97 & 98 HGT's - reliability

[Steve D]

After recently reading through some past pages, its clear there are some dodgy bravo's out there many with cambelt failure. However there are some goodn's too.

I read that 'Martin' has been really impressed with his 98 HGT and that it has caused him no major probs. I have a 97 HGT and was wondering if these cars on said years seem to be the pick of the crop. I too have done 50 000 miles un-troubled (except for the replacement of the radio on the second day of ownership- but u can't really count that) in my HGT. I am dead pleased with the car, looks, styling and performance.
Has any one had major failures on thier 97 and 98 cars particully HGT's or are we both just lucky?
Replys apreciated.

 

[Steve]

Good Reliability on mine too.

My 97 1.6SX Bravo is also very reliable. Its has 45,000 miles and I am the 3rd owner. I have a feeling the 1st owner was a hire car company as it was owned for only 6-8 months, up to 10,000 miles.
When I bought it it had no service history or books but it was a good price and has done me great for 16+ months now.
If it was a hire car then it would have had rough treatment but it has been great to me.

Steve

 

[Martin]

Yup mine is a peach

But I think it al depends o how they are treated.
Mine was serviced every 12 weeks or so when I was commuting in it then I got a van just to drive to work in because I hated my baby being abused like that !!!
Now it does hardly any miles..... from 61,000 in 2 years to 63,000 in 3 years !!!
And she has been faultless. The one and only time the AA have been called out was because my missus couldn't start it, I assumed the battery was flat, but I just couldn't go through on the phone how to put it on charge, so I told her to call the AA out. The bloke came and gave her a jump but said that the batt was shagged.
I bought a new one, installed it and guess what.....
The interior light was left on !!! All weekend, no wonder the battery was flat !!! Oh how we laughed
The only other thing to be changed as I have mentioned previously was the roof unit with the ultrasonics and roof switch in, the interior lights had packed up working via the door switches and apparently a relay in the unit had bust, that was done under warranty so no cost there.
In my 63,000 miles and 3 years (it was it's birthday on the 6th of jan!!) I have paid for....
6 tyres.
1 exhaust
1 Battery
And of course the cost of the regular servicing. And for me that is bloody excellent reliability.
It will be a sad day in our household when she goes

 

[Steve D]

HGT- cambelt change

How much did you pay for the cam belt change has mine will be done this time next year (about 60 000). As its the 5 pot the whole lot has to come out, i,ve heard quotes of upto £1300 from fiat. Surely not!

 

[trev]

cam belt quote

I got quote for £900 but it includes a service as well
and yes engine out two day`s they told me

 

[Martin]

Tis true, engine's gotta come out

I was quoted just over £900 from my local dealer. 9 hours engine in and out
I went to a local performance specialist and he did a 72,000 service which includes the cam bel change, I asked him to use platinum plug's Mobil 1 engine oil and synthetic gearbox oil and he charged me £575 all inclusive.

 

[Trev]

loction

What is the name of the perfomance place? and what area are they in?

 

[Martin]

They are in Kent, near Canterbury

They are called Class Cars, phone number 01304 619990.
If you don't live near Kent then they are gonna be well out of the wat for you, but the guy did a top job an my car, in between Christmas and New year as well !!
He needed it for 2 days minimum, I left it with him from Wed - Fri.

Here is the url for the map

http://www.streetmap.co.uk/streetmap.dll?P2M?P=ct130ny&Z=1

 

[Steve D]

Cam belt -canterbury

Thanks for answering my question everyone, Martin yr a top man i'll have to pop down/along to Canterbury.

 

[Paul R]

1.4 SX - great reliability, but a few niggles

Mine's a 1998 1.4 SX Bravo. Reliability wise, it's been great, as have all of our Fiats.

But there are some really annoying niggles of late. With all the rain we've had in the UK recently, the sunroof started leaking. When getting into it every morning, a nice pool of water would appear in the driver footwell. The dealer have had four attempts to get it right and, although we hope it to be cured now, they're still waiting for a part. Due to this leak, part of the headlining is ruined, the carpet is stained, and this was NOT covered by Fiat's extended warranty, so £100 was paid out and still no cure. Having said that, the fourth time, they didn't charge for labour.

Has anyone else had a leaky sunroof?

Also, the interior isn't wearing up too well. It's screwed together well, but the materials are crap. It scratches far, far too easily. It's annoying. Looks more like 7 years old rather than 3. Even the interior of my Fiat Uno seems to withstand scratching better than the Bravo.

regards,
Paul
www.fiatbravo.org.uk

 

[Dee]

Hi HGT owners

Hi

I just purchased a 98 HGT about 2 weeks ago after selling my beloved Corrado 16v. The HGT has a great sounding engine and the power is not that bad. The ride however is a bit choppy at speeds above 95mph ( I HOPE THE ROZZERS DONT READ THIS!!!) and I was wondering wether I should fit some 17 inch alloys to reduce this and maybe lower the car and need suggestions.

My Corrado was lowered by 60mm and stuck to the road like super glue, can you do this on the HGT? The reason why I still have not pushed the HGT to its limits is due to me being a bit worried about its handling around corners and it being bouncy as hell at high speeds.

 

[Steve D]

Do It

Yes do it. 17's with 205/40/17's will go staright on. As will a drop of 30mm without the need for arch mods. Going as low as 60mm will result in some scrub-age. If you've got the 195/55/15 tyres on then yes the ride is v.bouncy at high speeds -change to the 205's. If you have got the 205's then it's probably cos your used to your corrado being rock solid and lower.
Lowering any cars centre of gravity will help the cars atbility at speed and round the bends no end. Just make sure you buy the good suspension kits, not just the springs.
Hope this helps

 

[dee]

Cheers Steve!

Nice one Steve,
I have booked the car in for a drop of 30mm and Im putting on a set of 17's on but still have not decided which ones to put on . Any suggestions? I like the look of the BK 214 OR 215 (In Max Power magazine). I have not considerd changing the suspension as yet just putting on springs hope this is wise.

 

[Steve D]

Nice one

Yeah the suspension can be done in stages, springs then dampers later, not a problem as for the wheels not sure. Wheels often look different once on the car. Also i don't know the style your after. One wheel i might look at would be the new Diablo by Team Dynamics, a multi-spoke effort.... up to you though. Some companys may have a computer program where you can look at the wheels before you buy. Good luck choosing.

 

[Richard]

Nice One

Hi Dee, I have an HGT with 16" OZ Super T's fitted with 215x40 Toyo Proxes T1 tyres. The wheels are Multi Spoke and I think they really look the part, but that's a matter of opinion of course. There is no doubt however that the handling of the car has been transformed at speed. I would like to have had the car lowered as well but if I did I would'nt be able to get it into my drive, it scrapes now!!! col
Best of luck,
Richard

 

[fab]

i want to insure my bravo

im wanting to insure my dads hgt im only 21 anyone got any suggestions ive got it down to about 1000.00
with 3 yrs ncd, but id like it for cheaper , any suggestions ?? by the way im swopping it for my seicento sporting with my dad so i will be the owner and regd keeper, please any suggestions would be very welcome,(by the way i think me dad will part ex the seicento for a alfa 147, i dont think he could handle the drop of 100 bhp.