1.8 HLX

[Bren Wright]

Hi I am 18 soon and thinking of buying one of these as a first car, the reason I want to go for the 18 HLX is because it only costs £100 more on insurance than the 1.4 sx. Does anybody know of any problems to look out for on this car? Preferably the earlier models. I am going to put a body kit on it and also an induction kit, does anybody know how much insurance premiums go up by adding an induction kit (I have been told the body kit might not even cost more)?

Cheers for any advice!

 

[DaGeeza]

Insurance

What are you some kind of insurance broker??? how the hell can you afford the insurance on a 1.8 HLX Bravo at 18??? The mods are at the discretion of the insurance company they may charge extra or may not... can you tell us how much the insurance is costing you cos when I was 20 It cost me £1600

 

[bren]

bravo

oops, sorry i wasnt clear before, it is going to cost me £1100 with CIS insurance as a named driver under my mum. Which I dont consider to bad seeing as though it would cost nearly a grand and some poxy fiesta or summat similar!

 

[Anonymous]

Re: bravo

Im paying £720 under my mums insurance and i aint even 18 till july. Im with Direct Line. Fu**in bargain!

 

[bren]

nice 1!

Nice one, did you ring them? or do it online becaues online the quotes seem really high! Also what do u think to the car? Nice to drive etc?

 

[Kanulondon]

.

Bren are you a student? if you are try Endsleigh

I am 22 and now have 3 years NCB(touches evertything wooden!!)

and pay £650 fully comp for Bradford(dodgy)

KL

 

[ry]

Re: Re: bravo

i paid 420 quid fully comp named driver under my moms insurance i was also 18 at the time! ( royal sun alliance)

 

[bren]

insurance

Have any of u lot modded your bravo's? Just wondering how much insurance would go up, CIS say that u can do anything as long as it doesnt increase the power of the engine at no extra cost...

 

[Paul]

Re: insurance

Has anyone who has added an induction kit bothered to tell the insurance company? does that put the price up?

 

[Kanulondon]

funnily enough

i went into endsleigh today and told them i am thinking of replacing air filter.....they asked if it increased performance...i said no...makes car more economical and allows it to breathe more easily...plus the air filter lasts forever so it dont need replacing! i also told em it was pipercross

they took 3mins to think about it and they said, they wont charge anything if i did it! but i have already done it anyways! hehe

they did say they would charge £15 for administration fees

KL

 

[bren]

kanu..

kanu... what do u think to your bravo? And have u had any of the problems that a lot of people have listed on this site, I am looking to buy an earlier model for about £3000 so if its one of the earlier models is it more likely to have more problems?

 

[bren]

Re: kanu..

^bump^

 

[Kanulondon]

hey bren

Easy Bren matey,

My Bravo is a 1.4SX P Reg 1996. got it from dealer for £5k in Jan2k with 15k miles!

Since ownership I have had the following problems

1.Battery died...big feckin deal
2.Rear shocks were replaced under warranty and it was my fault...cos i was going up n down pavements


so basically my car has been exceptionally reliable(touch wood)

I also find the 1.4SX very spritely especially in 2nd and 3rd gears (over 3000rpm)

Get one now!

KL

 

[Paul]

Reliability

Just sold the 1.4 SX and now have Punto Sporting. However, the Punto will have to be good compared with the Bravo which provided 4 years of fuss-free service without a single glitch. It failed to start twice - once the fuel cutoff was knocked which wasnt the fault of the car, and secondly it was left out in the bitter cold for 4 weeks without being moved. Otherwise, excellent track record.

 

[bren]

thanks!

wahoo, cheers for info guys. I am currently out of work so as soon as I get a job I am gonna get a loan for one, probably be in about a months time, looking to spend between £2500 and 3k u reckon I will be able to find a decent runner for that? I dont think I will be able to find an HLX at that price but I have seen a few 1.4sx's at around that mark.

 

[Liam]

My advice is too keep all the money you were going to use for the bodykit and whatever else for such unforeseen things like:

Rear wiper motors
Windscreen wash motors
Fuel pump
Electric window motors
Engine Tappets
sunroof seals
flakey wing mirrors
cam/timing belt
interior/exterior bulbs
temperature sensor
idle valve
alarm system
remote central locking

You see what I am trying to say is the bravo is not the most reliable car ever and will probably need some or loads of money spent on it(depends if your lucky or not)but it is a good car to drive the days it isn`t coughing, rattling and squeking.

Good Luck...

 

[Kanulondon]

liam

its obvious you have had a bad experience a la Nigel

dont put the guy off with your scare stories and tellin him to save up for repairs straight away

bug off polo boy

KL

 

[Tony Ruddock]

1.8 HLX problems

Bren

I currently have a 'P' reg 1.8 HLX. I've owned it for three and a half years and it was a year old with 13000 miles when I bought it. It now has 28,000 miles on the clock.

The things I've had to have replaced in that time are:

1. The clutch slave cyclinder.
2. A rear shock absorber.
3. The tyres
4. The battery (very recently).
5. The exhaust (again very recently).
6. The clutch (most recently).

Overall I don't have much of a problem with that. Bearing in mind the low miles - most of my driving is done on short journeys to and from work.

My wife also have a 1.8 HLX which she got rid of earlier this year. Hers was a year younger than mine and she bought it from brand new.

She had problems with the Lambda Sensor (something to do with the emissions) and a bit of squeeking from the interior trim. That was it.

Overall we've both been pleased with our HLXs in fact I bought mine because I liked hers so much.

Mine is for sale (I have an earlier post on this site with details but can email you moer if you're interested) - I was looking for about £3800 for it bearing in mind the low miles.

The colour? Sassi Grey and very nice.

The price however may be open to negotiation.