General Is it just me, or in the Fiat Punto crap?

[Reaper]

Owned a punto since 2001, lots of problems, reading these boards its scary to see how many various problems normal drivers (school run drivers/drive to work/rarely drive at all) experience with what should be a cheap reliable car..I have had probable ECU failure now..most the lights gone at some point, 2 exausts cracked and replaced, a massive rip off service my FIAT Battersea costing £1.2k and it turns out by gear box is cracked and leaking underneath and the best FIAT recommend is to just top it up when it gets empty -my car has only done 30k miles and I bought it new!..

Serious thread, any thoughts?

 

[rallycinq]

Most problems are caused by cockpit trouble.

A cheap car tends to ignored unless it gives trouble, and the very nature of these forums is people only come looking for help when they have a problem and are facing a big bill.

Cheers

D

 

[DaveMcT]

No surprises. This a web site that discusses punto problems.

 

[T14086]

82K miles in 7 years and all mine has ever had it a outer door handle!

(bulbs & exhausts are serviceable items and apply to all cars. Not cars fault dealer ripped you off)

 

[TJHPunto]

If they are looked after properly punto's can be very reliable, same with most cars tbh. And if they break they're very cheap to fix anyway.

Mine was owned by my dad before since 2003, i've had it since 2008, and it's never had a major problem.

 

[Steven]

I've had loads of Fiats over the years, more than 20. Mk1 and Mk2 Puntos, Cinquecentos, Seicentos, multiple Pandas, a Brava, a Bravo and a Stilo. I generally find them to be reliable. Over the past year I've had 2 Saxos, a 106 and a Mazda Demio. If you want unreliable then buy a small French car. They are something else...

The thing about Puntos is that they need looked after. Take my current Mk1 as an example. I am it's 8th owner and it's 12 years old. I think it's fair to assume that over the past few years it has been neglected. People neglect cheap cars. They skip a service here or ignore a noise there. Then they complain when something goes wrong. Naturally enough they come on the net looking for help and most will find their way here. Try googling Fiat and see where it leads. They don't come here and report that their car is running perfectly for 5 years without them so much as lifting the bonnet. If you look at any other car forum you will see that people mostly post when they have a problem.

Puntos aren't crap. Service them, drive them with mechanical sympathy and they reward you with reliabilty. They are fun to drive, roomy, safe, good looking and generally cheap to fix and easy to source parts for. It's some of the owners that are crap.

 

[DaveMcT]

Abuse:

• ignore faults (keep driving regardless)
• never service anything
• poor quality parts
• cheap bodged repairs

... and they break. No surprises there.

 

[Reaper]

Wow, I was kinda reading fairly relaxed until this:

They are fun to drive,..

My elx 8v is probably the most boring car I have ever driven in my life (and I have driven (Golf GL's and Hyundai Atos') and perhaps the slowest also. Drives like a fart caught in a very slow breeze..

Also the generally cheap comment I also have to disagree with. If you have time to shop around for a decent garage to repair part of a punto engine, I would say reasonable at best. If you don't have the time to garage surf, FIATs are not cheap in anyway to repair or even service, esp if you end up using FIAT themselves. It is a car that is hard to fall in love with, unlike its ancestors like the 500 and a112 Abarth 70bhp that is something that is the definition of fun..I spose deep down I am English, but not English enough to appreciate the reasonabley cheap Punto if you find a reasonable garage..that drives like plasma tv in a shopping trolly and is 'generally reliable.'..

I have heard, I don't know if it is true or not..that some japanese cars, old and new are truely reliable, and not FIAT 'generally' reliable..

 

[Steven]

Wow, I was kinda reading fairly relaxed until this:



My elx 8v is probably the most boring car I have ever driven in my life (and I have driven (Gold GL's and Hyundai Atos') and perhaps the slowest also. Drives like a fart caught in a very slow breeze..

Also the generally cheap comment I also have to disagree with. If you have time to shop around for a decent garage to repair part of a punto engine, I would say reasonable at best. If you don't have the time to garage surf, FIATs are not cheap in anyway to repair or even service, esp if you end up using FIAT themselves. It is a car that hard to fall in love with, unlike its ancestors like the a112 Abarth 70bhp or something that is the definition of fun..I spose deep down I am English, but not English enough to appreciate the reasonabley cheap Punto that drives like plasma tv in a shopping trolly..

Keep it in perspective. It's a car designed for going to the shops in. It will never set the world on fire. Let me rephrase what I said. The Punto is comparitively fun. Admittedly the Mk2s lost some steering feel with the electric power steering, but compare them to a Clio, 106, Saxo, Fiesta of a similar age. I have no response to the Hyundai Atoz comment...

Regarding the cost, I attempt most jobs myself. If it is something I cannot do or am not confident trying I go to the mechanic I use. I have been going to the same guy for years. He is Fiat trained and works in a dealer, but also works from home in the evenings and weekends. This is how I keep my costs down and a lot of people do the same thing. Owning a car is expensive, all you can do is keep the costs down as best you can. Fiats have character, most other cars don't. It's all about opinions though.

 

[dave]

someone had a trolley jack on the wrong place on your gearbox? must have been abused some how to crack. mines done 110k miles and i dont thing all the repairs ive ever done added up come to half of what you paid for 1 service

 

[TJHPunto]

Parts for puntos ARE cheap, and they're very easy to work on yourself.

 

[Reaper]

someone had a trolley jack on the wrong place on your gearbox? must have been abused some how to crack. mines done 110k miles and i dont thing all the repairs ive ever done added up come to half of what you paid for 1 service

I too would love to know the gearbox cracked..

As for the official FIAT BAttersea £1.2k service that they said was overdue.., that is the last time I ever gave anyone wearing anything that says FIAT on it, my money..

 

[dave]

I too would love to know the gearbox cracked..

As for the official FIAT BAttersea £1.2k service that they said was overdue.., that is the last time I ever gave anyone wearing anything that says FIAT on it, my money..

do they charge £250+vat an hour labour or some thing?

 

[Steven]

I too would love to know the gearbox cracked..

As for the official FIAT BAttersea £1.2k service that they said was overdue.., that is the last time I ever gave anyone wearing anything that says FIAT on it, my money..

How the f8ck did it cost £1200!? What did they do? What were you thinking agreeing to work to that value?

Seriously though, what did they do?

If I was quoted anywhere near that, once I had stopped laughing, I would leave with the car.

 

[dave]

How the f8ck did it cost £1200!? What did they do? What were you thinking agreeing to work to that value?

Seriously though, what did they do?

maybe found a memory card of him on his webcam?

 

[DaveMcT]

I have an HGT - cost me £120 plus parts to change the clutch AND slave cylinder.

When I needed a new front brake caliper it cost £50 plus parts and he also replaced both front hosesand organised the parts. Hoses were £20 caliper was £90 it would have been £60 for an 8V.

This is at a professional garage not an on the side weekend guy.

Yes, I blew my engine when I used it with an old cam belt (I was silly) but the that's no different to almost any other car on the road. Except the 8V Fiat engines and I believe some 1990s Mazdas. I fixed that myself.

Its a 10 years old car so things will fail. But it still looks stylish and overall its been cheap motoring. If I wanted less hassle I'd buy a newer car, but it would probably be a Fiat.

In the past I've owned Ford, VW and Audi. In long term depreciation VFM the Audi would score best but I cant run that far these days. The others were nothing special with the Passat TDI/90 blowing its head gasket at 30,000 miles. Just outside the (then shorter) warranty so I had to cough up.

 

[Reaper]

I will try and dig up the 1.2k 20k service bill for you guys..

 

[Reaper]

I have an HGT - cost me £120 plus parts to change the clutch AND slave cylinder.

When I needed a new front brake caliper it cost £50 plus parts and he also replaced both front hosesand organised the parts. Hoses were £20 caliper was £90 it would have been £60 for an 8V.

This is at a professional garage not an on the side weekend guy.

Yes, I blew my engine when I used it with an old cam belt (I was silly) but the that's no different to almost any other car on the road. Except the 8V Fiat engines and I believe some 1990s Mazdas. I fixed that myself.

Its a 10 years old car so things will fail. But it still looks stylish and overall its been cheap motoring. If I wanted less hassle I'd buy a newer car, but it would probably be a Fiat.

In the past I've owned Ford, VW and Audi. In long term depreciation VFM the Audi would score best but I cant run that far these days. The others were nothing special with the Passat TDI/90 blowing its head gasket at 30,000 miles. Just outside the (then shorter) warranty so I had to cough up.

I have heard mazda's are extremely reliable by other car standards..

 

[Steven]

Mazdas are Fords in disguise.

 

[dave]

stop swearing