which spec is this

irish_bob

hi there
i have a quick question
my sister bought herself a fiat punto this past week , its an elegance , is that the bog standard model , the one in the middle or the top

cheers

ps

do puntos give gearbox trouble , i took it for a drive myself and its not the sweetest gear change ive ever seen

CharlieCroker

gearbox tends to be notchy enough on tham at the best of times.
Elegance is a high spec model.
AFAIK, alloys, air-con on some, foglights, electrics, stuff like that.

Bluefoam

I have found the gearbox fine on them. Depends on how the previous driver treated it...

bazz26

Elegance was the higher spec model Punto. It had creature comforts like colour coded bumpers alloy wheels, electric front windows and a 6 speed gearbox afaik.

Main known issues with the Punto are head gasket failure on the 1.2 litre 8 valve engine and electric power steering problems.

irish_bob

thanks for the replies

the car does indeed have alloy wheels , body coloured bumpers and front electric windows , it doesnt have air con however , cost her 1500 euro for a 2002 with 56 k miles on clock and NCT untill january

Zonda999

bazz26 wrote: »

electric power steering problems.

I wouldn't recommend messing with that "city" near the air vents because of that known issue!

irish_bob

Zonda999 wrote: »

I wouldn't recommend messing with that "city" near the air vents because of that known issue!

what does that city button do

W.Shakes-Beer

irish_bob wrote: »

what does that city button do

basically makes the steering really loose and easy to manouver.

bit dodgy to have it on at high speeds i'd imagine.

Graham_B18C

W.Shakes-Beer wrote: »

basically makes the steering really loose and easy to manouver.

bit dodgy to have it on at high speeds i'd imagine.

I found if it was on and I was going at high speeds, the steering was just normal, if i was going really slow then it was dead light. Never felt the need to use it though. Steerin was always grand and light on it!

The girlfriend loved using it though. About the 6 speed 'box, I think that was only on the Sporting and maybe HLX. Could be wrong but wern't they the ones with the 16v engine?

irish_bob

Grahamo999 wrote: »

I found if it was on and I was going at high speeds, the steering was just normal, if i was going really slow then it was dead light. Never felt the need to use it though. Steerin was always grand and light on it!

The girlfriend loved using it though. About the 6 speed 'box, I think that was only on the Sporting and maybe HLX. Could be wrong but wern't they the ones with the 16v engine?

this elegance model is a 5 speed only , i drove it again today and its a very comfortable ride , never owned a fiat myself but whenever ive driven them , ive liked them

dudara

Had a punto for over 2 years - absolutely great around town - light steering and easy to manouver (even without the girly button).

Obviously, not so great on motorways etc. Big tendancy to wobble in wind or when something larger went by.

The major trouble spot is the head gasket. Never noticed anything funky with the gearbox.

Zonda999

Grahamo999 wrote: »

Could be wrong but wern't they the ones with the 16v engine?

I think so. Was driving a stilo once and it had the 80bhp 1.2 16v engine. It had a 6-speed 'box! Imagine it would be the same scenario in the punto.

L1011

If you have the City button on, it turns itself off (the function not the button) above a certain speed so it doesn't affect steering at high speeds.

If you have it on for prolonged periods of time at very low speeds the entire PAS unit turns off to prevent overheating.

Basically, only use it when parking in tight spaces.

Standard 5 speed gearbox isn't really known to give issues, its not as nice as the one they use on smaller cars (with the lift head for reverse) though. Head gasket is really only a problem on 1.2 8v models, which I'd assume you have...

delly

Thought i'd poke my head in here and say I've just bought the HLX model and it does have A/C, whereas the ELX doesn't.

smash

My other half has had 3 puntos.

1st car: windscreen motor went
2nd car: head gasket went
3rd car: gearbox went

In my experience, they're rubbish cars! - And that's coming from an Alfa owner...

Graham_B18C

steve06 wrote: »

My other half has had 3 puntos.

1st car: windscreen motor went
2nd car: head gasket went
3rd car: gearbox went

In my experience, they're rubbish cars! - And that's coming from an Alfa owner...

I had one and had to replace the engine!

delly

Having done a bit of research before I bought my Punto, they can be very hit and miss. They have known issues such as the PS motor, wipers linkage and the head gasket on the 8v models. If buying second hand, you really need to get one that has had a good service history.

colm_mcm

On the Puntos you had a few dfferent specs,

When they were launched in 1999, there were essentially 6 specs in the 1.2.

3dr had Base, ELX, and Sporting
5dr had Base ELX and HLX.

Base spec had black bumpers, no central locking, windey windows, and black plastic headrests that had a big hole in the middle.

ELX added electric windows, front foglights, coloured bumpers, central locking, nicer seats with proper headrests all round

Sporting had the 16 valve engine with a 6 speed box, subwoofer, side skirts, passenger airbag, sunroof, leather sports wheel,

HLX added remote locking, passenger airbag, ABS, electric sunroof, alloys, nicer seats and the 16 valve engine but with the 5 speed box.

Then around late 2001 they introduced an Elegance model, based on the base, it had most of what the ELX got (seats were from the base model though) some of these got alloys, but these weren't standard.
In 2002, they changed the names around again,

There was also an Active Special series model that was like an Elegance with alloys, but also got a sunroof....
The Elegance model in late 02 was similar to an original ELX model but with alloys..

Then with the facelift in mid 03, it got a whole load more confusing, they had Active, Active Sound, Dynamic, and all sorts of other models that made no sense at all. They all got standard colour coded bumpers for the facelift (except the vans)



So in answer to your questions:
1) it's a pretty run of the mill model
2) the syncromesh on 1st and 2nd, and 2nd and 3rd goes quite easily, if you hear a little gringing noise on downshifts, or on upshifts when you're driving hard, then it's on the way out.