Hi all,
I have an 18 year old punto.
Will be driving it 36 miles every day from next month to work.
Reliability wise is there anything I should check or change.
therers 137000 miles on engine.
How reliable are original starter motor? should I fit new one?
anything else I should be changing to increase reliability?
tony

I used to drive just under 100 miles a day in my old 1.4 Sporting, clocked up 30k in 18 months. Just keep it serviced to schedule and it'll be fine.

:yeahthat:

If looked after it should give you plenty of trouble free motoring.

Ours is almost the same mileage and still going strong.

Same age one with me

Like with any other car, reliability will directly depend on history and previous maintenance. The only inherent weak spots I can think of are ignition coils (these were problematic on my Punto and both Lancias).
Unless it was changed already, you can expect a clutch change. Typical life of a clutch is about 210-220 kkm.

(CZ)enda said:

Unless it was changed already, you can expect a clutch change. Typical life of a clutch is about 210-220 kkm.

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Depends entirely on driver and usage pattern.

Parents mk1 Petrol Yaris which they owned from new is now owned by a friend, 210k miles on the clock (336kkm) and its still on the original clutch

Sounds impressive, guess it must be mainly freeway mileage.
I remember I had to change clutch on my late XM at 220 kkm (real nightmare, like everything on that car), at 210 on Uno, 220 on Punto. Stilo 1.6, which I went to see and in the end did not want, had clutch "borderline" slipping at 225 kkm.

(CZ)enda said:

Sounds impressive, guess it must be mainly freeway mileage.
I remember I had to change clutch on my late XM at 220 kkm (real nightmare, like everything on that car), at 210 on Uno, 220 on Punto. Stilo 1.6, which I went to see and in the end did not want, had clutch "borderline" slipping at 225 kkm.

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Depends completely on the driver
Those who rest there foot on the pedal all the time or hold it on the clutch at traffic lights are some of the worst
That or often older drivers who drive at 4k rpm doing 5mph as they have the clutch half held

Re: Still alive and punting

I`d start with how old`s the timing belt, (doesn`t matter if its a 8v though, as unless your flat out it won`t bounce the valves) do you have any history with the car ???? (a friend, family previous owners) or is a stop gap for now.

Just check all the bulbs (inside mostly on the dash) but also outside rear as at this time of the year they all have a habit of trafficating when you indicate or turn on the lights (or brake) although its usually a bad earth, or the inside of them looking like fishbowls.

But if you stick the correct grade of oil and fuel, it should last as long as you wish. (and the clutch hasn`t started to vibrate when you first pull away) no need to replace the whole clutch or flywheel:slayer::slayer::slayer:

Re: Still alive and punting

Just like (CZ)enda said about coil problem, kept eyes rocker cover gasket, they are common problem for punto.

(CZ)enda said:

Sounds impressive, guess it must be mainly freeway mileage.
I remember I had to change clutch on my late XM at 220 kkm (real nightmare, like everything on that car), at 210 on Uno, 220 on Punto. Stilo 1.6, which I went to see and in the end did not want, had clutch "borderline" slipping at 225 kkm.

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Although not dense city driving, a lot was local 3-4 mile trips from the village into town and around etc.

Original clutch failed in ours at 42k miles. Spring fingers and release bearing had a row. Just put another in last week at 137k.