Had a look back and I was last in here in 2006 although with the exception of three years in a new 2007 Aygo I've been true to the Fiat faith .I traded it in for a red 2007 100hp( am I the only person who didn't really like them ?!) .I also Ran a 2005 diesel Panda for four years from 99k to 170k+ over four and a half years and traded that in for a 2010 1.1 Panda ( also red ) which has served me well going from under 4 k miles to 40 k miles over the last two years and a month .
Anyway today I sold my Panda and perhaps in too much of a rush bought a 'stop gap' €300 (£260) Seicento S in Capri blue ( the matt mid blue looking shade) .It has 26k on the clock and 2 owners dating from 2000.
I think the main negative is a leaking exhaust flexi pipe( up front) .Are these separate to the cat ? Are there really three or four different ones and they need to be bought carefully ? Any chance of a cheap 'bodge'?
Theres a click in a cv but it's only noticeable under hard lock .The car has tax and test till 2019 !
Suspension feels tight with no clunks , handbrake is very high but works fine . Four good tyres .
Gearbox a bit droning and change certainly doesn't encourage swift shifting but I think it's ok and a lot of them were like that . In fact I think the clutch cable might just need adjusting ( didn't practically all of them and people were missold clutches a fair bit when all that was needed was looseningor tightening the cable nut )
I would prefer if seat came up a bit more vertically , it's slightly too laid back for me .I can live with the window winding for now ....
I can remember being in a Silver 98 Cinq Sp on 9/11 ( Twin Towers etc)and reckon I just missed out on buying it last week but I think buying a car before you sell you're own is never a good idea ...
I also missed a MINT 15k Miles one lady owner burgundy SX 2002 which I'm sick about considering it was only a hundred or two more than my latest Sei .
Wish me luck , any advice re flexi ?
Oh and I also got the dreaded demon red line revving and thought it was a heavy floor mat on the test drive ( wrong!) Anyway it's seems to be gone ( for now)

Two hour round trip commute tommorow , 80 +miles of country and motorway driving (but few urban zones thankfully) in my new Sei.Have had a few 'test' drives ...wish me luck!Quietly confident (at risk of tempting fate )

Drove gingerly to work although did overtake a couple times .Drove half way home , well able for motorway and driving dead straight ( that and power steering encourage very light fingertip driving ... bit dangerous !) Hit a big traffic jam on main road and had to detour to small roads and drive the car very hard to get home to get child to after school activity .Man I’d forgotten how much fun it was to drive the nuts off a 1.1 Cento !!!If it survived that it will survive anything ! Annoying how Fan comes in and off in traffic so often and easily .Must top up rad reservoir from just above min to just below max

The Sei 1.1 S ( not Sporting) has performed like a champ ! Calculated that I got 48mpg over last week and I drove it very hard at times .
Good: Delightfully weighted ( light but not floaty) and responsive steering ( quicker rack than non PAS?) .Plenty of torque compared with 1.1 Panda Eco 2010 I had before it .

Bad : Gearbox rougher than a bag of spanners ( but 'longer' to help mpg) I had a litre of gearbox oil around ,so drained out that much and topped it up , seems quite a bit smoother ) .Bad handling and especially stopping in the wet .Front wheels lock up very easily ( have rotated tyres - better ones on front now)


I'm not sure a Sporting makes more sense than a 1.1 Sei S .It has a roll bar .Its got the weight saving of missing sun roof , electric windows , central locking etc
And while the lower gears might be worth a bit off a 0-60 time they clearly effect motorway driving / mpg .

This car can potter around housing estates and tight urban roads in third gear with almost diesel like torque so it sure isn't high geared .

I love it but it does feel 'vulnerable' ...makes you drive safer and keep fairly well back although at least twice in last week have found myself nipping at the heels of far faster cars driven exceedingly slowly while in a hurry ...I'm guessing I'm not the only one who attempts to telepathically announce to car in front "I've got 54bhp here buddy ready to unleash and you're holding me back in your BMW120d / Lexus IS250 etc !"

53mpg This tankful !

And 52mpg ....this little Sei 1.1 S ( yes S not Sporting) is well up to 2 hour daily driver use .Got exhaust flexi replaced with identical part during week and 'plastic weld '( I would have just superglued it) on vacuum hose pipe fitting on black plastic unit before air intake .Not sure if this ( the latter - and maybe even the flexi) will improve or disimprove mpg and speed but the mechanic did both at the same time anyway .
Still have issue with rear tail lights whereby you can't indicate and brake at same time and have the rear lights work properly !
Mechanic deals in Punto/Cento parts and reckons mine is one of best he has seen , certainly rust free bodywork underneath and a lot spent on car .New cat back exhaust system and alternator and some front bushes replaced etc .I was told it belonged to the wife of a 'manager in a big ( non Fiat) car dealership' .I guess he wasn't lavishing the Mrs with motoring luxury but some drivers may not feel comfortable in big cars or be unable to change once they start out in a particular model etc .Anyway it had same lady owner for 16 years ...Anyway its now passed 27k miles on the clock .
Insurance company tried to charge me €300 EXTRA for insurance but they had earlier told me there would be no charge above that on my 2010 Panda so I stuck to my guns and they 'waived' the 'additional premium'Theres a huge issue in Ireland whereby insurers are trying to get drivers out of older cars .Theres one company that only insures up to 4 years old ! 2004 is oldest many will take for 'new business' .Plenty of gorgeous early and mid noughties cars being practically GIVEN away ( or scrapped) as a result .Sad .
Someone recently said they completed a two hour motorway drive at 70mph in their Cento without skipping a beat .Id say this one would do it at 80 no sweat but I tend to keep her at 120kmh(75mph, legal motorway limit over here ) as front wheels ( I rotated rears with better tyres) are slightly out of balance
Mpg due to longer fifth gear awesome although there is a long 40mph roadworks section that's probably keeping me the right side of 50mpg .Id say 48/49 is the more typical value which beats the Sporting's by at least 4-6 ...
Hand on heart , I prefer my €300 Sei to my near €3000 (sold) Panda ( at least for now !) While I love the idea of a mint Sporting why the heck would you want a sunroof ,central locking , possibly heavier alloys ,definitely shod in wider tyres slowing it down ?! And then a low ratio fifth gear using up fuel unnecessarily on the motorway ? Mind you mine does have heavy power sapping Powersteering but as the rack is faster and the feel is beautifully weighted I'm holding off pulling the fuse ( if I can find it !)
Of course the safety concerns are there but I was tail ended by a Transit in a yellow Cinq Sp and both car and driver were practically unscathed . ( new taillight - crack in bumper) .If you're a cyclist the danger is relatively reduced I'm telling myself !
Anyone else doing big miles in a Cento?

Oh and these 'nasty' but long gearboxes ;-) definitely benefit from gearbox oil change .Real easy once you have the fiat hex( key) and a bottle with a long narrow pipe in it to get it in .There are two plugs/ 'screw holes '?The top one isn't particularly high nor the bottom particularly low but you just fill till it comes out .Think I read its 2.6 litres but don't quote me .

hi where are you based,live?

I’m in LEIXLIP near Lucan , Dublin ...oh and .....AAAAAARGGGHHHHH!My bloody clutch cable has snapped in Liffey Valley shopping centre area .Managed to get it back into car park but traffic mental and will have to wait an hour or more for traffic to reduce .Nandos .....
So I guess I should just order a Ricambio ‘reinforced ‘ one ?Are they literally break proof ?

Is the 1.1S non Sporting Sei the longer or shorter clutch cable ?

Waited till traffic dropped around the shopping centre /retail parks and set off for home about 7pm driving without clutch cable starting with ignition key in gear .Was making great progress and tried to shift from second to third as had practiced pretty smoothly in deserted car park ...DISASTER !!! Gear lever came off in my hand dangling only by linkages !!!By some miracle I managed to wedge the lever back in amongst its broken white plastic mountings / brackets and got home on a wîng and a prayer .What do I do now ? Will a few cheap scrapyard parts fix the damage I've done ? ( had a circular white piece of plastic and a one inch diameter thin seal come off too ) I can do the cable myself easily but won't be using a non ricambio one again . I don't want to have to stump up for more and more new parts like clutch or even gearbox and have this turn into a money pit but I'm quite fond of my Sei S .Advice please ?

Just fix what is currently broken.
New..OILED cable

Scrap yard for other bits.


Our immaculate panda 1000s..1986

Used a clutch cable every 10,000 Miles.

Routing was lousy..and new cables were DRY(I was used to ptfe cables.. so the DRY look seemed 'ok') .

WE GOT SPOILT as subsequent (rhd)FIATs had fluid clutches

Weve still got a SeiSporting..
But the £180 rfl:tax for a small car is daft.

Charlie

Thanks VareseCrazy.The guy who fitted the flexi is going to take it away on back of lorry and hopefully get it sorted for no too much .Is the Ricambio cable really as good as suggested , some say theyve broken them .And is the 1.1 S Sei non sporting with older gearbox the longer or shorter cable?

.Is the Ricambio cable really as good as suggested , some say theyve broken them .And is the 1.1 S Sei non sporting with older gearbox the longer or shorter cable?[/QUOTE]

No idea on cable quality..
Just buy a new one and give it a good pre.lube.
Mine were bought as needed..and fitted DRY at the roadside..
Now I see where I missed out..

ePER should sort out the cable spec dilemma

http://62.106.11.160:8000/navi?SBMK=F&COUNTRY=099&DRIVE=S&MAKE=F&LANGUAGE=3&ALL_FIG=0&SEARCH_TYPE=codpart&RMODE=DEFAULT&KEY=HOME&EPER_CAT=SP&GUI_LANG=3&ALL_LIST_PART=1&PRINT_MODE=0&PREVIOUS_KEY=PARTDRAWDATA&SB_CODE=-1&WINDOW_ID=1

Got car back now but hard to trust it knowing clutch cable may go any moment .Whats the record for closest pair of breakages on a single car ?Am i 'guaranteed' a month or two of reliable use?Car seems almost perfect otherwise ...

ytareh said:

Got car back now but hard to trust it knowing clutch cable may go any moment .Whats the record for closest pair of breakages on a single car ?Am i 'guaranteed' a month or two of reliable use?Car seems almost perfect otherwise ...

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Have you replaced the clutch?

D

Just replaced entire car with an 03 Mini One D .Remains to be seen if that was wise but at least clutch pedal collapse phobia should be considerably reduced .

What a shame.

Was enjoying your tales.

h2ypr said:

What a shame.

Was enjoying your tales.

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13 months on..
ytareh should know what they have missed

varesecrazy said:

13 months on..


ytareh should know what they have missed

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Yeah - I read old threads as I wasn’t on the forum for 10 years.