1994 Fiat Cinquecento S from UK and Ireland - Comments

Cylinder head gasket.

Fuel tank.

Alternator.

Radiator.

Rear brakes.

Seat lever.

Tappets (they go after 17,000 miles and cost £25 each + labour to replace).

Full exhaust system.

I wouldn't have another of these if they were giving them away.

Whenever the car breaks down with an engine fault the recovery services shake their heads and say they can do nothing with the engine due to its management system.

Car is very unreliable and cannot be relied on for long distances and motorway travel.

Fiat are useless. The main dealers are the only ones who can cancel a fault on the electronics of this car. If there is a problem with the ignition system, they are the only ones who can sort it out.

In short, this car is the biggest rip off on the road. Do yourself a favour and buy a Volvo!!!!!

My SX has done 106,000 miles now. In that time it has had:

1) A bearing slipped into the gearbox (£500).

2) Had problems with the cooling system which was not diagnosed by a Fiat dealer or a private one, turned out to be a rotting radiator and spent 1 year having to drive round with the heater on full.

3) Catalytic converter went (£500).

Considering the mileage I've done in this car I reckon it's done very well. Have driven long distances in it. As it's 5 years old and has just sprung a fuel leak I think it's about time for a Seicento!

Update on the comments of problems with the car.

New speedo cable, the cable is in two parts and one packed up just after the other one had been fixed.

Shrouds on the top of the shock absorbers.

Ignition switch has now packed up. the car starts whenever it feels like it.

Anyone want to buy a slightly used Fiat Cinquecento???

My Fiat Cinquecento Sporting has been nothing but trouble since day 1. The clutch went after 26500 miles, exhaust system has been fully replaced and so has the fuel tank. Now the head gasket has gone. No more Fiats for me..

Further update on this car...hooray, it's going, finally after the gearbox started making nasty noises we decided to wave bye-bye. hope the next owner has lotz and lotz of money and huge amounts of patience!!!