Fix It Again Tomorrow

DaniB · 18-08-2011 3:47pm #1

Hi,

I am looking to buy a car, Im not bothered really what it looks like once it is small and its a 5 door so the type of cars I'd be looking up would be for example, fiat Punto's, Yaris, Peugeot 206, Clio, Corsa's. My budget is around €1500. All im looking for is a car that will last me about 2 years until the test is up. I have been looking up on Done Deal and there seems to be a lot of clean looking Punto's for sale at reasonable prices, I dont mind the look of them but my partner will not have it. He used to work in the motor trade and hears in his work the whole time about colleagues constantly having repairs to do on Fiats hence the the Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Can anyone tell me is this just silly banter or would it be reasonable enough to say these cars arent worth taking the chance?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a mil.

psycho-hope · 18-08-2011 3:50pm

DaniB wrote: »

Hi,

I am looking to buy a car, Im not bothered really what it looks like once it is small and its a 5 door so the type of cars I'd be looking up would be for example, fiat Punto's, Yaris, Peugeot 206, Clio, Corsa's. My budget is around €1500. All im looking for is a car that will last me about 2 years until the test is up. I have been looking up on Done Deal and there seems to be a lot of clean looking Punto's for sale at reasonable prices, I dont mind the look of them but my partner will not have it. He used to work in the motor trade and hears in his work the whole time about colleagues constantly having repairs to do on Fiats hence the the Fix It Again Tomorrow.

Can anyone tell me is this just silly banter or would it be reasonable enough to say these cars arent worth taking the chance?

Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks a mil.

i had a punto for 18 months it was an 00, 1.2 never had to spend more then the servicing fees on it and get a hose that ran from a water pump to the engine replaced, aslong as it was looked after I would get another one tomorrow, my mechanic says the only reason they have such a bad rep is the late 99-01 ones with the old head gasket and in his words, "idiots who never service the f***ing things".

Tea 1000 · 18-08-2011 4:32pm

They're fine, however tend to be owned by plebs who never spend a penny on them, so I'd say 80% or more of them are in poor condition.
Any Fiat that's looked after is fine, their engines are usually better than the competition. They've had their complete dog's of engines and cars, but what company hasn't? Their interiors will probaby start to squeak and rattle sooner than a Jap or German car, but then you pay less too.
I'd say that you could get a 00 or 01 1.2 Bravo for around that money, and if you get a well minded one it'll last you years. That 16v engine is great.

dgt · 18-08-2011 4:34pm

That reputation is nonsense. It depends on the car you get. Most are shagged beyond belief due to the "Oh its a Fiat, it will break down" attitude and they generally drive them till they die on the side of the road.

Pick a good one that was looked after, pref-ably one that hasn't had a hg change and stick 2 fingers to everyone when it just keeps going

Ardennes1944 · 18-08-2011 4:43pm

my 01 mk2 8v punto was a great car. my brother owned it before me and drove it hard from cold all the time and therefore it suffered 2 hg failures, i then owned it for another 16months and never had any hassle at all. a great car, not a bad interior and nippy enough. it irks me greatly when i hear people bad mouthing them as i know most of them never look after their cars anyway.

fryup · 18-08-2011 4:58pm

peugeot 306 getting on now a bit but still look and drive great

colm_mcm · 18-08-2011 5:04pm

Personally I'd get a starlet, yeah it won't be as new or well equipped but they're very well built, and with your budget or even 1k you'll get a well minded example which is highly unlikely to throw up problems

I'm not against puntos,.I bought one brand new when the mk2 was launched.
But for a 10-ish year old car with so many unknowns and with an obviously low budget now and going forward its not worth the risk.

Starlet: boring but more likely to have been minded, less likely to give problems in the first place and easier to sell afterwards

CiniO · 18-08-2011 9:46pm

3.5 years ago I got 01 fiat bravo 1.2 16v with 85k mls on it.
It was bought in spotless condition with full service history.

Over that 3.5 years it has done over 50k kms, and didn't have a single problem.
Obviously I kept servicing it regularly. Changes timing belt on time. Got new brake pads and shoes. New set of shocks, etc.

analfabets · 18-08-2011 10:32pm

I have had 7 of them at this stage. Most of them I bought had failed head gaskets, only because of poor maintenance. Couple of them where ruined by bad mechanics when they didn't bleed cooling system after water pump change. Having seen all the abuse they are getting, I have to admit that they are great little motors. Also love working on them as they are so simple.

challengemaster · 18-08-2011 10:45pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Personally I'd get a starlet, yeah it won't be as new or well equipped but they're very well built, and with your budget or even 1k you'll get a well minded example which is highly unlikely to throw up problems

I'm not against puntos,.I bought one brand new when the mk2 was launched.
But for a 10-ish year old car with so many unknowns and with an obviously low budget now and going forward its not worth the risk.

Starlet: boring but more likely to have been minded, less likely to give problems in the first place and easier to sell afterwards

Starlet is probably more likely to have a higher insurance risk associated with it, and i'd say it's a tin can if you ever crashed tbh....

colm_mcm · 18-08-2011 10:59pm

Punto has 4 star ncap alright.

I'd sooner have something other than the punto though. It definitely has its strengths in that the engines are very refined, they're big inside etc
But the op is looking for no fuss driving for 2 years. In my experience a punto is unlikely to do 2 years without ****ting itself in some way.

cena · 18-08-2011 11:00pm

I'v had my 02 punto for 4yrs now. Love it. really nippy. Hg only gone once

challengemaster · 18-08-2011 11:05pm

colm_mcm wrote: »

Punto has 4 star ncap alright.

I'd sooner have something other than the punto though. It definitely has its strengths in that the engines are very refined, they're big inside etc
But the op is looking for no fuss driving for 2 years. In my experience a punto is unlikely to do 2 years without ****ting itself in some way.

I had mine for as long with only one major issue - the exhaust rusted through. I don't think that one can be blamed on FIAT tbh...

very underrated cars