Seriously considering buying one of these and was wondering what the general concensus is of them on here.

Used to have a mk1 Punto years ago and loved it, and what with rising fuel costs (in fact rising costs of everything) it's probably a good time for me to be thinking about downsizing.

The Punto 5 door Multiair (NA - probably a GP or Eleganza) seems to tick most boxes for me but am looking for feedback from people that actually own and run these cars day in, day out.

All comments appreciated on performance, economy, refinement, practicality, comfort, reliability etc etc

Just for a bit of further info do about 16,000 miles a year. Mostly just me in the car but occasionally we have a car full of people and luggage (two adults and one little tyke aged 9)

Cheers

I have the sporting, amazing little engine and very nippy and (according to the official test figures) more economical than a NA.

Thanks for the reply. I really like the look of the Sporting, however I really need four doors so it's out of the qustion for me.

Fiat used to do a five door Sporting with the T Jet engine but I believe it was dropped when they started producing the Evo. Shame, would have been ideal for me.

I have the 1.4 Multiair GP as I also wanted a 5 door.

Engine is much better then the standard 1.4, I test drove the standard then purchased the Multiair.

Goes well enough, even with 5 people in.

Trip computer tells me I'm getting 41 MPG I think, this is mostly B & A Roads with no traffic.

Been reliable but I have only covered 16,500 miles.

kingchris said:

Been reliable but I have only covered 16,500 miles.

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You could've had a list of faults as long as your arm in a Grande Punto in 16,500, so you're doing well! Think it goes to show that the Evo was much more than just a facelift - Fiat clearly remedied a few problem areas at the same time.

The non-turbo MultiAir's 6 speed gearbox should make it a slightly less revvy (and therefore more refined) motorway companion to the MultiAir Turbo engine. Think a couple of people had engine/head gasket trouble just after launch and one or two are reporting rough-running when starting in cold conditions. Appears a fix might've been identified for this but Fiat/Dealers are being tight about applying it to other cars unless the fault shows itself whilst with the dealer.

Most common problems on the Evo seem to extend no further than misting tail lights, loose bits of trim & start/stop gremlins. Certainly doesn't seem the minefield that the Grande has turned out to be.

Thanks for the replies - much appreciated.

I can live with low 40s mpg. A diesel would be better in terms of fuel consumption but I'm not that convinced about long term maintenance costs of ancillaries such as turbos, DPFs, EGRs and DMFs.

Sounds like this could be the car for me.

Hey!
I've got a Multiair Gp 3door and I just about get 34mpg...On the motorway the highest I've seen it go to is 43mpg... I dont drive with my foot glued to the accelerator so I dont know where I'm going wrong ... and most of the time its just me in the car its done just over 4,000miles. But its all worth it when your walking back up to it in a car park and it just owns everything else there!!

Mike

In terms of MPG, I have the 1.2 8V and I've done around 5100 miles in mine now, and I have since notice a sudden rise in the MPG, with little change to my driving habits. It does take a while for it to bed in, but I think it will get slightly better.

One thing I do regret however is going for the 3 door version (5 door wasn't possible in my case, as they didn't have any in stock). Having the 5 door version would make a huge difference if you are getting people in and out of the back a lot, as there really isn't much space to manoeuvre.

I think the car overall is good value for money, however I notice since I got mine (2011 model) they seem to have dropped a lot of the standard features from all the models. The lounge model of now, comes with the same features as my MyLife (with a few extras like sunroof), but appears to be £3000 more expensive, and even with that, there are still some features which are optional, like a 12V cigarette lighter socket. See what you can squeeze out of the dealer though.

Otherwise, I really like the car, it's easy to drive, and has a lot of little quirks that make it a bit more than just a cheap supermini.

Hi,
we've had a 5dr 1.4MA GP since September and as a car, its lovely.
The engine however, I have my reservations about. It isn't very economical and doesn't seem very powerful either. It is supposed to have 105 bhp but really doesn't feel it.
It has only done 2600 miles in that time so I am hoping for some loosening up, but at the moment it feels very sluggish. I can't even hit 100, flat out.

Lovely interior in GP spec, nice ride and steering (sooo much better than the Grande), looks great in Prog black and very roomy. My mate has an Audi A1 which cost £5k more and it is, in EVERY respect, an inferior car.

macaroni said:

Hi,
we've had a 5dr 1.4MA GP since September and as a car, its lovely.
The engine however, I have my reservations about. It isn't very economical and doesn't seem very powerful either. It is supposed to have 105 bhp but really doesn't feel it.
It has only done 2600 miles in that time so I am hoping for some loosening up, but at the moment it feels very sluggish. I can't even hit 100, flat out.

Lovely interior in GP spec, nice ride and steering (sooo much better than the Grande), looks great in Prog black and very roomy. My mate has an Audi A1 which cost £5k more and it is, in EVERY respect, an inferior car.

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It does get better. It was 10'000 miles before mine felt quick enough and gave a decent MPG figure.

Really helpful replies, thanks a lot

I've heard several times and from a number of sources that Fiat engines, especially the latest ones, need a good few thousand miles on them to properly loosen up and start performing at their best. Some of the comments here add credibility to that, so I'm sure performance and economy will both be fine.

Wouldn't be looking to buy new anyway so hopefully I'll get one that someone else has carefully run in!

There are quite a few on Autotrader about two years old but with really high mileages (40-60,000) anyone know the story behind these?

Possibly ex driving school cars - check for carpet and plastic trim being cut away on passenger side for dual controls

Les

^ that makes sense; now you mention it I seem to remember Fiat doing a deal with a big national driving school (BSM?) in the last few years so it all adds up.

Anyway I'll give those cars a miss, wouldn't mind a car with high motorway miles but an ex learner car is not for me.

Ransoman said:

It does get better. It was 10'000 miles before mine felt quick enough and gave a decent MPG figure.

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We won't do 10,000 miles in ours in the 3 years we will have it!

Hi, I had the GP Multi Air for less than 6 months before I px'ed it, the engine had little response when pulling away at junctions/lights which paniced me at times, but then I did have the 1.4 TJet Sporting GP before! It was gutless so went back to a Sporting GP diesel with more poke. Personally I wouldn't have another one again.