500 owner thinking about switching to GP or P

Hello all GP / P owners,

I have had my lovely 500 now for almost 2 years and I am thinking about upgrading to a Punto or a Grande Punto, firstly could you please tell me the difference between the two?

Also as my 500 is only a 1.2, for which I would like to get a bigger size it has only 2 doors, hence wanting to go for a 4 door and lacks in boot space.

I do not want to buy new, but a relatively low mileage Punto will be ideal.

Does anyone know of any good places where I could go and have a look at some in the Hampshire area?

My father in law has a Mito and looking at the GP or the P it is basically the same car, but without the Alfa Badge!

Any comments on the above will be greatfully recieved.

Merry Christmas!

Go for the 1.9 Mjet eleganza grande punto it's 5 door and has plenty of grunt!

Have a search on autotrader for garages near you and go have a look?

If you want considerably more space have you thought about the new bravo, can be had for good money like the GP now

the punto (mk2b) only went upto 05 reg! Look on www.parkers.co.uk for spec and engine difference!

Have you had a trade-in price for the 500 yet?

If you decide on a Grande Punto, go for a 1 owner car only - whilst many owners are happy, there seems to be alot more ones riddled with niggly faults than there are other Fiats and a good way of telling this on a used car is by seeing how often it changed hands - one that's had lots of keepers might have always gone wrong & been sold on as people got sick of it.

I would also endorse looking at a new Bravo. The prices on these are very competitive now & they are generally much more on par with the 500 from a build quality perspective than the Grande Punto.

As Liam says choose carefully, I wouldn't go near a GP without seeing warranty history, service history and out of warranty repair history (if any), plenty around so be picky and buy with warranty (at least 3 month) if possible.

JTD_Liam said:

If you decide on a Grande Punto, go for a 1 owner car only - whilst many owners are happy, there seems to be alot more ones riddled with niggly faults than there are other Fiats and a good way of telling this on a used car is by seeing how often it changed hands - one that's had lots of keepers might have always gone wrong & been sold on as people got sick of it.

I would also endorse looking at a new Bravo. The prices on these are very competitive now & they are generally much more on par with the 500 from a build quality perspective than the Grande Punto.

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Thanks for that, I have had a look at some Grande Punto and I have also found a nice Bravo on the Autotrader site 2009 1.4 9K Manual it also has cruise control which is ideal for driving long distances!

Choices Choices! also seen on Parkers I will get at least 7K for my 500

I like the Bravo too. My local dealers are swamped with used 500's at the mo; I think prices are a bit deflated. There's a good Fiat dealer in Southampton if you need one, the other in Havant, Seward, dropped Fiat a year or more ago. Perrys in Portsmouth are large, but I haven't used them.

I think you want five doors, if not the Grande Punto Sound 1.4 8V is still on offer new at £7500. It's a bargain, but the three doors can be annoying if you carry people regularly.

If you go ahead, do it soon, BSM driving school are dumping their fleet of 500's soon as there's not enough room in the rear to carry driving examiners. There will be a lot of 500's around in the Spring.

Mozarella said:

I like the Bravo too. My local dealers are swamped with used 500's at the mo; I think prices are a bit deflated. There's a good Fiat dealer in Southampton if you need one, the other in Havant, Seward, dropped Fiat a year or more ago. Perrys in Portsmouth are large, but I haven't used them.

I think you want five doors, if not the Grande Punto Sound 1.4 8V is still on offer new at £7500. It's a bargain, but the three doors can be annoying if you carry people regularly.

If you go ahead, do it soon, BSM driving school are dumping their fleet of 500's soon as there's not enough room in the rear to carry driving examiners. There will be a lot of 500's around in the Spring.

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Thanks for the advice, I purchased my 500 from Mill Lane in Aldershot as I heard that the service at Perrys was not of a high standard.

If I was going to purchase a Bravo it would have to be a 5 door, as I too are finding it annoying with constantly having to let people out of the back, besides little ones will be along soon!

I will be keeping my eye open in the New Year before the garages become swarmed with used 500's.

Are you planning to get a Bravo? Also what car have you got now?

Engineering500 said:

Are you planning to get a Bravo? Also what car have you got now?

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No, I traded my 2004 G*lf for a new 2010 GP Sound - the £7500 bargain bin special. I like it very much. It has 'quirks' which make it 'interesting'. Like no boot light or spare wheel. Fine car to drive, though. 3 doors makes it 'faster'.

Don't forget VAT goes up to 20 % in January.

Someone on here mentioned it I think, but if you buy from a Fiat dealer rather than an independent, you should get a decent warranty. VW offer 1 year parts and labour on all their used cars, I don't know what Fiat offer.

The VW warranty forked out £1200 for new parts, so for me, it paid going to a main dealer.

Hi, if practicality is a priority for you stick with getting a 5dr GP and don't be tempted to go 3dr. My 3dr proved quite difficult to get my baby nephews car seat into the back yesterday, plus all his clobber in the boot. So glad i dont want kids. As mentioned, the Bravo may be more suitable for you, but even this by class standards isn't the biggest inside. I would still go for the Bravo though, it looks so much better than its rivals:yum:. Shame they don't do an estate version.

Go for the bravo

On the up side, if you have a three door car, they are rarely commandeered for the school run.

3 door with little ones on the way is not a good option. there is very little access to the rear seats. i could not fit a baby seat through the gap, had to put it in and out via the boot (although i am sure some will say they had no problems doing this and will depend which seat you have).

Have to be honest here the GP is not really that practical in 3 door guise.

Halfords have got a special offer on Ermax box trailers at the mo, I should think that the optimum choice for dog/ children owners is an Abarth, with a trailer on the back for the offspring.