General Punto Sporting (New Shape) -Too Many Problems

[Dee]

My car is a new shape FIAT Punto Sporting, has done only 5,000 and is 3 years old.

I work from home so hardly drive it.



I had problems with the car's Air Conditioning, everything seemed to work
but the car wasn't getting cool.
My Dad came back from holiday so he looked it over today and we found an
Aluminium pipe in the car that carries the gas, it has a crack in it.



This is the obvious reason for the leak of gas.



My question is this should this be expected to happen on a car with such
few miles on the clock?



The car has only ever been worked on by a FIAT Dealer.


First time it went in for safety recall where I got a letter saying there might
be a chance some cable catches on a pulley or belt I think.



And 2nd after 2,500 miles and when it was 2 years old the power steering
failed and the entire unit was removed and replaced - that time I ended up
paying half the cost. I also had a service at the same time by the same FIAT Dealer that replaces the power steerin system.



I'm wondering if the line could have been cracked during either of these two
procedures, espacially the power steering replacement?



The sides of the aluminimum pipe is round in shape however at the site of
the crack it's flatted slightly almost like someone has taken some big
pliers and squeezed the pipe, the crack is also near a bend in the pipe.

To myself this crack looks as if it come about from a fault during the manufacture of the car, due to the way the car has been designed - the pipe has many twists and turns in it and aluminium is a very brittle metal, which neither myself or the two people who looked ta it today can understand why it has been used in this application.

This is my family's third (3rd) Punto and the other two never gave a problem, BUT
they were the old shape punto and the most basic model Punto. After having had many trouble free years with those two puntos I decided my next Punto would be the the best model Punto I could afford and at the time that was the NEW shaped Punto Sporting.

But this car has been nothing but trouble and seeing as I only average approx 1,500 miles per year in it I don't feel I should have had anywhere near as many problems.

 

[Gav]

Sorry to hear of your problems. It might be worth asking the dealer why it would have cracked. It could be down to the low usage, I know I certainly wouldn't buy a used car with a crazily low milage like that! I've never owned a car with AC, so I don't know all the problems it can bring - but have heard lack of use is very bad for it. My own 8v ELX turns 3 on saturday, and has 40,000 trouble free miles, so I don't think the Punto is inherently unreliable - just some are duds...

Punto Mk2 ELX

 

[Dee]

Well it's been over a weeknow since I emailed FIAT - their website says allow 48 hours for a response .. time to take things up to thenext level I guess .. any suggestions? I didn't get my car froma Dealer but from Trade Sales who import them, at the time I'd saved about £2,500 compared to buying from a dealer. Now the differences are a lot less, but 3 years ago that was the state of affairs.

 

[CentoEvo]

Thats the thing about Fiat, they're nice cars but the dealerships are a big let down as they can't be bothered with sorting problems in their so called 'aftercare service'
I would have thought the pipe should'nt have cracked unless it has been squashed or hit as its only very thin and weak aluminium, just a case of proving wether they done it or not.

"The Not so Fast but Furious"

 

[boywonder]

I currently have the same problem with my car. It has happened before and I have had it fixed under the warranty. I don't know why the AC pipe cracks but even using the AC regularly through the winter as many people/guides suggest doesn't seem to help. It has crakced twice on mine, once during the first year using the main Fiat Warranty where it was fixed free of charge and it has happened again a month ago and the extended Fiat warranty I bought when I bought the car doesn't cover it and it will cost aproximately £150 to fix and re-gas.

Fiar Stilo Abarth 3dr. Loden Green, Beige Leather, Sky Window, Cold Climate Pack, 17" Alloys, CD Changer. Anticipated Delivery Mid June.

 

[Dee]

I'll get started on my letter - think I'll try the address mention elsewhere in this forum for their Public Relations people .. if I get no joy thinking about doing a little website listing problems with the punto .. anyone have any contributions to make to the site?

 

[Peetie]

Well Well Well, an unreliable Fiat, unhelpful dealers crap customer relations.
I, like the original post writer, had owned two good fiats..1000 fire Unos..simple to work on reliable reasonable performance and so cheap to run.
At present we run three fiats, a Punto 4 years old FDSH, Cinquecento Sporting 72000 miles (scrapyard dodger) and a 1992 Uno 70,000 miles..
MOT Time, Punto required new shocks new springs, 50% new brake pipes and some serious rust treatment...not forgetting the total lack of front brake pads and leaking front caliper..It had a full service only 2000 miles before all this came to light.
I complained to FIAT who were not very interested and then rebuilt the bloody thing myself at approx 1/3 the cost of dealer prices..
The Cinquecento only needed one brake pipe and a Lambda sensor but the old uno, never maintained and driven into the ground, that got its MOT with nothing done to it, all its had in its 11 year life is a cv joint, brake pads, exhaust and fuel tank..and its 7 years older than the Punto...so buy old, buy cheap, avoid main dealers and regard a full main dealer service history a very good reason not to buy.
Oh and never buy a car with air con or abs or power steering ever!!!!
PS Dont bother writing to FIAT they are not intrested, try setting trading standards on your dealer..they won't be hard to catch out.

 

[Dee]

I agree Air con and stuff like that is a headache when they go wrong - but power steering is God send for the Punto anyway and most cars - after having a punto wihout power steering for 3 years and now a punto for 3 years with I know which I prefer. I also love having power windows just makes seeing easier!! And I like to drive with both front windows down when the weather is good.

 

[Donz]

<blockquote id="quote"> face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Originally posted by Peetie

Oh and never buy a car with air con or abs or power steering ever!!!!
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">


i disagree, abs saves lives, plain and simple.

SEI POWER
The NOS Guzzler with more posts than you - - is Donz
​

 

[Peetie]

OK granted ABS saves lives can't argue that one but I am concerned what happens to these systems as they age...

 

[CentoEvo]

What about BMW's new electronic power steering system??
Taken from their website
"M Servotronic is a special form of power steering geared not to engine speed, like conventional power steering systems, but rather to the car's actual road speed. In practice this means ample power assistance when parking and manoeuvring at low speeds, followed by gradual reduction of power assistance as road speed increases to ensure greater direct contact with the road at high speeds and, as a result, an even higher standard of steering precision. Using the sports switch, the driver can also choose a second steering control curve for even sportier feedback from the steering."

A computer controlling my steering??? No thanks

"The Not so Fast but Furious"
Who cares about my post count - it's all about quality not quantity!!
(at least thats what i tell myself anyway)

 

[Davie C]

Just a few more things to watch out for. Just bought a Y plate 1.2 16V sporting from Arnold Clark which said there were no defects on the car when i bought it. After driving it for a day it was crunching going down into third so took it back in to see the garage and they've since told me the synchromesh is away in the gearbox and also the clutch is heavy. It's going back in for a clutch and gearbox strip after only two weeks of ownership. My guess was that some wee fudd was knocking f**k out of the gearbox when they were driving it but the garage told we it happens quite often with the 6 speed box when going into 3 rd or 2 nd. At least mines getting fixed under an extended warranty i bought with the car. So be careful if you're buying privately, mines only done 35 K

 

[stevirobbo]

I regulary service mine but dont use the fiat dealership as I dont trust them and they are not nice people, find a good garage you can trust and stick with them.

Not had any problems with the A/C as the roof goes up and down as it should .

But stay away from dealerships, they are rubbish buy from good sources etc you get better deals although I dont know much about importing cars but have heard the spec is a lot different and harder to sell on ,you should always check first to see if you can get teh parts as they are different .

 

[sh33n]

Originally posted by Peetie
Oh and never buy a car with air con or abs or power steering ever!!!!

So what your saying is, just don't buy a good car, with all the nice features that people want on a new car these days? [xx(]

I agree that these things can cause headaches, touch wood mine will stay trouble free!!

I have all these features, and I like them

Punto MK2 Sporting 16v, Full Abarth Bodykit + Alloys.

 

[bigdave30081985]

I need help urgently. I have just brought a second hand fiat punto mk2 and i had no problems with it when i got it. Got home and was going to take it for a drive on my own and realised the speedo wasn't working. Though it was a speed sensor problem, bust a gut to try and get a new one and finally got one and fitted it. Still the same problem not working bu the rest of the dash is fine and the petrol gauge and the lights work. I am really gettin a bit p***ed off now. Any suggestions of wot is wrong with it guys.

Thanks

 

[missey]

You will be better off starting a new thread with a decent heading discribing your problems are, rather than bumping up a 4 year old thread...you will get help quicker that way.


EDIT: Soz...Just noticed that you already have ...Ive bumped your other thread up in the tech section...hopefully someone will answer soon (*coughs* ehem punto power )

 

[oktopod]

I like this thread, at last someone also said somethng bad abbout Fiat.
Your pipe seems wrong? Wait some more time, you'll see all the other nonsense.

 

[custard]

I like this thread, at last someone also said somethng bad abbout Fiat.
Your pipe seems wrong? Wait some more time, you'll see all the other nonsense.

what because of one fault.
seems you have more issues than your car

 

[oktopod]

Cause there are many nonsenses....
And yes I have plenty issues, now ya all know