Sporting Punto 1.4

poker--addict

If I buy this is it going to going to start to rust immediately after i drive it off forecourt? and is the head gasket going to blow the week after?
Have the newer Fiats improved alot -2006 car

kearney13

To me a FIAT will as be Fix It Again Tomorrow but there must have improved them in the last few years.

Stheno

Has it got a full service history that you can verify?

I've had one punto (98 in 2007) ran like the clappers, hg blew was replaced and it was still fine. It was 9 yo in 2007 and the mileage was about 90k miles when the hg blew. Other than that it ran like a dream, passed it's NCT etc. Had it for about two years, bought it without an FSH, needed a cheap car at the time In the two years I had it I put about 30k miles on it.

If it's been well looked after then you shouldn't have any major problems imo. Given it's a 2006 is it being sold with an NCT?

Meant to add the OH's parents have a Punto (03) and a Brava (00) from new and no major issues at all.

They were never that bad, folks had a 1985 Ritmo from 1987 to 1996 and it only broke down once (starter or something I think). It rusted like feck but was very reliable, once the rust got fairly bad it was neglected enough service wise though for the last 2 or 3 years, they were just running it until a big bill came along, in the end they scrapped it in the scrappage scheme. Not a bad yoke to go either.

They needed a bit of loving but are no where near as bad as folks would have you believe.

HGs usually can be a cheap enough fix if they're not cooked, and only a numpty cooks an engine.

Stheno

RoverJames wrote: »

HGs usually can be a cheap enough fix if they're not cooked, and only a numpty cooks an engine.

HG replacement on mine for a 98 model in 2007 was €350 which I thought was reasonable enough. It was the week between Xmas and NY when it went of course!

Stheno

Stheno wrote: »

HG replacement on mine for a 98 model in 2007 was €350 which I thought was reasonable enough. It was the week between Xmas and NY when it went of course!

It's not at all out of the way really, if done properly and root cause sorted its highly unlikely to go again.

Stheno

RoverJames wrote: »

It's not at all out of the way really, if done properly and root cause sorted its highly unlikely to go again.

Yup it lived happily doing a fair whack of mileage (I was commuting from Portlaoise to Belfast at the time) with me for six months, then went on for another year and a half with a family member until they lost the key and were too lazy to replace it!

Great little car tbh, enjoyed driving it.

Ardennes1944

desperately wanted one of these cars but the 16v versions are so hard to come by that people were charging a fortune for them and the 1.2 8v which are in abundance just wasnt for me. still admire them when i see them though, especially in black with the sporting 17's

poker--addict

i havent seen the service hist yet, but it is in a good main dealers with good warranty and fresh NCT.
I'm gueesing its the 8v, because wasnt told its 16. Probably wouldnt know dif myself.

Stheno

poker--addict wrote: »

i havent seen the service hist yet, but it is in a good main dealers with good warranty and fresh NCT.
I'm gueesing its the 8v, because wasnt told its 16. Probably wouldnt know dif myself.

That all sounds pretty positive Check out the service history and good luck if you end up with it

poker--addict

was hoping to go all out this time and get a diesel maybe an OCTAVIA, but my mileage will be fraction of last years so holding off, save up for a head turner. Should be able to maintain some dignity in the sporting...its that or a fiesta or corsa.:rolleyes:

poker--addict

poker--addict wrote: »

was hoping to go all out this time and get a diesel maybe an OCTAVIA,

ya mad thing ya :pac:

shamwari

I'd love one of those 16V's for myself, they are a little flyer! A mate recently got a Stilo 1.4 16V (same engine as the sporting 16V) and it is very quick for such a portly car. The Grande should be even livlier, and still return good MPG.

To distinguish the 8/16v sportings apart at a glance:

The 8v's have a 5 speed box, and the dials are black background

The 16v's have a 6 speed box and the dials are white background.

There's nothing much to worry about on the reliability front either, so look beyond the Fiat stereotype of old and bag yourself a decent motor

sept09baby

I'm on my 5th fiat and (touch wood) none of them have ever given me a day's worry. Never had any breakdowns, electrical problems or hgf.

There are good and bad cars everywhere but as long as you get it checked out and it has been looked after it should be fine.

Speedway

I sold my 2006 1.4 16v sporting last year. Great car I never had a single problem with it in terms of reliability etc. Very comfortable, loads of extras and really good looking car.

It was very cheap to run and would surprise a lot of faster cars off the line. From 2007 on they started to sell them as 5 speed turbo charged 1.4 with 120bhp. The 2006 one i had was the 16v 6 speed normally aspirated version (stock its about 95bhp but I had mine up at around 110bhp).

The one thing I have to say is I had a lot of trouble selling mine. I paid about 12-13k for it and 18 months later garages were offering me 5k for it even though it had low mileage and still had some warranty left.

The problem was a lot of garages didn't care that it was a 16v sporting, they just saw it as a "punto", they didn't care that it was a special sporty version they just saw it as a punto. Most of the time you will end up having to trade it back into a Fiat garage and having to stick with Fiats.