1993 Fiat Tempra SX review from UK and Ireland

I few years ago I tried to live the Italian dream with a Fiat and said, "Never, never ever in my life will I own one again". But after owning a Rover 800 did I think well "they're not that bad and at least they're cheaper". So when the chance to own a Tempra Diesel SX SW 1993 came along, well I could not and would not resist the challenge to take on and beat this myth that all Italian family cars are crap.

All went well for about 200 miles then a strange little light flashed on the "Electronic Check". That's it I thought, "The end is Nigh". "It's straight to the scrap yard with you." But no. It was telling me a bulb had gone in the number plate. "Was that it?" I said. This car is telling me something that I needed to know. "Wow Cool". 55p later and an exchange of bulbs, no more warning light.

"WOW " again, many miles later and it breezed through an MOT, it didn't even need a re-test. Straight through. No problem. I'm still got post dramatic stress disorder from that one. I wrote straight away to my local Fiat dealer for confirmation that had this ever happened before. Handbrake failure. Emissions, etc etc. but apparently this had occurred before. Does Fiat make a half decent car or am I the lucky one?

20,000 miles later, an exhaust and replacement tyres later, I'm still smitten and think it's still better than my Rover 800 by about 18,900 miles.

Terrific, forgive all its faults. If you're a "DIY repair" type of guy then it's a cheap car. If you're a "dealer repair" type of guy, get yourself a Toyota, it'll cost you a fortune.