1999 Fiat Seicento Citymatic from UK and Ireland - Comments

Just finish fitting 2nd hand manual pedal assembly and clutch lever into my just bought 2nd hand x reg 22000 miles seicento, but got stuck with the electric side. Please some help to- start it,get the buzzer to shut up and what about the ACS light. I can be contact at e-mail ; tjaartjacq@yahoo.co.uk.

I would appreciate any info on the wiring modification when changing a Fiat Seicento 899cc Citymatic semi-clutch to manual, as I cannot find anything about this on the Internet or anywhere else. Thanks. I can be contacted at peter martin 8007@ntl.world.com

I have a 1999 Seicento Citymatic and have been experiencing similar issues.

However my problems manifest themselves as a drop in power.

The first thing I notice is poor radio reception.

Then the ACS light and sometimes the power steering light come on.

It usually happens on a motorway and I am fine till I need to change gear.

I get ito neutral and cannot get back into gear.

I pull over and stop the engine.

Thereafter I cannot restart the engine and end up running down the battery trying.

I abandon the car and bring the battery home to recharge it. When I go back it starts first time and though generally I've to mess a bit to get it back into gear...

(Start->Try 1st->Fail->Engage 1st->Trytostart (fail) ->Neutral->Start) repeat multiple time and eventually it works (sometimes 2nd easier to engage first!).

Anyway enough of the ramble. I've just bought a new battery and so far it seems to have cured the problems.

I'll update after 1 month to confirm.

Kyran.

To all of you still having problems look back at earlier information given by myself, Jon Bramwell, Adam Oakes and others and you will find all the procedures to go through. There is no need for you to pay out due to Fiat's fault. My car and Adam's were converted in 2005 at no cost to ourselves even though up until the day they did mine they were refusing to accept liability on the grounds that it was secondhand, had done over 25,000K miles and was 1991!!! You have got to be really persistent and contact Trading Standards in Slough (near Fiat's UK HQ) who have a person dedicated to Fiat. Do not give up as that it what they are hoping. Mine has run so well ever since that

I am thinking of giving it to my granddaughter when she passes her test.

Best of Luck!

Jill Bayliss.

Yes same problem, my actuator packed up on a busy junction! very dangerous! looking to convert it to a manual as the cost quoted for repairs exceeds the value of the car.

I too have recently bought a V reg citymatic with 40000 miles on the clock, Its currently stranded away from my home, bought it for my wife, It's shocking to read these comments. The solution would have been for Fiat to accept the problem and simply allow users to go to a fiat dealer get it converted at even a little cost to the owner, Job done.

I would get over it if I had to pay a couple of hundred quid towards the conversion to manual, not saying that I'd be overjoyed but I could get over it. Though Im not defending them they should have been more responsible and it would have been something at least rather than sticking your head in the sand.

Anyway as many posts have said a manual conversion is the way ahead, I will do it myself if I have to as im an engineer.

But I will look at Fiats in a different light from now on, I was going to buy a Fiat coupe for myself they can forget it.

Perhaps there reps should have been taught that for every dissatisfied customer they will tell up to 80 people about their negative opinion.

Its just luck really that no one has been injured or killed, absolutely disgraceful.

My 19 year old daughter has had her T reg Seicento Citymatic for nearly eighteen months. Out of that time the car has stood for a year due to A C S light coming on and bleeping and breaking down in the middle of nowhere, and more often than not in the middle of the night. Numerous times she has been in dangerous positions where the car has broken down on roundabouts, motorways etc.

I am stunned that after so many complaints and genuine claims, Fiat are not putting their hands up and helping people out.

My daughter is a student, and as the car is small and cheap to insure, thought it would be the ideal car. It just goes to show how wrong appearances can be.

If anyone has any advice on moving forward I would be grateful to hear from you.

Email me at maz6221@aol.com.

Hi. bought Fiat Seicento Citymatic 3 months ago, with 93000 km from 1998.Wanted to drive for a year before buying a new car. Now the gear died. The car repair would be 18000 Dkk its about 1800 GBP! Fiat here in DK said they will convert the car into manual at the cost of 12000 (1200 GBP). When I raised a question about the problem and that the actuator that failed was produced in 2006 they said that they had VERY few failures, but nothing could be done. Interestingly however the first offer was not to replace the actuator but to convert it immediately into manual. Both we and our family members wanted to buy Grande Punto next year, and after what I read and experienced first hand, FIAT is out of my list. I will go for OPEL Corsa, Mazda 2, or Renault Clio as a compact vehicle.

Hello again, everyone.

First I must say that I am appalled that people are still having problems with their Citymatics, but at the same time pleased that many of you have found this thread and are making useful contacts, especially from the helpful Jill Bayliss.

I apologise for not returning to this thread earlier - I had not realised how so many of you referred to my 'blog' which used to be at

www.overlandrover.com/citymatic.

Unfortunately that web page no longer exists, but I have re-uploaded it to:

<b>www.tatech.co.uk/citymatic.</b>

Should anybody wish to use it as a reference.

Good luck to all concerned.

C Miller.

Hi another mug here who has bought Citymatic. Only had it 3 months, done about 800 miles and guess what, no gears. I was lucky it was parked outside my house. I am disabled. that's why I bought this car; I can't hold the clutch in for long periods of time. The Fiat garage quoted me £1000. I am on benefits, and I have had a triple bypass. I can't walk far and the stress is giving me chest pains. I am left without a car now, but after reading these notes on here, I'm going to get on to Fiat.

If anyone can give me a copy of their paperwork to show they have had it converted to manual by Fiat, I would be ever so grateful. The more sent to me the better. Please ring me on 01803 325419, my name's Tony. Please, any help I would be so grateful.

All the best everyone, take care, Tony.

I bought a Citymatic as I had no problems with my previous sporting manual, only as it was written off in a crash. I have had it 5 weeks and I got in it yesterday and it would not start. I thought the battery was low so I purchased a new battery and it still does not work. I am so annoyed as it will cost a fortune to fix, think it may have been the cold weather but it's shocking that Fiat have not done anything to rectify it. I had problems getting it into gear, and to put it in reverse you have to put it in first gear then into reverse. It's only done 25 thousand miles and ready for scrap.

Don't bother scrapping it, just phone up Fiat and say you want them to fit a manual gear box at their expense, I did and the car was great afterwards. I did have to threaten legal action and compile a load of evidence with help from a few people on here, but it paid off. Would have cost nearly a £1000 at a Fiat dealer to refit a manual conversion, they did forget to connect the speedo though then blamed me, numb nuts..... why would I disconnect it? LOL.

Anyway, all in all, my Seicento is now registered as an SX on the log book and I sold it for more than I bought it. Shame though wish I had kept it ;(

Hi everyone.

I bought my Citymatic in 2007. Very low mileage and great condition. Had to have the actuator replaced end of 2008 at the cost of £1000, and guess what, I was out today and the car won't go into gear again. Have been towed to my local Fiat dealers and am waiting for a reply from them as to what is the matter, but after reading all your comments, I think I know what's wrong (fingers crossed it isn't). Any ideas on how I go about having it converted to manual??? Should I just ring Fiat head office and complain???

Thanks di.

Hi it's me again.

Well its been two weeks since my car broke down, and I still have no car.

But luckily today I have managed to speak to someone at Fiat Head Office who have said they will offer a goodwill gesture regarding fixing my car (yes it was the actuator that went AGAIN!!!) I have asked them to convert the car to manual, which would solve the problems with the actuator, they have taken all the details and are going to get back to me tomorrow, so fingers crossed they will pay to have it converted. I will let you know what the outcome is. Thanks for all our advice on here which has helped me fight my case.

Di.

(dizzydi68@sky.com)

Hi, another mug here. Bought one of these cars for my wife, and 2 weeks later it the actuator has gone. It's a 1999 model that has had about 2 new actuators in the past, but it has done 51000 miles. I feel it should be better than that.

I am looking at converting it to manual. Any help please or offers to do it?

Anyway, I have called Fiat, not sure what is going to happen as yet.

You can mail me on firewood_er@yahoo.co.uk