Hi guys,

I am Hallstar and I hail from the depths of sunny Devon.

My good lady has had a 1999/T 1.2SX Punto for the last few years, it has served her well but is starting to show its age.

I have been trying to find her a suitable replacement that ticks all of our boxes and have come up with a 2009/59 Fiat Grande Punto 1.6 Multijet Sporting (3 door)

We have found a nice looking black model with FSH and 86k on the clock.

I am becoming more and more intrigued by this particular model as it seems to be such a perfect car for our needs, but I am struggling to find a great deal of info/feedback/reviews etc on the 1.6, be it positive or negative.

I wonder if any of you would be able to give me some pointers in regards to known and common faults? What to look for when buying? What spec and kit I should find within this model?

86k on a 5yr old car is above average, but it is advertised as having a FSH. Should this mileage be of any concern? Is £3900 a reasonable price?

Any comments are appreciatively received.

Thanks,

Hallstar.

Is it this one

If so it looks nice and it's a better engine than the 1.9 (more reliable) cheaper to run but with the benefits of the 1.3 cheaper to tax insure etc but more power.

To be honest it looks like a really nice car I would check all the paperwork out carefully and make sure it has two keys as buying a second can be very costly.
im sure someone else will be along the to point out all the common problems which I'm still learning about.

I had a 1999 mk1 punto 3 door team many years ago and it was a great little car but I don't think you'll be disappointed by the grande

Having spent far too long on this forum over the last four years it seems to me that the 1.6 must be very reliable as I've read of very few problems. Either that or they didn't sell many, I suspect a bit of both.

You might find more info on punto evo forum as more of those are fitted with that engine.

That is the one. Hoping to go and take a look at it tonight.

I will take a look at the Punto Evo forum, I'm going to ring a few Fiat dealers as well.

Thank you for your advice.

Ive owned a 1.6 mj for 4.5 years and have had no problems although to be honest I am a very low mileage user.One issue that is always cropping up is the 6 speed M32 Gearbox and once again I have had no problems of the type posted elsewhere on the forum but since the car you are looking at has done 86k then that may be something to consider.If all is OK then go for it.I think its a superb car plenty of power and very economical if your lucky the road tax will be in the £30 p/a band mine is`nt for reasons I won`t bore you with now.
The DPF filter was a concern when I purchased the car having read all the horror stories on this and other forums but I think those days are gone particularily on this model,as long as you follow instructions when or if the regen light illuminates then you`ll be fine.Best of luck.

I spoke to the garage selling the car this morning.

Lady owner from new until 2012. Full history until 2012.

Male owner from 2012-2014. No service history from 2012 to date and 30k covered in this period.

No record of cambelt change at 72k, car currently on 86k.

I am becoming wary of this one.

It's a shame because it seems like an ideal car and the 1.6d seems to be as rare as rocking horse poo.

I might be wrong in saying this, but not having the cam belt changed isn't a problem if you're going to be changing it straight away (could be a haggling point!). Only thing of concern in that 30k is how often has the oil been changed

You also don't have to worry much about the DPF (or probably battery) if it's done that many miles in 5 years. In fact, it's not much mileage for a car like this, and could bag you a heavy discount compared to similar lower mileage models

Hire a mechanic to inspect the car condition. Steering, gear engaging, clutch, engine noises (give a lot of base on these 4) etc, then test drive it. Drive it hard. Then drop the price and put that money on a big service (belts, pump, fluids, oil etc) cause as you said, there is no service history.

1.6 mjet is a very good powerful engine, go for it if everything is ok.

If you can't find a good grande with the 1.6 there is always the Alfa mito; same car underneath, same engine but more sold with the 1.6d. Only comes as a 3dr though.

Hallstar said:

I spoke to the garage selling the car this morning.

Lady owner from new until 2012. Full history until 2012.

Male owner from 2012-2014. No service history from 2012 to date and 30k covered in this period.

No record of cambelt change at 72k, car currently on 86k.

I am becoming wary of this one.

It's a shame because it seems like an ideal car and the 1.6d seems to be as rare as rocking horse poo.

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The whole "1 lady owner till 2012" is all rubbish all they probably know is a name off the v5 doesn't mean anything the important bit is the service record and till 2012 at least it's all good.

Now the 30k mile gap, it's likely safe to assume that it's had an oil change in that time however if it hasn't it not good but not the end of the world as if you were going to buy it you should insist on a service and a cambelt, which covers the issues. It's not an old car so a good look over it will give you an indication of how well it's been looked after, if lots of broken trim and generally dirty/scratched etc then it's not been looked after and might be better to walk away.

However if it's all clean and free of scratches and damage then I'd still go for it, as mentioned use the lack of history and cambelt as a bargaining point and as its from a dealer you'll want a warranty as well better still buy your own warranty from warranties direct which will give you much better cover, finally buy it with a credit card or at least make the deposit on a credit card even if you have the cash, that way the credit card company insure the purchase any issues it turns out to be a lemon then you can claim in many cases the total value of the car back from the credit card company even if you only used it to pay the deposit

I went and had a look at the car in question today, and I was extremely surprised at just how good the build quality was. My only real experience of Fiat is my partners old 1.2 Punto, the GP is another league.

Just a shame that the car I looked at wasn't quite to the standard I would want.

It wasn't bad in by any means, but I didn't feel comfortable with the lack of history for the last 30k and I don't believe the previous owner looked after it considerably well. It requires rear bearings, front spring, three tyres, cambelt, front screen. The rear bumper needs painting and the wheels need refurbishing.

The garage are going to do most of the serviceable items, but the wheels and bumper and possibly the tyres would be down to me and given that I am at the maximum of my budget for this car, It would seem it isn't the car for me.

However, I have since found another one.

A GP 1.6 MJ-Sporting in White, but it's a 5 door.

I'm not sure that the 5dr is quite as aesthetically pleasing as the 3dr, well not for me anyway. The 5dr will obviously be more practical though.

Am going to look at it on Friday.

Does anyone else have a 5dr?

I have a 5 door. I agree it doesn't look as good as the 3 door but its still a really beautiful car!

If you go down the 5 door route, be sure to check the rear door handles actually work. A common problem on GPs is the rear handles getting stiff or failing. On my rear drivers side door you have to pull so hard it feels like the handle will snap off :/

overall i love my 5 door, makes things so much easier. As I go camping quite a lot the 5 door is better for me as it makes it less awkward shoving things in the back and its damn easy to clean the rear too

If there is anything specific you want to know about the 5 door let me know

james44422 said:

I have a 5 door. I agree it doesn't look as good as the 3 door but its still a really beautiful car!

If you go down the 5 door route, be sure to check the rear door handles actually work. A common problem on GPs is the rear handles getting stiff or failing. On my rear drivers side door you have to pull so hard it feels like the handle will snap off :/

overall i love my 5 door, makes things so much easier. As I go camping quite a lot the 5 door is better for me as it makes it less awkward shoving things in the back and its damn easy to clean the rear too

If there is anything specific you want to know about the 5 door let me know

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Seconded

Only just picked her up, so not the best photos. Will put some better ones up as I go though her and detail / modify.

Any recommendations for wind deflectors for a 5dr??

Hallstar said:

View attachment 146919

View attachment 146920

Only just picked her up, so not the best photos. Will put some better ones up as I go though her and detail / modify.

Any recommendations for wind deflectors for a 5dr??

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An extremely nice car! There's really no need to modify it: to do so would potentially ruin a decent looking car. I myself have a 5 door, and wouldn't change a thing about it!!

It is nice.

I don't plan on altering the appearance in any real way, just some wind deflectors.

Will prob change head unit for the Sony from our old Punto as it is only a couple of years old and was 'top end' at time of purchase.

May consider a chip or reflash. Not for aggressive power gains but more to rid the car of EU emission requirements and allow it to breath and perform as it was intended.

Hallstar said:

It is nice.

I don't plan on altering the appearance in any real way, just some wind deflectors.

Will prob change head unit for the Sony from our old Punto as it is only a couple of years old and was 'top end' at time of purchase.

May consider a chip or reflash. Not for aggressive power gains but more to rid the car of EU emission requirements and allow it to breath and perform as it was intended.

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What head unit has it got ATM?

Hallstar said:

It is nice.

I don't plan on altering the appearance in any real way, just some wind deflectors.

Will prob change head unit for the Sony from our old Punto as it is only a couple of years old and was 'top end' at time of purchase.

May consider a chip or reflash. Not for aggressive power gains but more to rid the car of EU emission requirements and allow it to breath and perform as it was intended.

Click to expand...

That's a really nice car! Congrats.

Team HEKO deflectors all the way. Make sure to get the the 5 door set which cover all 5 doors as some are sold as '5 door' but only have the two front door deflectors.

120bhp as standard I'd be careful with tweeks for power gains as it can lead to an premature gearbox failure