Campbellonie
New member
Hi all.
Ok so I am just slightly RAGING. Without going into the details, and bore you all, I have discovered , in my humble opinion, a serious design flaw with the grande punto.
Inside the front wheel arches is a plastic flap ( for access to the front light clusters presumably). This is needed on the passenger side as the battery is positioned directly behind the light cluster. NOT needed on the drivers side tho as plenty of room to change.
The problem with these flaps is that when locked, the area is not really water tight. By this I mean that all road silt / grit / salt gets pushed through the gap when driving. this is obv much more severe in current winter conditions and salt laiden roads.
Whilst I accept the concept of winter and grit on roadsis prob not verey common in italy.... in the UK its an every day occurance.
The car I bought my wife unfortunately had the driver side lock broekn on this flap and I can tell you the whole engine bay was covered in a salt/grit/mud solution. Corrosive to say the least!
Please feel free to shoot me down in flames but I cant see anyone agreeing that this is a good design. our previous car, megane, had a flap for access to light bulbs but it was designed properly! ( and they are french)...
BTW I have actually taped over, from the inside, the drivers side inner wheel arch flap to stop the road waste coming into the engine bay.
Rant over!
Ok so I am just slightly RAGING. Without going into the details, and bore you all, I have discovered , in my humble opinion, a serious design flaw with the grande punto.
Inside the front wheel arches is a plastic flap ( for access to the front light clusters presumably). This is needed on the passenger side as the battery is positioned directly behind the light cluster. NOT needed on the drivers side tho as plenty of room to change.
The problem with these flaps is that when locked, the area is not really water tight. By this I mean that all road silt / grit / salt gets pushed through the gap when driving. this is obv much more severe in current winter conditions and salt laiden roads.
Whilst I accept the concept of winter and grit on roadsis prob not verey common in italy.... in the UK its an every day occurance.
The car I bought my wife unfortunately had the driver side lock broekn on this flap and I can tell you the whole engine bay was covered in a salt/grit/mud solution. Corrosive to say the least!
Please feel free to shoot me down in flames but I cant see anyone agreeing that this is a good design. our previous car, megane, had a flap for access to light bulbs but it was designed properly! ( and they are french)...
BTW I have actually taped over, from the inside, the drivers side inner wheel arch flap to stop the road waste coming into the engine bay.
Rant over!
