13th Oct 2002, 14:44

This is my observations of comments I have seen on this web site, it seems that Fiat have not got to grip with quality control like, say, the Japanese, lots of good and bad comments about the Brava and Bravo.

One thing that caught my Eye was the comments about the drivers experiences with their Fiat dealers, my own have not been good, lots of small annoying problems,my Wife and myself have a 01'Brava 1.2 and 96'Brava 1.4 respectively and while some of the problems with the 96'have been sorted other problems seem to have appeared.

I noted the comment from the owner about the replacement exhaust after a very short period and the cost of it!!.

I constantly get a smell of petrol from the car when the tank is approx half full and coincidentally the fuel gauge becomes erratic at this time.Some of the problems I have able to solve myself as my local dealer is either unable or unwilling to repair. Happy and Safe motoring.

9th Jan 2003, 05:57

I know dealers always tell you they have replaced a certain item 3 times - personally I don't believe them. If you were a mechanic and you had replaced an item twice already and it had not resolved the problem why would you bother replacing it again? This is normally just told to the customer so they can feel that the dealer has done all they can - i.e. wow... they have gone to great expense to resolve this so I better not be so hard on them. All they do is park your car - don't touch it - then wait for you to collect it and eventually get fed up leaving it with them.

1st Sep 2003, 10:16

It's amazing how many Fiat owners have this engine cut out problem and yet Fiat don't seem to have heard of it. Twice now I have asked fiat to locate and fix this problem and each time they do a diagnosis and then tell me there's nothing wrong! Interesting to see what they say tomorrow as my car is now cutting out at least once a day.I have been on the Internet and found out that it is probably a faulty/dirty Idle control valve. Not bad for a hairdresser!!!

27th Sep 2003, 12:07

It would seem that this "lack of idle" on the fiat brava is a very common problem. I have it too. Mine seems to be worse when the fuel tank is below half full, although idle is always erratic. I have also nearly taken people out with this problem. Has anyone found the answer yet?

13th Mar 2004, 01:50

I agree with the comments about lack of vision. I have twice now been "surprised" by vehicles coming from the side. I thought it was me or the other vehicles had been put there by space aliens!

I also had the engine idling problem mentioned. Trouble was that the power steering goes as soon as the engine stops. Not good when you're an aging lady! My local garage found that the air sensor (near the manifold) had worn and was not working properly, Part cost £126 but solved the problem instantly.

Now it would appear that the engine is overheating if you look at the dials. Garage again. They could find nothing wrong this time. It happened again and in my temper I thumped the dashboard. Problem solved! I'll know what to do if it happens again.

25th Mar 2004, 06:44

I love the shape of this car especially when it first came out. I have a R-Reg Fiat Brava 1.6sx Auto. Sadly I have to agree with the unreliability assessment. Fuel injector went after 7 months. replaced under one year warranty. 18 months and 16,000 miles the engine blew and had to replaced by the main dealer. Cost me 25% of the £1400 bill. Fiat brake pads were going at 3month intervals. As soon as I changed to patented copies I had no problem. My automatic transmission has gone and I am in the process of replacing it. This was partly due to me as I continued to ignore the overheating gearbox light for about two months. The car has done 50,000 miles. I would not go near it now, but for the 1st year the car was bliss. Can't understand why they didn't do a convertible model. It would have looked a lot nicer that the Renault Megane. It's replacement, the Stilo is sadly, absolute rubbish in the design stakes especially the 5 door.

20th Aug 2005, 20:22

I bought a '99 fiat bravo today and am very happy with it, I also have the idle cutting out problem, hope its covered by the warranty.

28th Aug 2005, 15:07

I hear you. It is a piece of junk with too many blind spots.

I bought mine in Jordan brand new and it died on me just one week after.

At only 50K Km the timing belt was torn apart and I had to replace the engine.

The electrical system on this car is a nightmare.

28th Mar 2006, 12:17

I totally agree with the people banging on about the reliability I have encountered many problems with the brava I own clutch, brakes, engine, and so on its presently getting fixed in the garage as the revs and acceleration has become very poor.

8th Aug 2007, 15:45

What can I add that hasn't been mentioned, I love my "R" reg fiat brava, but its costing me too much to keep it on the road. Presently its in the garage, after collecting it two weeks ago. Its there for cutting out problem which my mechanic can't seem to find the solution for. Thanks for the tips guys, think I will pass them on to my mechanic.

17th Mar 2010, 11:02

My Fiat Brava SX has just cut out on me today on the motorway, had to be towed to the garage where the mechanic is still scratching his head. Just lately it has been like a kangaroo. Starts brilliant first thing, but when I switch it off, it take ages to fire up again, now it has just died a death, would never buy a Fiat again.

11th Dec 2010, 05:13

I have a 2001 1.2 Brava.

I appear to have nearly the full house of common problems.

1) Intermittent engine cut out at low revs.

2) Leaking roof.

3) Jumps out of 1st gear occasionally.

4) Rattles and squeaks from interior trim.

5) Passenger side electric window inoperative.

6) Needs new exhaust at ludicrously short intervals.

And to cap it all, my fly-by-wire throttle has decided to stop flying, so it's dead in the driveway.