Fiat Punto

Loopy_Girl

As some amy recall I threaded before about advice/comments on a second hand car purchase and received great feedback which was much apprec:j

Still on the lookout and have seen what I think is a good deal on a 5 door Fiat Punto (haven't viewed, only seen ad).

It's a car I'm not familiar wih so am wondering if anyone has any comments - good or bad!!!

It's the old shape one as it's a 2001 but certainly ticks all the boxes (for me anyway) and has a 12 month MOT.

Am trying to get as much knowledge as I can as AA want £186.00 for an inspection!!:eek: I know some people will say it's money well spent should anything be wrong etc but when your budget is only 1K it's alot of money...imagine if I had to do 2 or 3!!

Auto Trader have good 'look out lists' which I have printed off and will take to any viewings I go to.

Again, much thanks in advance

flutterbyuk25

I have a Punto and love mine, lots of people slag them off though! I'm not a car bod so can't tell you much details sorry.

Mine is a 51 plate, 3 door, 1.2CC. I've had it for 7 years and I am 2nd owner.

The only problems I've had in this time are a recurring issue with the ECU unit (computer thing in the engine - told you I'm not very technical!) but this was always fixed by Fiat for free as it was something that my particular car had a recall for. It went funny once a year or so - engine misfired, no other symptoms and was fixed on the day whenever I took it in. 2 other issues I've had are the windscreen wiper motor breaking and the handbrake cable snapping, but these were wear and tear rather than faults.

HTH

x

ankspon

We had a punto,every few months the bushes needed changing/repairing.The cv joints didn't last,i would steer clear.

Hintza

You would be better getting the Panda over the Punto. There are man things that tend to wrong on the Punto whilst the Panda is well made in Poland.

http://www.topgear.com/uk/fiat/panda

custardy

davidhwdn wrote: »

We had a punto,every few months the bushes needed changing/repairing.The cv joints didn't last,i would steer clear.

every few months?c'mon

artchick

I have a punto and the head blew for the second time this weekend!!!!!

Only had it fixed a year ago and have since found out this is a common problem with punto's. Up until then the car was great, lovely to drive and easy to park.

Mine is an 02 plate and worked well for 7 years but then everything went wrong. After the head blew, the suspension went, goes through brake pads and discs like crazy, the engine management light keeps coming on - sick of getting it fixed now and looking at another £400 bill to get the car on the road again.

I'm seriously contemplating the scrap yard for it. :mad:

gingerdad

We had a 52 punto from 2005 till earlier this year only had one issue in the 5 years we had it which was the head gasket, other than that a great little car, would happily have another one.

next door neighbours son has a 51 one and had it for about 18 months no problems with it other than the usually 18 y/o driver..lol

Inactive

Hintza wrote: »

You would be better getting the Panda over the Punto. There are man things that tend to wrong on the Punto whilst the Panda is well made in Poland.

Good advice, if you really must buy a Fiat ..;)

Not too sure that a grand is going to buy a Panda.

jd82

Some of the earlier Puntos did have a habbit of blowing their head gaskets if the coolent wasn't changed often enough or it was allowed to overheat.

If it blows a second time it is probably not the cars fault but the fact the job wasn't done properly in the first place the original cause wasn't fixed.

I would also choose a Panda over the Punto. I've only had mine for six months and it is only on 1500 odd miles but so far nothing in the slightest has gone wrong with it and it takes the city abuse very well.

It just feels like a very well built car for the money. The problem with the Punto is there are good ones and they are bad ones, none of them seemed to come out of the factory equal. I would also be worried about buying one at around £1k if it has an electronic power steering system, they are expensive to replace.

jaydeeuk1

custardy wrote: »

every few months?c'mon

I take it you've never owned a fiat? My old tipo went through 5(!) rear exhaust boxes in the 2 and a bit years I owned it. Engine kept shaking it apart. Luckily all under warranty.

And engine mounts kept crumbling, which caused the exhaust problem.

custardy

jaydeeuk1 wrote: »

I take it you've never owned a fiat? My old tipo went through 5(!) rear exhaust boxes in the 2 and a bit years I owned it. Engine kept shaking it apart. Luckily all under warranty.

And engine mounts kept crumbling, which caused the exhaust problem.

so there was a fault with the mounts.nothing to do with the exhaust
the post i quoted to referred to changing bushes every few months on a Punto
yes the puntos had an issue on the rear bearings.which required an overhaul kit which would last years
ive owned many marques including Fiats