1.6 diesel 120hp multijet dynamic

Brilliantly well equipped for the cost, and very economical. However, it has some issues....

I bought the car second hand and have had it for almost 18 months, and it's still driving very well. I picked it up 3 years old with a little over 70,000 miles on it. Was previously a company car doing lots of motorway driving, hence the high mileage, and the high spec dynamic model I've got is brilliant for all the gadgets. It's very economical for it's class, costs about 70 to fill up from empty and depending on how I drive, I can usually get 550+ miles from a tank (not sure of the exact MPG, sorry!). 6 speed manual gearbox is brilliant. At 70 mph, it'll sit proudly around 1900 rpm. I've had it sat at 90mph on the motorway doing 2500rpm (not very sensible I know, but I wanted to give the car a thorough test) Handsome amount of torque for a car of it's size means it doesn't struggle to overtake on motorways and up long hills. The power isn't amazing, but more than you might expect from a family hatchback. Cheap to tax as you would expect from a 1.6 diesel. Can't say what insurance would be for someone a little older, but for (at the time of purchase) a 21 year old male driver with a licence from the age of 17 with no previous history of claims or points, it cost 1550 fully comp... Ouch. Only insurance group 6 (how the insurance companies hate us young male drivers!)

Hugely practical as well. Surprisingly generous amounts of space inside, and you'd be able to accommodate 2 adults on the back with ease. The boot is enormous which is brilliant for me, as I cart around a fair amount of band and gig equipment (guitars, amps etc..) All fits with room to spare.

I've put a little over 20,000 miles on it since i bought it. During this time, I passed the cambelt replacement service at 84,000 miles. Not particularly cheap. Cost the best part of 900 for a service and cambelt change from a FIAT dealer, which was always going to be more expensive. I would recommend getting all the tricky maintenance and services done at a FIAT dealer! This particular engine model had a limited run despite it being fantastic, and unfortunately there's very little information on it. A friend of mine is a trusted mechanic, and with all the access in the world to car engine and service info at his garage (a Renault Peugeot dealer), he was unable to find the exact info for replacing the cambelt on my engine model. He said he could give it a go, but didn't feel particular confident in doing so and suggested taking it to a FIAT garage.

The main problem I've discovered with the FIAT Bravo, and what seems to be a recurring issue with this particular engine (from what I've gathered from various forums etc...) is an intermittent problem with the Fuel Pressure Regulator being low/high (diagnostic codes P0091 & P0092 respectively). This seems to range from a 50 quid fix up to potentially 1000 fix... I've had the engine management light come on twice in the last couple of months and the car went into limp mode (easy enough to get over as you just turn the engine off and on. engine light remains with warning, but at least you can rev it to get home) Both times I've taken it to my mechanic friend who has plugged it into his diagnostic machine, and it came back error code P0091. It has managed to right itself both times after leaving the car for a day or 2 (as most intermittent faults do!) however if it comes back a 3rd time, into the garage it goes. Hopefully it can be a cheap re-programming of the regulator unit, or if the valve has come off and gone into the engine it could prove to be more expensive... but that's worst case scenario. If and when it happens I'll come back and let you know the outcome! So far it's not a serious issue.

All in all, I love my Bravo! Drives very well, even if it does roll a bit in the corners, but it's not meant to be a sporty car, and it is essentially a family diesel hatchback. The Blue&Me system is exceptional, works very well (if you have an apple product, buy the certified blue&me adapter otherwise you can mess up the software!). Fantastically economical for what I drive, mostly motorway stuff. However, as with all Italians, the electronics it seems could do with a little extra attention FIAT!

I've given it a 4 star on the reliability, as the intermittent fault hasn't come back yet,however if it does i would probably drop it to a 3... Similarly with the cost of maintenance and repair, I've given it 3 stars as this is the only relatively new car I've owned, and my previous car was an S reg fiesta (hence possibly some bias in the star ratings), and servicing that was much cheaper! Not sure how 900 for a cambelt and service compares to other newer cars of that class, but at the age of 22 I struggled to find that much money for one hit....

Not sure what the replacement 1.6 diesel engine in the Bravo is like (they dropped it down to 105bhp) but i would recommend the 120 as a great drive.

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