Why have Fiat let themselves down so badly?

[David]

I'm the owner of a 1.8 HLX which I must say is a superb machine and I love it. However, the rear shocks went at 25,000 miles,(poor quality parts) cambelt tensioner became noisy and needed replacing (another poor quality PLASTIC part would you believe for something so critical) the window motors needed replacing and even now are still slow, the red paint is going pink, with the lacquer peeling off anything that's plastic (spoiler, boot handle) the headlamp switch/ indicator stalk needed replacing because the lights kept going off intermitently and the door trims fell off. Why did Fiat leave themselves open to such a caning on such crap build quality issues on an otherwise competent car?? All these faults have been experienced by us all and I'm glad I didn't pay nearly £14,000 for the car from new (I got it for less than half that at three years old) but imagine how pissed I would be if I had paid £14,000 for it! And Fiat wonder why they are in the ****......
Sounds negative I know but I won't part with my Bravo until it dies!

 

[Tom]

Just for the record Audi also use plastic parts for cambelt tensioners.

I know this as a friends A4 went pop at about 40k miles.

 

[gcol]

just for the record....

the cambelt tensioner is made in canada of all places. It is by design a very good piece of kit, the "plastic" part is a thermoset moulding which is actually moulded around the bearing. Variations in base mould material would inevitably result in an inconsistant part (it's got alot to do with the mix tolerances in mould material and also moisture content). This is why we're getting some failing and some not.
This means that even if you change your tensioner early with the cambelt, there is no guarantee that you haven't got rid of a good one and replaced it with a bad one. Obviously it is recommended because the "plastic" material can become a little more brittle with heat and time.
The plastic will have been specified for the job because it will not transfer as much heat to the belt as a metal part would, also a metal part would suffer from expansion - making the bond between itself and the bearing somewhat difficult to maintain.
All the best,

 

[Brian]

The Germans

sometimes we are over critical.Fiat cars have issues for sure.But having owned some of the German uber machines I can tell you that some of the build quality myths are untrue.Just look at some of the websites and forums and you will see that we all have the same issues.Iam not taking waay from the issues we have with our cars as when stuff goes wrong it is a pain and gets you angry.I have been there but it was with a 96 VW Golf.Build quality my arse.

 

[David]

The Kaiser

I'm glad someone has told me this! I was considering buying a VW Golf GTi a while back before I bought the Bravo and have wondered ever since if I should have bought the Golf! I think I made the right choice as the Bravo far out smarts the Golf in the looks department as well as character and spec. The car I nearly bought was on an R plate and had a dodgy alternator (which they said they would replace) but had very little in the way of equipment compared to the Bravo. There was also a concern over the motor trader I was going to buy it from and the fact it was ten grand for not much at all and had a few re-sprayed bits really swayed it. Who reckons an HGT is a safe bet for a suitable replacement when the time comes?

 

[Brian]

The Germans

Well funnily enough thats what I have got.Had it from new 155HGT in Black.As long as you follow the points on the buyers guide and pay particular attention to the engine and make sure it's sound before you buy you will have a performance bargain.Leaves a Golf GTI standing.I ahve had a few niggles mainly electrical that were sorted but no more than any other car I have had.