I might be coming back the FF after a few years away with an MG ZR or two after having a Cinq

Looking to buy a Punto 2008, 1.3 diesel.

Now, I dont know a great deal about these engines so please tell me what I need to be looking for in a used car

might be looking at a 2008 Active M Jet


most of my miles are on the motorway, should be fine with that yeah?


cheers

Welcome back then !

If I were looking for a Mjet, I'd definitely choose the 90hp version. This one has the Variable Vane turbo, so without the infamous cracking waste-gate as is the 75hp ... Be aware also that the 2008 is probably Euro4 specs only and might be banned in some cities. The good side of it is that You'll probably find a cheaper high emissions one .

Pitty that You live in UK since my 2009 Mjet will soon be for sale, but it's a LHD :-(

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

I was supposed to be seeing one this morning but have called it off, it had short MOt and 178,000 miles, it looked fine on the pics

although I have the cash to buy I think I am gonna sell my existing car first to boost that cash so I can buy better.

I will still be wanting a Grande Punto Diesel, in the 1.3 format.

for some reason, the insurance for a 1.3 65bhp gp diesel is a lot dearer than my 1.4 MG ZR, so I would think the higher BHP model will command even higher insurance quote, although that said, if its £30 tax then that kinda levels it up as the tax on the ZR is I think, £230 a year.

I think also the lower bhp one wil be fine as I wont have a DPF to worry about - will I?


anyway, general buying tips for these cars is appreciated, I have not even driven one yet but I am sure it will be much better than what I have now.

thanks

levemircento said:

I was supposed to be seeing one this morning but have called it off, it had short MOt and 178,000 miles, it looked fine on the pics

although I have the cash to buy I think I am gonna sell my existing car first to boost that cash so I can buy better.

I will still be wanting a Grande Punto Diesel, in the 1.3 format.

for some reason, the insurance for a 1.3 65bhp gp diesel is a lot dearer than my 1.4 MG ZR, so I would think the higher BHP model will command even higher insurance quote, although that said, if its £30 tax then that kinda levels it up as the tax on the ZR is I think, £230 a year.

I think also the lower bhp one wil be fine as I wont have a DPF to worry about - will I?


anyway, general buying tips for these cars is appreciated, I have not even driven one yet but I am sure it will be much better than what I have now.

thanks

Click to expand...

Hi...... I was just looking through the forum to find out where I can post an ad of my 1.3 Multijet (90) GP and came across your post, have you had any luck finding what you're looking for??

still browsing ads at the moment, ideally I would like to have a drive one of them to see what they are like

levemircento said:

still browsing ads at the moment, ideally I would like to have a drive one of them to see what they are like

Click to expand...

Nippy and economical is how I would describe them, having owned mine for 3 years.
Where are you, I'm in south london, bromley/croydon.....if you fancy a demonstration in one, and good look around one under the bonnet etc etc

near manchester airport sadly.

levemircento said:

near manchester airport sadly.

Click to expand...

Oh that's a shame

Ads.. easy on a PC..
On a mobile find linl at top of Mewbie section.. yellow info

I now own 2 x gp75s both mj 1248cc

General GP build quality issues.

Heater wiring.. rear cluster connections. Handbrake cables.

Thankfully mine are 3 door.. so the window winders cannot seize.. however the door wiring has chafed.. so elec window motors are tempramental.

Ive had 1.9 jtd's before..marea

This motor doesnt lug..
Knocks out the dogbone if you drive below 1500 rpm.

Both are basic Actives.. non aircon ..
5 speed box return indicated @65 mpg
Doing 65'ish mph on our 110 each way 220mile commute.
£20 of diesel gives that run.. and running around scope too.

Have a 5door twinair..6 speed..uses £30 of unleaded ..but has aircon..and cruise.. so more comfy

Still miles from Lancs though..

Plenty around by now though.. should be sub £1k for a GP.. evo is same car

Local sales place had 2011evo mj.. looked like mt TA.. for £2000 @80k on clock.

But too much for my uses..

PAID:
£700 For roughbody FSH @90k
£1000 very tidy.. no history.. 85k

Camchains do fail.. so good listen to motor before paying for it..

Charlie

thanks for the info so far

I am not in any rush to buy, I am going to look at selling my ZR when its had a new mot in july, and in the meantime saving up a bit

I could go and look at a car locally with the pretence of buying, but I dont really want to do that, so if theres anyone in the north west that has one of these I would be grateful to have a nose around one

do think its going to be the 1.3 diesel I go for though, theres plenty of 1.2 petrols but I am not keen as I think its basically the same engine that was in my Cinq Sporting [but bigger capacity], it kept eating head gaskets, and so did the mk1 punto we had at a similar time.


so, on the 1.3 diesel...

are they reliable?

is high mileage an issue?

in the real world, is the fuel consumption good? I dont do much town driving, mainly motorway, it will be a second car to our Berlingo.

are they easy to service? I like to do everything myself

do they rust much? if so, where?


cheers

Hi,

Mine is a special version of the 1.3mjt, with 85bhp: it has the 90bhp setup (variable vane turbo) but came without the particle filter so is a bit "derated".

are they reliable?
Definitely! My engine NEVER had ANY part replaced.

is high mileage an issue?
Not for the engine if properly maintained, need to take care of the engine mounts, wishbone, dog-bone etc. Basically every rubber thing: all serviceable parts, but often neglected...

in the real world, is the fuel consumption good?
On a 10 year basis and having collected every fill station receipt, mine did a true 5,2l/100km average. I drive a real mix of roads: country-side, highways and a little city and my right foot isn't particularly light ;-)

are they easy to service?
Yes, engine is small and engine bay is quite vast, no special tools really needed, but maybe "E" sockets for e.g. engine mounts bolts

do they rust much?
Those days of rotten Fiat's are gone! Seems that some parts are more exposed to rust though, I'd definitely inspect the wishbones and slits on a second-hand GP. Oil sump is also a good candidate for rusting...

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

another couple of questions

do the 65bhp and the 90bhp have DPF? if they do, do they require the special fluid putting in [eolys?] or do they use adblue to control the process

do the 1.3 diesels have a DMF? and if so, do they cause any problems?

do the 1.3 diesels all have AC?

Try & get a car with a service record or at least ask the seller if he/she changed the oil/filter regularly. I had a 1.3 diesel in GM guise 150000 on the clock & would still have it today until an untimely end. Great wee engines & are quite nippy for what they are. Chains can go, but this is usually down to neglect/poor servicing. If you can get one with a recent chain fitted!

These engines require clean oil for the chain, 6 monthly oil & filter changes regardless of mileage. Fuel filter change yearly. These engines do need an Italian service now & again if you potter about/short journeys.

I would be willing to put a new chain in myself if it wasnt something a seller was sure about

this would be a second car but when it did get used its mainly up the motorway for 40 miles, and back, and occasionally for work which is a hilly 12 mile drive

some sellers are making a point that these cars have only £30 a year tax, is that right?

I think the tax on my 1.4ZR is about £230 a year, so anything cheaper than that would be welcome

levemircento said:

I would be willing to put a new chain in myself if it wasnt something a seller was sure about

this would be a second car but when it did get used its mainly up the motorway for 40 miles, and back, and occasionally for work which is a hilly 12 mile drive

some sellers are making a point that these cars have only £30 a year tax, is that right?

I think the tax on my 1.4ZR is about £230 a year, so anything cheaper than that would be welcome

Click to expand...

Chain failures are rare and they tend to make a racket if there is a problem.

These cars do benefit from £30 tax a year, even my 1.6 multijet Evo is only £30 As is my 2.0L 150hp VW golf Cabriolet. Welcome to the wonderful world of low CO2 Diesel engines.

If the chain did break the rockers are designed to break and save the valve so not a catastrophic engine fail. The water pump is separate and belt driven. Does not run off the cam chain (or belt like in most cars)

The diesel particulate filter is a dumb filter that captures soot, to be effective the filter needs to get nice and hot meaning long runs at higher speeds. The heat then burns off the captured spot, if you don’t do this then the filter will eventually clog.
You can get fuel additives that help the cleaning process but generally you don’t need any chemicals or liquids. Adblue is for new large engine vehicles that produce high levels of NOX, not seen a fiat yet that needs adblue, again my 2.0L 2015 euro 6 golf doesn’t even have adblue.

Adblue is a complete system that injects some uréa based liquid before a special catalytic converter to reduce NOx when certain conditions are met (mainly temp). It's NOT an additive as its name would suggest, and peeing in your reservoir wouldn't help reduce your NOx ;-)

BRs, Bernie

If someone here helped You fix -or better, understand- your issue, hit the thanks icon @ bottom right corner, it's free and makes us feel helpy ;-)

My 1.3 multijet Punto is going quite well so far with fairly low maintenance,

Apart from when I first bought it, knowing its current problems,

I've replaced front brake pads, diesel filter, glow plugs, air filter twice, oil filter twice, motor oil 3 times (used Penrite 5w 40), bought some vacuum pipe (about 500mm to replace some split ends), tighten up air intake hoses, replace battery, replace alternator (didn't know when I bought it, someone had put the incorrect one in), replace aux belt, ripped out the cheap chinese hids and replaced with standard halogens, replaced the front speakers with my donor vectra's ones (sooooooooo much better - also did the rears with new fusion 2-way ones but gonna take them out and and put the vectra ones in - will be much better), replaced 6 or 7 tyres due to 17in rims and a fairly low profile on my rocky driveway and 2 nails, so it now has 15in rims from an astra,

Next job is replacing tyres and rear shocks to pass a mot/rego check

How did it go changing the glowplugs ?? Cheers....

Changing the plugs was an easy job, no problems,

Reason I changed them was because when I bought the car, it was giving the glow plug message on the cluster lcd, so instead to checking each one, I just changed them all and kept the old as spares, guess I'll find the stuffed one when the time comes on the other hand, I could just buy new ones for $25 each or so