What causes the HGF on the 1.1?
Erm, not certain really, but I think luck has something to do with it. Some can go for ages without a problem, others can fail soon after 30,000 miles. Regular servicing and sympathetic driving (don't put your foot down when cold) will probably help though.
I avoided the 900cc ones on the back of HJ's remarks altho the extra power from the 1.1 is welcome anyway as I will be doing mainly M-way/A-road work with it with a weekly trip into town.
Yeah, the 1.1 would probably suit you better, but the 899cc isn't necessarily a bad buy. I'm perfectly happy to drive my car on motorways, I recently did over 400 miles in a day and didn't have any problems.
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Im just hoping that the servicing that has been done so far, plus my gentle driving style will avoid any problems. I will heed the cold driving tips.
I just asked what the cause is because the well known probs with the K-Series are due to specific design faults but can be worked around and modified.
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ive not done a h/g yet but i buy carefully
no chavved up cars
no high mileage liers
just proper cars like yours
i really think you wont have a problem if you keep the levels correct
i could service a sissy in a few hours so why shouldnt it be done properly
sit back and enjoy it
rovers went bust/fiat are still going/that engine is a stonker nearly as good as the old twinky they used to do
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My Seicento was owned from new by a school teacher - not sure if thats good or bad!
Is there a specific fluid/concentration that is best as I will be using my local mechanic to do servicing ( he does exactly what is asked so I just give him a list or schedule ). Im planning on using genuine parts aswell, cant do any harm.
As I read it, Fiat is only just finding its feet again financially but then its selling some fine cars now, so its well deserved. I have to say, the Panda coming so high in the car surveys is mighty impressive when you look at other cars made in the Med and where they have been coming.
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the punto was always a good car
so was the chinky and then the sissy
some were bad ie bravo
overall fiat cars have good responsive engines ,but,poor electrics and in the old days bad bodies
theres a lot of bad feedback because a lot of fiats have been company/hire cars that have been clocked by large amounts
buy a good proper fiat and its up there with any genuine proper bread and butter car
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I must admit, the Grande Punto still months after I first saw one, looks fab. I have no idea how they drive or what the interior is like but such a good looking car.
Mid 90's Puntos that ive come across have all been horrible, esp with electrics and theres nout more annoying than electrics. So many with poorly earth rear lights, just reinforced why I didnt like them back then - a lottery car, sometimes it works, other times, not so.
It was cars from this era that painted such a bad picture for me. Not wrong about the Bravo/Brava, cheap for very good reason. Ulysse was no better. Barchetta was nice tho.
I think actually, its the latest Punto that has softened me to the Seicento and when they get to 4-5 years old, I may be seeking one out, just have to see how they do in JD Power and hope used values drop enough!
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.....Barchetta was nice tho.....
Oh yes.
(regretful sob)
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If the prices of the old Punto (a horrible car in my opinion) are anything to go by, then the prices for the new one will be as cheap as chips in no time so no need to wait 4-5 years for one, by which stage as it being a Fiat would surely have seen much better days! To be fair though they have apparently improved quality so only time will tell how it lasts.
What exactly made you go for a Seicento though out of interest?
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>>What exactly made you go for a Seicento though out of interest?<<
It was the newest, lowest mileage car i could get for my budget, plus it was by far and away in the best condition and I liked the way it drove, plus the seats were comfortable.
A slight lie told as I found a very nice Daihatsu Cuore with less miles altho a year older, but it was an auto which meant a screaming 4700 rpm at 70 - no good if your planning much M-Way work like I am and detrimental to fuel economy.
I only wanted to buy a car from a main dealer so I was a little restricted with my budget of in and around 3k as not all dealers bother with cars at that end of the market.
I dont like independant dealers as unless you know them personally, they have nothing to loose by selling rubbish cars, whereas main dealers do tend to stock better cars on the whole. I worked for an independant, RAC approved dealer and he still sold complete rubbish sometimes.
Not only that, but ive not come across an independant who backs their own warranty rather than sending you round the houses with a warranty company - been there, done that and never again.
Im also secretly hoping that the seriously cheap running costs are true ( so far they are ).
I did look at a Ka but I think its a vile looking car and could only find poverty spec cars that were quite old. Also looked at a Suzuki Alto but didnt much fancy it as it was the old shape model.
Im happy with the Fiat - there are a lot of them around so there must be something in it.
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I must admit the Grande Punto still months after I first saw one looks fab. I have no idea how they drive or what the interior is like but such a good looking car.
Yes, the Grande Punto is a fabulous shape, but it's getting a bit on the big side for my liking.
I was toying with the idea of one but the lack of the right diesel in the right trim specification plus a penny-pinched interior meant I didn't get as far as a test drive.
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What causes the HGF on the 1.1?
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As I understand it, head gasket failure on the 8 valve "FIRE" engine is mainly due to either of the following:
antifreeze left in for years, beyond the life of its corrsion inhibitor, due to cheap-skate servicing or lack of servicing.
antifreeze changed, but system not bled properly, giving air pockets in the head which cause localised overheating and warping.
I'm not sure when FIAT started using it, but my 55 plate Punto has pink antifreeze which I understand is good for many years.
Have a look at the colour of your Seicento's antifreeze.
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Many thanks, I will bear it in mind and make sure my mechanic knows. Im sure he has serviced one before though.
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I spoke to the dealer on wednesday as he rang me to tell me they couldnt get the car ready for thursday as arranged due to needing a part. It turns out that wndscreen washer motor had failed, thus is wouldnt pass MOT.
Anyway, is this a common problem or is this a one-off? Ive not heard or sen it mentioned anywhere. Hoping to collect car Monday :-)
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I spoke to the dealer on wednesday as he rang me to tell me they couldnt get the car ready for thursday as arranged due to needing a part. It turns out that wndscreen washer motor had failed thus is wouldnt pass MOT. Anyway is this a common problem or is this a one-off? Ive not heard or sen it mentioned anywhere. Hoping to collect car Monday :-)
I've never known the washer motor's to fail. My washer motor hasn't given me any problems and it's over 7 years old, but I don't use it much. My rear jet is clogged, which I suppose could lead to a motor failure, but I'm not too worried.
I think coolant is supposed to be replaced every 2 years, and my coolant isn't pink.
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ive never done a motor on one of these
it must be down to non useage
make sure wing and liner are neat when you collect as one of these needs to come off to get to the pump
the plastic goes a little brittle
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A few years back my wife's washer motor packed in on the Seicento and we know the cause - although it should not have failed in my opinion.
Basically she drove to work with wipers on (it was raining) and left the wipers in the on position. The windscreen froze and wipers stuck. Turn on car and it tries to move wiper and cannot and burns out the motor. A fuse surely should blow but no it does not and you need a new wiper motor (quite easy to fix?).
Trouble was when it happened, there was a shortage of wiper motors - no doubt lots had failed at the same time. Local independent type service/MOT/tyre garage had two Seicento's parked up waiting for parts.
Wife's car was still under warranty so she eventually persuaded the FIAT garage to take it in and get a courtesy car in the meantime. You could say leaving the wipers on and letting them freeze was not claimable on warranty but it was.
Couple of times the PAS light has come on (twice?) and no power steering. Turn off ignition and back on and working again. Touch wood not going to fail.
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To be honest, if I had done that, Id have accepted blame myself although obviously it was an accident.
I usually put a sheet over the windscreen of my cars when its freezing and put the wipers back down to hold the sheet on ( aswell as trapping the two ends in the doors ). This seems to work and saves alotta scraping! Frost can ruin wiper blades very quickly thats for sure.
Im hoping my PAS doesnt fail, we shall have to see! I collect it at 4:30 this afternoon, cant wait!
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Picked the car up, handover was swift and easy. Car was very well valeted, a credit to the valeter given that Im rather picky. Even had 1/4 tank of fuel in it!
First impressions of the car:
Ive sorted the high gas pedal by sticking a piece of wood ( 10 ins long 1x4 ) in between two mats which raises the 'floor' level by about an inch and a half.
This makes the driving position far more comfortable and has solved my only real doubt I had before I bought it.
Seats are soft and comfy and the ride is very reasonable for such a short car, only at higher speeds does it jiggle a little bit.
Steering takes some getting used to - its very direct but almost completely lacking feel, though Ive acclimatised to it now ive done a few miles.
Gearbox is very nice - light, precise and clutch is progressive.
Performance is OK, though slower than my van, its refined when cruising which is helped by the extremely tall gearing - 5th is useless below 40 and 4th is only good at 30 if its flat or downhill - the economy figures suggest the gearing has alot to do with its misery returns.
Electric window switch is actually out of sight from the driving position, obscured by the steering wheel so some initial fumbling for that.
Storage space is excellent and the boot swallowed a weeks shopping which wasnt expected. Missing a cup holder though.
Trim quality is a mixed bag - seat fabric is as new so its obviously hard wearing. The dash plastics are as cheap as chips but its a budget car so its only what one would expect really - still, the design is easy to use and looks good.
I wish it had a temp gauge though.
On the whole, its impressed me far more than I expected - maybe its the truth of cheap cars lead to lower expectations - having driven and owned several city cars ( Daihatsu Cuore, Daewoo Matiz and old shape Mini ) id say its the nicest one of the lot overall - I fancied a Lupo/Arosa but they are too dear for what they offer.
I will wait and see how the reliability stacks up - a friend of my mums said her mother has one and swears by the thing, so much so that she wont drive anything else now.
My mum has named it ( what can I say, shes my mum ) so its now known as 'Mario', goodness only knows where she got that from!
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"To be honest, if I had done that, Id have accepted blame myself although obviously it was an accident"
I'd partly agree but my wife used to work at Manachester airport and car parked in an exposed car park. So with some unexpected freezing weather and forgetting to turn off wipers....
And I've done the same in the Mondeo (auto wiper which I leave on) which did not blow a fuse or burn our a motor. So why would a wiper motor not behave the same on a Seicento? Well it's down to engineering/design and under load a fuse should blow. Hence replaceable on warranty because it should not happen.
An analogy:
Indesit washer dryer has a path through from drum to top of dryer heater for suds. Soapy wash (like when washing sports shoes on the sports shoe programme) results in suds getting out of drum and dripping on circuit board. End result = dead circuit board. Whilst under warranty they replace these blown boards without question FOC because they can hardly say "don't wash sports shoes"... normal out of warranty price including labour = £160 ...??!!? Machine when new £300.
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Oh dear - it lasted half a day!
Filled it up with petrol today and oops. Fuel leak obvious - seemed to be leaking around the seam on the tank - is this normal?
Id read about rusty tanks but mine isnt rusty that I can see, but perhaps higher up? I think perhaps when it was MOT'd, because it was low on fuel, this wasnt apparent at the time.
So far, the dealer has acted promptly to my complaint and will be sending out a recovery truck to me ( a good 15-20 mile journey ) after lunch and didnt even suggest that I drive it, which many of the cheekier dealers sometimes do.
I hope they handle this issue as swiftly as the sale. I mentioned to the service manager that Fiat had troubles with fuel tanks on these and he said he would ring them and find out whats what. So far impressed with their response altho disappointed its happened, Im also aware of the fact that until the car was filled up with fuel, nobody would have spotted it.
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ive never replaced a tank
but
the siecento i have also appears to have a nice shiny new one fitted
nice to hear of the prompt attention you got
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