1998 Fiat Marea HLX review from UK and Ireland

The engine under tray started bouncing off speed bumps as the fixings were worn so I had to replace it.

For a while there was a strange squealing noise when the car was in motion which only stopped when braking. After having the brakes checked and de-scaled it was still happening. Has stopped now although I have had pads and discs replaced for MOT.

Clutch slave cylinder had to be replaced, thankfully this was covered by the extended warranty.

One of the anti-roll bar links needs to be replaced as it's causing another knocking noise when travelling over bumps. Thankfully it's not the under tray again though. The dealer says this isn't expensive.

This is a subtle car which doesn't really stand out from the crowd. As a result you'll get the odd Golf GTI or Mini Cooper trying to out accelerate you at the lights. Take comfort when you see them a good few car lengths behind, wondering why.

The car handles fairly well, but it definitely isn't on rails. Don't floor it on a corner unless you plan to travel in the ditch.

Fuel consumption is reasonable if you don't thrash it and the ride is comfortable.

The car feels solid enough, but I'm sticking to the service schedules rigorously to be safe.

Overall a nice car to own and very inexpensive to acquire due to heavy depreciation.