Fiat Cinquecento reviews

Key strengths: Fun, speed, cheap and chearful, good first car.
Areas for improvement: Stop that rust problem Fiat

The standard Cinquecento is a good italian buzz box for around town use, the 1.1 Sporting is something else and will easily hold its own on the motorway with what is a Punto engine slotted into a tiny space under the bonnet.

It has quite a lot of oomph for a small car, with good acceleartion and handling. When i first took it out it reminded me of driving my mums old mini.

The book speed is 98mph, this is achievable providing you have very good tracking and balance on your wheels. Petrol consumption is good, around 40-45 MPG on average depending on whether you drive it like a mum going to the shops, or Stirling Moss at Silverstone.

The traits of Fiats are legendary, having had 4 fiats in my lifetime there is a tendancy for things to go belly up around 45,000 miles. Such as differential trouble, head gasket, gearbox which are very costly.
There is then the huge rust problem that Fiat just cant seem to iron out. The Cinquecento is no acception to the rule, with rusting prominant under rear wheel arches, collection of debris will rust through to your boot well.

The inside of the cinquecento 1.1 is surprisingly roomy for head room, but nothing outstanding on the equipment front. A rev counter, a cheap radio, electric windows. The seats are good though, little Recaro style holds you in when you are flying around corners.

If you can pick one up cheap second hand, make sure the mileage is low. These cars were not designed to do high mileage. I parted company with mine at 85000 having had it from 39000 miles, and it was still going, just with a gaping hole in the boot well and gearbox on its way out. If you are going for an M, or N reg, if its got 35000 miles on it, make sure you are not paying more than around £500, you have trouble in store and if you get a year or two out of it, its a good investment.

For the youngsters, the fiat 1.1 sporting cinquecento is good fun. You can do them up well, with various kits available. There are plenty of spares at the local car wrecking site to choose from to keep your car going. In terms of doing your own work, get yourself a Haynes manual it could save you a few quid. Due to the Punto 1.1i engine being under the bonnet, you wont have much room to move your hands around. It really is squeezed in, so getting your plugs out etc is difficult.

All in all, a great little buzz box, high costs if you are unlucky, fiat parts and labour dear. If you are getting a second hand one with low mileage for £500, go for it. Incidentally, you are likely to pay more for a black one than the yellow or red.

All in all, good fun, potential to be expensive like all Fiats, if youre lucky you will have fun with it.




The running costs for Fiat Cinquecento 1.1 Sporting are high

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