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» Fiat Coupe Buyers Guide

:: Fiat Coupe Buyers Guide chapters

Instant Classic
» What to look for
Living with the Coupe
Specialist's view
Approved used
Clubs
What to pay
Production history
Prices
Technical specifications
Parts prices
Best buy
Verdict

:: What to look for

Mechanically, there is little that goes wrong with the car and it should need little more than routine servicing, and topping up of fluids. The service interval on four-cylinder cars is 9,000 miles or 12 months and on the five-cylinder cars a long 12,000 miles or 12 months.

On the 20V Turbo, oil consumption can be a high figure of half a liter every 1,000 miles. Check the dipstick and look for receipts for a five-liter tin of oil between services.

There are a number of problems that have been fixed by recalls, and there shouldn't be any UK-sourced cars that haven't had turbo coolant hoses (20V Turbo), air-conditioning hoses and airbag warning light problems fixed by now. However, some 16V cars do experience an occasional stalling problem, and cam belt breakages are more common on the 16V models. A number of 20V Turbo models are known to have suffered broken exhaust manifolds.

Look for a full service history as many ex-lease cars over one year old still haven't had their first service. You should be aware of the one major cost service item which is the cam belt replacement at 72,000 miles or six years. This requires a two-day engine removal job on five cylinder cars, and is still an expensive job on the four-cylinder cars. Attempts to remove the timing cover and replace the belt by marking the pulleys with the engine still in the car are not recommended (though not impossible. Ed).

Cars over three years old will need to have an exhaust catalyst that will pass the MOT emissions test, and also check the clutch on older cars, as replacement of both is expensive.

The Coupe tends to eat tires, some lasting as little as 10,000 miles with very hard driving. 15 to 20,000 miles is more typical, but 25,000 plus motorway miles are possible. The Pirelli P-Zero as fitted to the 20V models is a good compromise between grip and wear for all models.

Check for even front/rear tire wear which indicates that the wheels and tires have been periodically switched by an enthusiastic owner (front to rear, not side to side). Front brake pads can wear out after 20,000 hard-driven miles, and check the brake discs for wear. One way to extend the front pad life is to swap the inner and outer pads since the inners wear much more quickly. The rear discs can rust and score if not used much. The front fog/side/indicator light is vulnerable to, stone chips, as is the bonnet. The slim spokes of the 20V Turbo and LE wheels stand proud of the tyre and are easily damaged by kerbing, although this can be repaired for around f45 per wheel. The less elegant, fatter spokes of all 16V models and the non-Turbo 20V can also be damaged by kerbing.

Make sure that there are no signs of accident damage, although minor car park dings in doors can be repaired locally to good effect. Check for problems with the interior trim, such as the stuffing coming out between the painted strip and dashboard top, and for squeaks and rattles when driving. Various cassette radios were fitted as standard, some with very fiddly controls, but radio reception is sometimes poor from the built-in aerial which is the top two elements; of the heated rear window.

Check the bonnet support strut, which on models before mid- 1998 needs to be released before dosing, but sometimes gets forced and breaks, hence the simpler design on later cars. The boot lid should shut cleanly, but if shut too often by pushing down at one side it can get slightly out of alignment, and the lock can shut without the boot closing completely.

Alarm problems on early four-cylinder cars are often caused by rough handling of the key fob, and other problems can be due to water getting into the system as a result of its location, low down near the wheels. The later Meta Systems alarm takes 60 seconds to activate, and if you open a door before then it will deactivate, making you think that it doesn't work. The Scorpion alarms appear to be the most reliable.

The interior appears to be hard-wearing, but check all the electrics work (windows, mirrors, wipers, lights; and warning lights) including the air-conditioning where fitted. Sometimes the self-canceling indicators; don't work properly.

Long waiting lists for new cars a few years ago coincided with 'gray imports' most notably from Malaysia, Ireland and via British Forces. One easy way to spot UK-sourced cars is to look for the etching on all windows of the Fiat Security Register telephone number and the chassis number. Although not fitted at the factory, alarms are also standard on UK cars.