General Are they all this awful?

[Italian Coke Can]

Now, firstly i have to say the Grande Punto has been one of those cars I've wanted to own for a few years now. The 1.9MJ Sporting, or the newer 1.6oil burner.

Secondly, i own a N'Reg Cinquecento Sporting that i've had for 3 years. Tuned to 75BHP from the standard 1.1 SPI engine and lowered a bit. 85,000miles on it and used as a weekend run about.

Thirdly, i LOVE Italian quirkyness and own an Italian motorbike. Things that need attention to work are fine.

Fourthly, my daily run about for the last three years has been a Citroen Berlingo van (1.9D). Other cars have been a 2.0TDI passat, 1.1 Kia Pincato, Mini One D, Rover 214.

Now, my point. My company van was taken off me today as it's got to the end of it's lease. A 08 Punto Grande 1.2-8V was delivered for me to use for the next 3 weeks or so. 5,000 miles. 5 door.

The build quality and attention to detail is shocking. It felt like the boot was going to fall of in my hands as the weak hinges flexed. Monkey metal used in various components - i.e door catches. Poorly fitted interior that felt awful. Not logic in the way bits are set out.

Under the bonnet it's not neatly arranged. Washer hoses trail around. Rough edges on the metal work. Signs of oxidisation in a car less than a year old. Bits bolted on in odd places.

Performance. Didn't get a chance to fully stretch it's legs, but i did find the limiter a few times. Thankfully i had my mouth closed so i didn't loose any fillings as the limiter cut in soo harshly.

The throttle response of a diesel engine. The flat power delivery of a lawnmower. The smoothness when pulling away of a two stroke scooter.


For a new car that's had 14 years of development on from my bog-standard cheapo FIAT i'm pretty shocked about how crap it is. I know it's a base model, but it's pants. Feels like it wouldn't make the first service. Can't believe they're getting 18,000 miles out of the interval! (may be wrong though, the manual pretty poor read as well!)


So, should i remove all hopes of getting a Sporting or is it made to a different standard? Was thinking of getting one at the mid-end of the year to replace the work van . . .

Truly upset about my 25 mile drive home.

 

[fenton_jd]

My 56 plate 1.2 active is fine.

Performance well, its a 65bhp engine in a car that weights just over 1000kgs.

When the engine is propery maintained it does pull pretty well. For it's size it's quite torquey.

If you compare it with the 1.2 16v clio engine which produces 75bhp 104nm vs the puntos 1.2 8v 65bhp 102nm.

You also have to remember that it's a cheap car designed for the masses. It's not french so it wont have that 'soft' feel (my old renault laguna had this).

As a whole, for the price point i think the grande punto is a nice looking cheap and reliable machine.

My 1.2 was an ex rental car but its running brilliantly at the moment.

Comparing it side by side with my mums 2.0 16v Honda accord which is basically perfection in enineering, performance is actually quite good considering the weight the punto carries and how small the engine is.

Build quality, well sure it's never going to match hondas quality but then it doesnt cost the same amount. How many base level cars can you think of that have remote central locking/ remote boot release/CD player/electric front windows/mirrors all as standard?

You just need a higher spec, look for the eleganza.

Also, while in your 1.2, no point hitting the limiter in any gear. car pulls its best between 2 & 3.5ks revs.

 

[Aircooledbug]

One thing is that the difference between the M-Jet and T-Jet in simply power. I got an M-Jet and it shifts. The 1.2 is slow but its a city car not a racer. The Grande Punto is a stunning car, yeah it has its problem but the beauty conquors all the problem. Ive never had a problem with my car, it has one now, but easily repairable!

 

[Italian Coke Can]

Attractive car yes, and i know the 1.9/1.6 will have that power advantage.

My main question was about the build quality / design. Are they all to the same standard, or do the larger models have better finish / meatier components?

For a budget car it's fine, but i'd put it in the same class as the Kia Picanto.

 

[Aircooledbug]

One thing I feel with mine and that safe, this car is beefy, the interior is great. Test drive a 1.6 and a 1.9 then you will get a feel for these cars.

 

[colin79666]

The build quality ain't top notch but it's a whole lot better than the original puntos (and remembering back to my mums uno). You also have to consider you get a lot of car for your money. Take for example a Vauxhall Corsa or Ford Fiesta. Perhaps better build quality on the face of it but you get less features in the base models and they cost thousands more.
GP gets 5 stars euro ncap results so it has to be reasonably safe and solid to hold up well to a 40mph front impact for example.

1.2 is well a 1.2. Not quick at all but driven properly (not revving stupidly and hitting the limiter) it performs fine for the town and occasional motorway trips.

Lastly - your driving a rental/lease. That's going have taken a fair bashing compared to someone's pride and joy.

 

[DJSparky]

I have a 1.2 active and i think its great! It's an 06' 13000 miles and it's faultless!! well from a couple of things, like the stereo : P but anyway, It's my first car so I don't know what more powerful models are like but at the end of the day, you get what you pay for. But other than that, it's great value and I bet you dont get many 17 year olds saying that : D

 

[6agne]

I have a Grande punto and a Polo.
There is nothing as awful as the interior of VW Polo. Is the quality better than Fiat's? The cheapest interiors I've ever seen are made by VW - cars far more expensive and "reputable" than Fiat.
Apart from that when I was buying the Polo I had to pay for every little thing you could imagine. It comes out without stereo, el. windows and even ABS, wtf? I had to pay even for the cup holder and the speakers... it is ridiculous - first you buy the stereo and then you have to pay for the speakers.

 

[Italian Coke Can]

Ok, just spent a hour unpacking bits into the garage and packing things back into the car.

As a daily driver how do you guys cope with the lack of storage space? Fitted four cds into the glove box, along with 250 grams of dried bananas (lunch).

A sat nav under the stereo.

Some tissues and a few snacks into the drivers door.

Ice scraper partly into the passenger door.

Everything else (demister , deicer, pens, chewing gum, note book, map, first aid kit, sun glasses, camera) was thrown in the only space left. The passenger foot well. . .

Punto Grande. Nice on the outside, lacking on the inside.

Took it for a sprint down the road. Willing to go, but lacking connection. 26.5MPG. :slayer:

Oh, and the screen wash doesn't work. Either National didn't put a winter mix in or FIAT gremlins have struck.

I'll give it a week, but i can't see myself looking at buying one in the future. Would rather go for a car that IS unpractical, rather than one that just falls into it a little bit. . .

Still crying here, how could Fiat do this to a car? :yuck:

 

[DJSparky]

I do admit the glovebox has about as much room as my front pocket and the side pockets are pretty useless, But at the end of the day, You get what you pay for and you get downsides with any car. But it's a fiat, You gotta love it : D

 

[Ulpian]

Storage is important to me too. I'm looking at the new Qubo, but I believe they've dropped the overhead storage (compared with the Doblo) on that too, and the small Diesel and 1.4 (French) petrol engines are apparently underpowered for the car. Shame.

Fiat has always put underpowered engines in its base cars, at least on launch, and now that the ancient 900cc motor (lovely) is long dead you have to look up the engine range for decent performance. And new cars are heavier let's not forget. If you really need the storage and don't have it you will, if you are anything like me, be cursing for ever. But then for me a car is first and foremost a practical tool. I just love Fiats because they can bring a smile like nothing else. Odd but true.

 

[T14086]

You can get a GP 1.2 for £6975 thats less than a kitchen so what do you want or expect? As mentioned its a budget car ideal for running around, first car (alot of owners upgrade to larger engined models) and general all round cheap motoring hence low tax.

No car can please everyone (if they did we wouldn't have a fiatforum) however yes you can clearly see corners cut but look at what you get for the money! And I have personally serviced many 40k/50k puntos with no serious defects.

I think '6agne' made some very good points in their post that you should take into serious consideration.

Loads of hire companies use the base 1.2 GP which says alot about reliability (very rarely does a GP completely let you down,8v is safe engine) so you really have to look at it on face value and lets not forget other car makers copying the GP...that also goes for something

 

[Italian Coke Can]

My main question is, does the whole range share all the features (or lack of?)?

As in, does every GP have a useless sized glove box and no space to store a biro?

 

[mills705]

is a GP designed for storage? i dont think so! so therefore you cant really complain. The car is designed for a person/couple/young family with maybe a few motorway trips a year with the sportier models for hothatch petrolheads!
I have the 1.4 8v at dynamic level and in love with it! 28.9 mpg isnt right! as im averaging just under double that.
My only issue with my car is the cupholders in that you cant hold a single thing in it! cans of coke are jammed in and then the gear stick in 3/5th gears hits it and wel fast food ones just about get it but dont stay in.
Id test drive a sporting or higher up. the base model is that base... no extras no nothing.

 

[5abr3]

My main question is, does the whole range share all the features (or lack of?)?

As in, does every GP have a useless sized glove box and no space to store a biro?

Does the car have air con? usually air con comes at the expense of glove box capacity

 

[T14086]

does every GP have a useless sized glove box and no space to store a biro?

WIth a Cinquecento i'd thought you'd be used to lack of space, however yes of course they all share same sized glovebox.

 

[Tris Harris]

My main question is, does the whole range share all the features (or lack of?)?

As in, does every GP have a useless sized glove box and no space to store a biro?

its worse in the higher models with blue and me as the computer is in there...

tbh, i think your making an absolute tit of yourself in this thread. You've come to the wrong place to moan about the GP. If you can survive with a cinq, then the GP will be huge. You said you had a mini as a daily driver, they are even worse!

Quality is up in the GP from the punto, puts the quality of the cinq to shame (15 years on), but its not as food as some newer rivals admitedly.

 

[Italian Coke Can]

WIth a Cinquecento i'd thought you'd be used to lack of space, however yes of course they all share same sized glovebox.

Yes, but the baby changing shelf can carry a hell of a lot of rubbish. + the rack underneath it. + the small shelf in front of the driver. + the full length door pockets that can hold de-icer, demister, cloths, 10? cds, head unit case.

Will report back next week after a week worth of real use. I think i'm going to fold the rear seats down though and use it as a van as that's what i'm used to. Just going to buy some plastic boxes to hold everything.

*looks for velcro tabs to stick everything down* :idea:

It's a shame my love for the car has been tainted, as i've always wanted one on the drive. Maybe it's like the hot girl at Uni. Nice to perve on, nice to hink about getting back to yours, but smells of fish when you get the pants down. . . .

 

[Tris Harris]

just like the saying

'you should never meet your hero's'

 

[T14086]

It's a shame my love for the car has been tainted, as i've always wanted one on the drive. Maybe it's like the hot girl at Uni. Nice to perve on, nice to hink about getting back to yours, but smells of fish when you get the pants down. . . .

well you wont see that in what car!