Opinions - Punto

declanoneill

Generally, what are peoples opinions on *post 99* puntos? My instructor seems to think they're alright, but my brother is less then convinced, but his view may or may not be tinted by the fact they sucked before 99 (or so I'm told). So what are peoples opinions (00 Punto for in or around 4k from a fairly reputable seller)

quarryman

I have a 99 punto (old style) that I've had no problems with, albeit I've only had it a few mnoths and its done plenty of mileage.

Some cars get a bad rep but if you get it checked first and everything's in order than the reputation shouldn't come into it.

alias no.9

They're nowhere near as bad as some people would try and convince you. Head gaskets are a weakness, but on a 5 year old car, it will probably have blown already if it was dodgy and if it has blown and been repaired, it's the quality of the repair rather than any inherrent quality of the car that will determine its longevity. The biggest problem with them is that low spec models have no temperature gauge, just a warning light that comes on when it's too late and this is usually the precurser to the head gasket blowing. On a positive note, the head gasket does blow, any half competant mechanic will have the head off while the kettle is boiling, so they're very cheap to fix. If there's no trade in, push the dealer a bit on price, most would be more than happy to offload cheaply to get a quick sale. Overall it's got a poor image but is probably just as reliable as a vw golf but much cheaper to buy, run and maintain.

Paul (MN)

A pal of mine has a 00 and lots of things are going on it that shouldn't go.
I know a few people who have had trouble with them.

I know the usual debates about FIAT etc but I can honestly say I would steer clear. You can pick up other cars for the same price or a bit more that might be better.

declanoneill

Thanks for the opinions guys. I'm getting someone to look it over for me, plus the person I'm getting it off has it very much in his interests not to rip me off, assuming it gets the all clear I'll most likely go with it. To be honest I hate the thoughts of trapsing around looking for a car (this will be my first). Every day I don't have a car is another day I have to waste 3 hrs of my life on a bus

spunkymunky

Fiat, F.I.A.T., Fix It Again Tony?

Heard similar thing. A few friends have them and they have had problems. Said they wouldnt buy again.

yop

Only experience of Punto is when one rear ended me at about 30mph, her punto was completetly wrote off, had to be lift off the road, my motor had to get a new bumper and boot lid, nothing else

bazz26

F.I.A.T. - Fix It Again Tomorrow

My neighbour's young lad has a 99 Punto and it has been toed to a garage a couple of times since he bought it last summer. Its his first car, nice way to be welcomed to the world of motoring.

My cousin has a 02 Punto and every now and then the power steering goes dead while driving. FIAT had a look and could find nothing wrong. Happened her again and this time the car steered up on to a foot path, she was very shaken after the experience. She is currently seeking legal advice and refuses to even sit in the car now

Buyer beware, they are cheap for a reason.

quarryman

declanoneill wrote:

Thanks for the opinions guys. I'm getting someone to look it over for me, plus the person I'm getting it off has it very much in his interests not to rip me off, assuming it gets the all clear I'll most likely go with it. To be honest I hate the thoughts of trapsing around looking for a car (this will be my first). Every day I don't have a car is another day I have to waste 3 hrs of my life on a bus

looking for a car when you don't have one is a pain. if its a good deal, take it.

$lash

If you are going for one .. go for a sporting they are by far the best of them - the 1.2 8v's give a lot of hassle .. head gaskets, gearbox's, clutches, ecu gremlins etc

alias no.9

spunkymunky wrote:

Fiat, F.I.A.T., Fix It Again Tony?

Heard similar thing. A few friends have them and they have had problems. Said they wouldnt buy again.

Most people who buy a cheap small car to to start out for cost/insurance reasons will moan and bitch about whatever car it is. What actual problems did they have?

yop wrote:

Only experience of Punto is when one rear ended me at about 30mph, her punto was completetly wrote off, had to be lift off the road, my motor had to get a new bumper and boot lid, nothing else

The front end of any modern car will collapse in an impact, ever heard of crumple zones? They absorb the energy of the impact causing less deformation to the passenger cell and thus less risk of injury to the occupants. If you had rear ended her, your car would probably have been written off with minimal damage to hers.

bazz26 wrote:

F.I.A.T. - Fix It Again Tomorrow

My neighbour's young lad has a 99 Punto and it has been toed to a garage a couple of times since he bought it last summer. Its his first car, nice way to be welcomed to the world of motoring.

My cousin has a 02 Punto and every now and then the power steering goes dead while driving. FIAT had a look and could find nothing wrong. Happened her again and this time the car steered up on to a foot path, she was very shaken after the experience. She is currently seeking legal advice and refuses to even sit in the car now

Buyer beware, they are cheap for a reason.

The fact of the matter is there's a mechanical link between the steering wheel and the wheels. The wheels cannot turn independant of the steering wheel and the physics of the power steering taking over control are crazy, its a servo system, meaning it can only follow user input. It's probably a good thing that she is not driving.

kinkstr

yop wrote:

Only experience of Punto is when one rear ended me at about 30mph, her punto was completetly wrote off, had to be lift off the road, my motor had to get a new bumper and boot lid, nothing else

What were you driving?

bazz26

alias no.9 wrote:

Most people who buy a cheap small car to to start out for cost/insurance reasons will moan and bitch about whatever car it is. What actual problems did they have?



The front end of any modern car will collapse in an impact, ever heard of crumple zones? They absorb the energy of the impact causing less deformation to the passenger cell and thus less risk of injury to the occupants. If you had rear ended her, your car would probably have been written off with minimal damage to hers.



The fact of the matter is there's a mechanical link between the steering wheel and the wheels. The wheels cannot turn independant of the steering wheel and the physics of the power steering taking over control are crazy, its a servo system, meaning it can only follow user input. It's probably a good thing that she is not driving.

She was driving round a bend when it happened, the steering wheel would not budge (similar to it being locked), hence the car travelled in a straight line towards the other side of the road.

Maybe you can borrow the keys and give it a go, see how you could manage it.

alias no.9

bazz26 wrote:

She was driving round a bend when it happened, the steering wheel would not budge (similar to it being locked), hence the car travelled in a straight line towards the other side of the road.

Maybe you can borrow the keys and give it a go, see how you could manage it.

Whatever may have been at fault, it was not the power steering. It's possible to turn the wheels of a car without the engine running ie without the power steering being activated. As anyone who's ever driven a car without power steering will testify, the steering becomes much lighter when the car is moving, so even if the power steering failed, it would fail safe, ie the driver will still have control of the steering with it maybe feeling a little heavier but still much lighter than if you tried to turn the wheel with the car stoped and the engine off. The only thing I can think of that could possibly tally with what you're describing would be the steering wheel lock being activated, that's a long shot but if you do want to find the problem, that's where I'd start.

yop

Driving a Focus, I would not really agree about the crumple zones, I understand they do absorb the impact but my wifes was reared ended there about a year ago, corsa, the car behind her was a Laguna, the laguna hit hear at about 30 odd mph and barely had a scratch, her motor was wrote off.
I was also rearended in another Focus with an Avensis at about 20mph, both cars were suprisinly ok, no major damage.
Of course there is always issues with every car but I am afraid if I had to choice to avoid a Fiat Punto or buy one I know I would stay away from it, just my opinion

The General

My mother has a 98 punto, she bought it in 2001 and has never had a problem, exceot the electric windows are absolutly ****, they take ages to open and close

unkel

Pretty much everything alias no.9 has said, also the electrics are weak. Very cheap to buy and own provided you'll find a well maintained one...

That is exactly the trouble with the Punto. In the second half of the 90s FIAT advertised an "Open Book" pricing system with bottom line all inclusive on the road prices and cheap or free financing

A lot of people bought a FIAT based on this and they drove the car on a shoe string, i.e. no maintenance, never servicing the car, not even checking oil etc. themselves. Now you might get away with that in a Toyota, but not in a FIAT. The bad reputation is undeserved, the Punto is a fine car and nice to drive as well imho

The last time I drove an old model one, I did 160kph plus constantly for an hour and a half

yop

unkel wrote:

The last time I drove an old model one, I did 160kph plus constantly for an hour and a half

You mad fooker!! suprised you would get that speed out of one!! I am sure it was rattling like hell!!

deRanged

I had one for a year - bought it to pass my driving test. they're very easy to drive, they're nice and small for parking/city driving, good mileage. I drove it Cork to Galway with no problems.
Fiats have a bad rep, it's totally undeserved imo. My punto was our family's fifth fiat in a row, with only one real problem, on a punto with 75k miles on the clock. That car blew the head gasket, had it replaced and is still running, about to hit 100k.

160kph! The most I did in mine was 120, and it was dead steady at that speed.

unkel

yop wrote:

I am sure it was rattling like hell!!

Nope, very steady for a car that size

It was the ELX version though, stronger engine etc. It was in the middle of the night on a brand new deserted stretch of autoroute in France. It was the best motorway I have ever driven on

The cheapest mark 1 Punto only does 150kph or so

puntosporting

Been driving fiat puntos for about 5 years now had the mk2 sporting model first never had any issues and a real guttsy engine for a 1.2 16v,im driving the hgt model now probably not realy helping this thread but the car has been totaly bulletproof has been thrashed at trackdays in mondello and driven home the same day never even overheating.
My family have 3 fiats between them all mk2 1.2 8v's and no issue to report .
I dont listen to tales i listen to owner experiances and the first question i always ask is did you regularly service the car before you found fault 9 out of 10 times i get no it needed a service about 5k ago as already mentioned above people dont want to spend the money minding a car yet complain when something goes wrong.

daveirl

This post has been deleted.

peasant

yop wrote:

I would not really agree about the crumple zones, I understand they do absorb the impact but my wifes was reared ended there about a year ago, corsa, the car behind her was a Laguna, the laguna hit hear at about 30 odd mph and barely had a scratch, her motor was wrote off.
I was also rearended in another Focus with an Avensis at about 20mph, both

Simple law of physics: The car in motion transfers its energy on the stationary/ slower one. When, on top of that, the car being hit is much lighter, it receives most of the damage. Otherwise you get a more equal distribution.

Thats one of the reasons why I hate big, fat Mercs or Jeeps ..they really do damage to small cars ...regardless of make

Rew

Iv a 00 1.2 8v. Bought it last Aug and the head gasket blew about a month later. It was under a dealer warrenty so cost me nothing but time. Kicked up a fuss and they rented me a car for the 2 weeks they had it. Theres a thread here about it actually. I was pretty pissed off at the time. Bought it with about 33K on it and its on about 38K now, due a service at 40.5k. Generally im pretty happy with it. Its making a noise every so often (like a high pitched ringing) atm but the garage dont want to know till they can hear it for them selfs and its not that consistent (yet).

Its pretty nippy around town and we take it to and from Dublin a fair bit, on the waterford strech of the motorway iv got it up to 85-90 but I generally don't push it up higher then 80. The city button/girlie button makes it very handy to park etc. Its a small car so you can really feel it if you stick a couple of big lads in the back. Somthing in the rear of mine creaks like **** when the lads are in the back and im pulling off from junctions, reckon its rear shocks or somthing thats never gotten alot of use.

I installed my own car kit and it was handy enough to do without taking the dash appart. One stupid thing is they dont wire the ignition lead back to the stereo they just trunk the perminat 12v. It (ignition 12v) is wired to the cig lighter but its harder to get at that. Its blown both tail lights and a head light in the last few months but id say there all due to go anyway.

Interceptor

I have driven several Puntos and drove a MkI Punto 55 across France, Germany, Holland and Luxembourg (though maybe not in that order - we *might* have started in Amsterdam) and had no problems with four of us and our luggage. I do remember it smelled of petrol if you went around a roundabout really fast, but thats not really a complaint.

You can tune Puntos really easily and if you have any desire to learn about cars they are a good starting point - the engine ancillaries (started/alternator etc) are easy to get to and work on. I have tuned an 1108cc and done several head gaskets but if you replace the old one with a Spesso gasket it will last forever.

'c

Sorry - droned on a bit there. Good car - try and buy one with a service history and don't be sad when it is thrashed and you need to sell it. Drive several before committing to one in particular and try to get a clean, undamaged one. Avoid the 'special' colours as these will not re-sell so easily (you know the burnt orange I mean...)

Mailman

I had one from new for 29K trouble free miles from new getting in excess of 42mpg from it on average. In excess of 400 miles to a tank. Still plenty of thread left on original tyres. Rear brake shoes wore down a bit early but otherwise fine - a cheap part to replace. Very pleasant to drive, very nice airy cabin for such a cheap car. Spacious and practical.
Would buy again.
I've a very smooth driving style and maintained the car well so don't know how the car would respond to constant abuse.

Sister had one too which was as reliable except for power steering belt went - a cheap part.

ibanez

Piles of crap all of them.Ask any mechanic or anyone who has a Real knowledge of cars and they will tell you what goes wrong on them.Head gaskets,Wheel bearings,Electrics,Cooling system,Flimsy switchgear the list goes on.

Mailman

Don't forget that the Punto was the best selling car in Ireland for years so of course mechanics are going to be familiar with what goes wrong on one of the most popular cars on the Irish market as they have experience of them.

My Punto and my sisters Punto were more reliable than my other sister's Polo.

IBanez doesn't actually declare whether he has any "real knowledge" or personally knows anyone with any "real knowledge" of cars.

AlienGav

All cars 5 yrs and older have little things go wrong.
As it,s cheap its an acceptable risk if the faults aren't serious!
I honestly don't think Puntos are as bad as everyone makes them out to be, and they should'nt be branded as havin the same reliability issues as previous FIATs.

For the money they go for, a 2nd hand Punto in good condition, is a bargain!
:cool:

kadman

Whatever your feeling is about Fiats, they are probably the cheapest value for money motoring.
Parts are cheap to replace, basic mechanical layout is easy to work on, second hand parts are cheap and plentiful. Sure they have their one or two quirks, head gasket, front brake hoses. But pound for pound, or euro for euro , value wise they are going to be hard to beat.

You pays your money , and you takes your chances.

kadman

JB123

Fiat are absolute rubbish i see at least one dead punto a month on the n11.Its not that they are bad to drive its just they are cheap because they are made of rubbish.Realy iv read more horror stories look at J D Power survey in the UK FFS.An 89 starlet would be a better bet.Sorry FIAT owners stop defending these rubbish cars.

ibanez wrote:

Piles of crap all of them.Ask any mechanic or anyone who has a Real knowledge of cars and they will tell you what goes wrong on them.Head gaskets,Wheel bearings,Electrics,Cooling system,Flimsy switchgear the list goes on.

Bang on the mark mate!!

Padraig Mor

Girlfriend got a (seemingly mint condition) 00 1.25 Punto just over a year ago. Started having temperature problems very soon (as said above, no gauge). Head gasket replaced at about 33k miles. I'd swear there's something still wrong with it as coolant seems to disappear at an alarming rate. Recently exhaust fumes seem to be leaking into the car as well! Would avoid to be honest....

seamus

I drove a 97 that suffered mainly from me driving it into the ground.

Electrics were definitely dodgy though. Rear windscreen wiper had stopped working, checked it out, and water had gotten into the circuit board that controlled the motor, shorting it. Soldered a bodge in place and it worked fine for a few weeks before giving up altogether, and I couldn't find out what was wrong that time.

Brake lights bulbs kept blowing, like every 6 weeks. Fuses kept blowing, again every 6 weeks or so.

Funnily enough, long cruises were where the car was happiest. 60mph+ for long periods, and the car was much smoother and happier than city traffic.

kadman

Better not mention Ladas or Polskies here then

kadman

davidoco

Had a 00 elx punto until 2004 and did 92,000 miles. Only ever let me down once with a blown head gasket (repair cost 280 euro including the tow). It did 50 mpg, a service every 10,000 cost me 100 euro or so, brakes once ? and tyres once 300 euro.

lilulila

I would buy the punto. I bought a 03 punto last month and it is absolutly brilliant. This is my second fiat in a row also they have a bad rep but as long as you keep it well serviced and looked after there should be no probs. Make sure you get a full service history when buying.