Living with a Fiat Seicento (1 Viewer)

scotjimland

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 25, 2007
2,090
9,046
Suffolk Coastal District, UK
Funster No
15
MH
Timberland
Bought as a toad in Oct 2008 this is my experience;

Model: Seicento Sporting
Engine: 1108 cc

Year 1998 (s reg)
Purchase Price £650
Mileage 72,000 approx 20,000 done "on tow" by previous owner
Two previous owners.
Complete with CarATow A frame. (worth at least £750)

Car had no service history after 12,000mls, second owner said he did himself, so I had to assume that it needed some work done, but was more than pleased with the price.

Likes:
Size, easy to park
MPG +50
Handling, nippy and corners well.
Easy and cheap to service, good supply of spares.
Great town car

Dislikes:
No a/c ..
No power steering, not a major issue but it is hard work parking as it has wide tyres
No engine temperature gauge
Noisy over 50 mph
Not a motorway cruiser ..

Work done since purchased

1. New battery £50
2. Two tyres £30 ( I bought part worn, new tyres cost around £30 )
3. Cam belt and tensioner £35 , ( if done in garage costs about £190.)
4. Radiator replaced, old one was blocked and corroded. £63
5. Oil leak, replaced rocker cover gasket £5
6. Spark plugs and leads replaced. £30
7. Near side CV joint rubber boot £20
8. Rear wiper motor seized, stripped and repaired £0.00
9. Corroded brake pipe replaced £15
10. Alternator belt replaced £5
11. Engine Oil and filter changed £15
12. Hand brake cable seized, removed and lubricated.
13. New wiper blades.

plus lots of little jobs.. none serious..


This is a great toad, easy to park and great about town, cheap to run, tax and insure but as already said, not a motorway stormer .. it is quite noisy above 50 and has quite stiff suspension .. but great fun to drive.
Nippy about town but lacks legs on motorways ..
Will seat four adults in reasonable comfort , boot is large enough for a weeks shop..

What to look out for if buying

1. Service history, including belt change at 60,000mls
2. Seized hand brake
3. CV joint rubber boots
4. Check coolant, if rusty it may need a new radiator.
Take for a good run until hot, check cooling fan cuts in but doesn't stay on,a sure sign the rad is blocked.
5. I think the smaller engine model would be too small, look for the Sporting with the 1100cc engine.
6. Check for chipped head and fog lights, replacement are expensive, fog light is £70

Would I buy another ?

YES definitely,

Jim

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Bugsy

Free Member
Oct 25, 2008
62
0
Norfolk
Funster No
4,626
MH
A Class
Exp
Since December 2008
We recently bought a Fiat Seicento to use as a Toad and ours is also black! Yes, it is a bit noisy and a fairly hard ride but the 50 mpg is a bonus. Great for nipping into town and very useful on our recent holiday.

Cheaper and roomier than a Smart and I believe they weigh much the same.:thumb:

Toni
 

daveyboy

Free Member
Mar 2, 2009
87
1
cambs
Funster No
5,785
MH
rv
Exp
2
i got myself a chinkvimto a few months ago . full mot. 4 months tax for £600.
not my ideal car but wanted a cheap toad. i have used it every day since for work as you cant knock 55 to a gallon, it handles like a skateboard and you can have so much fun in it because its quite nippy being a sporting with its 1.1 of pure italian pwer.lol. im 6ft 3 and i find it roomy enough thanks to the sunroof.
its made my lpg chevy astro redundant though.
furthest drive so far is peterborough to preston and it done it on £13 of juice. thats ace.
like the yellow to.

BOEB4QCGkKGrHgoOKj4EjlLmYTiBJs6zrvl.jpg

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scotjimland

scotjimland

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 25, 2007
2,090
9,046
Suffolk Coastal District, UK
Funster No
15
MH
Timberland
i got myself a chinkvimto a few months ago . full mot. 4 months tax for £600.
not my ideal car but wanted a cheap toad. i have used it every day since for work as you cant knock 55 to a gallon, it handles like a skateboard and you can have so much fun in it because its quite nippy being a sporting with its 1.1 of pure italian pwer.lol. im 6ft 3 and i find it roomy enough thanks to the sunroof.
its made my lpg chevy astro redundant though.
furthest drive so far is peterborough to preston and it done it on £13 of juice. thats ace.
like the yellow to.

BOEB4QCGkKGrHgoOKj4EjlLmYTiBJs6zrvl.jpg

As you say, not ideal.. but you can live with a lot when it's doing 50mpg. I've not had so much fun driving since my first car .. a 1964 Mini ..
Most of my working life I had either a brand new or company car .. after a few weeks I lost interest .. not so with the cheeky Seicento .. ::bigsmile:
 
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scotjimland

scotjimland

LIFE MEMBER
Jul 25, 2007
2,090
9,046
Suffolk Coastal District, UK
Funster No
15
MH
Timberland
Boy Racers .. can be useful !

Almost a year since I bought and am just as delighted as I was the first day.. did a longish trip to Scotland recently and although not ideal the little car held it's own on the motorways and returned 48 mpg .. not bad for cruising at 70 all day ..

However, just last week it started playing up.. felt rough, not running as sweetly as it should, I knew it wasn't plugs or HT cables so after some investigating found a little filter in a vacuum line between the inlet manifold and the MAP (manifold absolute pressure) unit which was blocked.. .. Cleaned this out with a little petrol and compressed air..

Started up and it was worse than ever.. wouldn't idle , even after a run it was idling slow .. and occasionally stalling when I depressed the clutch ..

So I went onto the Fiat boy racer forum where the average age of Seicento owners is about 17 :roflmto: quick as a flash, a lad suggested resetting the EMC unit .. by either unplugging or disconnecting the neg on the battery and leaving for a couple of minutes.. the theory was that the unit had to re learn the running parameters after cleaning the filter ..

I was a bit sceptical .. but it did make sense .. so, that's what I did.. and wow .. it's fixed.. running like a Singer sewing machine.... like a new car ...

Well, as JSW says.. been there , done that, but never stop learning ..

Thank you boy racer :thumb:

Jim

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schojac

Free Member
Apr 25, 2009
339
234
Cambridgeshire
Funster No
6,433
MH
C Class
Exp
new in 2009
Hi,

this is my little toad; Seicento Schumacher. Love the way it drives adds that little bit of fun to the holiday.

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