FIAT PUNTO 1.2 Active 3dr (2003)

Fiat Punto 1.2 Active Review - Had the AA on speed dial

Thought Fiat might have upped their game recently. Was wrong. Paid the price.

Had the Fiat Punto from new (2004) for all of four years. Thankfully the warranty covered a lot of the problems, but by no means all. The most expensive ones happened out of warranty.

The gearbox and clutch were the most expensive. Having a gearbox grind to a halt is a weird thing. The car just stops. We were on a hill, a pretty steep one, and it just stops and won't move. I suppose it's basically like leaving it in gear. But passing cars couldn't understand what we were doing, why we hadn't just coasted to the roadside. You can't! It's almost worth having a special sign saying 'gearbox broken, car won't move an inch'. By that point I was genuinely on first name terms with the local AA guy (I suppose there's probably only one or two round us, we're quite rural). It was daft.

Other problems too. Day to day, odd rattles from the back that I could never explain. Power steering regularly sort of failed, just gave up a bit. That was almost dangerous a couple of times.

Paintwork wasn't really up to much of a beating. A sharp insect could cause a chip.

Still, insurance and tax were pretty reasonable. It doesn't glug fuel too badly and, when it is working, it's very practical, lots of head room, leg room, in front and back. I find it hard to actually call the car practical though, not much practical about it breaking down every few months.