thinking of buying a 00 fiat punto

traceymonkstown

hi,
am looking to buy a second hand car to do me for about a year, maybe more, before i can trade in when i can afford to spend a little more. i have a budget of about €1500 max and my mechanic has just fixed a 00 fiat punto which will be going for about that. he replaced the gear box, the car has just gotten 4 new tyres, its a 16v engine and has 42k miles up on it. i've heard alot of negative things about fiat puntos so am in two minds whether to but it or not! the mechanic says its a nice car and its not him who's selling it so i've no reason to doubt him.
any advice from other mechanics or punto owners???
thanks

Darragh29

traceymonkstown wrote: »

hi,
am looking to buy a second hand car to do me for about a year, maybe more, before i can trade in when i can afford to spend a little more. i have a budget of about €1500 max and my mechanic has just fixed a 00 fiat punto which will be going for about that. he replaced the gear box, the car has just gotten 4 new tyres, its a 16v engine and has 42k miles up on it. i've heard alot of negative things about fiat puntos so am in two minds whether to but it or not! the mechanic says its a nice car and its not him who's selling it so i've no reason to doubt him.
any advice from other mechanics or punto owners???
thanks

Think again, that's my advice. At 42,000 miles, you are due a new clutch. Maybe that's why the gearbox was out, although you have said that the gearbox itself was replaced. Was the clutch replaced when the new gearbox was fitted??? If not, your looking at an imminent clutch replacement costing between 350 Euro and 450 Euro. Before I say anymore, just forget about a Punto, unless your a mechanic. Also, is in NCT'd until at least late 2009??? If not, forget it, in fact, just ignore everything above and just forget about a Punto, even if he puts your 1,500 Euro in the glovebox for you and lets you drive off, still run a mile!

Darragh29

traceymonkstown wrote: »

hi,
am looking to buy a second hand car to do me for about a year, maybe more, before i can trade in when i can afford to spend a little more. i have a budget of about €1500 max and my mechanic has just fixed a 00 fiat punto which will be going for about that. he replaced the gear box, the car has just gotten 4 new tyres, its a 16v engine and has 42k miles up on it. i've heard alot of negative things about fiat puntos so am in two minds whether to but it or not! the mechanic says its a nice car and its not him who's selling it so i've no reason to doubt him.
any advice from other mechanics or punto owners???
thanks

I've had two customers actually crying beside me after buying a Punto and ending up with hundreds of Euro of repair bills, usually down to clutch replacements, head gaskets, gearboxes, etc.

colm_mcm

if it's a 16 valve, it should be a Sporting 3dr or HLX 5dr. no other spec was sold here with a 16v in 00. The 16v is a nice engine, and not as troublesome as the 8 valve. However, you should be looking for signs of:

losing coolant,
bad compression between cylinders resulting in a misfire,
Crunching between 3rd and 2nd, and between 1st and 2nd
rear wiper not working
central locking not locking all the doors
certain keys not starting the engine

check it's actually a 16v. they're quite rare over here

As for clutch trouble, I haven't heard anything major about them.

you'd pick up a 97 Starlet for similar money, I'd also suggest a Fiesta 1.25

traceymonkstown

thanks for the replies guys.
darragh, the car is ncted till mid 2010 which was another selling point for me. as for the clutch i don't know if that was changed along with the gear box but i can ask the mechanic. will definetly be checking around for other cars though, this was just the first one which i thought might have a look in.
colm, its a 5 door so it must be a HLX so, i'm pretty sure it said 16v on the engine when i looked under the bonnet. i'm trying to keep an eye out for a corsa or fiesta too as thats what alot of people are saying to do!

colm_mcm

a HLX Punto will have multi spoke alloy wheels, front fogs (these are actually in the headlight unit, not down low in the bumper) remote locking and a sunroof, if it hasn't the sunroof and alloys, but still has colour coded bumpers and front fogs, chances are it's an ELX and probably 8 valve.

I quite like HLX and Sporting Puntos, as they're very high spec and this goes some way towards making up for the sometimes patchy reliability.

If you want lots of kit for small money, give the Clio a look, they're actually quite reliable and well built, despite being a Renault.

traceymonkstown

yeah it has alloys and a sunroof so it must be a HLX. will keep on looking but still unsure what to do, darragh seemed to be very adament in not giving a punto a look-in and he seems to know his stuff!

colm_mcm

Well, the Punto has quite a bad rep, and I'm generally anti-FIAT. that said I bought a Punto new in 00 and it didn't give any trouble, and I had a few other Italian cars that gave a bit of bother, most of the stuff I sorted myself.
You could be lucky with the car and not have to fix stuff, but at the level of money you're talking, any one major breakdown could cost you most of the purchase price of the car to put right, and that makes very little economical sense.

Darragh29

If you could up your budget a bit ( I know you said 1,500 Euro MAX), you'd have a lot more choice on your hands, particularly with the current market if you could play hardball and walk away from a few forecourts.

colm_mcm

at that level of money, I'd avoid forecourts altogether, you get a much better idea of the type of owner if you buy privately, the seller will also be in a better position to answer questions you have about the cars past.

Redsoxfan

Does the Punto have a rep for bad/poor clutch? 42k seems like low enough mileage for imminent clutch replacement?

Would have thought that driving the car would give you a fair idea of the state of the clutch and gearbox? Or at least driving a few examples to compare...

Fighting Irish

Darragh29 wrote: »

Think again, that's my advice. At 42,000 miles, you are due a new clutch. Maybe that's why the gearbox was out, although you have said that the gearbox itself was replaced. Was the clutch replaced when the new gearbox was fitted??? If not, your looking at an imminent clutch replacement costing between 350 Euro and 450 Euro. Before I say anymore, just forget about a Punto, unless your a mechanic. Also, is in NCT'd until at least late 2009??? If not, forget it, in fact, just ignore everything above and just forget about a Punto, even if he puts your 1,500 Euro in the glovebox for you and lets you drive off, still run a mile!

i had a 98 punto for two years and my bro had it for two years after that, it didn't give us much trouble at all

ottostreet

ive had three puntos. all 00. heres the stories

00 Fiat Punto 8V
Great car. bought from a dealer, didnt give any trouble. had it just over a year, was driven hard, crashed it, and it still drove afterwards

00 Fiat Punto ELX 8V
Bought from a dealer. head gasket went the day i bought it. got it back a month later...drove ok, with random power steering failures, for about two months, then the head gasket went again. possible engine block crack, but replaced and was told it was ok. traded it in, with the power steering gone again. was delighted to be rid of it.

00 Fiat Punto Sporting 16V
Bought privately, with service history. Economic, more solid than the 8V, much better car. Until the engine mountings failed, taking driveshafts with it. Cost over a grand to repair. Have it now, and just doesnt feel solid at all. possibly down to a suspension imbalance or something.

All were around 60,000k when bought. Rubbish cars. stay away from them. If you do get one, get a sporting...the economy is incredible! 45mpg even while driving quickly!

traceymonkstown

thanks again guys, will see what else is around before i make my final decision

kuro_man

A clutch in the a supermini is more dependent on the driver. Lots of crunching by learners age them quickly - I am sure there are loads on polo, starlets and micras with wrecked 40k clutches.

That punto might be fine, might not. I had a 1.2 16v Fiat Brava SX for 3 years, no problems except replaced starting motor. My father-in-law is still driving it.
I think these are better than Punto - all the benefits of a small car but free rev'ing 16v (1999+), 5 doors, large boot and cheaper than a punto. You'd get a really good one for €1000, never mind €1500.

Apart from the usual, get a mechanic to check for:
* timing belt (replace it anyway at next service!)
* electrics (windows, heater & fan, radio, rear window de-mist)
* air-bag light on - means it won't deploy, may need an ECU reset
* blue key and red key (or code card depending on year)

wee bear

hi, i have recently sold a fiat, i got it off a mecnanic who was a friend,and it was in perfect running order but i had loads of problems with it and i only had it a year!!

the exhaust went, had to replace whole thing!!
then the whole steering column went!! (they steering is designed to lock if the wheel is turned to harshly, and apparently the column is known for breaking, mine just kept locking when i was taking left turns which made it very hard for me to stay on my side of the road when i was taking a turn!! not very safe,had to keep pulling over and stopping the car and turing it on again until the whole thing just gave up one day!!, cost for new steering column!!... 1500euro, thank god the mechanic i knew got me a second hand one and did it for me cheaply!!)

drove fine after that but then the clutch started to go!! i got rid of it after that!! three big things to go in a year!!
if your only spending 1500 on the car you might end up paying that or more on repairs if your unlucky (which with a punto you probably will be!!) and u wont be able to sell it off for much money!!
i loved how light and all the extras i got with my little punto, was a great car to learn how to drive in and if oyur lucky its a fine car but unfortunetly most people seem to be very unlucky!! so my advice spend a little bit more on something a bit more reliable, fords or toyotas or something. you could prob get a littel ford fiesta cheap enough or a toyota starlet, if your only looking for a small car!!

biggus

Why does nobody seem to rate safety when buying cheap cars ... i'd much rather my son or daughter in a 00 Punto than a 97 starlet if they had a head on or roll- over crash. Any way the way things are 1500 might get a much fresher car than 00. Small car safety really improved for cars designed after the 90's, well worth considering as much as reliability. For 1500 i'd go all out to get a focus with huge mileage. Focus Saloons are much softer in price than a hatchback.