Okay, im going to get a biased opinion here (and in the 500 forum no doubt !) but need some feedback from real world experiences..

..thinking about changing my ageing golf TDi for somethign newer - Grande Puntos about the right size, and in Tjet or MJet form are about the right mpg to keep fuel costs similar to my current steed

So..

1. economy - with a mixed commute of 5 miles dual carriageway, 4 miles stop/start and 15 miles motorway am i likely to see 43mpg out of a Tjet , and 50mpg from an Mjet doing 80mph on the motorway ? (43 mpg in petrol is the same cost as the 50mpg i get from the Golf currently btw).

2. Noise/ride - how comfortable on a long run (3-4 hours on the motorway) ?

3. Niggles - i expect them on any car, and am expecting more on a Fiat than a VW, but how many, how annoying and how good are the dealers at fixing them ?



Out of these sportings which is the better buy, based on 18k miles pa...

08 plate demonstrator Tjet 5 door, minimal mileage, in Lemans Blue - up for £9k

55plate, 15k miles Mjet 3 door, Orange - up for £8k

06 plate, 18k miles Mjet, with sunroof and leather, Orange - £8.5k


The first is obviously still under warranty, the others i guess just get a minimal used car warranty. Then again the niggles should be sorted on the older cars by a previous owner !


Alternatively..

a demonstrator 500 1.4 16V Sport - £2k off list - maybe a bit noisy on longer runs and rear boot space pathetic, but you can't help but smile when you see one



Or as a final option, I could of course look for a 1.4 16V Sporting GP - 06 platers seem to be under £7k now so a bit cheaper and a bit more economical ?



All comments most welcome.

What made you rule out the Bravo?

You will struggle to see over 30mpg from a T-jet imo. I havent managed it so far lol

Skitz said:

What made you rule out the Bravo?

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To be honest the only Fiats i'm interested in are the GP (decent discounts so offsets the depreciation, decent looks and popular) and the 500 for its cuteness. The Bravo is probably a better size as a family cary all but i don't like the look of it, its an unknown in the used car field and the way prices are falling so far it looks like its depreciation will be worse than the GP, plus running costs will be higher. I realise £9k will get me a Bravo Tjet from a used car supermarket, just not interested in it.

percymon said:

To be honest the only Fiats i'm interested in are the GP (decent discounts so offsets the depreciation, decent looks and popular) and the 500 for its cuteness. The Bravo is probably a better size as a family cary all but i don't like the look of it, its an unknown in the used car field and the way prices are falling so far it looks like its depreciation will be worse than the GP, plus running costs will be higher. I realise £9k will get me a Bravo Tjet from a used car supermarket, just not interested in it.

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Fair enough just was curious

get the 1.4 16v it is cheaper still pretty quick, i averaged 47mpg on a 60mile journey the other day on mixed roads insurence group 4 only and just over £100 to tax for a year and still with all the features of the tjet and mijet

deod182 said:

still with all the features of the tjet and mijet

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Except power.

power aint everything and 0-60 in 10.5 still aint bad

punto_matt said:

You will struggle to see over 30mpg from a T-jet imo. I havent managed it so far lol

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Did a total of 208 miles this weekend from Portsmouth to Dartford and back again at 45.3 mpg in my T-Jet. Thats quite a range of roads too.

Although if i give it a boot to work it will only average about 35-37 mpg.

Also worth noting that if you can get a new series 2 GPS you will get a 5 year warranty!

Thunderchump said:

Did a total of 208 miles this weekend from Portsmouth to Dartford and back again at 45.3 mpg. Thats quite a range of roads too.

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How much of a full tank did you use?

punto_matt said:

How much of a full tank did you use?

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exactly half! so i guess about 20-21 litres

hmmm most i can get to half a tank with my driving is 160miles and thats with the trip counter telling me 26/27 mpg

other folk who have thier mjets longer than me might disagree but i would think to get an average of 50mpg for the sporting mjet would need a very light foot as well the official average isnt even that high i think? for mixed driving more like mid to high 40's i would think?

likewise if tjet is that economic i will be trading mine soon!

i can recommend the 1.4 16v gps, but im still going for the induction kit, coz i want that little bit more!! if it wasnt for the fact i was on a budget buying this car though, would probably of bought a t-jet, but not now that they have done away with the orange, so im gonna keep this one!!:slayer:

Go for the t-jet. I hammer the f**k out of mine and get at least 30 mpg. But when i drive tidy i easily get over 40 mpg. Also the performance and road handling of the t-jet is far better than the m-jet and the 500. I know this for a fact because my brother has a m-jet and my mum has a 500. And even they say mine is the best overall.

Jammy git. How many miles do you get to a tank?

Thanks for the responses - seems like t-jet drivers like their foot buried in the wilton !

I did a short test drive around in and on outskirts of town in a mjet sporting and saw 48mpg - pretty good considering the amount of roundabouts and traffic lights, so i reckon 55mpg steady on the commute is possible, but 50 more likely.

I think i'm ruling the tjet out - the 1.4 16v probably has reasonable performance for my needs (i've got another car for high days n holidays), and the mpg should be much better, maybe hitting 43-45 on the commute.

Mjets about £1500 more expensive used against the 16v - not likely to get that back in fuel savings for a long time, and i wasn't that overly impressed with the mjet performance during my test drive that i'd say the performance benefit was worth it.

Keeping my options open - maybe more test drives this weekend.

Still fancy a 500 though

I take it you are male. Don't get a 500 if you want to keep your sexuality. Lets be honest they're pretty homosexual

puntokris said:

I take it you are male. Don't get a 500 if you want to keep your sexuality. Lets be honest they're pretty homosexual

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lmao so true

puntokris said:

I take it you are male. Don't get a 500 if you want to keep your sexuality. Lets be honest they're pretty homosexual

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Male most certainly thank you

500 homosexual ? Gay car of the year ?? Maybe lol!! but i didn't pass a single male driver of a Punto this morning on my commute; must have seen at least 10 GPs including a mjet sporting in orange, and all seemed to be driven by women in the late 30s and 40s, especially the mjet doing under 50mph on the m56

Buying a 500 means you have lots of girlies asking about your car - let me think about that one for a minute