1.3 16v MultiJet Dynamic 5dr People Carrier 90HP

Not such a good idea!

Due to my wife having back surgery we needed an upright small car and one which was very light on the steering for her to drive (it has city mode to lighten up the steering). On paper it seemed perfect very tall, efficient diesel engine and my wife liked it on the test drive.

The 1.3 90HP diesel was fairly pokey but after 3 months & 3.5K miles an engine light came on and the Fiat dealer in Bishop's Stortford was awful, no courtesy car and it took a week? DPF already! After about 14 months the seat pad sunk (and no, neither of us are overweight!!!) leaving a hard ridge in the seat which was uncomfortable.

The fit and finish were poor as the dash didn't align with the door frame on the drivers side (they should have met neatly but didn't. Also the car had a very tinny feel and sounded like it was wafer thin when you shut the door. No solid thunk more a tinny twang. The boot was small but the rear seat split and folded. Problem was the levers were so weak it felt like they would snap every time I used them. Overall the fit and finish was very poor, nowhere near the Vauxhall Meriva's.

In terms of MPG the car managed around 45MPG against the Govt figure of 53MPG for the combined cycle. Even with the lightest of right feet 53MPG was a struggle in every day driving. A fair amount of road noise was evident and the obvious body lean due to the car's height meant it wasn't exactly a laugh a minute to drive. Traded it in for a Vauhall Zafira which is in a different class, albeit larger.

All in all its not Fiat's best Idea. Compare it to a Vauxhall Meriva or Renault Modus which are similar and judge for yourself.

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