Faults:

The car has been generally reliable though the body work became tatty after six years of usage.

The door handles have been replaced twice because they broke.

The seats have not aged well and much of the covering is frayed.

The clutch has been replaced roughly two years ago and the gearbox currently is dodgy and will require replacement soon.

Also during this period the usual consumables have been replaced like tyres etc.

General Comments:

The car is nimble around town.

It is very economical and seems to do 40mpg even in motorway conditions.

The interior is not the most comfortable and not very durable and has worn badly.

The equipment levels are spartan in comparison to modern standards.

It is However, it is easy to maintain and cheap to run.

It is also cheap to buy second hand as as a friend who lives locally bought his son this model for 200 pounds.

It's reliability is excellent, though when things do go wrong the fiat service stations can be incompetent and send incorrect parts.

Faults:

The main problem I encountered on numerous occasions was the breaking of the clutch cable, all in all it must of broke at least 15 times!

At around 75k the gear box refused to go into reverse, but luckily I had a new gear box fitted for £60!

The water pipes seemed to disintegrate and split at about 70k.

I experienced brake lag when they got hot.

I won't mention car cancer - RUST!

General Comments:

Despite all the negative points, this car is seriously quick and a lot of fun.

I never encountered any major engine problems or oil leaks!

The turbo always wanted to boost forever and the power was never shy.

The interior wore slightly, but never the less was quite comfortable.

One sore point was fuel economy, I would put £30 in and get 200 miles back!

Hows that fair!

The mark 1 also held the road a lot better in comparison to the mark 2.

Faults:

Carburettor was faulty and could never be set up correctly.

Headlamps would only come on if you kicked the fuse box.

Outer o/s door handle kept working loose.

Water pipe for rear screen washer kept dropping out, resulting in a wet parcel shelf if unnoticed.

Kept cutting out in cold, damp weather, finally tracked to icing in carb jet, but never cured.

General Comments:

It was hard to enjoy driving this car as you never knew when it was going to let you down.

It also had an annoying trait of constantly "missing", as if a plug was failing or a wire was loose, however several trips to reputable tuners never cured it.

To it's credit, for a Fiat it was absolutely rust free!

Faults:

Head gasket went and wrecked the engine.

Radiator leaked a lot.

CV joint worn.

Wheel alignment kept going off.

General Comments:

Cheap to buy, run and insure.

Plenty of room inside both in front and in rear.

Large boot space.

Poor interior styling (brown, nice!!)

Bad dashboard layout, too many big switches instead of steering wheel stalks.

Gear change was very vague.

Faults:

It has rust, but mechanically? There has been nothing so far... but it has a disconcerting habit of occasionally losing power and stopping. After ten minutes rest its fine again. No one can tell me why.

General Comments:

The car does around 40 mpg in the winter and 60 mpg in the summer. It is comfortable, speedy for the size, and fun to drive.

Faults:

The interior is immaculate, but the rear arches are looking a bit worse for wear, but generally body is good for year.

Rear brake shoes needed adjustment.

Passenger side electric window does not work.

Central locking also failed.

General Comments:

The car is quick for its size, and surprises many a smoky hot hatch owner at the lights.

Steering is spot on, and razor sharp handling makes it all the more fun to drive, despite it having those skinny 13 inch wheels!

Dodgy electrics are annoying, but fairly easy to fix. Engines are harsh at high revs, but plenty of mid range fun around town.

5 speed gearbox makes for ample cruising ability as well. Will sit at 70 MPH at just over three thousand revs. Not bad for a 1.3!

Slightly weird driving position, though pedals are well laid out, and distanced well for us drivers with big feet.