Fiat Seicento's reliability

Knorp

Hi guys,

I am looking for a car for my partner. She will only use it to go to work here in Dublin. We already have another car and taking into account the intended use, we are looking for something simple. We do not want to spend more than 3000 €, if possible below 2500 €.

We have seen some Fiat Seicentos around 2000-2500 € from years 1999-2000. A car as simple and small as that would be enough, but my main concern is reliability. We all know what they say about Fiat's reliability, in particular about Fiat Punto. What about Seicento? Is it a resonably reliable car?

Finally, are there any other reasonable car alternatives in my price range (max 3000 €)? I was looking at Nissan Micra but with our budget it has to be something from 1997 or older...

Any advice is welcome. Thank you in advance.

smash

wife had one and while turning a bend her foot slipped off the brake and onto the accellerator and she mounted a grass verge and hit a pole.... the pedals are too close together, they have no grips on them... the car shakes like crazy while driving fast and you think it's about to fall apart and on a roundabout.... you're putting your life at risk. only advice is, get a punto or at least something bigger and stronger than a Seicento.

3ps

i had a cinquecento the pedals are close and you will die if you crash in it.

My advice is to get something bigger. Lots of cars out there in that price range. Find yourself a Primera 1.6 or something like that. Reliable and not too thirsty in reality.... any small extra running costs is worth the piece of mind of being in a bigger safer car to me.

Oh, I think the clutches go very frequently in the seicento's.

kdevitt

My missus is selling hers and never had a problem with it - agreed that the pedals are close together. I drove it on occasion and it was fine - nippy for a 900cc car (handbook says that its actually faster than the Sporting version up until 70mph??) Never had any shaking, never felt like it'd fall apart, build quality was fine. It actually felt a lot more sturdy than any of the Civic's I've owned.

Knorp

Ok. I see that you are not big fans of Seicento. The stability is important, but this car is going to travel only in the city, therefore at low speed, so I'm not excessively worried about it. Anyway, what alternatives do you recommend me? I want something small and that pays low Motor Tax. Would you rather buy let's say a 1996 Micra instead of a 2000 Seicento?

Thanks again.

Budd

I just got a 98 Citroen Xsara for 2k for the girlfriend. You can get plenty of 99-00 for 2.5-3k as well and lots of lady owned minters. Much better car than the Fiat.

smash

kdevitt wrote:

My missus is selling hers and never had a problem with it - agreed that the pedals are close together. I drove it on occasion and it was fine - nippy for a 900cc car (handbook says that its actually faster than the Sporting version up until 70mph??) Never had any shaking, never felt like it'd fall apart, build quality was fine. It actually felt a lot more sturdy than any of the Civic's I've owned.

Trying to get the OP to buy your car....

IMO they're useless, and the one I got was a 1200cc so I can't see a 900cc being better.

Knorp

steve06 wrote:

Trying to get the OP to buy your car....

IMO they're useless, and the one I got was a 1200cc so I can't see a 900cc being better.

Well, Steve, let's think that he's just giving his honest opinion. :rolleyes:

Anyway, what small car would you buy for max 3000 €?

Thanks.

kdevitt

steve06 wrote:

Trying to get the OP to buy your car....

I don't own the Seicento, my girlfriend does.

Anyway, as I said, she had no issues with it - very cheap to run and very reliable, sorry if thats not what you wanted to hear :rolleyes: .

Interceptor

I've had four Cinquecentos (all 1108 sportings) and in four years of extensive use/abuse I didn't have a problem. I find the build quality on a par with any modern small car, and easily as good as Yaris/Micra/Fiesta. I've worked on several Seicentos and find them ergonomically better than the Cinq, the power steering is not too light and the visibility is great. I wouldn't suggest using one for regular long journeys but great as a town car which is easy to park and you won't be worried if some tosser dents it.

I get the 'ooh I wouldn't like to crash in that' line regularly but you have an 8 million to one chance of dying in a car and people get killed in Volvos every day. You pays your money and takes your choice.

As with all Fiat FIRE engines (1108, 1242 8v) make sure the head gasket is intact before buying - they have a well deserved bad reputation, but head gaskets blow on all cars.

Go for it - I find the handling as close to that of a classic Mini as anything on the road and if you 'ahem' tune them a bit they are quite quick.

'cptr

colm_mcm

Get a SEAT Arosa, far superior car.

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=512708



This one is advertised at €3,250 and therefore should be in your price bracket.

Squirrel

We were looking at one a few years ago after our 92 Micra was crashed (not written off, just not worth repairing, it's still on the road 4 years later). My uncle is a mechanic and advised us that the gearboxes were dodgy on them, bear in mind this was 2002 so we were looking at cars the same vintage as the OP. We ended up buying a 97 Micra instead, and it's still going strong at nearly 74,000 miles.

Car Mad

well a secicento not the most reliable cars.i know a someone that bought one a few months back so far the exhaust has fallen off theres been damage to a waterpipe(expensive one at that)and the tracking has been done twice.expensive little things.cheap to insure tho.wudnt recommend anybody buy one.and the one in question only has 33kmiles on it

Dilbert75

These can be symptoms of a bad car but not necessarily. If a car is used for mainly short trips, as such low mileage would suggest, its normal to rust out your exhaust - the water vapour in the air used for combustion doesn't get to evaporate, so it collects in the corners of the silencers, causing rust. If it needs regular tracking, it suggests that its probably being kerbed a bit when being parked. A water hose can burst on any car.

That's not to say that the Seicento is inherently a good car, just means its not necessarily a bad car.

Car Mad

Dilbert75 wrote:

These can be symptoms of a bad car but not necessarily. If a car is used for mainly short trips, as such low mileage would suggest, its normal to rust out your exhaust - the water vapour in the air used for combustion doesn't get to evaporate, so it collects in the corners of the silencers, causing rust. If it needs regular tracking, it suggests that its probably being kerbed a bit when being parked. A water hose can burst on any car.

That's not to say that the Seicento is inherently a good car, just means its not necessarily a bad car.

gurantee u its not beeing kerbed i know the diver is very careful.ok i agree witht the other two points tho.i still wudnt buy one.i think when its such a small car the tracking goes out easier.

Interceptor

Car Mad wrote:

i think when its such a small car the tracking goes out easier.

Oh. My. God. I never thought of it like that. And because its got smaller wheels, they go around more often and the wheel bearings 'ware out more quicklyer' (technical term). And the windscreen is smaller - the wipers change direction more often - they never get a chance to actually wipe so they are no use either.

Good grief.

Car Mad

Interceptor wrote:

Oh. My. God. I never thought of it like that. And because its got smaller wheels, they go around more often and the wheel bearings 'ware out more quicklyer' (technical term). And the windscreen is smaller - the wipers change direction more often - they never get a chance to actually wipe so they are no use either.

Good grief.

also when u hit a pot hole the car goes of the road:D