General 1.9 MJet Grande Punto Sporting, should I buy one?

[wowbagger]

Due to a new job, I now have to commute about 20k miles a year so my V6 Alfa GTV has to go.


I had a test drive in a 1.9 MJet Grande Punto Sporting and was very impressed with the way it went and handled so I am thinking of getting one to commute in (70 miles each way, mostly duel-carriageway with some fast A roads). Would it be a good choice, are they generally reliable and what sort of mpg should I expect?
Thanks in advance
Robert.

 

[sammiboo]

The book stats are:

combined: 48.7
extra urban 60.1
urban 36.2

But thats by the book and realistally not that accurate.

I am picking up my GP 1.3MJ which is quite slow compared to the 1.9 but i have chosen a diesel to save on fuel costs. it should save me £60.

I am sure it will be a vast improvement on the alfa MPG wise

 

[wowbagger]

I am sure it will be a vast improvement on the alfa MPG wise

I would certainly hope so, the consumption for my last tankful was 22mpg but that did include some fairly enthusiastic A and B road driving.
I am just trying to estimate how much better it would be.

 

[bozzy]

1.9 MJet Grande Punto Sporting, should I buy one?

I have been contemplating this for weeks now and as a result of the Stilo being up for sale I have had to think a bit harder. I read that it handles well, has reasonable performance but there seems to be a few disgruntled owners who are experiencing various issues. I can accept that these issues are apparant in all cars but knowing my Fiat dealers like I do I just couldn't accept forking out for a car that will inevitably lead me back to them for warranty/service issues. You might want to get some info on your local dealers prior to making a decision.

 

[sammiboo]

I would certainly hope so, the consumption for my last tankful was 22mpg but that did include some fairly enthusiastic A and B road driving.
I am just trying to estimate how much better it would be.

If you are looking for fuel saving then it will be far better. You should do a calculation on how much it would save you each month. Going from a petrol 1.6 to a a.3 diesel as i said saves me about £60 a month. I do approx 50 miles a day.

 

[Whintersby]

I've just done the exact same thing (although getting rid of my petrol guzzling 2.4litre Stilo Abarth)...

I've also gone for the 1.9 MJet, and although the power is good for a small car - I'll definitely be going for a remap once I've worn it in to get me back around to similar performace, but with much cheaper fuel costs

With the new series 2 being released, they also look a bit more sporty now too...

 

[wowbagger]

If it will do 50 mpg then I should save at least £200 a month in fuel add in group 6 insurance rather than group 20 plus cheaper tyres and servicing and I will probably save about £4k to £5k per year. But I would need it to be reasonably reliable and hassle free to own.
I have had 5 Alfas and 2 Fiats so I am aware that they can have a few issues but then so can most cars.

 

[Mad Mike]

Due to a new job, I now have to commute about 20k miles a year so my V6 Alfa GTV has to go.
http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/565921.htm

I had a test drive in a 1.9 MJet Grande Punto Sporting and was very impressed with the way it went and handled so I am thinking of getting one to commute in (70 miles each way, mostly duel-carriageway with some fast A roads). Would it be a good choice, are they generally reliable and what sort of mpg should I expect?
Thanks in advance
Robert.

I drive my 1.9 M-jet Sporting 35 miles each way to work on motorways and not so smooth A-roads and regularly get 48 MPG - although the average speed rarely tops 32mph in the rush hour. It handles well but I find the combination of hard seats and virtually non-existent suspension too wearing for this length of time in the car. I also find the engine noisy (much more so than my previous 1.3 M-jet) and the suspension thumps loudly over bumps. The steering is rubbery and the Bridgestone front tyres supplied with mine are looking worn after a mere 7000 miles.

Early cars had teething troubles but later models are better. Mine (new in Jan 2008) is white and I receive many compliments about its appearance. However, it has got to go for the reasons stated.

 

[1.8Stilo]

ive only just swapped to my GPS 1.9mjet, ive noticed a few problems. Which seem to be common ie. squeeling brakes and it had a dodgy lambda sensor. This is nothing major just abit annoying but the dealer is sorting all out on wednesday so we'll see how that goes! Around town im getting 40-42mpg and on longer journey/commute 55+mpg so i cant complain ....to be fair i havent pushed her yet to comment to much on the handling capabilities, etc. But i am going over the nurburg in a weeks time so will report then. But i think mad mike has gaven a fair description, i also find the engine noisy in comparison to my freind A3 tdi and the seats are a little hard and not the most supportive! I also have the leather and seats are showing wear already and the cars only a year old! Although its only a £600 option, so you pay for what you get i suppose. But all in all a great car and for the money its a from me

 

[payney1]

Had mine for 4 months now and i really am still loving the car lots.

The Power is very good, engine is noisy, but doesn't bother me. Economy is very good too, taking it easy drving the motoroway and A roads i can get easily 49 / 50 mpg combined, more if your just doing really long m-way journeys. Handling is good too, although the suspension is quite hard and you do feel the bumps, but i personally would prefer it harder than it being too soft. Seats are a bit hard but firm and hold you in place, steering could be better though. I've had a few minor problems which have all been done under warranty so far, so can't complain too much. There's plenty of room inside as well, and i love the looks of the car too.

I went for the 1.9 over the 1.3 because of it's power, especially because of the need to get past slower moving traffic on the A-Roads, such as tractors, so wanted the car with more grunt.

I find now that i am filling up about every 8/9 days, as opposed to filling up the gas powered stiloevery 4 days, it was a full tank of petrol before that every 5 days.

In all Rob it's a great car for the price, cheap fun motoring all round and puts a smile on my face every time i drive it

 

[Tym]

well you wont be going for an orange one! they don't do them anymore! so finally i wont see any orange ones about or not that many! 1.9 ftw.

 

[Hellcat]

Are you going to save it's purchase price in fuel over your GTV?

Have you tried a GPS or it's bigger sis the Bravo Sport 150?

 

[Tym]

get back to your own section bravo

 

[Hellcat]

All your sections are belong to us

Just thought coming from a GTV he might want to try slightly larger as well as slightly smaller.

 

[Boh]

well you wont be going for an orange one! they don't do them anymore! so finally i wont see any orange ones about or not that many! 1.9 ftw.

only mine matey!! i like how you parked yours nex to mine in worksop the other week. there were a feww ppl looking ithink they thought it was somee sort of fiat promotion or something.

 

[wowbagger]

Are you going to save it's purchase price in fuel over your GTV?

Have you tried a GPS or it's bigger sis the Bravo Sport 150?

I recon it will pay for its self within a year or two, I don't want to spend more than I need to and I have a Mitsubishi Grandis people carrier thing as a main car so I do not need the extra space of a Bravo.

 

[grande punto]

ive only just swapped to my GPS 1.9mjet, ive noticed a few problems. Which seem to be common ie. squeeling brakes and it had a dodgy lambda sensor. This is nothing major just abit annoying but the dealer is sorting all out on wednesday so we'll see how that goes!

I am very happy with my car, great performance and decent fuel economy. Average around 40 mpg around town, a little more on a longer run !. As for little problems nothing major so far, i also had the squeeling brakes issue but i just removed both front sets of pads, cleaned and copper greased them and that has cured it. Also my leather interior is nearly one year old and looks as good as new !. Get yourself one if you can resist !!!

 

[wowbagger]

With regard to the ride quality and engine noise , my Bilstein equipped GTV has a very firm ride and the GP Sporting seemed much softer on my test drive, the engine also seemed quite quiet at speed, certainly quieter than the rubbish VW diesel engine in my Grandis so I don't think that either would bother me.
It sounds like the Punto(in red) might do the job.

 

[payney1]

the engine also seemed quite quiet at speed, certainly quieter than the rubbish VW diesel engine in my Grandis so I don't think that either would bother me.
It sounds like the Punto(in red) might do the job.

Reading that just reminded me of something.

I was actually sat next to a skoda octavia at a set of traffic lights the other week, it was a diesel too, i had my window right down with it being nice, and all i could hear was his engine, it was really noisy, a lot more than mine. It's only noisy when the car is idling, once your up to speed you don't really hear the engine noise that much tbh.

Good luck Rob hope you get what you want

 

[Mad Mike]

ive only just swapped to my GPS 1.9mjet, ive noticed a few problems. Which seem to be common ie. squeeling brakes and it had a dodgy lambda sensor. This is nothing major just abit annoying but the dealer is sorting all out on wednesday so we'll see how that goes! Around town im getting 40-42mpg and on longer journey/commute 55+mpg so i cant complain ....to be fair i havent pushed her yet to comment to much on the handling capabilities, etc. But i am going over the nurburg in a weeks time so will report then. But i think mad mike has gaven a fair description, i also find the engine noisy in comparison to my freind A3 tdi and the seats are a little hard and not the most supportive! I also have the leather and seats are showing wear already and the cars only a year old! Although its only a £600 option, so you pay for what you get i suppose. But all in all a great car and for the money its a from me

I logged into this one again because I think I had been a little harsh! I had emphasised the car's bad points. The good points are that the exterior looks beautiful, the car is economical, the M-jet Sporting has oodles of torque and faults are generally niggling rather than breakdown-causing!

My hard seats are the standard ones with the silly plastic buttons. I have only ended up with the M-jet Sporting because my early Dynamic 90 1.3M-jet was plagued with steering and suspension faults and I had to replace it. I think Fiat have overcome these problems now.

I see the 90BHP diesel is to be resurrected in the GP2 Eleganza. However, I don't know whether it will be combined with the superior 6 speed 'box which was fitted to early Dynamics. I liked the engine - in spite of the turbo lag. It was quiet, very economical (58mpg) and had 200Nm of torque at 1750rpm. The (high) gearing in sixth was similar to the M-jet Sporting at 2100rpm at 70mph.