Isn't it a Fiat Grande Punto underneath ?
The majority of it yes, which also means it shares a bit with the corsa D as well. Same chassis if memory serves.
It's a fun nippy car, quite good looking, but nothing special. I quite enjoyed it, but it's small inside, and expensive to fix (more so than a Focus for example) when things go wrong.
With regards to the cost, well yes and no. The majority of things I'd say are reasonable partly because some punto and corsa parts are actually interchangeable. There are a few bits like the power steering sensors which require a whole new steering column which do leave you thinking what the hell was they thinking. That being said any brand next to ford is expensive to fix though. But fun is probably what I'd use to describe it too and indeed you are correct there's not a huge amount of space, in the back in particular but i'm not a giant mountain of muscle and body hair so wasn't an issue for me
[TW]Fox;24861914 said:
Exactly. I'm glad somebody agrees. It's rubbish and the S600L will absolutely trounce it in a race.
Fox is, as per usual, completely right and his advice should be followed to the letter.
Well as you may notice I own one. Would I take one in the guise you propose (1.4 NA poverty spec)? No. Paint does chip really easily on these, that being said a lot of people with new cars I know appear to be having this problem so maybe it's not just alfa on this. On the contrary to the other poster I found mine great in the snow, by comparison my mums fiesta Zetec-s can't make it up our hill in even a little snow, never had to abandon the Mito once in the last bout of snow. I'd also go for one with the blue & me system so you have bluetooth etc. Is there any major problems to worry about on the 1.4 NA? well off the top of my head bar power steering thing I mentioned earlier which isn't massively common and suspension top mounts but after that it's pretty much all the usual stuff associated with cars. The 155 and 1.6 diesels appear to be the most troublesome. Just don't use alfa dealers for anything, the worse dealer network I have ever encountered. Insurance I have found to be pretty good though.
The Mito itself isn't a bad car, hell I picked one over the likes of the fiesta. That being said I couldn't find anything about the fiesta I could say I loved so I don't share the same high opinion of it others do. It just did everything well but instilled absolutely no emotion in me whatsoever so understand why you may not want one. Plus I felt build quality to be distinctly average on the fiesta so didnt even get that feel of it being a well built car. Don't know how far the new polo has dropped but I'd take one of them in a flash over the rest of the competition for what you want. I get through a lot of the little hatchback class cars as hire cars through work (I'm not important enough for anything good) and in my opinion the new polo is the best out of the bunch right now. I'm happy when I get given polos and despair when i get fabias (the interior and the way it drives and driving position is just wrong, funny how a car in theory the same is so different)
Any particular questions fire away but quite frankly go test driving, I was all set on either a fiesta zetec-s or RS clio (sensible option vs not so for those wondering why the disparity) and ended up with something I hadn't even contemplated buying. Also big service (cambelt etc.) on the Mito is 5 years on mine and probably is the same on the NA so bare that in mind on an 09 car.
bit of a hodge podge of a post but hey ho!
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