But there is such a thing as probability, MrF, and that can be assessed on the basis of statistics.

Good sound advice that is, without a doubt.

Buy the car and change anything you think is suspect, I bought mine and it had the works service oil cooler pipes new discs pads etc etc. Then you know where you are with it really.

*What model/spec coupe do you have?

LE

*What age is the car?

1999

*What mileage is the car, and how many do you cover per year?

70,000 (8k/year)

*How much did the car cost you to buy?

£10,000

*How long have you personally owned the vehicle?

4 years

*What condition was the car in when you bought it?

Almost perfect

What modifications, if any, have you had done to the car, and at what cost?

18" Wheels + Tyres (£800)
Billsteins & Eibachs (£500)
Rear Arches Rolled (£100)
SIP (£100)
Ram-Air (£50)
Unichip (£300)
Uprated Brakes (£300)
Hybrid Turbo (£600)
Boost Controller (£150)
Xenons (£120)
Dual Pod + Wideband Lambda + Boost Gauge (£400)
Stereo (£2000)
Toad Alarm (£300)
Pro Alloy Intercooler (£350)
Pro Alloy Radiator (£320)

Prices exclude fitting costs.



Have these modifications affected reliability in any significant and noticeable way?

Car actually feels better now than it ever did.

*What mechanical faults have occurred with the car and what costs have amounted as a result?

New Engine (aux belt snap) ~£4000 from fiat (£25 warranty claim)
Throttle Cable Snapped (£10)
LE Starter Button Problem (Added relay £5)
Aircon Relay Problem (hit it with a hammer)
EBV Problem (fitted PRV - £20)

*How much have you spent per year on repairs/maintenance due to natural wear and tear?

At Least £600 / year. Oil change every 6K (£40 in oil) and approx 1 litre of oil per 1000 km (as per hand book). Tyres are GSD3s 225/35/18 and are £111 per corner. General servicing done at the always excellent Powerfiat.

*How many mpg do you roughly average over 3-5 tanks?

20-23

When I bought mine, the car was in pretty good condidtion, inside and out, but more importantly it had a thick file with most (if not all) the invoice etc. for any work spent on it by previous owners.

Interestingly in the first 3 years of it's life it only did 11k miles, but the next 3 saw another 44k but that clinched it for me because the car had obviously been super reliable and the paperwork backed it up.

As part of the deal I had the belts done and then already decided to change the disks, tyres and front suspension for peace of mind.

Car hasn't let me down at all since and I still get a buzz every time I drive it.

If you look after the car, do he checks, service when needed and replace parts as needed, owning a coupe should be a great experience and not really any more expensive than any other (performance) car and a good deal less than some others!

Yeah exactly, I know that sods law will always play a maor role in determining these things, but as Enforcer rightly says, it's possible to gain a general idea of reliability of a vehicle if you get enough responses to a survey. If the FIAT's were horribly unreliable then the overall costs and failures would likely be much worse than they are in this thread, whereas maybe a Honda would be notably better overall. I didn't make the thread for black and white specifics, I just thought the info would prove very interesting, and it has indeed.

*What model/spec coupe do you have?
20vt
*What age is the car?
1997
*What mileage is the car, and how many do you cover per year?
118k / 6k
*How much did the car cost you to buy?

*How long have you personally owned the vehicle?
3 weeks
*What condition was the car in when you bought it?
Excellent
What modifications, if any, have you had done to the car, and at what cost?
Nothing, all done prior to ownership
Have these modifications affected reliability in any significant and noticeable way?
Nope
*What mechanical faults have occurred with the car and what costs have amounted as a result? If possible please provide a rough breakdown of the more major faults and details of costs of parts/replacements.
N/A
*How much have you spent per year on repairs/maintenance due to natural wear and tear?
Mobil 1 £14, Car cleaning stuff £100
*How many mpg do you roughly average over 3-5 tanks?
28.6mpg on first tank.

I've had mine 3 years.
Two knackered turbos (poor oil mainly)
Cambelt snapped (Can happen 4 miles after a change)
Exhaust manifold Cracked (They all do at some point)

It's cost me £22,000 in total, all petrol, insurance, tax, MOTs, mods and maintenance. Everything that can go wrong, pretty much has gone wrong . But I still think it's great value all in, and I'd do it all over again.

I looked at every other car out there before I bought mine and nothing else does it all so well. If you want to weigh up all the pros and cons, performance, looks, running costs, practicality etc...etc it will beat anything overall.

One of the very best things about the coop though, is this forum. I've never seen a better motoring site on the net.

Just get one, you won't regret it... that often...

*What model/spec coupe do you have?
20VT
*What age is the car?
1998 R reg
*What mileage is the car, and how many do you cover per year?
93k / 7k
*How much did the car cost you to buy?
£2000
*How long have you personally owned the vehicle?
4 weeks
*What condition was the car in when you bought it?
Mechanically very good - lots big jobs recently carried out, although brakes were binding on. Cosmetically a few scratches and scuffs, alloys kerbed, bolster worn...
What modifications, if any, have you had done to the car, and at what cost?
Nothing, not a sausage!
Have these modifications affected reliability in any significant and noticeable way?
N/A
*What mechanical faults have occurred with the car and what costs have amounted as a result? If possible please provide a rough breakdown of the more major faults and details of costs of parts/replacements.
Nothing (touch wood)
*How much have you spent per year on repairs/maintenance due to natural wear and tear?£250 - new brake pipes, new exhaust rear section (standard)
*How many mpg do you roughly average over 3-5 tanks?
27mpg

I'm sure this thread shall have him writing his (blank) cheque out, early doors (cambelt can pop 4 miles after having been replaced etc).....

Jeez!

*What model/spec coupe do you have?

20VT

*What age is the car?

1997 R reg

*What mileage is the car, and how many do you cover per year?

60k / 4k

*How much did the car cost you to buy?

£5,800

*How long have you personally owned the vehicle?

4+ years

*What condition was the car in when you bought it?

Mechanically and electrically pretty sound, but cambelt not done and airbag light on. Cosmetically - alloys scuffed (still are), stone chips and dings.

*What modifications, if any, have you had done to the car, and at what cost?

Silver grille, colour coded bumpers, rear badge removed, staqinless steel exhaust (CSC)

*Have these modifications affected reliability in any significant and noticeable way?

No

*What mechanical faults have occurred with the car and what costs have amounted as a result? If possible please provide a rough breakdown of the more major faults and details of costs of parts/replacements.

I think I've been fortunate. After initial outlay to get car spiffy after purchase, only major thing I've had fault wise was clutch slave cylinder - which was only a few pounds. In fact the only other thing I can recall at all (although I'm sure there will have been other things tweaked on services/MOTs) was a new cap for coolant tank when it started leaking - pennies. Oh yes, the Meta alarm became possessed.

*How much have you spent per year on repairs/maintenance due to natural wear and tear?

No idea. Never been enough of an issue for me to notice - it goes to fccuk recommended mechanics and I've expected to have to write out big cheques but for the most part it's been a pleasant surprise. I'll be doing the cambelt again shortly along with brakes disks so that'll push it up.

*How many mpg do you roughly average over 3-5 tanks?

No idea. Not much. I get about 300 miles to the tank without running it down to vapour.