(G) what to look for

hi guys i sold my punto today but i have a sporting lined up for saturday its a r reg is there anything i should be looking out for its a nice looking car but i dont want a banger

Red key, rear suspension, bushes and radius arms (listen for a clonking on uneven surfaces and in extreme cases the wheel will visibly lean inwards towards the top) Rust round the boot lock, front arches, along the top of the screen and on the sills where peoples feet scrape it, none of which are major but better if you dont have them, check its had a timing belt, been serviced e.t.c. puntos seem to put out a v'light blue haze from the exhaust when revved cold but anything more and its been thrashed, try and see it when it hasn't been moved for the day in the morning so you can listen for ominous sounding knocking on start up. Make sure stuff like the leccy windows, central locking and back wiper work and have a good check for accident damage cos puntos get stuffed on a regular basis (im currently running 2 for 2 in the accidents to puntos ratio and a mate of mine was running at 3 accidents to 1 punto).

thanks m8 i spoke to a mechanic m8 who said that he will come with me to see it so here's hoping and if i do get it i'll post a pic

heres hoping you have better luck than me I looked for my 85 for a good year..then having found, bought, serviced, and fitted new tyres to said beastie it was written off (technically but it lives thanks to a guy who was adamant he wouldn't go through the insurance company)

i didnt go for that sporting the guy phoned me just as i was leaving and said that the car wont start and that the timing was off guess i dodged the bullet there but not to fear i have another 1 to see on sunday the advert said punto sporting so i checked the reg on the dvla site and its a sporting 1.6 i thought it was a 1.2 should i go for it ? its up at £999 (got to hagle)a p reg with 70 thousand miles

dont bother with the 1.6.

get the 1.2 the 1.6 is an old engine, the 1.2 is the 'new super fire'

999 is alot for a 1.6 too.

well i said he wants 999 i didnt say thats what i'm going to give him i'll start at 850 and see where that goes

my new car a 1.6 sporting very tidy inside and out

Looks really tidy!

is the sporting lowered as standard as it looks lower than my m8's 1.1s but not by much

yes there lower, shame you bought a 1.6 though

15mil lower i think the figure is along with anti roll bars and front disc upgrades...looks good, refridgerator white was never my favourite colour (my uno was that colour) its not the coolest but is so easy to paint, patch and fill compared to red or silver, also if i read a recent thread correctly the 1.6 is the 1.4 gt motor with a longer stroke so turboing it is relatively simple to if you'd bought a 1.2..

i read that 2 and white has a special place in my heart cos my first car was a white punto

now all i have is a red key and i read somewhere that i should not use this cos it resets the ecu now and again which is not good for the mpg where on earth will i get a blue key from and will it cost a bomb i dont know of any fiat dealers in my area (central scotland) has it got to be a fiat specialist ? or am i worried for nothing

Timpsons can cut blue keys for 24 quid, but i don't know if you can get them cut off the master key, logically you'd just end up with a clone of the master key, depending on who you listen to starting the car with the red key resets the ecu everytime you start it and may not be good for it. Although I'm sure theres a thread on here all about it. In the top of the punto section in the stickies.