Looking for a bit of advise, next week my 2001 Punto will pass the 100,000 mile barrier, and just wondering how much longer it'll go for! She's very well looked after, i service her every 9000 miles (3 times a year!). Anyone got any info on anthing that might start fallen apart with this mileage??? Antyhing i should look out for???

Cheers!

some cars die at 40k, others easily last to 240k. its not just luck that will decide how long it lasts, servicing is more important, as is the type of driving.

as you said, your's is well servcied so i wouldnt worry. just make sure your servicing has been thorough, many places dont bother with a cooling system flush and refill for example, and as winter is coming it should be done now if it hasne been done for a couple of years or more.

from your post i take it you do about 27k a year, thats a good thng really as lots of miles (probably motorway?) will keep the car healthy. a car that only gets used for an occasional shopping trip into town is more likely to suffer.

at higher milages you find many parts get worn out and need changing, but its usually nothing major and a good MOT testing station will advise you of such problems, common ones are rear adjusters on drum brakes stop adjusting, wheel bearings have play in them, etc etc.

keep it well serviced and MOT'd and you'll have little to worry about.

do you service it yourself? so you know whats been done so you know everythings done? would be good if its just had normal services for like a big massive change everything one and flush everything.

and use good quality oil too.

thanks guys, i've only owned the car since oct 04 (it had 27000 on the clock then!) and yup alot of the running is on motorways/national roads so i guess thats better for the car? i admit i've never given the car a system flush, but i will do it, servicing the car this weekend, thankfully always use good quality motor oil.

engine goes just stick another in, only about 200 quid.

my punto (albeit a 1996 mk1), is on about 120,000 miles, it's not very well looked after, serviced when things start going wrong... and i reckon it's got a fair few miles left in it.

in my opinion, if it's got to 100k, it's gunna keep going strong for a long time

My ELX did over 120K before it became unecomonic to repair. I'd had it since new. The major items were mostly chassis based, and had just worn out despite adhering rigorously to the recommended schedule.

Both rear suspension bearings, steering column bushes, driver's seatbelt, radiator fan and both front struts were the major items. The clutch wore out at about 95K and engine mountings were replaced at the same time. Front discs did about 80K.

The only visible rust was where a stone had hit the front of the roof. The gearbox and engine were fine; oil consumption was about 2 litres between oil changes. The rear windscreen wiper motor packing up was only serious electrical fault, though the central locking went AWOL because some stupid brat I gave a lift to damaged the locking button on a rear door.

basically you've got it sorted.
keep it oil'd regulary, keep things that wear out well and truley nailed.
and drive it nicely, and there is no reason it just won't keep on going.


there are always wear parts (without them, the whole car would have to be replaced), and the service book isn't always correct about when to replace them.
I personally deal with everything myself, as I know from painful experiance that mainline dealers just don't do it!
the biggest one they always 'avoid' doing is the anti corrosion warrenty (not a deal with >93 fiats, as it shouldn't rust unless its been badly repaired, or sprayed with chippings!), and rad flushs etc, oh and brake fluid, my personal fav, something that is elemental in the safe stopping of a car, so they miss it out, fantastic confidence insprinng stuff, done by:-
AUDI
BMW
FIAT
CItrofrown
renault (couldn't even figure out what day of the week it was, chuffing hopeless tosspots)
Saab (killed a beautiful rare car with their incompetance)
Volvo (three times fixed a high pressure fuel line (7bar) with what was basically washer hose, and sent it on its way, total reckless prats )

Basically as you can maybe tell, I've lost all confidence in dealers, and their wheeling's, they sell crp cars for stupid prices and do nothing but lie and decieve.
The only garage that was actually to book, was the subaru garage in carlisle (now part of mazda or something), who actually did, and actually will, unlike most other garages about......