As with any car there are some things about the GP that I wish fiat had taken a bit more care over or had spent more money on so I thought I'd see if others agree and what you'd change.

1. T-jet 6th gear (for motorway economy and refinement)
2. Improve the interior plastics, dash and door cappings particularly.
3. Stop the radio defaulting to media player every time the ignition is switched on.
4. Give the powersteering some feel.
5. Design a decent glovebox lid that fits and with a damped action and light.

jameshobiecat said:

3. Stop the radio defaulting to media player every time the ignition is switched on.

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Is there not a setting for this?

Tom JL said:

Is there not a setting for this?

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Yes. You tell the media to "stop". Switching off/removing the USB device while it's still playing will leave the mediaplayer 'paused' and will automatically resume playing next time.

Better heaters.

2minutes of my life that I won't be getting back.

Not used so many screws on the Mk2 Punto air filter.

Top 5 Things jameshobiecat Should Have Done Differently:

1. Researched known faults
2. Taken a longer test drive
3. Been more gentle with the interior
4. Saved up more money
5. Bought a different car






















But nah all jokes aside I do get some of what you're saying, only the 6th gear thing and the crap glovebox bother me though.

PuntoBooth said:

Better heaters.

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Only ever used mine to clear the windscreen. I prefer natural air getting in the car, still driving with the windows open at this time of year :slayer:

DlightSwitch said:

Only ever used mine to clear the windscreen. I prefer natural air getting in the car, still driving with the windows open at this time of year :slayer:

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Read-

Fitted better window motors

DlightSwitch said:

Only ever used mine to clear the windscreen. I prefer natural air getting in the car, still driving with the windows open at this time of year :slayer:

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Same, its just my heaters take freaking ages to heat up if you're just sat there stationary, although they're fine when you're driving.....but that defeats the point of putting them on because you cant see where you're driving.

jameshobiecat said:

2. Improve the interior plastics, dash and door cappings particularly.

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The interior plastics are pretty good in the GP i think.

Certianly is night and day compaired to the MK2b i had before.

RD55 DUN said:

The interior plastics are pretty good in the GP i think.

Certianly is night and day compaired to the MK2b i had before.

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They are solidly built but in a world of soft touch interiors they feel a bit old school.

I guess using the stop command would solve the media player issue.

I knew full well what I was buying into when I bought the punto faults and all. No car is ever perfect, you have to choose the best compromise but that doesn't mean you can't have winge once in a while.

I don't buy a car to look at or feel the plastic interior all day

Does need a 6th gear though

The interior is fine, on the face of it, why oh why couldn't they have put it together better though! Seriously, those crappy plastic clips are the bane of my life! How much extra would it have costed to properly secure the dash? £10?!

jameshobiecat said:

They are solidly built but in a world of soft touch interiors they feel a bit old school.

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Cant say i spend much time stroking my dashboard so couldnt care less what it feels like, as long as it looks good.

The interior could be put together better but other than ther heater vent trim the materials used are fine.

6th gear!!!!!!!!
and washer jets that spray the windscreen not the plastic underneath the windscreen

rodduz said:

2minutes of my life that I won't be getting back.

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it took you a whole 2 minutes to read that!

Its interesting to see that many people feel differently to me on the interior. I find that mine is the best built I've ever had (excluding dash vent and glovebox), but then I have had Peugeots in the past.

The punto is the first car I've ever owned without a soft touch dash. I remember my dad's 405 having one 20 years ago.

As for the heaters being slow to warm up I think that's more to do with the engines. I think I'm right in saying that the fire uses an iron block which is slower to warm up than Ali and diesels are notorious for slow warm up as the combustion process creates less waste heat.

I really like my punto didn't know t-jets didn't have 6 gears!! I thought they were the same as the sporting but had a turbo!!
Well my grande punto is so much better to drive and everything compared to my mk2 sporting!!

Nice car better than French cars like citerons and Renault and Peugeot!
I would stick to fiats and german cars! you get what you pay for!

PuntoBooth said:

Same, its just my heaters take freaking ages to heat up if you're just sat there stationary, although they're fine when you're driving.....but that defeats the point of putting them on because you cant see where you're driving.

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You obviously dont know how the heaters work, its worked by the engine coolant, that passes through a heater matrix and gets blown into the car so just sitting there isn't going to make the car hot very quick.

JackFi said:

You obviously dont know how the heaters work, its worked by the engine coolant, that passes through a heater matrix and gets blown into the car so just sitting there isn't going to make the car hot very quick.

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No I do know how heaters work and in some cars, they heat up hella quick.