HGT Purchase Advice needed

[Pete]

Hi, I'm looking to purchase a 99/T mk1 HGT with 62K at around £5,500. It looks very tidy with fsh etc. I suppose I'll be looking at a cam belt change etc soon. Can anyone give me some general advice/bargaining points? Does the price sound fair?

How reliable is the Bravo generally? Thanks.

 

[Chris]

Advice

Ask if they'll do the cambelt in with the price, otherwise its gonna cost you big money. Fiat dealers are charging £1200-£1500 for the 72k service and some are now recommending the cambelt is done at 60k. I wouldn't want to drive it until it was done personally.

To put the price in perspective, 6 months ago I bought a 18 month old Marea 155 (HGT with a boot....oh and its slightly faster)with 11k on the clock for £6000. Ok it took me a month and a couple of 100 mile journeys to get the right car, but it was worth it.

In my opinion the price would be OK for a low mileage car, but at 62k without the cambelt done I would steer clear. Tell the seller how much its gonna cost you at a main dealer, as most small garages won't touch the job and see how much he'll come down. There are some independant garages who will do it but not many depends on whereabouts you are.

I'd look around if I were you, check out some cars for sale on the net etc. And look out for Mareas too there generally £500-£1000 cheaper slightly faster and more stable at high speed. If you dare to be different and buy one look for a Marea 155 HLX with leather, you get air-con as standard and hopefully the electric sunroof too.
To go with big brother 2000 model Marea 155 ELX. I pick up Marea no.2 tomorrow its a 1.6SX Weekend(estate)'97 model with 50k on the clock. I managed to get the cambelt and tensioner done in with the price and still got £500 off for cash. Ended up paying £3700 with full MOT and Warranty.

So Haggle if you do buy it, it could be worth a few quid if you're cheeky enough.

 

[Roberto]

HGT Purchase Advice

1 bit of advice that I would give is 2 buy from a FIAT dealer so u get the FIAT Approved Used Car Warranty which includes full AA Cover 4 a year as well. The AA Cover is the same as the full AA membership which u normally pay in the region of £150 4, only difference being the fact that it's the car that is covered as opposed 2 the driver as with regular AA cover. If ur already an AA member, u can suspend ur current membership 4 a year and it will start up again 1 year L8er. Well worth the money.
In short, if anything goes wrong with ur car, not only will the garage fix it free, but if u breakdown, the AA will sort u out ! Good value 4 money in my book.
Not sure about Chris' comment about the Marea 155 being faster than the HGT, c'ing as the Marea uses the same powerplant but is a slightly heavier car. Sure, there will only b a few mph difference, so it's really not worth arguing about In my humble opinion, the Bravo looks nicer, but that's just personal preference. Altho' I must admit, the possibilities of outrunning boy racer's who think they're up against a "Grandad" car is quite appealing. I have read with much amusement the stories of Marea 155 owners who have surprised people with the pace and power of their car. That 155 engine sure rocks So much so that many Police forces use Marea's. In fact, I saw an HGT Bravo being used by Norfolk Police the other day !!
Whatever u choose, be it Bravo or Marea, they both have a fantastic engine, who's only drawback is that afore mentioned Cambelt change. I only found out about that AFTER I bought mine !! LOL Never mind !

Good luck with ur purchase and enjoy it

Rob.

 

[pete]

Re: HGT Purchase Advice

Thanks gents, not sure whether to go ahead on this one now, but it will at least give me some strong haggling power. I'll let you know outcome.

 

[Paul]

Re: Re: HGT Purchase Advice

If you can get some serious haggling done then go for it. HGTs aren't extremely thick on the ground, and at that mileage there shouldn't be too much to worry about (save for the cambelt change) as long as its been maintained properly. If you can't get a good haggle, then look elsewhere. You will get a goodun somewhere else even if it takes a while.

 

[Chris]

Re: HGT Purchase Advice

The Marea does have the same engine and is slightly heavier, the difference is the mapping in the ECU which gives better mid range torque, giving a smudge more acceleration. But as you say this is not a big deal. The good thing about the Marea is as you say, its a real sleeper, no one takes a second glance. More fun and less likely to get nicked (in either sense of the word).

 

[Tom]

A few other pointers

Also have a look at the rear silencer (back box) check where the pipe (not tail pipe) enters the box as this has been known to corrode and then the box falls off, a new one is £375 from Fiat! And I maybe wrong here but I thought the mk1 147BHPs finished on the s-reg??

 

[Paul]

Re: A few other pointers

Yeah, the 147s finished on S reg with an overlap of 155s on S reg too. However due to unsold stock you may even find a T reg 147 HGT