hi every one im looking at getting my first fiat

its a fiat bravo 1.4 t-jet 150 bhp on a 57 plate 24,000 miles on the clock on owner from new £6,000 i have not yet seen the car as it is in Scotland im buying from Arnold Clarke dealer it is being brought to my local dealer this week and i have until the end of the month to test drive look over it and make sure its the car for me.

car should be coming with 6month tax 12 month mot just serviced and apparently its had the timing bet changed at the Scotland branch.

i cant post the url yet but will do when i have 5 posts under my belt

all i know about fiat is that every one round my end says it stands for fix it agen tomorrow i have bin driving volvo s40 for past 3 years

just want some advice on weather or not they are as bad as people say or if the newer cars are a massive improvement on the old ones?

the equipment level is what drew me to that car cruise control especially compared to other cars of similar age and mileage.

aroby89 said:

just want some advice on weather or not they are as bad as people say or if the newer cars are a massive improvement on the old ones?

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Who says they are bad? Never read anything that said the new Bravo is bad.

The bravo is maybe the most reliable car in its class.

It's also my first fiat and I paid it a lot more that you will and I never regretted it.

Tad-bravo said:

The bravo is maybe the most reliable car in its class.

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This is a bit of a stretch (Tad loves his Bravo very much) - generally however they are pretty good.

The press just hate italian cars. I've driven quite a few different makes of cars and Fiat's always make me feel the best when i'm driving them.

I'm on my fourth Fiat and long may the relationship continue!!
The first 3 gave sterling service for between 6 and 10 years with no major upsets. Unreliable my ar5e!
My last Fiat, a B1 Bravo, the exhaust was the original, as was the clutch, gearbox, brake discs, injectors - all being almost 10 years old!!

F.I.A.T. actually stands for Ferrari In Affordable Trim, sunshine.

Andysan said:

This is a bit of a stretch (Tad loves his Bravo very much) - generally however they are pretty good.

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Do you have proof that I'm wrong?

Take a look at other brands forums, the problems golf and astra owners have are lot more serious than a fading boot badge.

French and japanese cars might be perfectly reliable too but I'd be ashamed to own one of those bland vehicles.

Yeah, I still haven't seen anyone posting about anything catastrophic happening to their Bravo.

I honestly don't even know where the Golf and Astra's get their reputations from, because for what you pay for them, they certainly have a lot of issues and poor quality materials and parts. Household names... thats it.

The biggest (unfolding/potential) trouble with Bravo's is the waterpump failing & taking the cambelt with it on the 150 bhp Multijet Diesel versions, though this is the same problem as on the Alfa 147 150bhp Multijet & can be prevented by changing the cambelt & waterpump every 40,000 miles/4 years instead of the (higher) recommended interval. Not aware of any other engines being affected on the 147 or Bravo - had about 3 Bravo's reported on here with the problem so far.

DPFs seem dodgy on the 2.0 Multijet diesels, but some people have no trouble, others have lots. I believe the DPF has now been moved into the manifold on the newer engines - the 2.0 Alfa Giulietta's on AlfaOwner don't appear to have any problems with the DPF so i assume the cure has worked.

That's the only major(ish) problems i've seen. Electrics are largely spot on, save for a few dodgy climate control actuators & electric window switches occasionally needing a reset. Suspension drop links were noisy early on but this has dissapeared. Leather steering wheel can peel (as on Panda 100HP, Grande Punto & some other Fiats) and front & rear Fiat badges can fade/let in water.

A couple of T-Jets have had cooling system pipes come loose - a pain, but as long as you don't carry on driving with no coolant it shouldn't cause damage.

Niggles, but not a ticking timebomb unlike alot of modern cars - i see many cars sat on the hard shoulder, but of the near 100 this year, only 4 have been Fiat & they were nearly all old (old shape Bravo, Grande Punto, original Multipla & 52 plate Doblo Van).

Although i don't sing its praises from the roof tops, you can do a lot worse in the class. It speaks volumes about the car when so many of us on here have spent hundreds at least on adding personal touches, so, although they can be a right pain in the backside with their niggles (rattly trim, just general annoyances along these lines) seem to be a common theme with the UK Bravos at least. Just make sure if you're tall and regularly carry back seat passengers, that you're driving position allows them at least some comfort (it is very poor back there if you drive with your seat low and far back) but otherwise, mines has been very solid.

Tad-bravo said:

Do you have proof that I'm wrong?

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Nope, and the Bravo is pretty sorted, but I would guesstimate there are probably more reliable cars out there, even if they are as dull as soup.

hi sorry for those of you thinking i was calling the bravo a bad car i was referring to all fiats (i know this is even worse) bad is not the word that should have bin used i was meaning the reliability of fiats in general (from what i have heard) dont wana buy a car that is going to spend more time on ramps than on the road so just wondering on peoples personal opinions on the bravo especially reliability?

aroby89 said:

hi sorry for those of you thinking i was calling the bravo a bad car i was referring to all fiats (i know this is even worse) bad is not the word that should have bin used i was meaning the reliability of fiats in general (from what i have heard) dont wana buy a car that is going to spend more time on ramps than on the road so just wondering on peoples personal opinions on the bravo especially reliability?

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You'd be suprised how many manufacturers use Fiat engines...

Look how many cars use the MultiJet diesel...

[ame]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Multijet[/ame]

Also a bit of history of the common rail diesel.The first passenger car that used the common rail system was the 1997 model Alfa Romeo 156 2.4 JTD

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_rail#History

They must be doing something right.

Fiat also make the current Ford Ka in Poland.

Never seen one of these... has anyone else?

http://500blog.blogspot.co.uk/2008/07/new-fiat-500-police-car.html

The only reason Fiat have a reputation of being unreliable is because they once bought a batch of crap quality steel from the Russians, so for a 3 year gap their cars fell apart.

aroby89 said:

hi sorry for those of you thinking i was calling the bravo a bad car i was referring to all fiats (i know this is even worse) bad is not the word that should have bin used i was meaning the reliability of fiats in general (from what i have heard) dont wana buy a car that is going to spend more time on ramps than on the road so just wondering on peoples personal opinions on the bravo especially reliability?

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The Grande Punto can be pretty ropey. Even as a big fan of Fiat i think it's fair to say someone dropped a pretty big bol*ock where component quality for that car was concerned.

However, as is often the case, people speak more about bad experiences than good, so whilst the 500, Panda, Bravo and Doblo/Qubo all seem pretty sound & sorted in terms of reliability, the dodgy Grande Punto's will create a voice that shouts far louder than all the satisfied owners of the other models. It's fair to say that for every Grande Punto owner you find that hates their car, you'll probably find another who sings its praises, so even they create a mixed picture.

But as far as the Bravo is concerned, you should have no major concerns at all. They havn't sold very well because people don't associate Fiat with big cars, AutoExpress gave it the obligatory 3 stars (now 2) because it's not got a VW badge on the front and because someone at Fiat UK forgot to advertise the car, not because it's a bad car.

JTD_Liam said:

The Grande Punto can be pretty ropey. Even as a big fan of Fiat i think it's fair to say someone dropped a pretty big bol*ock where component quality for that car was concerned.

However, as is often the case, people speak more about bad experiences than good, so whilst the 500, Panda, Bravo and Doblo/Qubo all seem pretty sound & sorted in terms of reliability, the dodgy Grande Punto's will create a voice that shouts far louder than all the satisfied owners of the other models. It's fair to say that for every Grande Punto owner you find that hates their car, you'll probably find another who sings its praises, so even they create a mixed picture.

But as far as the Bravo is concerned, you should have no major concerns at all. They havn't sold very well because people don't associate Fiat with big cars, AutoExpress gave it the obligatory 3 stars (now 2) because it's not got a VW badge on the front and because someone at Fiat UK forgot to advertise the car, not because it's a bad car.

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Been Driving FIAT cars most of my driving life, from the Citivan in 1991, through Ritmo, Uno (1.7 dsl), Punto (1910 dsl), Grande Punto (1.3 dsl) Bravo (1.6 dsl eco). Ritmo was old when I got it and probably past its best, but got me around. Dsl Uno was good car but light on the road, and bit scary being blown about on motorway. Only reason changed the Punto 1910dsl was engine size. Very high road tax and insurance. Never a problem with Grande Punto, great car 71mpg. Written off in frost only reason not still driving. 61000km on Bravo since Feb last year, never a problem. Great car.