Grande Punto First Car and Loving it!

Hi and welcome to the forums. What issues you having with the dualogic etc? They can be problematic, mine luckily has been fine.

Has for mods, simplest mods will included a badge less grill and maybe lower suspension. Maybe a new exhaust and splitter at the front.

Maybe alloys if not already got some or bigger ones.

If windows aren't already tinted I wouldn't bother less they are completely scratch free. Otherwise the scratches will stick out.

I'm 28 an I looked into mods and wasn't worth it has insurance already £410 with nearly 7/8 years no claims protected.

cobalt01 said:

Hi and welcome to the forums. What issues you having with the dualogic etc? They can be problematic, mine luckily has been fine.

Has for mods, simplest mods will included a badge less grill and maybe lower suspension. Maybe a new exhaust and splitter at the front.

Maybe alloys if not already got some or bigger ones.

If windows aren't already tinted I wouldn't bother less they are completely scratch free. Otherwise the scratches will stick out.

I'm 28 an I looked into mods and wasn't worth it has insurance already £410 with nearly 9 years experience and 8 years ncd protected (problem is where I live)

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Hi Cobalt, thanks for the welcome!
As for the dualogic it has been dropping out of gear when kicking down every now and then, I made a separate thread about this a couple of weeks back, I am dreading going to fiat to have it looked at so I haven't been so far...

I'm paying about 1200 quid at the moment for insurance in a good area, and Churchill seem to frown upon mods

Just had a bit of a problem by the way, waiting for AA at the moment, got in the car and tried to start it and it cranked once but didnt turn over and the lcd on the cluster went out, does this sound like the battery? As far as im aware it is the original (360 Ah Varta with a fiat part No.) if so do you have a recommendation for a new battery?

Sounds like battery is dead or maybe a fuse/earthing point. Personally id get a silver calcium alloy battery or something along them lines (depends on what want to spend). If you try an start the car and lights on dash flash more likely battery.

Has for insurance try Adrian flux or Chris Knott (they like mods) an quote that on the forums (should be cheaper).

I think I remember your post about dualogic issues. This may sound daft but are you driving the care in manual or automatic mode?

yeah I hope it is the battery, AA guy didn't want to mess about too much and just towed me home.

Dualogic is being used in auto mate.

Right think that's why its kicking back up when your kicking it down. When car is stationary move the gear stick to the left. On your dash it will take the auto writing of (above gear number). Now to change gears push the gear stick up and down (up being higher gear). Now the car should stay in the gear you've selected unless I starts red lining which will make it go up a gear. Also if got it in eco mode it will change faster. Problem you have when in auto the car will go to the gear that's best suited to the speed/revs.

ah my wording was a bit off there, by kickdown I mean flooring the accelerator to make the auto change down, all autos do it and mine used to be fine, could the battery have affected this?

No, I needed to get back so I didn't have time so we just left ASAP... he said I could call again to get it towed to a garage anyway.

I'm not 100% sure tbh. You checked the actuator/done a diagnostics test?

What did the AA guy say and did he test the battery?

cobalt01 said:

I'm not 100% sure tbh. You checked the actuator/done a diagnostics test?

What did the AA guy say and did he test the battery?

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Like I said I had an appointment so I needed to get back so didn't have time for him to test it he said he was 90% sure it was the battery but is not allowed to say for sure because it would be speculation.

cobalt01 said:

I'm not 100% sure tbh. You checked the actuator/done a diagnostics test?

What did the AA guy say and did he test the battery?

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And no I haven't had the gearbox checked at all yet as I have been a little out of pocket and fiat want 60 quid just to diagnose it.

You can get all the stuff to do it yourself for that price (works out cheaper in long run).

My posts wasn't showing on my phone hence why asked twice :-(

Get the battery checked/replaced (if faulty) and see how gears go from there. If not getting enough power then may be causing issues (not sure though)

cobalt01 said:

Hi and welcome to the forums. What issues you having with the dualogic etc? They can be problematic, mine luckily has been fine.

Has for mods, simplest mods will included a badge less grill and maybe lower suspension. Maybe a new exhaust and splitter at the front.

Maybe alloys if not already got some or bigger ones.

If windows aren't already tinted I wouldn't bother less they are completely scratch free. Otherwise the scratches will stick out.

I'm 28 an I looked into mods and wasn't worth it has insurance already £410 with nearly 7/8 years no claims protected.

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£410 for insurance?! Christ!! What model have you got?

LordFox1998 said:

Guess it is time i shared my motor! My first car and despite some niggles and issues with the dualogic i am still loving it so far! keeping it standard this year due to insurance prices as i'm seventeen and no NCB, still learning as well but got the test fairly soon!

Any suggestions for subtle mods please leave them below!

As far as specs go it is a 1.4 8v 3dr Dynamic

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Btw, it's absolutely lovely. This is mine:

1.4 8v dynamic sport 5dr 2009. Problem is I near two major cities. If lived in wales would only be £230 or so. Got quoted £600+ on renewal think it was and that was cheapest. I remember it was cheaper for me to insure a vw scirocco (2009) petrol than it was to insure my last car ford focus sport 1.8 diesel (2007). Bloody crazy prices around mine for insurance.

cobalt01 said:

1.4 8v dynamic sport 5dr 2009. Problem is I near two major cities. If lived in wales would only be £230 or so. Got quoted £600+ on renewal think it was and that was cheapest. I remember it was cheaper for me to insure a vw scirocco (2009) petrol than it was to insure my last car ford focus sport 1.8 diesel (2007). Bloody crazy prices around mine for insurance.

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I see! I bought my 2008 Eleganza 1.4 8v 5dr last year, when insurance renewal time arrived, I was shocked when it was just £374!! I'm 25 now, so hopefully, it'll be even cheaper this year.

Try Chris Knott. I did an got it down a fair bit. Also quote on here. Try Tesco as they are cheap

Thanks Puntofan haha! I havent seen one in black, looks really nice, bet it shows dirt just as bad the blue though!

cobalt01 said:

1.4 8v dynamic sport 5dr 2009. Problem is I near two major cities. If lived in wales would only be £230 or so. Got quoted £600+ on renewal think it was and that was cheapest. I remember it was cheaper for me to insure a vw scirocco (2009) petrol than it was to insure my last car ford focus sport 1.8 diesel (2007). Bloody crazy prices around mine for insurance.

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I'm near the car crime capital of Swindon but mine isn't too bad considering im 17 with no NCB and the fact that it's fully comp, 200 quid excess uninsured driver protection etc. You must be in just the wrong spot

LordFox1998 said:

Thanks Puntofan haha! I havent seen one in black, looks really nice, bet it shows dirt just as bad the blue though!

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Yeah, it looks absolutely stunning when it's clean, which sadly, isn't terribly often!

LordFox1998 said:

I'm near the car crime capital of Swindon but mine isn't too bad considering im 17 with no NCB and the fact that it's fully comp, 200 quid excess uninsured driver protection etc. You must be in just the wrong spot

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1200 is very cheap! Back in 2007, when I turned 17, I decided to buy my 1st car, and learn to drive in that: my 1st ever insurance policy was £1000, 3rd party fire and theft, on a 796cc 2001 Daewoo Matiz SE Plus!

With regards to mods, your car is beautiful already, so I'd save yourself a few quid, and leave it standard.