Hi everybody, just found this fantastic forum and thought I would register!

On the 14th February, I purchased a Fiat Grande Punto 1.2 Dynamic in Jungle grey, and was absolutely delighted with it.

The first time I washed it, I noticed a panel under the front wheel arch was loose, and should be attached. By this time, the car had also developed the usual low speed brake noise, with the squealing.

Booked it into the garage earlier this week (Benfield Ford who have been fantastic), said the car was still safe to drive witht the loose panel, with the problems. Driving about today, stopped and got out of the car, noticed a major chunk of the panel has broken off, which has since led to noises coming from this area whenever the car goes above 40MPH, and has now also developed an annoying sqeaul when breaking from higher speeds! Add to this the fact that the car has bits of white paint on the doors and wheel arches (That i've no idea where they came from!), and I also think it has the water in boot problem, i'm a bit hacked off, and just relieved I booked it into the garage this week!

Such a shame, because I love the way the car drives and looks, but i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that everything will be sorted!

Look forward to contributing to the forum.

Welcome Tom to the forum :wave:


however these are known 'niggles' if you look through the GP section or use the 'search' function.

Other 'issues' can be found here....https://www.fiatforum.com/grande-punto/89495-known-faults-problems.html

Hi T14086,

I knew they were known problems, but just thought it was a way to introduce myself to the forum!

Best Regards, Tom.

No probs.....theres a newbie introduction section which is obviously a good place to introduce yourself,then post questions here,otherwise everyone thinks you have only come here to moan..............which I'm quite sure you haven't and are going to praise the GP aswell

Absolutely, when everything is working, its a fabulous car. Just annoys me that I drove my mums X Reg Seicento Sporting for the past year which has had no problems in the two years she has owned it, yet 2 weeks after picking up a new GP it has these problems!

.....well your wheel arch is a missing clip which seems quite common,brake squeal needs modified pads & water leaks are varied...some leaks from front & some from back.
Dont forget Tom no amout of factory/simulated testing can compensate for day to day driving (especially in UK & on UK roads!) so initial problems are always encounted on any new car.
I dont think anyone here has actually given credit to Fiat for acting quickly on potential problem areas......steering racks for example when every cried they wanted a new rack because of a knocking noise when it most cases it wasn't the rack.
Anyway,Tom enjoy your stay & hope you enjoy the site,some of the other GP owners are actually alright when you get used to them

T14086 said:

Anyway,Tom enjoy your stay & hope you enjoy the site,some of the other GP owners are actually alright when you get used to them

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Does that include me (excluding the time when I posted a link which had a boobie photo on it, which was news-orientated I might point out )

Yeah your ok I guess

i would definantly get it back to the dealers... if you haven't hit anything and they knew about the panel then surely they should sort it out for you.

hope it all gets sorted buddy, good luck!

oh, welcome btw!!

Hey there
So "Benfield Ford" are a Fiat main dealer right? I hope so for your sake.

i have owned a 1.2 active grande punto for three weeks, it is going back to the garage tomorrow, to sort out numerous problems, and i keep finding other problems day after day. i wish i spotted this forum before i bought mine, because most owners have had problems with the cars. i would have my money back if i could.

Vegas..........a few points just to put things into perspective;

Most people post here to complain about their car,very few actually bother to post/write to give the car credit.

This forum represents only a small proportion of GP owners...what about the rest (huge majority)?

Its a budget car,yes there are shortcuts taken to keep it within in price tag.If you want a car that has not faults or should I say if you find a car that never goes wrong please let us know.

All new cars have 'teething' problems blah blah blah,like it or not its true...compared to the best selling car of quite a few years the GP has a heck of a lot less faults than the Ford focus when it was launched.

Your only other post is a mirror image of this one ......"if i were you i would go for something else, i have owned a 1.2 active grande punto for three weeks, it is going back to the garage tomorrow, to sort out numerous problems, and i keep finding other problems day after day. i wish i spotted this forum before i bought mine, because most owners have had problems with the cars. i would have my money back if i could"
Why not tell us of your problems insteard of moaning about the car and put some positive input into the forum to help yourself & others.If your really not happy with the car seek legal legal advice to get your money back etc...but please stop going on about it,do something!

Hello again........012Tom012 you say you have white paint all over yours???? Mines crossover black and has hundreds of white dit of what looks like paint all over the front wings, the bonnet and the doors. I looked under the hood and theres white paint there too.....big blobs, and also what looks like a spray right on the crease of the hos. I think its the primer showing through.....T.....any ideas?

T, shouldn't the "teething" problems be over by now? I mean, the car was released late 2005 if I recall correctly so it's no longer a "new" car in a sense.

I would have thought FIAT would be able to correct most of these faults with this years model at least.

Turbodiesel said:

T, shouldn't the "teething" problems be over by now? I mean, the car was released late 2005 if I recall correctly so it's no longer a "new" car in a sense.

I would have thought FIAT would be able to correct most of these faults with this years model at least.

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I guess this comes down to how quickly a manufacturer responds to a fault and how quickly they can find a fix for it. Ford for example, has a long history of squeaky brakes on almost all their models for many years now (listen to a taxi when it brakes :slayer. So I'm not surprised if there are still teething problems here and there..

The biggest lesson I've learnt in owning a new car is not to expect it to be perfect. It is a piece of machine after all, so it won't be perfect. Even more expensive makes like BMW have their problems, so why not Fiat? I read a member from this forum threatened to drive through the dealer's windows because he/she was so frustrated with their car. But that doesn't solve anything, right?

Patience is the other thing I've learnt. I can honestly say I've been fairly patient (surely with some emotions thrown in) and have done all I can to work with the dealers/mechanics to solve the issues I'm having. If it works out, great! But if at the end of the day you're still really unhappy with it, sell it (or push it off a cliff if you can't be bothered ) and embrace another make

Driving the car through a showroom window would be wicked...... imagine the shock the manager would have. If you dont have a criminal record you would get away with it as there is no rooms in prisons....after all its only criminal damage.

If i had the guts i would do it, what with the numerous problems ive had with 2 grande punto's.

rob19791 said:

.after all its only criminal damage.
.

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In Crown Court, the maximum penalty for criminal damage is 10 years imprisonment.

rob19791 said:

I think its the primer showing through.....T.....any ideas?

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To be honest Rob I haven't noticed this,also being honest I haven't actually looked out for this but I'll have a good look at all the cars in the garage from now on.

Turbodiesel said:

T, shouldn't the "teething" problems be over by now? I mean, the car was released late 2005 if I recall correctly so it's no longer a "new" car in a sense.

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Yes I agree to a extent but you have to remember production has to keep moving at all costs.It takes time to asses/arrange recalls/technical service news etc...end of the day we here in UK are at the mercy of Fiat in Italy! We here in UK report faults as we come across them and thats all we (by that I mean dealers & the feedback dealers get from you the customer) can do.

luvduvs said:

I guess this comes down to how quickly a manufacturer responds to a fault and how quickly they can find a fix for it. Ford for example, has a long history of squeaky brakes on almost all their models for many years now (listen to a taxi when it brakes :slayer. So I'm not surprised if there are still teething problems here and there..

The biggest lesson I've learnt in owning a new car is not to expect it to be perfect. It is a piece of machine after all, so it won't be perfect. Even more expensive makes like BMW have their problems, so why not Fiat? I read a member from this forum threatened to drive through the dealer's windows because he/she was so frustrated with their car. But that doesn't solve anything, right?

Patience is the other thing I've learnt. I can honestly say I've been fairly patient (surely with some emotions thrown in) and have done all I can to work with the dealers/mechanics to solve the issues I'm having. If it works out, great! But if at the end of the day you're still really unhappy with it, sell it (or push it off a cliff if you can't be bothered ) and embrace another make

Click to expand...

Luvduvs.......that was a good post,thanks

rob19791 said:

Driving the car through a showroom window would be wicked...... imagine the shock the manager would have. If you dont have a criminal record you would get away with it as there is no rooms in prisons....after all its only criminal damage.

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And the risk of injury to innocent people! There are avenues to go down that Rob1979 or Sledge can be of help.

i was only kidding by the way.

Wouldnt want an airbag to go off in me face lol.

With prisons at breaking point i somehow dont think you would get put away for it though.....maybe a comunity service or something.....dont try it though just encase lol

T14086 the problems i have had are:
1. brakes sqeeling/grinding.
2. noisy fan.
3. plastic trim lifting.
4. water ingress.(tailgate)
5. rear demister not working.
6. rattling exhaust/slight blowing

DEALERSHIP RESPONSE;
1. known for a long time.(replace brake pads)
2. happens on every gp
3. same on every gp
4. design to do that
5. replacing whole back window
6. sounds like that because gp exhaust have a small hole for drainage.


I have had 3 new cars in the past; punto, polo and a c3.
Other than a recall on the c3, i have had no problems in the past.
Do you still think these are teething problems? or could this been down to
bad workmanship, or maybe a dealership fobbing me off?
Could you give me any answers to points; 2,3,4 and 6?
I have only done 285 miles. Hopefully this will be the end of the problems
but i wont hold my breath.
Would YOU BE HAPPY.
I await your reply.