I only had this for a year from new (part of a company scheme) so I don't really know about reliability issues on the Fiat Punto, just the way it drives and handles. It did have a clutch issue that the dealer sorted out begrudgingly under the warranty, but apart from that it was fine (apart from some minor squeaking in the back).
I picked the 16V as it seemed nice and sporty and fast when I tested it. I only rarely drive clients around, and then it's only ever one at a time, so i picked the 3 door as I reckon it looks better and saved me a few hundred I think on the ticket price.
Fiat Punto was a good laugh round corners and on the straight, very powerful, excellent power to weight ratio, that sort of thing. The only trouble there was that it's quite tall and slim so it can blow about in the wind, and there's some body roll otherwise. Having said that, the height makes visibility really good, which makes driving at speed and generally messing about a bit safer and easier. You need to work it though, get it up to 4k revs, but it's really alive once you get there.
It's not too noisy either, quite sedate, easy to creep up over the speed limit... officer.
The sport seats, they're the bucket style, and they're really comfy. They also keep you in place if and when you decide to rag the car about a bit for a laugh. That's the idea really.
Nice big boot in the Fiat Punto as well as the spacious seating. Always useful for work purposes (another reason I got it).
Bit odd that there were no rear head rests, maybe one of the last cars not to have them. Not really an issue for me as I seldom had rear passengers, and it helped with rear visibility.
But I have heard bad things about the Punto and Fiats in general when they get over a year old, which isn't that long. Parts should be cheap as they're common, but I don't suppose that's the point really.
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.
I've got a few nice things to say about the Fiat Punto, and also I should say to be fair that I bought it for £200 second hand and nearly 10 years old with 60k on the clock.
Nice things... it is a good little practical car, bags of space inside for what it is, and decent visbility. Lots of poke all the way up to 80, and generally feels a lot of fun to drive.
It is a basic car, almost as basic as it gets, but it comes with some handy little features like a height adjustable driver's seat, which always worked for me, never got stuck or anything.
Getting in and out of the back was always easy enough, altho 3 seaters are never easy for that and I couldn't take my grandma out in it, which caused some problems.
My one had sort of racing seats in it, not full racing seats but they had lips at the sides to prevent you rolling out of it. Those were fun. Actually thinking about it that sort of gives a clue about how it was maybe driven before I got my hands on it, and why it didn't last so long.
So yeah it died after less than a year. It had a few little things go wrong at first like a dodgy seal on the passenger door, and a hinge that squeaked like it was dying on the driver door.
Then after about 10 months I think the wiper motor and exhaust needed doing, and shortly after the head gasket went and the whole engine died a horrible death. Total write off really, just had to get it scrapped.
Nice car though, just avoid an old one, and if you've got one, sell it quick.
I know Fiat have a reputation for cars that don't last at all, but the Punto is a pretty good exception. Well it was until last year when things started to go a bit wrong. In fairness I've only done about 50 thousand miles in it so I couldn't expect too much to fail, but it's going downhill. Last year the clutch went and a head gasket as well, two very expensive repairs after a decade of fairly smooth running. Maybe now those repairs are done it'll keep going and going, but I suppose it's time to call it a day.
Still I'd recommend getting a Fiat Punto if there's a cheap one second hand. It might not last long but it's a lovely little car to have for everyday errands. The gearbox is still nice and easy, it's really easy to see all around on account of the nice high windows. Inside I'm always pleased with the amount of space there is, front and back, and in the boot. I was in a friend's brand new Citroen the other week and that had a piddly amount of space in the back and the boot, depsite being about the same size as my Fiat Punto. Progress eh?!
It's nice and cheap to run as well, and to tax and insure. It's just a really basic car, no frills, so there's less to go wrong. And when things do go wrong it's really easy to get parts second hand cos there's millions of other Puntos about. It's good at speed as well, lots of power to overtake even at motorway speeds. I suppose it's cos there's not much to carry, it's quite light I assume.
I think some things that are letting it down in comparison to newer cars are the lack of power steering, and also probably the safety features. But what I don't like about modern cars is that almost always the stereo isn't removable. I've replaced the stereo in the Fiat Punto three times keeping up with this or that new connection or media format, and I don't see why new cars are so stubborn they don't think they'll need to change. That's silly and it's something I'll be looking to avoid.
Sadly though I probably won't be staying with Fiat. I've seen other people's more up to date reviews of other Fiats and it looks like their reputation for shoddy cars continues!
I bought this car about three years ago, it's an old model but it still runs very well and all the electrics and everything are in GWO. I bought it because I wanted something that could be pretty fast but also quite practical. Unfortunately the Punto GT is not quite what I was looking for.
What I mean is that it can go fast (really quite fast) but it finds it difficult not to. So when you're in a school zone or backing into your nan's drive or something the car seems to want to shoot ahead. It seems to be a bit too excitable. Maybe it's just my driving.
So yeah, it really performs a lot better than you might think, it looks pretty innocent but inside there's a real monster trying to get out! I've got no real complaints about my Fiat Punto apart from the fact that maybe it's a little bit too good!
Where can i start?
Had this car for 2 years and could not bear (or afford) to keep it any longer!
First things first, it cost me 900pounds to get it through its mot, major welding work required, all shock absorbers and brake pads useless.
Passed its mot and the clutch went, windscreen wipers replaced numerous times, drivers seat tracks broke so my seat would fly back when i went to put my clutch down ( not so safe!), bulbs replaced numerous times, seals rubbish... the list could go on.
On the plus side, the Fiat Punto 1.2 ELX is very comfortable to drive, a smooth drive, very nice interior, but the car seems to be very cheaply made and not much quality to it at all.
I HAVE AN 03 PUNTO ACTIVE SPORT. THE CAR IS IN THE GARAGE EVERY WEEK HAVING SOMETHING REPAIED ON IT. MINE IN THE LAST 2 YEARS HAS HAD A NEW FRONT SUSPENSION SPRING, 2 NEW EXHAUSTES INCLUDING THE MIDDLE PEICE WITH THE FLEXI COUPLING, A NEW BONNET RELEASE CABLE, NEW REAR BRAKE SHOES, A NEW GEAR BOX A NEW CLUTCH WITH THE FLY WHEEL SKIMMED, A LEAKING RADIATOR. PARTS ARE NOT HIGHLY PRICED BUT WHEN YOU HAVE TO BUY ALOT OF THEM IT BECOMES EXPENSIVE.
I WOULD NOT RECOMEND A FIAT AS THE BUILD QUALITY IS POOR.
I had a Fiat Punto for three years, sold it last year when I had the money to upgrade. I regret it in some ways cos the Punto was lots of fun. There's a reason it's been around for so long, it's a real classic.
The space inside is a big plus, I mean compared to others cars around this size like Corsas etc. The Punto looks pretty sleak and small from the outside but has a really decent amount of space even in the back. It's a bit squashy with three in the back, but not that bad really.
One thing I haven't missed is reclining the Fiat Punto's front seats, having to wheel the dial round and round. Much easier to have a handle that lets you easily whoosh the seats back and forth.
The thing about the space, it's not just the seats. I didn't find another small car with both a glove box and also an open bucket thing at the top, that's a really handy combination. Behind it all the boot is also a nice surprise space wise, big old cavern to sling all sorts into. I took three mates to a stag weekend and we had all our stuff in there, including fancy dress and all the food and booze. It got really good mileage too, I think about 45-50MPG if I kept it at low revs.
It had its fair share of repairs needing, so that too the shine off the cheap and cheerful thing a bit. I haven't got the receipts anymore but from memory, over three years (and I bought it at about 3 years old already, with maybe 50k on the clock) my Fiat Punto needed a new exhaust, gearbox (ouch), something to do with the throttle, I forget what, and an adjustment/correction type job to the power steering. Some other bits and pieces to do with electrics. It had quite a bit of work need doing, but Puntos are really common so it was easy enough to get parts second hand, and any old garage can fit them.
Fiat's aren't the best made cars - everyone knows this. But what they do have is a little style and a little grace. They look really nice compared to Fords and Vauxhalls and that's exactly why I went for one. The Fiat Punto Sport looks nice, handles well and is half decent on petrol. i'd say it's aimed at the more sporty type of person; someone who likes a bit of flair. But most of all it's just a standard hatch.
Driving it, it's really good. I'd say it handles about as well as any hatch I've driven, and with a comfortable steering wheel and lovely seating position, it makes for a really easy drive.
I'd go for the slightly more powerful engine variants, as they offer great amounts of fun with relatively bearable mpg figures. They also look quite a lot nicer, too.
Test drive the Punto Sport if you're not convinced - you will be won over.
Great value car, the Fiat Punto, roomy and nippy and pretty reliable. Cheap to run, too. I can squeeze my family into it fairly easy and there are five of them so when I saw it initially I was quite worried about that. It looks pretty titchy from the outside.
My Punto is the 1.8 which is a pretty good spec and you can tell. I test-drove the lesser trims and they were much more sluggish. Handling-wise I've got to say I'm not that keen. Don't ask me why. Creature of habit I suppose. On the other hand it's less fuel-efficient so I only get 35 odd mpg. Not great for a little hatchback.
It was used so it was a real bargain but the list price is a lot more! One more thing - the dash is a bit confusing, the controls are kind of dotted around all over the place and I don't really know what to press in a hurry! Overall though I'd say it's a great car and I definitely don't regret buying it.