Fiat’s Baby Is A Sensible Secondhand Purchase

0 Comments | Wales On Sunday (Cardiff, Wales), June 6, 2010

Byline: PETER HAYWARD

THE Fiat Seicento is a small car that is great in town but it also handles longer trips reasonably well as long as you don’t want to set light to the tarmac.

The last model imported to Britain was the Sporting, which was available until 2004 and was the highest spec version in any case.

Power comes from a 1.1-litre engine with 54bhp but although that doesn’t sound like much, the car is very light so performance is good enough for plenty of fun.

It also has superb economy, low running costs and very cheap insurance – all of which helps make it one of the most affordable cars to run on the market.

It has agile handling and although it can feel a little “tinny” at times, crash protection is up to the proper standards and will not let you down.

The ride can be unsettled at times, but this is a problemwith almost all small cars.

Make sure you get one with full service history if you can – there are plenty out there so hold out for the best.

Interior All have basically the same body – a threedoor hatch with just about roomfor four lightly squeezed adults – and a small boot.

But even at that, it has more interior space than the VW Lupo, SEAT Arosa or Ford Ka – and a bigger boot than the first two.

All models after 2000 have the essential power steering.

FAST FACTS Fiat Seicento Price: Pay about pounds 800 for an ’01 Y-reg, pounds 1,100 for an ’02 52-reg or pounds 1,400 for an 04 04-reg. Mechanical: 54bhp, 1,108cc, 4 cylinder petrol engine driving the front wheels via a 5 speed manual gearbox Max speed: 93mph 0-62mph: 13.1seconds Combined mpg: 43 Insurance group: 4 CO2 emissions: 155g/km BIK rating: 16% Marks: 8/10 Main rival: Ford Ka