is a ford focus worth 2 k more than a fiat bravo

fish_freak

recently came across two cars , one is a 2009 fiat bravo 1.4 petrol with 78 k miles for 4500 , the other is a 2008 ford focus zetec 1. 6 petrol with 34 k miles for 6500

both are private sales , now I know the focus is the superior car but ive always thought fiat were not near as bad as commonly perceived

my question is , is saving 2 k and going for the bravo a case of penny wise - pound foolish ?

L-M

Pound foolish.

Horrid cars and will be worth pittance in another couple of years.

BMJD

Focus every time

colm_mcm

Kinda depends, the fiat will be worth less when you sell it on.

The bravo isn't as bad as fiats of old.

When I think of all the repairs done to my fiats of the 90's/00s it makes me feel silly.

Keep in mind that used parts will be harder to find for the fiat, and I found the bravo a bit small in comparison to the focus.

If it were me I'd get the bravo, purely because the focus is as common as muck these days and does nothing for me (granted there's reasons they sell so well), but the bravo would have to be high spec - which sadly -few are,

Unless you hate focuses, (and it doesn't look like you do), then go with the masses and buy one.

Or just buy something different.

Toyotafanboi

i'd have one of those bravo's over the focus. there's a nice quirk to their styling inside and out, and the 1.4t would be a fun drive. focus would be the more sensible choice though i'd say.

Celly Smunt

Id go bravo over focus as well.Fiat aren't the crap they used to be any more.

fish_freak

its actually my girlfriend who,s in the market for one and money appears to be the over riding issue , hence why I thought this bravo might be an option , biggest risk is if the fiat turns out unreliable , il be blamed

two grand is a lot of money to her

road_high

Bravo here too. Prob get it for less than that too. For 4k, and if car is clean how could you go wrong? My impression of petrol Focuses is that they are alcoholics on fuel and slow (though the 1.6 is surely better than the ashmatic 1.4). Fiat engines on the other hand tend to be peppy perfor mers with decent economy.

fish_freak

road_high wrote: »

Bravo here too. Prob get it for less than that too. For 4k, and if car is clean how could you go wrong? My impression of petrol Focuses is that they are alcoholics on fuel and slow (though the 1.6 is surely better than the ashmatic 1.4). Fiat engines on the other hand tend to be peppy perfor mers with decent economy.

fiat diesel engines are very good , not sure about petrol ones , plus this bravo is only a 1.4 , its got 78 k miles as well , not high but the focus has less than 35 k , guy selling it is a foreigner and his salesman phone manner is pretty limited ( probably just a language issue ) , he said he could provide three months warranty but I doubt it

MuppetCheck

If it's the basic n/a 1.4 Bravo is take the Focus.

fish_freak

MuppetCheck wrote: »

If it's the basic n/a 1.4 Bravo is take the Focus.

she had a focus saloon 1 . 4 prior to this , incredibly boring and gutless yoke , entry level one

road_high

fish_freak wrote: »

fiat diesel engines are very good , not sure about petrol ones , plus this bravo is only a 1.4 , its got 78 k miles as well , not high but the focus has less than 35 k , guy selling it is a foreigner and his salesman phone manner is pretty limited ( probably just a language issue ) , he said he could provide three months warranty but I doubt it

Was an absolute load of those sold to rental companies around 08/09 in Ireland, usually in red. I think it was an attempt to increase the visibility of the car to the market (didn't work obviously). I think have a look around at private sales with service history, you may be better served if you're unsure about the salesman.

fish_freak

road_high wrote: »

Was an absolute load of those sold to rental companies around 08/09 in Ireland, usually in red. I think it was an attempt to increase the visibility of the car to the market (didn't work obviously). I think have a look around at private sales with service history, you may be better served if you're unsure about the salesman.

their are two bravo around the same age for sale from a well known dealer in Kerry but their 6500 which makes them as expensive as the focus , you would only buy a fiat if you got it at a serious discount

imagine kia or Hyundai are still considerably more expensive than a bravo second hand ?

colm_mcm

Back in 08 you could buy zero mileage prereg ones for absolutely silly money.
I'd imagine they just needed to offload them.

I know they crushed a batch of brand new fiats up in baldonnell in the mid/late '00s. Apparently fiat can write off the cost of production against tax or something that makes it more attractive to crush a new car than sell it for peanuts.

L-M

They were Stilos afaik.

road_high

colm_mcm wrote: »

I know they crushed a batch of brand new fiats up in baldonnell in the mid/late '00s. Apparently fiat can write off the cost of production against tax or something that makes it more attractive to crush a new car than sell it for peanuts.

Wow that is incredible!! Any idea which models? I seem to rememember in the late 90s Fiat exporting unwanted models to the UK, but not as drastic as crushing! I guess it was an attempt to put a floor under residuals. A bit like demolishing ghost estates and saving the property market.

colm_mcm

Limerick man wrote: »

They were Stilos afaik.

They were actually.

dgt

Limerick man wrote: »

They were Stilos afaik.

Good riddance to bad rubbish! :cool:

fish_freak

colm_mcm wrote: »

They were actually.

bravo is meant to be a considerable step up from the stillo which had an awful rep

dgt

fish_freak wrote: »

bravo is meant to be a considerable step up from the stillo which had an awful rep

They are a far better car that still don't hold their value and are rather rare on Irish roads.

I'm sure you could knock even more off the asking price

colm_mcm

fish_freak wrote: »

bravo is meant to be a considerable step up from the stillo which had an awful rep

In turn the stilo was heralded as a considerable step up from the old bravo.
New manufacturing techniques, investment in factories blah blah blah

Nearly traded in my brava for a stilo when they were launched. Thank God I didn't.


To be fair I think the new bravo isn't all that bad as a car, but it's not nearly as individual as its predecessors.

Noccy_Mondy

Neighbour had a 2003 Stilo. Dog ugly from the rear, not too bad from the front. Although thinking about it she never had a days bother with it. I'm guessing that was the exception rather than the rule :cool:

Kev_2012

Limerick man wrote: »

Pound foolish.

Horrid cars and will be worth pittance in another couple of years.

Are you serious? Whatever about the Fiat, but I owned an 1.6 petrol 07 Focus LX Connection for nearly 2 and a half years and it was a fantastic car. I'd certainly buy the same one again.

corkgsxr

Id take the bravo. Id say longterm there probably more reliable than the focus.

fish_freak

dgt wrote: »

They are a far better car that still don't hold their value and are rather rare on Irish roads.

I'm sure you could knock even more off the asking price

resale value really isn't an issue for her , its all about whether the bravo is reasonably reliable

L-M

Kev_2012 wrote: »

Are you serious? Whatever about the Fiat, but I owned an 1.6 petrol 07 Focus LX Connection for nearly 2 and a half years and it was a fantastic car. I'd certainly buy the same one again.

I very clearly talking about the Bravo.

wonski

If the Bravo is a standard 1.4, i would take Focus 1.6 over this. It isn't just slow but also a bit thirsty...
It looks much better than Focus imo if in the right trim level.
Know someone who owns it for 2 years now and not a single issue with it, good looking car and bargain to buy (not so much when it comes to sell one;))
If the priority is to get a better car, then i would pick Focus, if the money is a bit tight - Bravo is a good option.

fish_freak

wonski wrote: »

If the Bravo is a standard 1.4, i would take Focus 1.6 over this. It isn't just slow but also a bit thirsty...
It looks much better than Focus imo if in the right trim level.
Know someone who owns it for 2 years now and not a single issue with it, good looking car and bargain to buy (not so much when it comes to sell one;))
If the priority is to get a better car, then i would pick Focus, if the money is a bit tight - Bravo is a good option.

well money is an issue , the actual price of the bravo is 4600 , if it was me I wouldn't pay a penny over 4 k for it

wonski

fish_freak wrote: »

well money is an issue , the actual price of the bravo is 4600 , if it was me I wouldn't pay a penny over 4 k for it

Just to give you a ballpark figure friend of mine paid a little over 5k for 07 reg 2 years ago (pretty much the same age). His had only 45k km mileage and had nice sport seats/17" or 18" great looking alloys/AC etc.
Bargain if you ask me, but he still regrets getting the basic 1.4...
Reliable enough, and 4500 would be about right in my opinion.
I wouldn't let it go for 4k unless I was desperated.

fish_freak

wonski wrote: »

Just to give you a ballpark figure friend of mine paid a little over 5k for 07 reg 2 years ago (pretty much the same age). His had only 45k km mileage and had nice sport seats/17" or 18" great looking alloys/AC etc.
Bargain if you ask me, but he still regrets getting the basic 1.4...
Reliable enough, and 4500 would be about right in my opinion.
I wouldn't let it go for 4k unless I was desperated.

their are 78 k miles on the clock , low for a diesel but quite high for a petrol id have thought

the focus I refer to has only 35 k miles ( price tag 6500 ) and is a 1.6

colm_mcm

78000 miles in 7 years is hardly high.
I have that on my 07 civic and its everything works, car is still tight. I wouldn't regard it as being high mileage anyway.

wonski

colm_mcm wrote: »

78000 miles in 7 years is hardly high.
I have that on my 07 civic and its everything works, car is still tight. I wouldn't regard it as being high mileage anyway.

It is 09 Not exceptionally high, but wouldn't call it low mileage. Just an average i guess. I believe it is in kilometers actually, so it is even lower than i thought. Not an issue if serviced properly and on time.

fish_freak

colm_mcm wrote: »

78000 miles in 7 years is hardly high.
I have that on my 07 civic and its everything works, car is still tight. I wouldn't regard it as being high mileage anyway.

the car is a 2009

colm_mcm

wonski wrote: »

It is 09 Not exceptionally high, but wouldn't call it low mileage. Just an average i guess. I believe it is in kilometers actually, so it is even lower than i thought. Not an issue if serviced properly and on time.

4500 for an 09 anything is cheap to be fair.