Ok so i've waited til i'm 18 to try and get my insurance down and to be totally honest it hasn't been worth the wait, i wil have made around a £200 saving if i were to insure now. That's the difference between £2100 and £1900

...So now it's finally time to actually buy a car and to be honest the only car i can afford and run comfortably and that i want is an Uno 1.0 FIRE.

What should i be looking out for when viewing one ? When does the timing belt or chain require changing etc ?...

I know i can get an ok example with my budget of £400 i just want to make sure i'm relatively well informed of what to watch out for because at the minute i have no idea !

Any help would be much appreciated

Welcome here

shame the wait is not much of a saving.

the cam belt can be replaced after the old one has snapped on the 999CC, 1108 and 1242 (8 valve) as they are all safe engines so nothing to worry about there apart from being stranded.

main thing to worry about is body shell. they can rust away .

Hello, yeah, rust is the big killer. Rust in the door bottoms is annoying enough, but rust at the edges of the floor and around the rear suspension turrets inside the boot (feel the carpet for 'crunchiness' and look up inside the rear wheelarches with a torch) is time consuming and expensive to fix.

You can get rust anywhere on an Uno but you basically want to get the least-rusted that you can. The mechanicals are really a secondary consideration. To make an Uno reliable again, you may have to budget for such things as - replacement of battery, alternator brushes, radiator, brake pads/rear shoes, perhaps even the head gasket - but this is all preferable to doing a bodywork restoration.

You'd be surprised what a difference a decent cut-and-polish and general spruce-up will do for an Uno - especially if you've bought a nice one which I think you can for 400 pounds... Rather have a really tidy Uno than a rough Punto.

Isn't there a way to put the insurance on your parents' policy and reduce it to under 300 pounds? Just make your Mum the owner of the Uno - don't tell anyone - and get insured to drive it. I don't live in the UK so I'm not completely sure but I think that's what my cousin did.

-Alex

Thanks for the replys !

I've looked into being a named driver on either of my parents policy and to be honest i don't think it's worth the risk. If the insurance company were to find out i was the primary driver i doubt that they'd pay out (my friend has had an experience like this).

I guess now it's just a matter of finding one...surprised by how few there are for sale considering how popular they were 10-15 years ago.

Good call!! really ain't worth the risk.

plus you build your own NCD

OK I stand corrected - sorry

Maybe move to NZ where there's no requirement to have insurance That means your first car can be a Silvia twin-turbo or an Impreza WRX, both of which cost about half what they do in England. And they arrived from Japan in used, pre-modified condition. Perfect for wrapping around power poles or somersaulting into a ditch, killing your best mates instantly. And even when you do get insurance, it's cheaper...

Seriously - show us which Unos you find, will be interesting. It seems to be the basic 45 models that survive best, probably because their older owners garaged them for many years.

-Alex

75% of the Unos i've found (and i haven't found many) have been 3dr 45 IE's. I'm looking either for the 45 or 60 both cost the same to insure.

I did find one for sale very local to me for only £295 but i can't get in touch with the guy who's selling it. Haven't given up on it yet though !

In fact i have another question...am i best off getting a carbureted or injected Uno ? Is there much of a difference in performance or reliability ?

Mr_Uno said:

In fact i have another question...am i best off getting a carbureted or injected Uno ? Is there much of a difference in performance or reliability ?

Click to expand...

No real difference really, though some feel that the carburettored models feel more 'perky' to drive as they are not lumbered with catalytic converters like the SPi models are. The SPi system will obviously be more expensive to repair if it goes wrong compared with a carburettor, though they're generally realiable.

Bear in mind that all post 1993 cars were fuel injected so it's only going to be the older Unos that are available with a carburettor. My advice, as any Uno now is now going to be old, is to buy the car purely on condition. An older carburettored model in good shape and with low miles will likely be less problematic than a newer SPi model that's not been looked after and has done a starship mileage!

And wise move NOT to take out insurance in your parents name and have you as a named driver on your own car. That is actually illegal and is known as 'fronting', and if you get caught your insurance is invalidated. Some people do it but it really isn't worth the risk, plus it will take you longer to build up your own no claims bonus that is the real secret to getting lower premiums.

Good luck with your hunt for a nice Uno by the way

I remember a few years ago reading an online news story "Are carbs really bad?" and I straight away thought "why yes, fuel injection is heaps better". But the article turned out to be all about bread and potatos

I'd choose fuel injection over a carburettor if possible (more accurate fuelling - smoother to drive, more reliable), but as Chas (1986Uno45S) said, the overall condition of the Uno is more important.

Another factor reducing the difference between the options is that the Uno 45 i.e. has just a single-point injection system, which makes it rather like a carburettor in that the single injector is mounted about where a carburettor would be - shared between the cylinders. Therefore there isn't as much benefit as there would be if there were a single injector for each cylinder (as on the Uno Turbo). Even the Uno Turbo setup still isn't quite ideal - it could be even better if the injectors activated sequentially rather than all at once.

Just my thoughts.

-Alex

I've found this one on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/1993-FIAT-UNO...s_UK?hash=item4148927ddd&_trksid=p3286.c0.m14

How much do you reckon for a new windscreen ?

think new windscreens ar elike £170 from fiat! but im sure i got quoted at autoglass like £80 fitted, it may have been due to my mates dad a manager

unos for a first car at 18 ftw!

That looks really nice

Look out for the passenger side lock though, looks like it has been punched out previously, and that blue circle around it, shows theives that it has been done before.


That does look like an excellent car to start with

try these guys for insurance:

http://www.rhclassicinsurance.co.uk/

see to offer good deals for the older car, however you may still run into the same issues for age, but you never know

Yes - I agree with Ucof

The Uno windscreen is mounted in rubber, so anyone with experience of old 70's cars will be able to help you change it, once you have found a replacement.

Basically, the procedure involves a piece of rope (fit the rubber to the glass, lay the rope around the outside of the rubber, spray the rubber with silicone spray to make it more slippery, then place the windcreen/rubber on the car and have a friend push on the outside of the glass, keeping it central while you pull the rope from inside the car, which brings the rubber seal over the metal body flange). Job done!

This is vastly easier than for newer (and some older) cars that have the windscreen bonded in place... So I think that Uno is a great bet - you just need to check it in person for RUST before you bid...!

-Alex

My cheapest insurance with with the green car insurance company (the Uno being a very economic car, so they give lower prices for it).

www.greencarinsurancecompany.co.uk

I havent got a single complaint about them so far.

Thanks for the insurance suggestions but neither of them would even give me a quote, am i really that unwanted ?

...going to call the seller of that Uno later on. Don't think i am going to be able to view it before i bid unfortunately, worth the risk ? He seems to be an honest seller.

What were the reasons for not quoting?

tried comparethemeercat.com confused.com and so on?


I'd say, at that price, it will be well worth getting it, even if it means keeping it under a tarp on your driveway until you can get a quote to drive it.

Mr_Uno said:

How much do you reckon for a new windscreen ?

Click to expand...

From a scrapper/ scrapyard, probably around £20 - £25 though as others have mentioned you'll have to fit it yourself. Otherwise try any of the Autoglass type companies - I'm sure you should be able to get a new screen fitted for under £100. No idea regarding modern day costs though as the last car I had a windscreen fitted to was my 1981 Ford Cortina back in 1994! I had it fitted because I bought a brand new tinted and top tinted screen and the fitting was included in the price. All other windscreens I've fitted myself - as Alex says, with the old rubber seal types it's quite easy to do once you know how

What were the reasons for not quoting?

Click to expand...

It was the classic 'unable to quote, please call us on etc...'

Yeah i've tried the popular comparison websites (confused, comparethemarket, gocompare, tesco...) and none of them have been as cheap as Direct Line Fully comp, with my Passplus discount it comes down to £1800, affordable but still more than i'd like to pay considering the car is only worth £200-300 max.

Glad i got saving up for all this along time ago !

UPDATE: Got a quote for a new windscreen from 'Crack Attack' of Birmingham for £90. Not bad considering Autoglass wanted £240 !!! I'm also the higest bidder on the car now.

im on the old direct line
pay £1038 fully comp no ncb at 18 with no pass plus
i got the 12months for price of 10 thing