Hi Guys,

I'm really interested in buying the 1.4 Fiat Grande Punto Eleganza Auto model. I have read that this is actually a semi-auto, rather than a traditional full automatic.

I have a full manual licence, but one of the prospective drivers has an Automatic licence only. Can this specific car be driven legally by an automatic licence holder even though it is a semi-auto?

I have seen various pictures of the gearbox of this car and it seems to have a traditional manual gearknob with the various gears, but cannot seem to see a clutch. Could someone shed more light on how all this works when driving in automatic, and how much different is it than driving a normal full automatic car.

Any help would be much appreciated.

hopefully someone can give you the correct answer ,but if not e-mail the dvla ,or have a look round their website

I have a punto evo auto and the car is just like an normal auto when you put it in drive but if you hit it to the left you can also change gears by pulling the stick up/ down without using the clutch. I only have a auto licence as well so this is why I went for this one.

Yes you can drive it on an automatic licence.
http://www.dft.gov.uk/dsa/Documents/FOI/2011/IA0034611B.pdf

Look under 6.09 at Semi-Automatic systems. For the test and licencing they are considered automatics

Thanks for the replies guys, much appreciated. So that sorts out whether she is legal to drive it

How different is it from a normal auto to a semi-auto, from a driving perspective? Because she has been an automatic licence holder for about 15 years now and is slightly concerned that she may not feel comfortable with this setup. She wouldn't have to change gears right like on a manual but with no clutch of course?

Sorry, but all this semi-auto stuff is all very confusing to me lol

http://www.fiat.co.uk/Content/?id=24298
has details of how it works

As has been said you can just stick it in drive and it will be just like any other automatic. Or if you prefer to select the gear yourself then you can override the fully auto setting.

Thanks for the reply and link, very much appreciate it.