No-one buys a car for it's colour! (Fiat Seicento Sporting 3dr)

Member Name: Tansi53

Product:	Fiat Seicento Sporting 3dr
Date:	20/11/05 (1340 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Look, fuel consupmtion.

Disadvantages: Size, size, size and size.

I have owned my Seicento sporting from new since September 2003. I was thinking about buying a car and chose to look at Fiat due to there being a local main dealer that offered good finance deals. Having been cornered by the salesman I was beginning to feel pressured into buying a car there and then. Being a mere 'woman' and , true to the clichés, knew very little about the specifications of a vehicle, I was soon trying to back out of the door with a headache.
Then I saw it! A bright yellow 'Noddy' car.
Seeing as I am 'getting on a bit', missing my youth and no longer have children to taxi around, I fell in love instantly with my little dream car. I arranged the finance immediately and signed on the dotted line. The salesman found it difficult to believe that I bought the car because I liked the colour but was smiling all the way to the bank.
My car was duly delivered, all shiny and beautiful. My first reaction on seeing my car outside of the showroom (I never even had a test drive) was that it really was small but I wrapped that feeling up with a title of 'cute'.
For the first 2 weeks of owning and driving my car, I was ecstatic.
Then I made the fatal mistake of leaving the removable CD player in the car and came out one morning to find the CD player gone and a hole in the drivers door just below the lock. The repair and replacement cost over £1000 and I never felt the same about the car.
After this I started seeing the car for what it was rather than being blinded by an image.
Although the car drives very well round town (very nippy compared to the brand new KA replacement car I was given whilst mine was being repaired) and on long hauls,(with the exception of a problem going into third gear when coming down through the gears) the size really is a problem. My 21 year old son drives it on occasions and at 6'2", his head touches the roof and the back seats can't be put down as he has to have the drivers seat back to its full extent. There have been numerous times that I have wanted to carry items in the car that are simply too big for this tiny vehicle. Even the weekly shopping rarely fits in the boot without having to spill out onto the back seats.
The cover for the sunroof is a devil to remove, replace and/or find storage for it. The petrol cap has a knack to remove it so it's just as well I don't have to fill up very often. (I dread the struggle I have every time with the plastic cap connector becoming entangled with my keys).
Oh, and the first year service cost 100% more than I was led to believe at the time of purchase!
I would recommend that potential purchasers think very hard before buying this car and not, like me, be swayed by the look of it.

Summary: A cute looking car but totally impractical.

Processing/Quality:
Reliability:
Driving comfort: