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Anyone had one of these or owned on in the past? Weren't really keen on them when they first came out, but know they have grown on me. The 1.4T looks the best one for me, and they look really good value at 07/57 plate. Thanks.
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Drove one for a week whilst my car was being repaired. Body roll and wind noise were my memories...
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I have a customer with a mid range petrol, 2009 model.
I confess, I was mighty impressed with how well screwed together it is and they quality of most materials seems very nice, it 'felt' nice, the suade style seat material is very soft and easy to clean too.
My customer loves his, rates it very highly as an ownership proposition.
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Where are they made? The Polish made Pandas seem well put together.
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That's one of the first things I thought, that the interior looked really nice I was surprised not looked at FIAT for years, but the latest ones look good.
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Its not made in Poland I know that much, but don't know which factory is made in, but I am guessing it is Turin.
Same to be well made cars with some minor flaws but very cheap on the used market, for the same money as a Focus you can something much newer and not as common. If I was the market for this size car and wanted something about three years old the Bravo would be very high on my list.
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The Italian factories have upped their game lately, they have had to because FIAT have threatened the factories and the Italian government that unless there is better productivity and less threats from the unions they will move all their production to Eastern Europe.
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I have a Bravo Multijet sport. It has been in & out of the dealers continually, they have had it for 7 months of the 2 years I have had it. The Bravo is essentially a re skinned Stilo & has lots of faults carried over from the Stilo, everything seems to have been built down to a price & I would think running one of these outside the warranty period would be a scary prospect. As for living with one, the brakes are not great & most things on the road can stop quicker than you can. The seats don't support you under the thigh, there is no footrest, the passenger footwell is large, the drivers cramped. The A/C is very poor, the interior trim marks easily, the paint is very thin & the ride is unsettled, it just feels an underdeveloped car & I would think carefully before I put my own money in to one.
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Sounds like you got a bad one, I thought it was all new? You might be right on underdeveloped, the whole thing only took 18 months nearly all computer based.
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It is a re skinned Stilo. It has the same suspension, with the same faults, it knocks in the wet. The same geabox cable linkage issues, and the same A/C & ventilation faults. I struggle to live with the poor ride & the bakes are definately not up to par. It all feels very cheaply built.
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Fair enough, disappointing to here that especially the ride the roads where I live are poor and was looking for something with at least a half decent ride. They do look nice inside and out. Is yours still in warranty?
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I struggle to live with the poor ride & the bakes are
>> definately not up to par. It all feels very cheaply built.
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Being a sport model leads me to think it might be on elastic band tyres not known for supple ride quality, is this the case?, what sizes are we talking about.
Are the brakes that bad you're in danger of rear ending other drivers regularly, or do they require a bit of pedal pressure...which may be seen by some to be a good thing given the overservoed efforts of many modern cars.
If it's lack of grip especially in the wet, again what's the tyre specs, and makes.
Would be interested to hear about how good the dealer is/are, are they sorting everything under warranty without quibble?
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My Panda has heavy brakes compared to other modern cars I have driven such as the Clio III but FIAT set them up that way, a lot of modern cars have over sensitive brakes, but it doesn't mean they will actually stop you better.
I've done one emergency stop in the Panda and I was very surprised just how quickly it stopped.
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Tyres are 17" rims, can't remember the profile, have been given a standard Bravo as a loaner & it was not much better, though mine grinds on speed bumps.
Brakes are poor, very poor no feel & limited stopping power, it's the 1st thing I notice when I get mine back after the Panda/500/GP loaner.
Dealers have been a mixed bag, mine has had so many faults, some dealt well, some poor, guess it's been in 20+ times. 3rd year warranty is dealer only & does not cover much, so beware. Some Bravo's were sold with a 5 year warranty, but don't know the T&C's.
Having driven lots of Panda's, 500's & GP's I now see why they say Fiat can build small cars, but not big ones. All I can say is the car feels very cheaply built with everything designed to last to the end of the 2nd year warranty & not much beyond. EG tabs for hanging the parcel shelves on are just screws driven into the hatchback, it's just all cheap & nasty.
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One of the drivers at work has a 58 plate Bravo, he seems perfectly happy with the car and it hasn't let him down yet.
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There's a thread on this forum somewhere about an owner trying to track down a misting problem on a Bravo. IIRC, the owner in question was overall delighted with his car, and the misting problem was eventually tracked down and solved.
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>> There's a thread on this forum somewhere
Found it, it was PR's 100,000 mile running report:
www.car4play.com/forum/post/index.htm?t=6045&v=f
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Fri 29 Jul 11 at 12:16
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Like any car you can always end up with a dog. The problem is FIAT seem to be experts at putting all the faults into one car. I suspect the factory works were on strike the day your car was built.
I must admit I would be a bit weary of buying an Italian built FIAT because the build still seems too patchy.
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I agree mine is a dog. But there are also lots of things present in the Bravo that should have been engineered out. EG Front & rear badges de laminate & fall off, my back badge has fallen off & it's an 09. Suspension knocks, this was present on the Stilo. Seat cusions don't support you. Speedo obscured by the steering wheel, gear change linkage freezes in the winter & you can't change gear, all things not present on the smaller cars & that point at a cheap build & not enough development of the product.
I really have grown to like the Panda & 500, but the Bravo is a hard package to live with unless you love Italian cars & can overlook it's many faults & have deep pockets.
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>> and the misting problem was eventually tracked down and solved.
Yep, the servo motor for the flap in recirculation mode had failed, leaving it stuck in recirculation.
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FIAT Bravo - Thinking of buying - madf
