Faults:

1 Brake shoe was worn to the metal at 78,000 and was replaced at a cost of £50.

Handbrake cable needed replacing at 78,000 as it would not work at all because it was badly stretched. Replaced for £70.

Front and rear shock absorbers needed replacing at 78,000 mile - cost £160.

Clutch bearings look like they are going to need replacing at 80,000 miles.

General Comments:

This car drives very nicely - it is a real pleasure to ride.

However, the car does have a tendency to roll when taking corners at times. However, this may be due to my fast corner taking!

This car is very very nippy for the 1.1 engine size and can really compete with similar size cars with larger engines.

The interior is relatively spacious for a small car.

Faults:

Ignition coil failed at 40,000 miles, cost £100. Rear suspension needed work at 100,000 miles, cost £300. Oil sump starting to leak (dealer estimate £100), head might to starting to leak (dealer estimate £240), near side front suspension arm bush failed (dealer estimate £120).

General Comments:

Other than failed items mentioned above, nothing has else failed as opposed to wearing out. Front tyres last about 40,000 miles, rear 60,000 miles. Brakes pads have just lasted me 50,000 miles with the disks continuing beyond that. The clutch is coming up for replacement, but that's OK at 112,000 miles. Very cheap to run and has never let me down. Performance is low, but not a problem. The car is great on a motorway, but less able in stop-start town traffic where it does feel a bit heavy. The bodywork is still really good and rust has not spread at all from a chip that has been left untreated for three years.

Faults:

Two weeks after I'd bought the car the head gasket blew, luckily fixed under warranty.

The radiator started leaking.

Had a new heater matrix fitted.

Recently had to have a new alternator.

General Comments:

The car is quite slow to get up to speed on the motorway.

Is very spacious inside and the boot is a good size.

The doors dent easily.

Seats are comfy and the fact that you can move them up, down, backwards, forwards leaves you with no excuse to be uncomfortable.

Faults:

The Coil Pack needed to be replaced at 40,000 miles - symptoms were stalling engine and poor running at low revs which became progressively worse over about 10,000 miles.

New exhaust at 50,000 miles.

New clutch at 60,000 miles (a little early I thought).

Head gasket appears to be leaking.

Rear wash/wiper squirter never worked even though at every service I have asked Fiat to look at it and they say they have fixed it.

Door lock covers froze open once when I washed the car on a cold day and they have never sprung back, so you can't wash the car on a cold day in the winter, otherwise the water gets in the locks and freezes.

General Comments:

Other than the above the car has been great. It's cheap to run, maintain, service and insure and is reliable - it starts first time, every time, no matter what the weather is doing.

I like the car - it just has a few oddities - like the wash wiper on the passenger side isn't big enough, the indicators cancel too early etc.

Faults:

Clutch went at 58,000 miles.

Head gasket blew at 70,000 miles.

I am on the third exhaust.

Rear suspension arms at 78,000 miles.

Sump is badly corroded and leaking - very costly to replace.

Timing belt at 56,000 miles.

Mysterious loud squealing when turning full lock from cold after 70,000 miles.

Erratic engine temperature control after head gasket replacement.

Rear windows keep undoing themselves over time.

Front windows rattle when half-open.

Pulls to the left and wears tyres on the inside, adjusting tracking does not solve the problem.

Oil leak not from sump - unable to source.

Wafer thin bodywork very prone to denting.

Difficult to fill with petrol.

Exhaust front section replaced at 78,000.

General Comments:

Nippy off the mark, but runs at 4,500rpm at 70mph.

Roomy interior. Good spec.