Hi All, Just bought a 2003 Punto 1.2 8v (yeah, the one they say is underpowered) so I can semi- retire my 93 Ford Sierra Sapphire. First impressions- peppy engine, poor damping, looks smart in grey.

Welcome Dude! my son has a similar model & rags it up & down to Portsmouth with no probs. although we fitted a pair of rear gas shocks a couple of weeks ago which has helped a lot. What model Sapph is it?

Hi Yazz and welcome:wave:
Let it grow on you a bit. They are surprisingly nippy and fun. It doesn't have a lot of power but then that's what sorts the drivers from the foot planters

Hi and welcome.
The only thing underpowered is the brains of some drivers.
Super little car.
You should have bought a red one though, they are faster..
Enjoy.

I loved my first one - i got another!!

the 1.2 8v is Nippy, and when driven correctly, these cars can give alot of cars off the line a surprise
i'd love to try the 16v's as i bet there fun too!

Hell i'd love the 1.4 16v

But they are very chuckable cars, cheap to repair in wear and tear parts (brakes tyres exhausts etc)
They can be a pain with the EPS and airbag's, but worry only if you get the issue

Ziggy

Re: Hi

maggers said:

Welcome Dude! my son has a similar model & rags it up & down to Portsmouth with no probs. although we fitted a pair of rear gas shocks a couple of weeks ago which has helped a lot. What model Sapph is it?

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Hi Maggers, I think they saved costs by putting in crap dampers, will think about replacing in time. Sapph is 1.8 LXi, really clean. Faulty injection system that no mechs can fix. How Many Left website says that there are about 275 left in country so parts are an issue

Brendan W said:

Hi Yazz and welcome:wave:
Let it grow on you a bit. They are surprisingly nippy and fun. It doesn't have a lot of power but then that's what sorts the drivers from the foot planters

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Very true.Don't like the PAS though. 20 years of unassisted Sierra racks means I'm a bit "old skool".

Twotoncarman said:

Hi and welcome.
The only thing underpowered is the brains of some drivers.
Super little car.
You should have bought a red one though, they are faster..
Enjoy.

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True about the colour. Very disturbed about the number of brown cars I'm seeing. Painting a car metallic poo brown is just cruel.

Hi Ziggy, Owned it for 2 days now. I'm sure it's a girl so I'm going to call her Sophia (apparently the most popular girls name in Italy 2011). I that naff?

Yazz said:

Very true.Don't like the PAS though. 20 years of unassisted Sierra racks means I'm a bit "old skool".

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No worries. The Punto has a few of ways of switching the p/s off The majority seem to happen at parking.
Check out the sticky at the top. In ten years I've had two incidents. A battery sorted the first and a plug clean the second.

Re: Hi

Yazz said:

Hi Maggers, I think they saved costs by putting in crap dampers, will think about replacing in time. Sapph is 1.8 LXi, really clean. Faulty injection system that no mechs can fix. How Many Left website says that there are about 275 left in country so parts are an issue

Click to expand...

Cool, everyone seems to go mental for Cossies but ignore the regular models. The worrying thing is I can remember working on them when they were new! What's the problem?

Re: Ford Sierra Sapphire/ Punto Mk 2

Hi Maggers, Hope it's not a no-no to discuss old Fords on a Fiat website - hope I wont get told off. Am glad I bought the Punto though, rather than a Corsa. The styling is really growing on me. A German bloke called Fasbinder did the restyle and, amazingly, improved on a Guigario design. The Sapphire has a mis-fire. Idles perfectly at 900 RPM. Whilst driving it mis-fires randomly however. Down on power and fuel consumption increased-whether that's due to the root problem or me using more throttle to compensate I don't know. Certainly it hasn't got the theoretical 87 BHP- it's much slower than the Punto with 60. Had all the usual replaced but my mech. thinks its the injection system. It was call Single and/or Central Fuel Injection and no garages that I've found will touch it. Any ideas?

Some years from now that car will start to occupy a space that has Mk 1 Cortinas and Mk II Escorts. Maybe not as high a tag but nevertheless. If you had a place to store it you'll probably bump into an expert on the old injection systems with new parts in a box somewhere up the road or on a forum.

Hi & welcome!

I hope you enjoy your time on the forum.

Re: Sapph

You are spot on. Got an underground parking space so it is protected from the elements. Nice to hear someone else gets what it's all about.

Recently bought my 3rd Punto. First 2 were Mk2 A, 1st one i didnt have too long....due to an incident with a Volvo XC70....2nd one i had 14 months, i think one of the previous owners hadn't looked after it particularly well as it used an awful lot of oil and the engine didnt seem to have the power it should have had (which isnt great on a 1.2 8V Punto to start with LOL)....however due to my Job i racked up some serious mileage on that car until eventually what caused it to use oil caused it to lose compression on 2 cylinders...so had to replace it.
So Punto #3 ...this time i got the Mk2 B and i wanted slightly better trim levels than the basic level 5 door Mk2 A's i had. so this time i went for the 1.2 8V active sport, a lovely bright yellow coloured one with very good mileage for its age. It's nippy enough, but more importantly does a whole lot of MPG (main reason i bought it). the sporting also seems to handle a lot better than the standard ones i had so i guess Fiat tweaked the suspension on them, i know they tweaked suspension on Seicento sporting (Car i had before switching to the Punto). Only issues i've encountered on the cars, Mk2 A i had to replace the steering Motor and ECU. Mk2B i think needs a new battery, as i've had several warning lights come on (Steering, EML, Airbag), diagnostic code listed low power as the issue. Other than that even the one with the knacked engine started 1st time every time, for that matter it even got me an awful lot miles to home after losing 2 cylinders although it didnt sound to good doing it and i had to try and avoid any steep hills.

Punto Mk 2 2003 1.2 8v

Hi Scudmonkey,


Mines got 17,300 on the lock and papers to verify. Glad I bought it. Nice "snicky" gearchange. Makes the MT 75 box in my Sierra feel at bit agricultural to say the least. 55 MPG at ave. 39 MPH over 26.6 miles down the A2/M2. Is that OK?


Do aftermarket speakers fit easily-the rear ones? Do you know if I need an adaptor?


Regards Yazz

Re: Punto Mk 2 2003 1.2 8v

55MPG sounds about right, las trip i took from Wales to hampshire averaged out at 48mpg and i had the car sat at a steady 75 the whole trip down the M4 & A34, no idea about replacing rear speakers i still have the standard ones in.