Fiat bravos

Mister Jingles wrote: »

The owner is over a month trying to shift it, surprised it been on sale that long.

Maybe because it's an eleven year old 3 door Fiat Bravo? Worth about half that, at best.

Barry Barry wrote: »

Fiat Bravo with NCT until 2014 for €998. Bit pricey but its got long NCT and beats driving a Punto. Plus it looks really well in red.
http://cars.donedeal.ie/for-sale/cars/4186684

1.2 Bravos never had discs all round as standard, even with abs. Looks lowered too

Price is still about 200 too high but yes worth it not to be in a Punto, even if it has those awful purple seats!

If it didn't have all those dents maybe.

MidlandsM wrote: »

not really, as them bravos are sh!t .

Come on then, lets have you. Tell me why....

166man

dgt wrote: »

Come on then, lets have you. Tell me why....

Knew this post was coming....

MidlandsM

dgt wrote: »

Come on then, lets have you. Tell me why....

when i worked in car rental, we have over 300 punto's, and approx 90 bravos..... the puntos were grand......and to this day, I buy and sell a few as I have a soft spot for them..........but bravos.......Sh!T, utter utter sh!t

mickey mac

MidlandsM wrote: »

when i worked in car rental, we have over 300 punto's, and approx 90 bravos..... the puntos were grand......and to this day, I buy and sell a few as I have a soft spot for them..........but bravos.......Sh!T, utter utter sh!t

Will you stop beating around the bush, do you think Bravos are a good car or not!!!:D

MidlandsM wrote: »

when i worked in car rental, we have over 300 punto's, and approx 90 bravos..... the puntos were grand......and to this day, I buy and sell a few as I have a soft spot for them..........but bravos.......Sh!T, utter utter sh!t

Not good enough. What went wrong, how often did they have problems, depreciated fast etc etc would be a lot more informative.

Calling an entire range of cars sh*t without backing it up just isn't an excuse, now is it?

Unless you are trying to get a rise out of me....

mickey mac wrote: »

Will you stop beating around the bush, do you think Bravos are a good car or not!!!:D

I'll tell you straight out they are one of the best cars you can buy, provided its been minded.

Don't listening to anyone else, I've worked on them for years

166man

dgt wrote: »

I'll tell you straight out they are one of the best cars you can buy, provided its been minded.

Don't listening to anyone else, I've worked on them for years

Ah now c'mon, don't let your bias and love for Bravo's cloud your judgement ya fanboi ya....:pac:

Once it's been minded in what sense? Once someone else has replaced everything that goes wrong? Lol

How can a car be "minded" bar routine servicing and cleaning? Which would have no effect on the fact that they're crap cars, not to mind horrendously ugly inside and out.

Limerick man wrote: »

Once it's been minded in what sense? Once someone else has replaced everything that goes wrong? Lol

How can a car be "minded" bar routine servicing and cleaning? Which would have no effect on the fact that they're crap cars, not to mind horrendously ugly inside and out.

Once its had basic servicing ie someone has had it that doesn't have the whole "I win't bother minding it cos it's a Fiat" attitude. As we both know, too many people skimp on these basic things, thus giving the brand a bad name

Crap cars you say? On what basis? Ever own one, work on one? Buy parts for one?

Do you know why the hg lets go on these cars?

Some have ugly purple seats but at least not bland like golfs...

166man wrote: »

Ah now c'mon, don't let your bias and love for Bravo's cloud your judgement ya fanboi ya....:pac:

Not letting it cloud a bit... I'm genuinely interested to hear why people think so poorly of them.

It must really annoy some posters that I stand up for Fiat, I quite like the brand and model

No, the only time I ever even sat in one was to steer it out of way of a door after it over heated. Horrible cars.

Limerick man wrote: »

No, the only time I ever even sat in one was to steer it out of way of a door after it over heated. Horrible cars.

So you never owned one. Never worked on one. All information based on hearsay and not fact. Surprise surprise!

What gives the right to call them horrible cars then? Tell me why they're horrible, what makes them horrible to you. Is it because its a Fiat?

At least I can base my posts on years of experience and not just a brief encounter

MidlandsM

dgt wrote: »

Not good enough. What went wrong, how often did they have problems, depreciated fast etc etc would be a lot more informative.

what bollox is this "not good enough" stuff, I don't have to post anything to you...you are nothing to me here.........nothing......

and re; what went wrong.........from memory..........everything.....they're ****....and I managed over 90 of the sh!tboxes......

you need to cop on....

MidlandsM wrote: »

what bollox is this "not good enough" stuff, I don't have to post anything to you...you are nothing to me here.........nothing......

and re; what went wrong.........from memory..........everything.....they're ****....and I managed over 90 of the sh!tboxes......

you need to cop on....

Oh, don't get mad now! :rolleyes:

All I asked was what went wrong. A valid reason wasn't given. Pointed that out.

Everything is rather vague now isn't it.... :rolleyes:

Backfire

dgt wrote: »

So you never owned one. Never worked on one. All information based on hearsay and not fact. Surprise surprise!

What gives the right to call them horrible cars then? Tell me why they're horrible, what makes them horrible to you. Is it because its a Fiat?

At least I can base my posts on years of experience and not just a brief encounter

Well i personally cannot comment on the bravo, never owned one. However i have respect for fiat after my 4 years of ownership of a 99' fiat punto (last of the mk1, new model came out end of that year right?)

Anyway i rarely had a problem with the punto, i always ensured the basic weekly checks were right such as oil level, coolant, etc.

I also agree with the idea that one cannot comment on a car maker and a particular model unless he/she owned one for some time.

Toyotafanboi

16v 1.2 in that bravo too... cuntos at the time were only 8v weren't they?

that car looks dogged and riddled with dents. but in general, and i have no love for fiats whatsoever, but i like the bravos and i reckon i would drive one (if there were no toyotas available :P). handsome enough, cheap, probably a decent spec of electronics, parts are ten a penny etc...

Toyotafanboi wrote: »

16v 1.2 in that bravo too... cuntos at the time were only 8v weren't they?

that car looks dogged and riddled with dents. but in general, and i have no love for fiats whatsoever, but i like the bravos and i reckon i would drive one (if there were no toyotas available :P). handsome enough, cheap, probably a decent spec, parts are ten a penny etc...

Yes, never an 8v 1.2 in a Bravo. Punto had both an 8v and 16v

I had one and tbh they weren't great. Only reason I bought one at the time (1 year old) was you could buy them for half of what a 1 year old golf cost at the time (no joke)
I did a few head gaskets and went through a few gearboxes. Few electrical faults like central locking, electric sunroof went wallop, did a few starter motors etc.
it wasn't disastrous, but I know well a corolla wouldn't have had the issues the fiat had. I didn't want a corolla though.

166man

dgt wrote: »

Not letting it cloud a bit... I'm genuinely interested to hear why people think so poorly of them.

It must really annoy some posters that I stand up for Fiat, I quite like the brand and model

Swap that with Alfa and it's how I feel...:D

I like Fiats, really like 'em. They're different and Fiat do small cars very well. Never actually been in the Bravo though.

According to some users on here though, you don't have to have owned a car to be able to comment on it though! I think you do.

colm_mcm wrote: »

I had one and tbh they weren't great. Only reason I bought one at the time (1 year old) was you could buy them for half of what a 1 year old golf cost at the time (no joke)
I did a few head gaskets and went through a few gearboxes. Few electrical faults like central locking, electric sunroof went wallop, did a few starter motors etc.
it wasn't disastrous, but I know well a corolla wouldn't have had the issues the fiat had. I didn't want a corolla though.

Diffs are a weak point, bonded together as opposed to bolted. Central locking happened to me too but on only one of the cars, rest worked well. Standard door handles are crap though...

I find the HG a bit strange though, shouldn't have gone on such a new car. Once there is coolant, changed every 2 years and doesn't get overheated they shouldn't give any problems.

It happened to me, thermostat pipe blew and the HG let go a few months later

Mister Jingles

Dont know of the Bravo's but I know of four Brava's three 1.2 HSX models and a 1.4 12v SX that had F all go wrong with them (no engine issues or electrical). If a decent one came up for sale I'd be tempted and would probably have one over a Punto any day. Saying that they were a dated design at the start of the noughties but I wouldn't let that put me off.

The plastic flaking off the door handles and mirror panel didn't affect reliability so I didn't mention that

Diffs and synchromeshs were the culprits in my gearbox failures (3 as far as I remember)

One HGF was between 2 cylinders as opposed to coolant leaking. Caused a misfire. Can't remember what the other one was.

One HGF (last one) was caused by me driving through a flood and cold air intake hoovered it all up. Needed all sorts after that episode. That would have happened on any car to be fair.

colm_mcm wrote: »

The plastic flaking off the door handles and mirror panel didn't affect reliability so I didn't mention that

Diffs and synchromeshs were the culprits in my gearbox failures (3 as far as I remember)

They come apart internally, the shaft becomes unbonded and allows the gears to slip out or locks the whole diff. Happened to me twice, one lost drive and the other locked up with no reverse. I ended up using a later 6 speed box from a 03 ish Sporting with redesigned diff and there were no problems

colm_mcm wrote: »

One HGF was between 2 cylinders as opposed to coolant leaking. Caused a misfire. Can't remember what the other one was.

That usually happens when the engine gets overheated. Some factory water pumps failed, allowing overheating, warping the head enough to put pressure on a weak point of the gasket

I have nothiflng against Fiat, one on my favourite and the nicest car I have driven is a Fiat, doesn't take away from the fact that they're a poor car.

I've walked passed many a busted Bravo and scrapped, and for good reason.

I can't understand why you defend such ****e, you're well capable of stripping rebuilding one so you're perfectly entitled to own one, but to honestly recommend one to Joe Soap who only has X amount to spend and couldn't change a bulb for his life is a joke.

road_high

Love to know how the newer Bravo (07 on) is going? I like the look of them and seem like really good value for what you get? Surely in this day and age they have the build quality issues sorted?
What are they like?