General Need 1.2 Active sport help/info

[Readman]

Hello guys and gals, my girlfriend has just passed her driving test today and has taken a shining to a 1.2 punto active sport with only 14k on the clock. I was hoping to get some info on what to look out for on the car that may develope into a problem later on. I have been reading alot reports of the gearbox failing along with clutch problems at around the 24k milage mark which seem to be quite expensive to correct.

I took the car for a test drive and everything seemed fine with the car and the drive quality. The only thing i noticed was when engaging the clutch to change up or down gears the revs went up slightly and the gear change seemed a little loose which i thought was a bit out of place. I am currently driving an Almera sport as my teasured Seicento Sporting died on me last year, but i experienced similar problems with that at one point and was wondering if it's just a FIAT thing.

Thankyou and sorry for rambling on

 

[smokeyjoe03]

Tbh I'd be wary of the mileage if it is an early one, they stopped making the mk2b in '06 but started in '03, to only have 14k on it after 7-4 years, it may have been a previous cat D write off that's been sat and repaired gradually. How many previous owners and check the logbook for any inurance details.

As for the gearbox, I've just hit 24k in mine and its fine, the only thing that let's these cars down are the lazy owners. If maintained well they will run for a good 150k+ miles.

Just keep an eye on the oil level for the 1st fortnight as well, just to make sure it hasn't got a leak anywhere, all fiat owners know about the quality of the sumps fiat use

 

[Readman]

I'ts an N reg 2004 plate with one previous owner and an up to date service history along with it.

 

[smokeyjoe03]

You mean its an '04 if it was an N reg it would be 1995.

If its a 04 with only 14k, that's only around 2250 a year, could be genuine if it was an elderly couple or a familys second car.

Sounds like a nice buy if its got full service history. As I said then, just keep your eye on the usual, nothing special about the active sport to watch out for AFAIK.

 

[Readman]

Doh! it is an 04 lol. I will post some pics when she purchases the car. Thank you for your help.

 

[rallycinq]

make sure she does not pay a stoopid premium for the low mileage, particularly if there is no service history with the car.

Lots of short journeys are far more damaging to a car than being thrashed down a motorway day after day.

Cheers

SPD

 

[Scoobysnacks]

And "old person" driving style doesn't really agree too well with the FIRE engine either.

If it's been regularly serviced and looked after you should be ok, but lots of pottering and low revs could cause significant coking of the head and all the problems that come with it.

Of course one remedy for that is to warm it up and then give it a good old thrashing, so it has it's benefits!

 

[red]

And "old person" driving style doesn't really agree too well with the FIRE engine either.

If it's been regularly serviced and looked after you should be ok, but lots of pottering and low revs could cause significant coking of the head and all the problems that come with it.

So Scoobysnacks, how old is "old"? I'm speaking as someone who had a car where the starter was a cranked handle, the battery was positive earth, a DC generator made the electricity and my tool kit included Whitworth and AF spanners (metric being some new-fangled thread on Japanese motorcycles that were starting to come to the UK).

red

 

[Readman]

Ohh dear i think something has gone wrong all ready. I had to refill the radiator after two days of use as it was drained. Their is no leaking water that i can see but it has a build up of a whitish powder in the bottom corner of the radiator where it joins to the bottle. The car is still under warranty from the dealer so i am taking it to the garage for a diagnosis.

 

[Readman]

Radiator has been replaced as the old one was knackered as i thought. Still having problems with the car the tho. The car seems to be idling at around 2000 rpm when first used in the morning, when it's not doing idling at 2000 the revs repeatably bounce from 500 to 1000 rpm. The guys in the garage told me that the radiator would have been the cause of this problem but as it has a brand new one on now i think they were mistaken. Any ideas??? Help needed fast as it's out of warranty soon. Thanks :slayer:

 

[Sam43Harris]

Radiator has been replaced as the old one was knackered as i thought. Still having problems with the car the tho. The car seems to be idling at around 2000 rpm when first used in the morning, when it's not doing idling at 2000 the revs repeatably bounce from 500 to 1000 rpm. The guys in the garage told me that the radiator would have been the cause of this problem but as it has a brand new one on now i think they were mistaken. Any ideas??? Help needed fast as it's out of warranty soon. Thanks :slayer:

When i first had my Sporting punto the revs would bounce a lot. Had a bit of a misfire, i just got a set of new spark plugs and plug leads for it. Problem solved... for mine anyway.
Just open up the bonnet and check them if it sounds like it has a misfire.