2001 Fiat Brava 1.2 SX from UK and Ireland - Comments

There was something wrong with the radio which drained the battery every night. Fixed for £68 (not by FIAT)

I love my Fiat Brava!

I don't know where the FIAT reputation came from for unreliability. If you travel around the south of Italy you will see that average age of the FIAT cars there is about 12 years. Many are 25 years old and still going strong. My father has a Audi which is always going wrong (at stupendous cost), and my mother has a FIAT which goes great!

I was going to buy the VW golf mark III, but was scared off by tales of unreliability and expensive repairs. I also rented a Golf 1.4 for a long journey to Wales and back and they are noisy at speed and handle poorly. I bough mine very cheap (half price after 18 months and 2,500 miles on the clock - it was an ex-rental.

The engine is quiet and powerful for a 1.2. At the legal limit on the motorway it's whisper quiet. Drives about 400 miles for a full tank of petrol which costs about £40. So about the same as some diesel cars, but with cheaper servicing. The steering is the best I have ever experienced in a car. Combinded with the excellent cornering, it makes for a fun drive.

I have avoided the FIAT dealerships for servicing because of all the bad press on pages like these and use independent garages instead which are fine. Parts are cheaper than other brands (I know this as I broke down in my Uno once and a garage fixed it for £35 including parts and labour. It was so cheap I gave them a £10 tip!)

The only bad points - you can't get the 1.2 without the sunroof, which makes things a bit cramped if you are more than 6'2". The seats are too 'sporty' (automotive jargon for uncomfortable) and have too much side support, which makes them a pain after an hour or so. Why does it not have remote locking? Much more useful than a stupid sunroof.

FIAT deserve their bad reputation. They constantly perform poorly in reliability surveys, such as JD Power, but if yours goes good, then that's the main thing!

I've just bought a Fiat Bravo 1.2 and wondering if you can give me more info on the radio draining the battery issue as I think I may be having the same problem. Cheers.

I have recently bought a Brava 80SX 1.2 and I love it. It is a 2001 car with 42,000 miles and I am amazed at the fuel economy - about 40 mpg and that includes a lot of town driving as I live in London. I had a Tipo before this which used to give only about 23 mpg on exactly the same type of driving. Unlike the original poster I have not had an issue with the stereo (which seems to have amazingly good sound quality) and I like the electric sunroof now that summer is upon us. I do agree with him/her however that remote c/l would have been a good touch. I agree also that the seats are not half as comfy as the nice velour"armchairs" in my old Tipo. I bought it privately and it was advertised as a 1.4 but when I went to look at it the bloke said it was an error and it was really a 1.2. At the time I was disappointed, but I bought the car anyway because I still liked it. I have since read that the 1.4 engine was dropped in favour of the 1.2 because of very poor fuel economy and not much difference in performance - so it turned out for the best for me in the end anyway! I expect to keep this car for a few years. I look after my cars properly and expect to get some good service from this one. I think the styling is good too and even at 4.5 years old this car does not look out of date. I regard it as a great buy and I love driving it.

I have only had this car for a year, buying it second hand from a local dealer. It wasn’t my first choice, but my wife liked the colour and the test drive was very comfy.

Economy wise this is good, I use it for work and shopping and the occasional errands, only ever have to put £10 a week in it.

Comfort wise its OK, but I agree with the seats been uncomfortable on long journeys.

Nothing wrong has gone wrong with it so far, and it handles well on the country roads I use. Sound system is great, sic speakers is plenty enough for me and the quality is very good.

Not much I can fault with this although it would have been better if it had security fitted better.