Looks good is competitively priced but it will let you down. (Fiat Bravo in general)

Member Name: pfdez

Product:	Fiat Bravo in general
Date:	27/11/01 (1877 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good value

Disadvantages: Reliability, Service, Price of parts and labour

I have had a Fiat Bravo for over a year and the whole experience has been rather painful.

The car itself is fun to drive and looks good. Also, the prices have been going down due to cheap European imports and the launch of the new Fiat Stilo. So overall it might look as a good option as you can get a lot of car for you money.

Don't fall in the trap.

For a start you will be driving a very unreliable car.

In addition to this you will be facing one of the most incompetent, inefficient and expensive dealer networks in this country.

You would think that Fiat parts would be cheaper than say, Volkswagen. Wrong. They are even more expensive. The same thing happens with labour costs. You will be running a Fiat, but it will cost you almost as much to run as a much better car.

Not only that, these guys do not seem to get it right very often.

Las summer I had a problem with my brakes. I detected it just after a major service done by Auto-Italia Epsom, which says a lot about how thorough the service and test drive they did was.

I took my car to Auto-Italia Chertsey and they concluded that the problem was with the brake discs. The car at the time was 19 months old and had about 20,000 miles on the clock.

Apparently brake discs are excluded from the warranty as it excludes wear and tear. Auto Italia first and then Fiat themselves refused to tell me what the life expectancy of the brake discs should be. I found this outrageous as I am sure they do not put a part in their production line without knowing how long it should last under standard circumstances.

I reluctantly paid for the repair as I needed my car quite urgently. That same day, the brakes started to malfunction. I could have got killed.

I immediately took the car back to Auto-Italia who determined after a second examination that the problem was with the master cylinder. Apparently this was covered by my warranty so fu
nnily enough I did not have to pay for the replacement.

Auto Italia refused to refund me for the work done the previous day as they concluded that it was necessary anyway. They did not even offered to refund me for the labour cost as a goodwill gesture.

This is not the only problem I have had with the car, but is the most representative. In addition to problems with the brakes, I have had problems with the battery, speedometer, gearbox, and foldable back seat. In all cases, I have found Fiat dealers (I have used a total of 4) extremely unreliable and even dishonest.

If you still want to buy this car, buy a one-two year old (depreciation is huge in the first year) and make sure you have at least a two year warranty.

I personally will not buy a Fiat or Alfa Romeo again as I do not want to rely on the likes of Auto Italia again.

Summary: