Hey all,

Been busy putting miles on the clock of my 1.2 Active, a few dings along the way that weren't my fault but wasn't worth the hassle of insurance and excesses. Specially at the stage of driving I was at at the time.

Got her at 36k about 6 years ago as my first car, now pushing 85k. The odd bit of maintenance here and there (battery, exhaust, brake pads/discs, tyres, top mounts, a few leaks) but nothing out of the ordinary. I could keep going with her, but there's a constant oil sump leak (crap garage bodge job), MOT gave defects that need replacing before the next one, very annoying rattles and she's not looking her best.

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I've been searching around, and simply can't decide on which model to replace her with. Looking at under 50k miles ideally so that hugely limits my options and would like the MPG to be as good if not better. Currently get 52-55 MPG from my 1.2 Petrol mainly from single A-Roads (and very light foot)

Huge fan of the stock Sporting look, with a few modifications but nothing extreme, however all 3 options come with Sporting styles. T-Jet, M-Jet and the quite normal 1.4 16V Starjet.

I guess, just looking for some reviews on which to go for, reliability, noise, MPG... you name it I'll listen. If you've owned various of the above, which did you prefer?

Cheers, thanks for reading

Hi Tuyau (hosepipe, hahaha),

engine wise: the simpler the more reliable and hassle-free ! No moving/rotating/variable device and related sensors: no device=no potential failure , but probably a lower Euro spec and also a worse mpg...

If you don't botter about engine, select the car by the gearbox, some of them are known for poor design (bearing housings), check the forum.

Body: same as engine, less stuff = less trouble. No five doors, no sun roof, no fog lights, no automatic this and that ...

That being said it's gonna be YOUR car and YOU will be busy adding miles to her clock so if you like a sporty styled one treat yourself as you deserve ...

Good luck with your search, regards, Bernie

I have a StarJet (Dynamic Sport trim), but would probably get a Sporting/T-Jet if I was in a position of buying another Grande Punto, for the extra power. The interior for any of your choices should be nicer than an Active.


As Bernie says, more advanced car, more to go wrong. But they are all fairly simple I'd say and fairly inexpensive on parts. If you get a car with a turbo, that could be costly if it went so perhaps buy low mileage if you can.

MPG on my StarJet is approx 40, so if you want something more frugal perhaps M-Jet. I'm surprised you get 50+ from the 1.2, seems very good