Hi all,

Just looking for a bit of advise, I am looking into buying a fiat punto sporting 1.2, its a Y reg and has 67k miles, the car is automatic and was just wondering when I go to look at the car is there any common faults to look out for, also is the car marked up resonalble, its £1450.

Many thanks.

hi there i had a 1.2 16v and wor lass had a 8v. Both were fairly sturdy and reasonably reliable. We did have problems with our airbag lights which both erased. Dont wheel spin the car as the differential isnt the strongest. Both our cars flew through the MOT with no problems. A bit of advice for starters is get the Timing belt done as soon as you get it. Also haggle with that price i wouldnt pay that unless it had a years warranty. Some engines also had cylinder head gasket problems which is a very easy fix to a reasonably experianced Technician.

Check out the Punto discussion. But with the Selecta auto be very careful. They are good but poor servicing (like the wrong oil) is not good and when they fail to select or act like a missed gear its expensive to fix.

8V engine is safe when the cam belt fails. 16V is not and can do serious damage. Unless it has a cast iron service history DONT DRIVE IT UNTIL THE BELT IS CHANGED.

Also chemical flush the cooling system and put in proper red coolant. The engines are reliable when serviced but cheap cars get abused and being older there is more chance of abuse. If the cooling system leaks and the level drops its very quickly into a failed head gasket.