General Going from a Barchetta to a Seicento ,madness ?

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

The Barchetta forum here are used to my unhinged car choice but would I be
completely bonkers to consider a 1100 SX Seicento ?

Seen a nice car for sale online ,not seen it for real , are they nice enough to drive taking into account that it's a tiny cheaply made city car ?

Car has whole year MOT .

My B is broken and I don't have the cash for another but a Sei is in my budget
at less than 4 figures .

I just wanted to ask here as I have no idea whether to go further with this and start emailing questions to the seller .

Thanks for any feedback.......

 

[Alpine26]

go for it, if that is what you fancy. I don't think you'd lose money on it at under a grand, and will be cheap to run.

I think rust seems to be the big killer, particularly in the boot and rear wheel arches.

 

[David C]

If it is solid, go for it.
Fun to drive, cheap to own & run.

??

My 899 Cinq is still going strong, the only reason I’m not driving it is the London ULEZ, so it is loaned out to a friend further out of town.

 

[varesecrazy]

It wont be worth much

Our Sporting with service history was @£600

Yes they are well built.. and corrosion around the boot is indeed historically the killer

Does this have aircon?

Charlie

 

[ytareh]

Clutch cables are the Achilles Heel but pretty much “if you can touch it you can break it !”Heavy handedness is costly in Centos ... even seat backs can be folded back in half !Learn how to drive without a clutch cable and how to change a clutch cable and if you havent needed those skills in the next 12 months buy a lottery ticket ! They’re as nice a car as any in the world to thrash and the non Sporting’s are about 45-52mpg cars as opposed to 37-44 in the Sporting’s due to gearing differences .Ive driven I’d say over a dozen Centos but none that the clutch cable didn’t go in after more than 6-12 months use ( and I’m a a non urban driver )

 

[ytareh]

I once had a choice of three vehicles to go on a 250 mile trip to buy a large piece of furniture around 2005 , a 7 series , some Kia 5 door thing and a silver Cinq S .The ‘dresser unit’ would ONLY fit in the Cinq ( the rear arches have minimal intrusion into cabin allowing wide loads ) The return journey was in snow and ice and the rubber in wipers got a bit brittle but sort from that it performed admirably in outer lane of M6 !

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

Thanks to all 4 of you for replies , I've taken on board some good advice ,especially to look in the boot and at the arches ,although my B has gaping holes in the inner arches now and horrible bubbles on the outside arches.

Interesting about the clutch cable ,the car I'm looking at comes with a spare one....Hmmm !...hopefully wouldn't need it on the way home.

I still haven't emailed the seller yet but I have a set timeline to do this and will be doing that tonight .

I just hope the 12 month MOT was done honestly and wasn't done by a mate with eyes closed .

Will obviously update later on this week with whatever I do....

 

[ytareh]

I think the 1.1 Sei S May be the hardest Cento to do clutch cable in ! I’d be having a preliminary lie down on the carpet to see if you can see the bit in cabin ( the gearbox end isn’t so bad to access)

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

Well ,I completely lost my mind and bought the car .

The owner was completely deluded about the value of it but I still handed over

££££ for it .Not too many £££ but I tried knocking £100 off ,wasn't having it .

When he wouldn't take £50 off ,shoulda walked but I stuck with it and drove it

away ,eventually .

Wasn't able to drive it before sale as neither of us had insurance and car was SORN .

Drove it home at 70ish on M25 and it's much better than expected for what it is.

Colour is quite unusual , Verde Arianna VR ,according to the sticker in the tailgate .

 

[Steve70]

Ive driven I’d say over a dozen Centos but none that the clutch cable didn’t go in after more than 6-12 months use ( and I’m a a non urban driver )

Out of interest is there any difference in reliability (or snappability) between 899 and 1108 Centos? Also I'm sure I read that the problem isn't the cable itself, but the clutch action becoming stiff, putting more strain on the cable...

By the way, nice motor Barchetta Bloke! I've not seen many in that colour. Looks good!

Steve

 

[ytareh]

I think they both snap but if i had to bet id say 1008ccs def do it more .That blue Sei is in VERY rare ,very late colour .Guaranteed futeure classic .

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

My Minty green Sei isn't colourful enough , so I did this .

I had the random length stripes left over from previous efforts.

 

[Baz69]

Thanks to all 4 of you for replies , I've taken on board some good advice ,especially to look in the boot and at the arches ,although my B has gaping holes in the inner arches now and horrible bubbles on the outside arches.

Interesting about the clutch cable ,the car I'm looking at comes with a spare one....Hmmm !...hopefully wouldn't need it on the way home.

I still haven't emailed the seller yet but I have a set timeline to do this and will be doing that tonight .

I just hope the 12 month MOT was done honestly and wasn't done by a mate with eyes closed .

Will obviously update later on this week with whatever I do....

I've had my 2003 Fiat Seincento for around 6 years & my cable broke around a few years ago, the cable itself doesn't wear but the end that's attached to the pedal bar does, the cable is cheap but a pig to fit & i also have a spare waiting for the next time......

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

I'm going to randomly ramble for a bit , do excuse me .

I forgot to celebrate Minty's 20th birthday on Monday , delivered on the first day of Y reg ,1st March 2001.

But my Seicento owner experience hasn't been good , petrol leak from somewhere around the tank ,had the tank out , luckily experienced owners will know that's quite an easy removal .

Found a bodge that the previous owner 100% knew about but sold it to me with no morals that petrol would **** out when filled right up .

Undid the bodge but couldn't actually find the reason for the leak , so unsurprisingly , it still leaks .

It didn't leak when I poured 3/4 of a tank of petrol in with the backend still up on ramps but after a drive and the fuel slops about on corners and under braking it is leaking just as before .

The car had sat for weeks with a flat battery , had tried to charge it in January but it remained flat , so I gave it another near 24 hours of charge and it started first time for my first drive this year .

Went for another drive just to blow out some cobwebs ,stunk of petrol when I got back .

If I can summon up some enthusiasm I will take the tank out again , and try to not spill 20 litres of fuel everywhere ,

Chances are that this car will be scrapped or sold at MOT time in August , seeing as last year's MOT was conducted with help of a guide dog and white stick .

 

[David C]

Tanks leaking at the seam was a common failure.
Fiat even replaced tanks for free, well into their life.
But when mine went I DIY’d it as it saved the hassle and lost work days taking it there (and tanks were cheap).

I gave the new tank a good coat of Waxoil under seal, filling the seam, before fitting.

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

Tanks leaking at the seam was a common failure.
Fiat even replaced tanks for free, well into their life.
But when mine went I DIY’d it as it saved the hassle and lost work days taking it there (and tanks were cheap).

I gave the new tank a good coat of Waxoil under seal, filling the seam, before fitting.

Yes , I'd read about tank seam leaks before and also the previous owner said the tank was replaced within the last couple of years and it does look newish.

I could not find a leak from the tank itself or from the fittings on the top of the tank but it must be coming out of somewhere .

 

[slugworth1987]

My cinq used to leak from the filler hose, it had split at the tank. Could be the same for you?

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

After quite a wait for a reply , I have been accepted to take Minty the Seicento into Brands Hatch for Festival Italia on August 15th .

There was just 4 FIAT spaces left when I applied and thought they were going to reject my application as it's not exactly the most interesting car ever .

I just have to keep the battery charged as it keeps going flat due to non use and the battery I think is duff , but by the end of August the car will still be scrapped .

Anyone else going to this event ?

 

[Barchetta Bloke 440]

My car's going to be vandalised by footie fans isn't it .

 

[patches]

Hope it didn't. (Had both Barchetta and a Seicento and missed them both split the difference and bought a Punto Cabrio!)