Looking at 00 Punto - what to look out for?

deadlast

The missus has her eye on a 00 Punto 1.2 and just wondering is there anything specific to look out for with these?

Oh and have they a belt or chain?

Thanks

El Guapo!

<awaits angry mob> <gets popcorn>

deadlast

Dean09 wrote: »

<awaits angry mob> <gets popcorn>

awaits helpful advice....gets beer.

Plug

deadlast wrote: »

awaits helpful advice....gets beer.

Give it a month and you'll be doing that;)
Fiesta all the way!

NUTZZ

Everybody is a comedian these days.....only not funny....:mad:

deadlast

Plug wrote: »

Give it a month and you'll be doing that;)
Fiesta all the way!

Thats actually the car she was looking at, do you think it'll pass the nct?

El Guapo!

NUTZZ wrote: »

Everybody is a comedian these days.....only not funny....:mad:

I found it funny. Well done on a very funny post Plug. *tips hat

Jarren

HONEST JOHN seems to be giving a honest review

http://www.honestjohn.co.uk/carbycar/fiat/punto-1999/

Max_Damage

Head gaskets.

MrThrifty

You sure you have the year right? I didn't think Puntos lived past 5 years!! But being serious, I have only ever heard really bad stuff about them (head gaskets going after ~5 years, etc, etc). They might be cheaper but you get what you pay for, or less in this case!

Plug

deadlast wrote: »

Thats actually the car she was looking at, do you think it'll pass the nct?

On a series note, don't buy one. They are only trouble. Heat gaskets galore. etc.
I promise you if ye buy one you'll say 'jesus I should have listened to plug!':D

deadlast

Plug wrote: »

On a series note, don't buy one. They are only trouble. Heat gaskets galore. etc.
I promise you if ye buy one you'll say 'jesus I should have listened to plug!':D

Umm, head gasket was done 1k ago on this particular one.

I love browsing for cars, but not when you have this budget!

Jarren

what your budget OP ?

Plug

deadlast wrote: »

Umm, head gasket was done 1k ago on this particular one.

I love browsing for cars, but not when you have this budget!

Here

Here

Here

Here



Please tell us your budget and we will get a better car for you.

deadlast

jarecki1976 wrote: »

what your budget OP ?

approx 1k, car is for female on learners permit and no NCB...

Timmaay

Simple as is if you are ok with doing work yourself or have a good cheap mechanic to do the tougher work for you and you are ok going to the scrapyard and sourcing cheap parts for them, then because they are so cheap, yes, you can get away with cheap motoring with a Fiat.

However if you are the sort of person who has to call the mechanic every time anything breaks in the car, then the repair cost will quickly add up, and easily can cost more then the value of the car, in that case stay away, go with likes of a micra/yaris/civic/fiesta.

Ricardo G

Have had 3 of these in the last 10 years and i must say they're one of the best little cars i ever owned, cheap to buy, cheap to maintain (even the headgaskets) and cheap to run. I can't understand all the negative comments and i suspect most who make them have never had one !! If they are such a bad car why are there so many on the rd??? Some people cant afford Toyota corolla's and honda civic's. UP THE PUNTO:D

Plug

deadlast wrote: »

approx 1k, car is for female on learners permit and no NCB...

Just bargain down this guy, if ye can't its only €100 more. Its a ghia too, so she'll get a few more extra's. Best of all the NCT is 9/12 and its a very reliable little car.

http://www.carzone.ie/search/Ford/Fiesta/NCT-09-1/201104201022633/advert?channel=CARS

MrThrifty

Deadlast - I think you should listen to the advice here... Don't think I'd buy a car that had had the head gasket replaced! To me, it's like buying a house that had serious subsidence problems but now they've been 'dealt with'. By the way, it's funny but your username and choice of car seem to go hand in hand (I'm not trying to be offensive here!)...

Timmaay

Ricardo G wrote: »

Have had 3 of these in the last 10 years and i must say they're one of the best little cars i ever owned, cheap to buy, cheap to maintain (even the headgaskets) and cheap to run. I can't understand all the negative comments and i suspect most who make them have never had one !! If they are such a bad car why are there so many on the rd??? Some people cant afford Toyota corolla's and honda civic's. UP THE PUNTO:D

Thing is a modern car should get 200kmiles before it needs a head gasket done, and the problem is many people dont spot that the head gasket is on its way out, and drive the car when its low on coolant and end up warping the head, and you are into big money then.

For an 11 year old car, the extra 500quid you will have to pay for a corolla/civic will be well worth it if you end up having to spend 500 in repairs on the fiat. I havn't owned a fiat myself, but have gone through the headache of a rover with HG problems, and its just not worth the cost and hassle, I would rather have reliable motoring, especially for my 1st car!


Edit: actually no I have owned a fiat!!! My local garage had an old fiat uno years ago that they had taken in as a trade in, head gasket was blown!!, they wanted to get rid of it and gave it to me for nothing!

Ricardo G

I understand what your saying but to be quite honest you can buy a good 01 punto with tax and test for as little as 800 quid (heads, belts etc all done) and more than likely get a good 2 years driving without a bother. Now go for a 01 corolla/civic and you spend from 1500 to 2500.....thats a lot of bucks for a runaround regardless of how good the car is !! If the Op knows what there looking at when buying a Punto i would have no reason to believe it will be any more unreliable than a Jap car or similar

Timmaay

Yeh, I'll take your point, mileage, NCT and how well the car is serviced makes a big big difference, and as good as the japs tend to be, there are lots of wrecked civics and and corollas out there which will give you lots of grief.

shamwari

Ok, I can speak with some experience on these cars because I've had one now for nearly four years and it has been very reliable indeed. And mines a 00 too. Other members of my family have also owned Punto's and again there are no horror stories to report - all down to the fact that yours truly maintains them!

There are a few things that do go wrong with them and I've listed the absolute worst below.

Head gaskets do blow on them, but chances are that on a 00 car the head gasket has already been long since done.

The power steering motors do give up the ghost too. They are very expensive from Fiat, but its possible to get a recon online or get one from a scrappy. Replacement is a DIY job and takes just under half an hour. If you are sourcing one from a scrappy, try and get one from a 03 car onwards as Fiat modified the motors internals and that vintage onwards is more reliable.

Another problem with these are misfires caused by wrong spark plugs or plug leads. Misfitting the wrong ones loads the ignition coils and can cause them to break down internally with the engine lapsing on to two cylinders. The arcing inside the coils can blow the ECU. I fitted new genuine plugs and leads to my car when I bought it (as a precaution) and I haven't had to touch it since.

The linkage on the wiper motor can wear prematurely on the drivers side resulting the the drivers side wiper failing. Replacement linkages can be purchased on line and fitted in a few minutes. Again an easy DIY repair.

The odd release bearing can give trouble in the gearbox. As clutches go, you won't get easy to swap and I've replaced a few with box in and out in around 90 minutes.

In my opinion, a Punto in good nick at the right money is worth a "punt" (pardon the pun!). I only bought mine as a stop gap motor and that was almost four years ago. It has run so well that I haven't considered selling it once. Consumables aside, I've only replaced the PAS motor which was blown when I got it, and stuck new linkages on the wipers when the started juddering. The car has never broken down and always starts first time. It uses no oil or coolant, drives very well, is quite nippy, and returns around 45mpg.

Another plus with these cars is that they are actually quite easy to service. All components are easily accessible under the bonnet and there's no need for any bespoke tools. The timing belt too can be swapped quickly and is one of the easiest to replace. The engine too is a non-interference one, which means that a broken belt will not result in bent valves. Diagnostic prospects using suitable scan-tools is excellent and the set up on these is straightforward with no hidden nasties.

Some Fiat's were atrociously bad and well earned their poor reputation. In the case of my experience with the my Punto and those of my siblings over several years, they have been very reliable and well worth the money spent on them.

zilog_jones

I think the majority of the horror stories are from the Mk. 1 Puntos, the Mk. 2 (1999-2006) was a lot better. AFAIK only the 8-valve engines suffer from head gasket failures, so look for the 1.2 (80 bhp) or 1.4 16V instead.

delly

OP, I have an '02 Punto and is a HLX version. This is also a 1.2 but the 16v which doesn't suffer from the same head gasket problems that are almost guaranteed with the 8v engine. Its been a very reliable car and i'll be sorry too see it go when I eventuality do sell it as i'm on the hunt for an automatic at the moment.

Its not to say that the Punto's bad rep is entirely unfounded, but be wary of people who say there terrible while not having first hand experience of owning one.

Ardennes1944

had a 8v mk2 punto which i bought from my brother. the head gasket went twice in 3years on him because basically he drove it hard from cold and never looked after it. i then had it for nearly 2years and covered twice as many miles as him and never had a problem. had much more problems with my 04 astra thb and as you can see here http://boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056166195 i am tempted to buy another punto 4months after buying the astra look after it and leave it warm up before driving hard and it'l run sweet, theres feck all to go wrong with them anyway and parts are ridiculously cheap!

taintabird

Fix It Again Tomorrow

CabanasBoy

deadlast wrote: »

Umm, head gasket was done 1k ago on this particular one.

Doesn't mean diddly squat, we had 3 Puntos (Punti?) at one stage, a '98 mk1 and two '00 mk 2's, all had the 1.2 motor although one of the '00s was a 16valve. 2 of the Puntos were incredibly reliable (fall over with shock) but the the standard 8valve '00 one was a pig! hateful, hateful car, we almost rejected it on the day we collected it and by God we should have. It went tru head gaskets like normal cars go tru oil filters. All 3 cars were bought brand new from main dealers so there was no question of dodgy histories on any of them. Unless you're getting the car for practically free I'd be very very wary.

Ricardo G

taintabird wrote: »

Fix It Again Tomorrow

Thats brilliant !!! would you believe i never heard that one before :rolleyes: oh lord shoot me

taintabird

Ricardo G wrote: »

Thats brilliant !!! would you believe i never heard that one before :rolleyes: oh lord shoot me

Well I fixed it all ready today:D

My dad has a 2000 Mk2 Punto HLX. He's had it for 7 years and it hardly gave him any trouble. The only real problems were during the very cold weather, the engine management light was coming on and activating the fan even though the thermostat was nowhere near half way.

johnos1984

A very good little car.

My mate completed circa 150k miles in an 8v one with no HGF. He just looked after it well and serviced it on the button.

Scrappage got it in the end

ottostreet

I've had three 2000 Puntos

one 8v
one 8v ELX
and a 1.2 16v Sporting.

The 16v is the engine to go for, and I have to admit, i loved my Puntos...I'm more than likely getting a Sporting as a runaround

MastiffMrs

I've a 2001 hlx punto and its a great little car,cheap tax,insurance,cheap to run and once serviced regularly you'll never have issues with it.does over 45mpg every day and that's me throwing it around! Found it way more reliable than an old Honda I had which had terrible electric issues. Currently own 3 fiats so hate all the Irish mentality towards the brand.try something your daddy hasn't driven!

shamwari

MastiffMrs wrote: »

Currently own 3 fiats so hate all the Irish mentality towards the brand.try something your daddy hasn't driven!

Agree entirely that it's hard to change some peoples perceptions. I mean, if past performances were anything to go by, nobody would touch a Skoda, so I suppose this proves that peoples attitudes are amenable to change. With a good Fiat, a savvy buyer can look beyond the stereotype and grab themselves a genuine bargain.

Also to clarify something I said in my previous post here, the 1.2 8v's are a non-interference engine (broken timing belt won't mash the valves), but the 16v's are interference.

DamienOB

I had a 98 punto for my first year of driving....

Only problem i had was overheating of radiator and the rear wiper arm... Great to learn to drive in, but my advice for anyone now is not to keep it longer than 6 months. Buy a cheap €400 one, therefore your not afraid of it bumping etc. Then sell it on for €200 or whtever you can and get a good car then

Just my opinion

Mr Benevolent

Get a diesel one.

Zubeneschamali

Plug wrote: »

Here

Here

Here

Here

Four links I can't access?

golfbgud

Wonder how many of the head gasket issues would have been avoided if the cars had proper temp gauges fitted? .......

Mate of mine is plagued with reliability issues including head gasket failure.......

shamwari

golfbgud wrote: »

Wonder how many of the head gasket issues would have been avoided if the cars had proper temp gauges fitted? .......

Mate of mine is plagued with reliability issues including head gasket failure.......

All punto's have a temp gauge, and were pre-disposed to head gasket failure. Once properly replaced and looked after, it's unlikely to fail again.

Some small Peugeot and Citroens have no temp gauges fitted, only warning lights to say that car has heated. Such cars could well need a head gasked by the time the light has come on!!

Max_Damage

shamwari wrote: »

All punto's have a temp gauge, and were pre-disposed to head gasket failure. Once properly replaced and looked after, it's unlikely to fail again.

Some small Peugeot and Citroens have no temp gauges fitted, only warning lights to say that car has heated. Such cars could well need a head gasked by the time the light has come on!!

And by that time the head is well and truly warped.

Keep a close eye on 'mayonnaise' on the rad cap.