going to look at a fiat punto today anything i need to look for?

wrutless

I owned a Punto Sporting W reg 2000.

Just to let prospective buyers know, I owned the car for 8 months from a NEW MOT and these are the problems I had with it:

Electrics very dodgy. Power steering would only work occasionaly after shutting off the engine and restarting it would be fine.
Electric door mirrors stopped working all of a sudden.
ABS light would flicker even when I was not using the brakes (sensors gone probably)

Sometimes when cruising on the motorway in 6th gear, it would pop out of gear back into neutral.

Exhaust came away from manifold - VERY NOISEY AND SCARY.

Steering wheel vibration.

Immobiliser sometimes would not disengage.

Passenger door wouldn't shut properly.

I could go on and on but I think thats enough.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAUGE.

These days I drive a Toyota MR2 Turbo import. What a car. Reliable, everything works and will annihalte 99% of cars on the road from the lights. Its nearly 16 years old too. Go japanese and you'll never look back.

jeannieblue

wrutless wrote: »

I owned a Punto Sporting W reg 2000.

Just to let prospective buyers know, I owned the car for 8 months from a NEW MOT and these are the problems I had with it:

Electrics very dodgy. Power steering would only work occasionaly after shutting off the engine and restarting it would be fine.
Electric door mirrors stopped working all of a sudden.
ABS light would flicker even when I was not using the brakes (sensors gone probably)

Sometimes when cruising on the motorway in 6th gear, it would pop out of gear back into neutral.

Exhaust came away from manifold - VERY NOISEY AND SCARY.

Steering wheel vibration.

Immobiliser sometimes would not disengage.

Passenger door wouldn't shut properly.

I could go on and on but I think thats enough.

AVOID LIKE THE PLAUGE.

These days I drive a Toyota MR2 Turbo import. What a car. Reliable, everything works and will annihalte 99% of cars on the road from the lights. Its nearly 16 years old too. Go japanese and you'll never look back.

Japs are good - glad you're enjoying your lovely car - i work for a Toyota specialists, so we see plenty. SW20's etc. What revision is it? Colour? - sorry its a female thing! PM if need advice any time.

judderman62

I've had 2 toyotas:

1) Corolla - OK if bland, but a death trap as it had ZERO road holding in the wet

2) Carina - again bland and boring , but - fabulous MPG for size of car/engine, cavernous boot

jeannieblue

judderman62 wrote: »

I've had 2 toyotas:

1) Corolla - OK if bland, but a death trap as it had ZERO road holding in the wet

2) Carina - again bland and boring , but - fabulous MPG for size of car/engine, cavernous boot

Surprised to learn about the road holding on the Corolla - are you sure the tyres weren't a factor?

Re the Carina - we get loads still coming to us! Years old, bland they may be but they seem to go on forever. We've got an old Crown that makes its yearly pilgrimage to us from 30 miles away for its service! Many Camrys too. Although I prefer the modern cars to look at, they're not built as well, very noticeable with the Lexus' - the old ones ooze luxury.

judderman62

jeannieblue wrote: »

Surprised to learn about the road holding on the Corolla - are you sure the tyres weren't a factor?

Re the Carina - we get loads still coming to us! Years old, bland they may be but they seem to go on forever. We've got an old Crown that makes its yearly pilgrimage to us from 30 miles away for its service! Many Camrys too. Although I prefer the modern cars to look at, they're not built as well, very noticeable with the Lexus' - the old ones ooze luxury.

Not sure re the tyres I once lost the Corolla going round a 90 degree bend round a rounded rectangular roundabout like affair - it was wet, I wasn't going very fast at all and I felt it start to go and I tried to straighten it, backed off the gas slightly , without breaking and I just lost it and it crashed into an angled wall type affair.

The carina was certainly solid as a rock ... until someone decided to drive into the back of it as I stopped approaching a roundabout. I did find all the controls a bit chunky n clunky though in the toyotas - they looked like oversized lego bricks - not very attractive.

As you say though very reliable.

bit like Fiat's really :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


sorry - couple of my work colleagues keep saying I'm too sarcastic :o

jeannieblue

judderman62 wrote: »

Not sure re the tyres I once lost the Corolla going round a 90 degree bend round a rounded rectangular roundabout like affair - it was wet, I wasn't going very fast at all and I felt it start to go and I tried to straighten it, backed off the gas slightly , without breaking and I just lost it and it crashed into an angled wall type affair.

The carina was certainly solid as a rock ... until someone decided to drive into the back of it as I stopped approaching a roundabout. I did find all the controls a bit chunky n clunky though in the toyotas - they looked like oversized lego bricks - not very attractive.

As you say though very reliable.

bit like Fiat's really :rolleyes: :rolleyes:


sorry - couple of my work colleagues keep saying I'm too sarcastic :o

I'm surrounded by mechanics all day - so am used to all humour - not finding your 'sarcasm' (I'd call it wit) offensive at all - put a smile on my face.

Say what you like about Toyota's - I drive a Ford. :eek: And very happy with it.

I drool over the new Land cruisers......... I want one, can't afford one, don't need one. I'm not very pc.............:p

gabyjane

manda1205 wrote: »

Id hate to be the buyer of your car then, 2 years and no service, no wonder you think its cheap to run!

Ok that's not strictly true, one of my parents whos child i look after is a mechanic checks over it for me every so often and all is well. Oh and it is cheap to run?..why bother spending £200+ to service it when there is nothing wrong with it?

gabyjane

jeannieblue wrote: »

Gabyjane...........

Bragging about not having it serviced? And you are a childminder? Mind boggles.

May be hard to sell if you have only one key - unless you trade it in.

Why? sorry but when we bought it it had 30k on the clock, it had just had new exhaust, new clutch, new tyres, had full service history, one owner etc etc..i don't drive it that much and wether i'm a childminder or not it doesn't matter as far as im concerned..
the brakes have been checked the tyres have just been re done (but not something to put you off buying one)

anewman

gabyjane wrote: »

Ok that's not strictly true, one of my parents whos child i look after is a mechanic checks over it for me every so often and all is well. Oh and it is cheap to run?..why bother spending £200+ to service it when there is nothing wrong with it?

In 2 years it needs more than that. What about oil changes for a start? Low mileage is no excuse for no oil and filter change as short journeys increase the need for an oil change due to moisture build-up in the engine. It should have had the oil and filter changed twice in two years. You also need the air filter changed every year so should have been changed twice.

Also brake fluid. Brake fluid absorbs moisture over time which can decrease braking efficiency under heavy braking. This is often changed every 2 years.

Your car will also have a fuel filter, and schedules for these vary greatly, but I would say in two years you would probably have needed another one.

Coolant fluid needs changing every-so-often to prevent your radiators rusting, and also to help prevent your head gasket deteriorating.

Also cam belts, these degrade over the years. These can cost alot to replace, but if left to their own devices will snap which will cost a lot more money to put right. It's up to you to check the change interval on that and know when it was last changed. There are many posts in this forum of people failing to get belts changed or didn't know you had to get belts changed, they snapped, and they're on here wondering why it costs £1000 to get repaired.

£200 for a service is to keep the car in good condition - if you're not getting it serviced and waiting for faults, without being serviced a fault is going to come along sometime and it probably won't be cheap to repair - and all for the sake of saving £200. You can shop around for a service too remember. Compared to the cost of insurance and road tax £200 is nothing - it is one of the costs of car ownership - and I fear not getting it serviced will come and bite you on the bum hard when you least expect it.

Also your car will be more fuel efficient with a full service and save you money on petrol.


A car with regular oil changes


Non regular oil change in same type of engine

zeon999

Well explained mate, yeah services are not ment to be done only when there is something wrong but to give the car needed genral maintainence and to check for faults.

If that guy you know is checking over it for you just get him to change the filters, fluids and change the oil for you for you at the same time and jobs a gooden.