I know fiats rust! so the water down the screen is not a good thing.