Faults:

Windscreen cracked twice. Admittedly not a manufacturer problem.

Couldn't move uphill out of driveway when it was icy - wheels would just spin. Never had that problem with any other car in that driveway.

Gearbox and clutch both packed in on same day. Garage replaced clutch and discovered the gearbox had gone and only reversed. Total cost £875.

Suspension - Started spinning on roundabouts - dampers gone, springs gone, something else too.

Seats all worn.

Damp coming in electric sunroof and top right corner.

Headlights weak and prone to failure.

Exhaust was final straw when mid section and back box went.

General Comments:

Was my first car when I was 17. Still love it now, yet I hated it for the unreliability and its problems.

For a 1.2 it's nippy, but that's coz it's the Punto Sport engine.

Fuel economy is alright - about 10p per mile.

Faults:

Where shall I start?

Blown head gasket @ 19k.

Rear wiper failure, hose split water saturating headlining and boot.

Drivers door would not lock or shut when it has been raining!

Leaking sunroof.

Blocked drainage channels.

Alloys flaking.

Driver seat runners broken, padding squashed early.

Oil pressure light not working.

Interior plastics marked very easily.

Roof leaking - aerial gasket failure.

Handbrake freezes on in Winter.

Cassette eject mechanism failure.

General Comments:

The most disappointing element of this car was its' performance - a claimed 155bhp felt exaggerated.

Expensive to run and poor dealership backup and lack of service.

Flimsly build quality which did not inspire confidence.

Sloppy handling and poor brakes.

Cramped in rear.

Faults:

Nothing much, just a slight adjustment of the handbrake was necessary after I bought it.

General Comments:

This car is very good all round.

It looks great, has an excellent engine, is really comfortable and the dealer service was excellent.

The dealer service, in particular, was much better than the Ford dealer that I visited and the car was far better than I could have otherwise afforded.

Faults:

No major problems to date, but:

Rear wash feed periodically disconnects from motor inside rear hatch, minor grumble, but can be fixed in 15 minutes.

Feels a little sluggish until all the valves open around 3000-3500rpm.

Brakes are only adequate and do not inspire confidence.

Fuel consumption can be on the low side.

General Comments:

Great car, good looks and superb practicality.

Capable motorway cruiser and loves twisty back-roads.

Radio gets louder the faster you go, great idea!

Once the engine hits the power band, the car shows its true potential, and can surprise and embarrass owners of more expensive/powerful motors.

Interior will never be in the class of VW or Audi, but it feels solid, all switchgear works and falls easily to hand.

Shame then that the Bravo still looks sexier and sportier than the current model, the Stilo, that replaces it.

Faults:

This car suffers from the freezing hand brake fault that afflicts many of these models, its going in for a new cable shortly.

Following a smash at the rear the central locking system developed several faults which were fixed under warranty.

The wash function of the rear wash/wipe tends to fail a lot and is fixed at every service.

The boot light sometimes doesn't work.

The stereos function which increases the volume as the spped goes up is often flaky and can from time to time mute the system for a brief period.

General Comments:

I was wary of getting a Fiat, but as it was a company car I thought I'd try it for four years and it's been fantastic.

Two things to watch out for though, the boot is not as big as it looks and not being able to put the electric windows up after you've switched the ignition off is really annoying.

Mechanically sound.