Faults:

I don't have any problems for now, big Service was at 50000KM in Italy and I have done little one at 80000KM.

General Comments:

This car is good with fuel consumption, confort, full with difrent gadgets in other cars you must pay for it. Nice look interior, nice handling. Little cheap plastic and hard suspension (not common for family car).

Faults:

I just purchased my Marea 2.0 24 V with 127000 Km and I am using natural gas as a fuel. There is a 15 cubic meter cylinder on the trunk. You spend 1/4 in terms of money compared with regular gasoline.

General Comments:

Fellows from UK.

Just a small brief from a Marea owner in Brazil. Here in Sao Paulo, anyone who buys a FIAT (any model), changes the cam belt. And because of that, prices has come down a lot. You pay around U$ 150,00 for total service (part and labor) to change this belt, using OEM part. But I still prefer the old days...Timing Gears.

Faults:

The car has been faultless.

The only maintenance it has needed has been service parts. (i.e brake pads, oil etc.)

General Comments:

This car is very easy and fun to drive.

It is quite quick for a car of it's size and handles well, but can get caught out on very bumpy corners.

Fuel economy is good under normal use, but if driven hard can fall away very rapidly.

The interior is comfortable and quiet, but a bit bland, being mainly plastic.

The air conditioning works well and is a definite plus point.

The only complaint I have is that the rearward visibility is not very good when trying to park. Even though I am 6'2" it is impossible to see the back of the car through the rear window.

Overall the car feels very solid and well put together.

Faults:

Exhaust back box fell off two months after purchase, Exhaust badly repaired resulting in MOT failure as well as worn disc pads. For second MOT car failed on worn suspension bushes costing a hefty 200 pounds to repair. Main bean headlights burnt out at the same time.

General Comments:

This car has very good acceleration and can out run most other family saloons, But the cars handling dent it's performance and it is only really fast in a straight line, Another point is the brakes, If applied firmly or the roads are wet the brakes tend to judder, The fuel economy is good for a 1.7 but as the car is not used much I suspect it would be less admirable with frequent use, The cabin although spacious and light can be described in two words Grey and plastic, The seats are fine for short trips, but after a while you want to get out and stretch your legs. On starting there is a slight whirr coming from the engine which sounds like the cam-belt needs replaced. Although the car is only five years old I have noticed some rust on the underside.

Faults:

At 60,200 kilometers the alarm system went berserk and I kept getting a warning light for the electronic fuel injection. Two days after this began the car wouldn't start altogether, and I promptly took it to the dealership. They changed the battery and a lead that grounds the cathode, and now the car works like a Swiss watch. The Dealership, however, took almost a full week to resolve this relatively simple problem.

The odd squeak comes out of the dashboard when the air conditioning is on and there is an occasional rattle coming from the passenger's seat when no one is sitting on it.

General Comments:

The 2.0 20 valve petrol turbo version is, I understand, only available in Brazil. This five cylinder engine yields 182 horsepower and plenty of torque, especially above 4000rpm. Below 3000rpm, the torque is really very disappointing, but as the engine reaches higher rotation, the car "wakes up" and jolts forward almost inconsequentially. The result is that when you shift into fourth gear, you're already at 120 kilometers per hour with still two gears left, that will end up yielding a final speed of 226 kilometers per hour.

The down side is fuel consumption. I have had to content myself with 7.5 kilometers per litre on the highway and somewhere around 5 in city traffic, which is very disappointing considering I never drive aggressively.

The seats are very comfortable, they come in very good quality Grey leather which constantly keeps the interior with a lovely smell.

Driveability is excellent. The car is easy to handle and feels very safe and stable.