Hi guys,

I currently drive have a Fiat Punto Mk2.5 1.2 Active. This is being sold on in the family for someone's first car.

Therefore I am currently in the market for a new car. A budget of £11,000 has been set aside for the new car. Being 22 a low insurance group is important.

Would I be better putting my money into a new Punto Evo or a second hand Grande Punto? Or should I be looking elsewhere at something like a new style Fiesta?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks,
James

Well 11k would get you an Evo.

If your doing a decent mileage you might want to look at a 1.9 sporting grande punto - quick and not too bad insurance wise. The saving made on purchase cost would more than offset any extra insurance costs.

30111987 said:

Well 11k would get you an Evo.

If your doing a decent mileage you might want to look at a 1.9 sporting grande punto - quick and not too bad insurance wise. The saving made on purchase cost would more than offset any extra insurance costs.

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Well if your willing to travel to a town near Bath then buy an EVO from http://fiatsupasaver.com

I bought from them and for your budget you can have a new EVO 3dr 1.4 MultiAir GP for £5 short of 11k. Check the official Fiat website for specs but at a saving of £2500 you'd be bonkers to buy from a main dealer unless they match the qoute ofcourse

I bought from FiatSupaSaver and so far the service has been miles ahead of my main dealer and I'm saving literally thousands.

Or go slightly lower spec and splash out on a glass roof or whatever takes yer fancy

jsdickinson said:

Hi guys,

I currently drive have a Fiat Punto Mk2.5 1.2 Active. This is being sold on in the family for someone's first car.

Therefore I am currently in the market for a new car. A budget of £11,000 has been set aside for the new car. Being 22 a low insurance group is important.

Would I be better putting my money into a new Punto Evo or a second hand Grande Punto? Or should I be looking elsewhere at something like a new style Fiesta?

Any help much appreciated.

Thanks,
James

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If your willing to spend 11k, id go for the Evo personally.
The only thing against the evo in reviews is the steering (but since you drive a fiat already you probably dont care about that.)

If you want to save some money, a used grande is good.

If you want a change, then i gather the new Fiesta is the Evo's direct competitor, Evo has more performance/mpg (performance depending on model.) but Fiesta has better steering & gearbox apparently.

I've got a 1.4 105 Evo Eleganza on order ill be collecting in the next few days, my insurance is looking to be £432 (im 25, 5yrs no claims.), tax is £120-30

i would go for a 59 plate a bit cheaper and usually few miles and you would still have 2.5 years of warranty.

if you were looking for a competitor there is also the vauxhall corsa

bladecs_04 said:

i would go for a 59 plate a bit cheaper and usually few miles and you would still have 2.5 years of warranty.

if you were looking for a competitor there is also the vauxhall corsa

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Also...

Renault Clio
Citroen C3
Ford Fiesta

are ment to be in the same bracket if you want to do some shopping around

Don't forget the Suzuki Swift and Honda Jazz. The Swift can be swift on the line and you can't beat Japanese long term reliability. Not as stylish or with as much flair as a Fiat though

If doing a lot of miles then try and find an 09/59 1.9mjet

If not doing many miles, then try and find an 09/59 t-jet

Should be able to find one with low miles but at a good price and use the left over for your insurance.

At 22, insurance on either of those should be somewhere between £650-1000 depending on how many years no claims you have, could be even less if you have 4 or more years no claims.

The new Evo is a lovely place to sit and promises to be a fantastic and economical drive. The one I looked at was the 105 sport, and cost £14,000. This is a lot of money. With your budget are you able to afford an Evo? I haven't looked into the spec details and the one I saw was loaded.

If you an get the spec you want at a price you can afford I would go for the Evo.

Failing that, as others have said, a Jazz would be a very good bet.

An alternative to a Punto Evo or a used Grande would be a new Grande Punto 1.4 Sound.

A fully-loaded 3 door in a metallic colour with Comfort Pack, Style Pack, Tech Pack and Leather Steering Wheel has an RRP of £11,795, so with a bit of shopping around will fall well within your budget.

Now that Scrappage has come to an end dealers need to look for proper Retail business, so will be keener to do deals on new models than they have been the past 9 months.

Thanks guys for all the advice, will just have to look around the dealers for any good deals

Ulpian said:

The new Evo is a lovely place to sit and promises to be a fantastic and economical drive. The one I looked at was the 105 sport, and cost £14,000. This is a lot of money. With your budget are you able to afford an Evo? I haven't looked into the spec details and the one I saw was loaded.

If you an get the spec you want at a price you can afford I would go for the Evo..

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That'll be the GP you saw, very nice on the outside... But, i realised Eleganza was the best deal.

Parking sensors / Ambient lighting / dual zone climate control / ESP with hill holder / Electrochromatic rear mirror as standard for the Eleganza
GP has side skirts / sports bumpers (but they look the same to me) / rear spoiler, but missing everything i said above.

And, there the same price (14k) with the same 105 engine / gearbox etc.

I wasnt to impressed with the new Fiesta when I had one as a courtesy car, I couldnt see what was so amazing about it as car mags are making out.

FiatSupaSaver have some pre-registered deals, too:

59 Plate Gande Punto 1.4TJet Sporting 3HB White, 2 Tone Alloys + more! - £9995, save £3750

59 Plate Grande Punto 1.6 Sporting Diesel 5HB, Climate, 2 tone alloys + more! - £11995, save £4250

Both of those seem like really good deals to me - if I could opt out of the company car scheme, I'd be very tempted by the diesel - I know someone with a Bravo with that engine and he really rates it.

Have you posted up the same thread in the suzuki, ford, citroen etc forums...no because you know you want a punto evo because your heart tells you too!

Post up pics of the evo when you collect it

T14086 said:

Have you posted up the same thread in the suzuki, ford, citroen etc forums...no because you know you want a punto evo because your heart tells you too!

Post up pics of the evo when you collect it

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Haha too true mate! My Punto was my first car and I love it. Have rented a Fiesta on holiday and thought it was fine, just a bit bland. But I need to be sensible and look around at the competition.

Scrogg said:

An alternative to a Punto Evo or a used Grande would be a new Grande Punto 1.4 Sound.

A fully-loaded 3 door in a metallic colour with Comfort Pack, Style Pack, Tech Pack and Leather Steering Wheel has an RRP of £11,795, so with a bit of shopping around will fall well within your budget.

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3 door sound - £8695 at FiatSupaSaver.

jsdickinson said:

Haha too true mate! My Punto was my first car and I love it. Have rented a Fiesta on holiday and thought it was fine, just a bit bland. But I need to be sensible and look around at the competition.

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Much the same as me then, my first car was/is a Punto 60SX, done me just fine... no luxurys but its a bare basic first-time car.

I've been in lots of my friends Fiestas/Corsas n stuff, and i cant say as im impressed by anything in em, maybe my friends just dont splash out on the extras (which i know cost alot.).... Punto Evo seemed to be pretty damned cheap considering everything you get with it, more extra's than my friends cars & more gadgetry than my dads 1.6 08 "Elite" 17k Astra (Which test in driving, seemed to "Go!" just as well as the evo 105.)

I've researched ALOT, and the Evo came out on top for me.... Though, if your not arsed about extra's n things then yeah, Vauxhall & Ford do nice offers for pre-reg or 09-style stuff, just very limited on what extras you can have, but as i said, if your not arsed about extras then deffo worth checking out vauxhalls website for specials.

Blank2k2 said:

Vauxhall & Ford do nice offers for pre-reg or 09-style stuff, just very limited on what extras you can have, but as i said, if your not arsed about extras then deffo worth checking out vauxhalls website for specials.

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exactly, this has been pointed out by publications/websites etc that although comparision ford/vauxhalls look good on paper its when you add all the stuff the punto evo has that the price rockets and makes them look positively overpriced.