A month or two ago I noticed a slight rattle coming from the suspension on bad road surfaces (ie most of them!). The GF took it into Wentanes this morning and they diagnosed a worn drop link. Admittedly the car has done 23k miles, but even so that isn't the best!
On the plus side the garage were excellent again, I was half expecting the "we cant hear anything madam" line, but she said within 200m of the test drive they had diagnosed it.

There was a recall on the early Bravos about replacing drop links, I wonder if they still have a problem (this car was built after the recall). Keep your ears open!

When was yours registered ?? Might get them to look at mine when I take mine in there for the window problem I ve got

PROV said:

A month or two ago I noticed a slight rattle coming from the suspension on bad road surfaces (ie most of them!). The GF took it into Wentanes this morning and they diagnosed a worn drop link. Admittedly the car has done 23k miles, but even so that isn't the best!
On the plus side the garage were excellent again, I was half expecting the "we cant hear anything madam" line, but she said within 200m of the test drive they had diagnosed it.

There was a recall on the early Bravos about replacing drop links, I wonder if they still have a problem (this car was built after the recall). Keep your ears open!

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http://www.vosa.gov.uk/vosa/apps/re...date&cboAscDesc=ASC&PageSize=10&Search=Search

Yes I looked at that Get, but mine was made after the recall date, so had no recalls on it.
It was registered Oct 07 (or Sept 30th 07), and was built early Sept 07

Recall was for the anti-roll bar itself, not the droplinks.

It's not unusual for droplinks to wear quickly, especially on our pothole strewn roads, and when you think of the amount of punishment they take (every time the front suspension moves) it's understandable.

PROV said:

Yes I looked at that Get, but mine was made after the recall date, so had no recalls on it.
It was registered Oct 07 (or Sept 30th 07), and was built early Sept 07

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how do you know it was early september? does the VIN number now tell you which part of the month is was built in?

No. It was a factory order and I kept informed via my dealer on the status of it, so I know it was built in early Sept.

All done. They replaced both, said one was shot the other was ok. Excellent service again from the lads at Wentane.

What is it with Fiat/Alfa suspensions? They seem to be engineered to the sort of durability we used to expect of exhaust systems. Look at the tales of woe in the GP section. Alfas likewise: my 156 eats its way through suspension componentry (wishbones/bushes/trailing arms) every 30K or so... but after eight years/90K still has a sound original exhaust. Brakes also impressively durable. So the exhausts and brakes go on and on, but the suspensions and cooling systems disintegrate like the exhausts and brake pads of the 1970s....?!?!?

alfabarry said:

What is it with Fiat/Alfa suspensions? They seem to be engineered to the sort of durability we used to expect of exhaust systems. Look at the tales of woe in the GP section. Alfas likewise: my 156 eats its way through suspension componentry (wishbones/bushes/trailing arms) every 30K or so... but after eight years/90K still has a sound original exhaust. Brakes also impressively durable. So the exhausts and brakes go on and on, but the suspensions and cooling systems disintegrate like the exhausts and brake pads of the 1970s....?!?!?

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, so true, more so with alfa. I saw a 156 on a 55 plate needed new wishbones, bushes AND trailing arms to get it through its first MOT it had only done 44k the suspension was so out of alignment it was eating a full set of tyres every 9k! pmsl . They owner was NOT very happy at all and actually complained to alfa that much they Alfa paid for the parts all he had to fork out was labour.

I think the problem with the bravo is its basically a Stilo underneath which was designed to be not so weighty as the bravo is, as result it putting additional strain on the suspension parts.

I don't think mine has this problem though - must be a one-off.

Hellcat said:

I don't think mine has this problem though - must be a one-off.

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I hope it is because the Bravo seems to be prooving that a modern fiat can be reliable.

The fact that one had gone and the other was ok suggests a duff part maybe?

True what you say about Alfas though, my 156 GTA is currently creaking (70k miles), probable wishbone bushes, has a new rad about to be fitted and the exhaust is fine.

As for the Stilo comment, I thought the Bravo was an all new car

ChrisUK said:

I hope it is because the Bravo seems to be prooving that a modern fiat can be reliable.

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Yes, the service guy at Wentanes was saying they havent had many problems at all with the new Bravos. Said it was a solid and so far reliable car. He contrasted that with the teething probs they encountered with the Grande Punto

PROV said:

As for the Stilo comment, I thought the Bravo was an all new car

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Nope they are both based on the fiat C-Platform

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Stilo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Bravo

Look on the stat sheets at the right hand side and see they are both the same platform .

Ooooh Wiki


It's based on, but has a LOT of changes beyond the beautiful new shape.

Hellcat said:

Ooooh Wiki


It's based on, but has a LOT of changes beyond the beautiful new shape.

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I totally agree its like a completly different car.

ChrisUK said:

I totally agree its like a completly different car.

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yes indeed very different but drop links are the same and stilo had them go allot

not expensive thou if out of waranty