Not a patch on the old Uno
General Avoid the GP like the plague!
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General Avoid the GP like the plague!
Not a patch on the old Uno
jameshobiecat
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Looks like it is based on the previous panda.
jameshobiecat
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Perhaps the 1.2s aren't so good. My t-jet certainly has some poke and the brakes are far from on/off. In fact I remember thinking on the test drive that they felt less 'servoed' than those on the 407 I was driving at the time. The steering is lifeless which is a shame but at least the weighting is consistent unlike a 207's which jumps all over the place.
OP
OP
Whether you like or agree with surveys they do act as a gauge of how well a manufacturer is (or is not!) doing.
From my perspective it seems the dealers are the issue,niche makes (lexus etc) have a small but dedicated network while larger manufacturers are concerned with little else but units sold.
Larger manufacturers like Ford have a better reputation that French/Italian manufacturers, could this be because they don't understand the UK market or a case of selling units is more important than what the customer wants.
The problem (IMO) is the larger dealership chains have too much influence, it's clear to see from surveys that the manufacturers that have 'control' over their dealerships perform better.
From my perspective it seems the dealers are the issue,niche makes (lexus etc) have a small but dedicated network while larger manufacturers are concerned with little else but units sold.
Larger manufacturers like Ford have a better reputation that French/Italian manufacturers, could this be because they don't understand the UK market or a case of selling units is more important than what the customer wants.
The problem (IMO) is the larger dealership chains have too much influence, it's clear to see from surveys that the manufacturers that have 'control' over their dealerships perform better.
The dealer I brought my GP from was terrible.
I used a number of different dealers until I found one that was fantastic.
The dealer I brought my Focus from have been brilliant can not fault them at all.
Both of the good ones being small independent dealers.
I test drove the Kia cee'd prior to the focus, they were not very good and I have used a skoda dealer to buy something and they were not at all helpful.
I used a number of different dealers until I found one that was fantastic.
The dealer I brought my Focus from have been brilliant can not fault them at all.
Both of the good ones being small independent dealers.
I test drove the Kia cee'd prior to the focus, they were not very good and I have used a skoda dealer to buy something and they were not at all helpful.
Again I suppose it's all personal opinion - I learned to drive in a (then brand-new) 1.4 8V Corsa, and I hated the damn thing; the trim was cheap, the interior was bland, the ride and seats were uncomfortable, the engine sounded like it was out of a diesel barge and it had no low-down torque whatsoever - it was rather vague and boring to drive too. When I first bought my Grande Punto it was a huge improvement, and I enjoy driving it. And when you're bored of driving a GP, you can just sit and stare at it for a while, and then you're ready for driving again
madpuntodriversince2004
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I had a 1994 punto as my first car...and didn't really think of them again. Went through many cars since 2004 when I had the first fiat.
Fast forward to now lol hubby wrote his car off...so I said what ever new car we get it will be mine and he can have my old one.
The 2014 fiesta we had as a courtesy car for 6 weeks was a dream.....but I woke up abruptly after 6 weeks and had to give it back.
I looked at so many small cars over the last month....but set my eyes on the GP and fell in love with it. The task was to then find a 5 door GP!
Well I'm happy to say I now have one....and wouldn't swap it for (a same year) fiesta for anything lol.
Fast forward to now lol hubby wrote his car off...so I said what ever new car we get it will be mine and he can have my old one.
The 2014 fiesta we had as a courtesy car for 6 weeks was a dream.....but I woke up abruptly after 6 weeks and had to give it back.
I looked at so many small cars over the last month....but set my eyes on the GP and fell in love with it. The task was to then find a 5 door GP!
Well I'm happy to say I now have one....and wouldn't swap it for (a same year) fiesta for anything lol.
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Plus 1 here for the GP. Mine's a 2006. I'd like less road noise from the wheels but other than that it's great
I was happy with my GP when I got it and it was working fine. However for me sadly it was far few and between when it was not faulty which is not acceptable on a modern car.
I was proud of the car and even made an appearance at Stanford hall with it when top gear was filming their and enjoyed the styling and the Italian emotion attached.
However it all became to much! The faults, the noisy agricultural engine, the steering all became more apparent as the faults arrived. Perhaps if the faults did not happen I could over look the other shortcomings!
I was proud of the car and even made an appearance at Stanford hall with it when top gear was filming their and enjoyed the styling and the Italian emotion attached.
However it all became to much! The faults, the noisy agricultural engine, the steering all became more apparent as the faults arrived. Perhaps if the faults did not happen I could over look the other shortcomings!
If the name goes i'll be sad to see it go, both my mark 1 puntos were good cars, a bit rubbish in places with the 55s but enough character to make up for it and the 85 elx was like driving a modern car that looked like a mk1 punto.
I'm also an Ex 45s uno owner, and that car demonstates everything a GP should have been but is not. It wasn't exactly reliable, it wasn't rapid or even mildly quick, the limits were hilariously low but it had a sense of fun to it, that was enough. Hell I stuck a sticker on the speedo so that over 80mph all the needle pointed to was a sign saying BELIEVE!!
I blame vauxhall...corsa chassis FTL
I don't think the GP is a bad car at all, after reading that article it lowered my confidence about my car a bit, but I know as soon as I go look at it in the morning it will make me smile!
it's a cheap car, and it's a fiat, especially being the 1.2 it also doesn't move
They're alright cars, nice and comfortable to drive on my 2nd gearbox and clutch with bits of interior and exterior trim constantly rattling and such, but without slating any other members, I really cant imagine why someone would want to buy these cars new, especially a 1.2 / 1.4 active :/
Fiat imho really need to make a decent hot hatch with good interior build quality, lots of features, and decent sized pokey engines instead of the engine with the equivalent power of the motor that spins my microwaves glass plate around, instead of this 'mostly ugly people-carrier type cars, a bravo aka big grande punto, a punto with small engines thats half of the worst car knows as the corsa, and a spoilt teenage girls 14 reg first car aka the 500 that comes also in 500 different variations.'
Of course not everyone has the daft 21k+ required for a new abarth.
Originally I wanted a more higher spec more powerful GP for a new car soon since I really love the look of grande puntos, I mean the outside of them is stunning, especially in caribbean orange but imho you can get so much more for a lot less on the 2nd hand market.
I mean, if you want power you can pick up a clio 182 for <2k compared to a 1.4 tjet with high miles asking for 5/6k+
it's a cheap car, and it's a fiat, especially being the 1.2 it also doesn't move
They're alright cars, nice and comfortable to drive on my 2nd gearbox and clutch with bits of interior and exterior trim constantly rattling and such, but without slating any other members, I really cant imagine why someone would want to buy these cars new, especially a 1.2 / 1.4 active :/
Fiat imho really need to make a decent hot hatch with good interior build quality, lots of features, and decent sized pokey engines instead of the engine with the equivalent power of the motor that spins my microwaves glass plate around, instead of this 'mostly ugly people-carrier type cars, a bravo aka big grande punto, a punto with small engines thats half of the worst car knows as the corsa, and a spoilt teenage girls 14 reg first car aka the 500 that comes also in 500 different variations.'
Of course not everyone has the daft 21k+ required for a new abarth.
Originally I wanted a more higher spec more powerful GP for a new car soon since I really love the look of grande puntos, I mean the outside of them is stunning, especially in caribbean orange but imho you can get so much more for a lot less on the 2nd hand market.
I mean, if you want power you can pick up a clio 182 for <2k compared to a 1.4 tjet with high miles asking for 5/6k+
I thinks this is where Fiat missed the trick with the GP.
Fiats of old were about buzziness, fun and rortiness.
The GP was launched with a bland looking interior, was a fairly dull car to drive with mediocre power trains. It had good styling in its favour.
If you look at for example at a Fiesta 1.25 of the same era.. Very bland looking car also with a bland interior however you start pushing one of those with the Yamaha 16v engine, it's sweet short throw IB5 gear box excellent ride and handling you were grinning. Yes it wasn't fast but it was fun.
I always remember the most fun driving I have ever had was in a mk1 KA with the original 1.3 59bhp Endura E engine courtesy car.
The slowest least fun cars I have ever driven again both courtesy cars were a Peugeot 207 1.48v - terrible car anyway and a GP 1.2 woefully underpowered and equipped.
Fiats of old were about buzziness, fun and rortiness.
The GP was launched with a bland looking interior, was a fairly dull car to drive with mediocre power trains. It had good styling in its favour.
If you look at for example at a Fiesta 1.25 of the same era.. Very bland looking car also with a bland interior however you start pushing one of those with the Yamaha 16v engine, it's sweet short throw IB5 gear box excellent ride and handling you were grinning. Yes it wasn't fast but it was fun.
I always remember the most fun driving I have ever had was in a mk1 KA with the original 1.3 59bhp Endura E engine courtesy car.
The slowest least fun cars I have ever driven again both courtesy cars were a Peugeot 207 1.48v - terrible car anyway and a GP 1.2 woefully underpowered and equipped.
Further to the above 2nd on my list of the most fun I've had was surprisingly a 1.3 multi jet Panda. Grin inducing car to drive and again what Fiat should be about.
Agreed, my old uno wasn't fast but you could scream it along. The fire power plant was a great engine ?
If we're going down the route of fun cars to drive, my current TA 500 is grin inducing when you push along and the FIRE engined early Pandas can't be beaten for smiles per miles fun, at speeds that won't lose your licence.
All fun until the timing chain has a fit!
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There is a world of difference between the low spec GPs and the better trim/engined ones.
The 1.2 is still a great engine its just too underpowered for the heavy GP, its fine in other applications. The same is true of most superminis, my mum used to have a 59 reg 1.2 Clio and it was the slowest dullest thing in the world yet no one slags off the 192 because the smallest engine models are crap do they?
The 1.2 is still a great engine its just too underpowered for the heavy GP, its fine in other applications. The same is true of most superminis, my mum used to have a 59 reg 1.2 Clio and it was the slowest dullest thing in the world yet no one slags off the 192 because the smallest engine models are crap do they?
The 1.2 fire in the panda and 500 are fun, in the GP no fun. The same can be said of the also woeful 1.2 and 1.4 Corsa engines. I can not even begin to imagine what the 1.0 3cyl is like
Imagine that another thread has came down to "Engine Size"!
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