98 Punto?

pwee

Hi im new so hello everbody!
Stats:
25 year old male on provisional, no ncb or driving experience.

Is the fiat punto that bad? ie reliability etc. I have heard about a lot of probs with the head gasket. i saw a 98 one with 57k miles for 1800 euro, it looks decent. It would suit as i got a quote of 1052 euro for tpft on it.

Surely it cant be dat bad can it?

Any comments would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

ianbrennan2000

terrible terrible terrible i had one back in 97/98 the trouble i had with it. do not touch one of these

bad clutches
bad gearbox
and oh yeah my head gasket went at only 45000 miles

parts are cheap enough but unless you have a lot of time to fix it stay well clear.

In my opinion look at toyota starlets or ford fiesta if your looking for cheap insurance they are also far more reliable cars.

hope this helps

Esel

I have never heard a good word about Fiats. AFAIK, the only people who buy new Fiats are people who have a Fiat to trade in, because no other dealer will look at them.

Mailman

I had no trouble with my '98 Punto.
My sister's '98 was reliable too.
An early Punto from '94, 95 wouldn't be as well screwed together as a '98 and the new model from '99 on wouldn't be as reliable either.
The last of the phase 1 Puntos are the ones to go for.

Make sure you get the burgandy key - it's a lot of car for 1800 euro and you should be able to knock a couple of hundred off the price what with the bad rep that others are giving the car here and elsewhere.
Very cheap on fuel too - I was consistently able to get over 42mpg out of the car, 45mpg most of the time.

johnnyrotten

I know plenty of people who had Fiat Puntos with no bother. I know a fella with a 05 E class Merc that has had MAJOR problems.

colincarnate

I bought a 98 sx punto last june, had to replace the rocker gasket immediately, that was it though, cost 60 euros, never had a problem with it since.
cheap on petrol etc

heard though that older fiat(and even ones around 98-ish) have terrible clutches/gearboxes, although mines good i have to say.

would always recommend anyone first buying a car to go for 1.6 engines - very little difference in insurance i think - well that's me anyway

HungryJoey

My mam use to like to drive the ould' punto's. She had a 99, in which the gasket and MANY exngine problems arose inclluding over heating, electric problems, It really was a wreck. and she had one in 03 for a short while until that went on her aswel ( gasket ) and few other bits n' bobs.

Id recomend staying away from that punto, Just get a corsa or something... Should hold out that little bit longer, but that 98 punto id' say there's very little left in it of what is already there

Hj

Spitfire666

if your looking to just get a small cheap run about car go for something like a corsa, 106, saxo, fiesta but dont limit yourself to a small engined car for insurence fears. as colin said from 1L to 1.5L and some 1.6's are more or less the same on insurence. my first car is a 1.4 pug 206 and it was the same to insure as a 1L micra or corsa.

Justy stay away from puntos as they are made from painted rust and crisp packets and the mechanicles give awful trouble. i have known of the odd good one but they are few and far between.

colincarnate

Don't forget Chinese newspapers, did you know Chung Kao Ping died.

Glad someone agrees with me about getting a fairly good sized engine on first car.

Think that people advised me to stay at 1.2 size on my first car was because they were jealous that they're only making their way up to 1.6 and beyond after 5+ or so years of driving - well they screwed me

Mailman

Spitfire666 wrote:

Justy stay away from puntos as they are made from painted rust and crisp packets

Puntos have a galvanised body . Rust isn't a fault with this car. What was I saying about people giving them an undeserved bad name?

alias no.9

Like any second hand car, check it out properly before you buy, if you don't know what you're looking at, get somebody who does. Things to look out for on a Punto are head gasket failure (check for white gum under the oil cap and in the coolant header tank), that all the electrics are working and that there's no knocking coming from the rear suspension going over bumps. Walk away from head gasket failures or electrical problems at that price, the knocking from the suspension just requires new bushings, it used be a case that you needed new suspension arms but the parts suppliers wised up to the market for replacement bushings and these are cheap now, so just push the seller on price.

Despite what some people here will tell you, there's no reason why this couldn't be a perfectly good motor but people on a message boards can't tell you if it is or not, the only way to find out is to go and have a look. If it doesn't look or feel right, it probably isn't, so walk away. The market is full of punto's from the late 1990's, plenty of choice so don't forget to bargain hard on price.

Spitfire666

Ok Ok so they are a bit better then painted rust but i was just stressing a point. the bodies are made from old cars that have been recycled and thats a good thing for the enviroment .
They are notoriously bad cars though and dont forget i did say that there are some good ones but the are outnumberd by the bad and nobody can deny that. I know of one Uno turbo thats still going strong and is spotless but like i said its a one off.

colincarnate

Notoriously is a harsh word, my dad has had an uno then 2 consecutive puntos, then i've had mine seperately, all with no major defects at all, just normal stuff every car gets.
My father now, has had bad experiences with VWs and is an avid reviler of VWs so i guess it all goes round n' round

alias no.9

Spitfire666 wrote:

the bodies are made from old cars that have been recycled and thats a good thing for the enviroment .

I doubt you'd find any manufacturer using 100% virgin steel for their cars, in fact, I'd hazard a guess that it would be next to impossible to buy 100% virgin steel at a reasonable price anywhere. You're talking bollix with respect to the steel used in puntos, based simply on the fact that back in the 1970's and 1980's, fiat's tended to rust badly, just like toyotas, nissans, fords, etc, etc, etc... Punto's are not without problems, but the quality of the steel isn't one of them.

pwee

Thanks for all da replys lads, much appreciated. As for insurance i have been getting high quotes for 1600cc so going stick with 1200cc or so, i wll shop around first though.

Trotter

My 98 Punto (1.2 ELX 16v) hasnt given me any trouble. Ive had it two years and it only cost me 2500!

AlanD

What a god awful car. Underpowered, spongy ride, miserable inside.

There's so much better out there for the money!

Mailman

Trotter wrote:

My 98 Punto (1.2 ELX 16v) hasnt given me any trouble. Ive had it two years and it only cost me 2500!

That 16V ELX is the best of the bunch - loads of extras, 85bhp in a light body and great fuel enconomy. Prettiest too as all the exterior fittings are body coloured.

Trotter

Mailman wrote:

That 16V ELX is the best of the bunch - loads of extras, 85bhp in a light body and great fuel enconomy. Prettiest too as all the exterior fittings are body coloured.

Yep.. thats the fella. Radio controls on the steering wheel, electric sunroof, and well comfy for nipping to the shop or driving 100 miles. The mechanic told me that the engines in the 16v 85bhp models were built separately and were far more reliable.

Stevo11

Go for it... nippy, cheap and easy to fix if something goes wrong. My sister has had hers for 3 or 4 years, I replaced the clutch on it not so long ago, piece of pish to do! Other sisters B/F has one too... haven't heard him complain about it either...