Punto (Mk2/2b) (NEW) Kenny the 1.2 Punto.

[RuSZ]

Spent 5 hours working on the suspension today. and it has been decided. BY THE CAR! That i wont be lowering the suspension the near future.

spent 4 hours with an arc welding kit, big hammer and a lot of rust removal stuff and there is 1 bolt that still refuses to come off after all that been thrown at. The only solution i can think of now is to cut the bolt. and at the moment i cant bring myself to do that let alone justify it. This is one of the 2 bolts that hold the Hub onto the strut itself, so an important one too...

damn...

so it looks like i now have a 35mm GMAX lowering kit for sale at a reasonable price. PM me an offer if your interested...

 

[6Speed]

Spent 5 hours working on the suspension today. and it has been decided. BY THE CAR! That i wont be lowering the suspension the near future.

spent 4 hours with an arc welding kit, big hammer and a lot of rust removal stuff and there is 1 bolt that still refuses to come off after all that been thrown at. The only solution i can think of now is to cut the bolt. and at the moment i cant bring myself to do that let alone justify it. This is one of the 2 bolts that hold the Hub onto the strut itself, so an important one too...

damn...

so it looks like i now have a 35mm GMAX lowering kit for sale at a reasonable price. PM me an offer if your interested...

Why dont you just save some money and have a garage fit it? Wouldnt ha ve thought it would cost much if its just the springs to replace.

 

[RuSZ]

Why dont you just save some money and have a garage fit it? Wouldnt ha ve thought it would cost much if its just the springs to replace.

The cheapest price ive had from garages is £100 excluding tracking. one local garage has offer it for £110 with tracking.

if i could get the suspension on myself it would cost £20 for tracking.

the only thing the garage would do that i can is cut and replace the bolt.

 

[Brin]

wow wow wow!!! dont be selling a thing mate....

mine were same they are rusty are fook when i tryed to lower mine i tryed with a rachet and spanner but no luck too rusty wouldnt budge a bit...i even tryed a long breaker bar and still no luck...luckily i did mine in college workshop so just used an airgun mate

tust me just airgun the bolt off it wont snap...just keep it going back and forth and all rusty will break off even if it does snap the bolt will then push out and replace with a new one but it wont snap trust me

could invest in a compressor and airgun around £150 for a good airgun and about £150 for a compressor but not really worth just for springs tbh innit lol

garages only cost £30 a corner for springs...£120 for all of them...and 4 point laser tracking i only pay £5 for slight adjustment and £10 if a bit more needed lol

just look around for a decent garage...always welcome to come to me work haha

 

[Ashjj]

Yer i had a similar problem with a wheel nut in the end decided to take it to the garge and after they had attemted with several airguns that gradualy got bigger it came out with out snapping.

so id defonatly go with the airgun option before selling your springs or cutting anything.

 

[RuSZ]

Yer i had a similar problem with a wheel nut in the end decided to take it to the garge and after they had attemted with several airguns that gradualy got bigger it came out with out snapping.

so id defonatly go with the airgun option before selling your springs or cutting anything.

I want to keep the springs and lower it eventually. but i cant financially justify keeping them for the cost they will to do.

At the moment it seems a better idea to sell and get my money back to put towards other more important things.

So regrettably they are officially up for sale. PM me for any questions. AD will be placed in the next 24hours.

 

[Brin]

I want to keep the springs and lower it eventually. but i cant financially justify keeping them for the cost they will to do.

At the moment it seems a better idea to sell and get my money back to put towards other more important things.

So regrettably they are officially up for sale. PM me for any questions. AD will be placed in the next 24hours.

mate a garge wont charge anything to get one bolt out...and if they do get the whole spring changed as its only £30 a corner....i would be willin to gun the bolt off for you lol not worth selling them tbh

 

[RuSZ]

Hi all.

havent updated in a while, just been too busy with university and work.

the door cost me £20 to get reshaped and touched in using a fiat stick. AT A FIAT DEALER

HOWEVER, within the next few months, bost likely after easter (AND YORKSHIRE ITALIA) i will be leaving the Punto fraternity....

Ive been looking for alternative cars for quite a while, something bigger and more practically

Took the car down to a local LARGE car supermarket (eagle eyed viewers will spot an sticker in my window) where i bought the car in the first place. They did a full valuation on the car and offered me £2.5K on the spot. With hagling i reckon £3k isnt out of the question.

So went for a look around the forecourt and played about on the compare sites;

option 1; 58 FIAT BRAVO 1.9D - £5k and £1.3k on insurance (Not too sure)

option 2; 07 MAZDA 6 1.8 TS - £3.5k and £930 on insurance (sounds good)

option 3; 03 VAUXHALL ASTRA BERTONE 1.8 - £3k and £1.2k on insurance (GORGEOUS CAR!)

Going to take some serious thinking. but dont want to be on finance so nothing is been sold till i have the money to swap and P/X which at the current rate will be June at the earliest.

What are peoples thoughts??

 

[Brin]

Hi all.

havent updated in a while, just been too busy with university and work.

the door cost me £20 to get reshaped and touched in using a fiat stick. AT A FIAT DEALER

HOWEVER, within the next few months, bost likely after easter (AND YORKSHIRE ITALIA) i will be leaving the Punto fraternity....

Ive been looking for alternative cars for quite a while, something bigger and more practically

Took the car down to a local LARGE car supermarket (eagle eyed viewers will spot an sticker in my window) where i bought the car in the first place. They did a full valuation on the car and offered me £2.5K on the spot. With hagling i reckon £3k isnt out of the question.

So went for a look around the forecourt and played about on the compare sites;

option 1; 58 FIAT BRAVO 1.9D - £5k and £1.3k on insurance (Not too sure)

option 2; 07 MAZDA 6 1.8 TS - £3.5k and £930 on insurance (sounds good)

option 3; 03 VAUXHALL ASTRA BERTONE 1.8 - £3k and £1.2k on insurance (GORGEOUS CAR!)

Going to take some serious thinking. but dont want to be on finance so nothing is been sold till i have the money to swap and P/X which at the current rate will be June at the earliest.

What are peoples thoughts??

go for the mazda 6 mate cheap price for 07 plate tbh as long as condition it good

 

[SamuraiDragon]

go for the mazda 6 mate cheap price for 07 plate tbh as long as condition it good

price that low on an 07 plate would suggest to me it has quite high mileage. definitely be aware of this when buying, just because its reasonably new, dont mean its in good nick.

 

[RuSZ]

price that low on an 07 plate would suggest to me it has quite high mileage. definitely be aware of this when buying, just because its reasonably new, dont mean its in good nick.

The dealer showed me the paperwork for it and let it run in idle. i wasn't interested in a test drive as i wouldn't be buying that particular car.

That particular vehicle has 1 previous 54year old owner. His job required driving in europe on a regular basis (Aparently...). It had covered just sort of 104k since registration in May 2007. the vehicle was covered under a Mazda extended warranty and had been serviced every 4-5 months.

looking through the paperwork the most that had been carried out on the vehicle was the usual belt/filter/oil/coolant change at 50k and 90k miles. All MOT's show a clean bill of health the last been Jan 2011

If i had the money would jump at that car, but will wait till i have enough money to buy one with less milage.

 

[RuSZ]

Went and had a look at the Mazda 6 this morning. Nice car, runs really well. but interior didnt really appeal to me. For the engine it didnt offer the performance that i would want either so its unlikely that i would be getting that.

however got a few more options;

1) 57 SKODA FABIA 1.9 TDi £4k and £1k insurance, done 80,000

2) 57 VAUXHALL ASTRA 1.7D SRi £4k and £1.3k insurance, done 67,000

3) 57 SEAT LEON 1.9 TDi £4.5k and £1.2k insurance, done 86,000

ASWELL AS THE ABOVE; Fiat Bravo, Vauxhall Astra Bertone, MAZDA 6

As you may guess from the above list, they are all diesels (except Bertone & 6). That is now a criteria point... OR a petrol that will do a combined +50mpg.

all of my choices are capable of +60mpg on combined.

the Fabia looks interesting as it is the sportiest of the options. but not the most practical...

 

[driver33]

1.7 Astra is a shocking engine, so I would avoid that one. You want the 1.9 with the Fiat/Alfa engine.

Fabia is an okay car if very basic inside. Basically a VW built by Eastern Europeans so very well put together. Better build quality than a Polo.

Leon Fabia is also an okay car and nicer looking and nicer inside than the Fabia. Again it is basically a VW but built by Southern Europeans so not as well put together.

Mazda 6s rust badly as they get older.

Bravo good value for money and nice diesel engine. Smoother than a VW TDi but not as quick unless you get the 150 bhp version.

 

[RuSZ]

1.7 Astra is a shocking engine, so I would avoid that one. You want the 1.9 with the Fiat/Alfa engine.

Fabia is an okay car if very basic inside. Basically a VW built by Eastern Europeans so very well put together. Better build quality than a Polo.

Leon Fabia is also an okay car and nicer looking and nicer inside than the Fabia. Again it is basically a VW but built by Southern Europeans so not as well put together.

Mazda 6s rust badly as they get older.

Bravo good value for money and nice diesel engine. Smoother than a VW TDi but not as quick unless you get the 150 bhp version.

Cheers for the reply. There is a more upto date thread on this over in the Leisure Lounge which includes test drives, ratings and insurance quotes.
https://www.fiatforum.com/leisure-lounge/264075-looking-new-car-thoughts-2.html

At the moment the leading contender for my next car is either a VW Golf Mk5 1.9TDi or a Seat Ibiza 1.9TDi

 

[RuSZ]

The replacement car has been narrowed down to 3 Car's

SEAT IBIZA 1.4TDi ECOMOTIVE


SEAT IBIZA 1.9TDi SportRider


FIAT GRANDE PUNTO 1.9MJ Elaganza or Sporting

 

[Rawb]

Im going to have to say a MJ GP sporting.

Obviously it's your choice at the end of the day, but out of those I think it's the best option.

 

[Brin]

buy a deisel SEAT VW SKODA AUDI then you and your mechanic are going to be best friends

 

[RuSZ]

Im going to have to say a MJ GP sporting.

Obviously it's your choice at the end of the day, but out of those I think it's the best option.

I think at the moment its the Seat Ibiza 1.4TDi thats leading for practicallity and economy.

but if i can find a 1.9MJ Sporting to test then i'll go for that. I have only tested a Elaganza and really didnt like it so would need to try a Sporting out first.

But the white Seat looks gorgeous.

buy a deisel SEAT VW SKODA AUDI then you and your mechanic are going to be best friends

Newer VAGroup deisels are very good, the older ones are very Tractorish and unreliable. a friend has a A3 1.9TDi and has never had a problem. I had more problems in my old 1.4petrol Leon. My local mechanic knows my Punto by name

 

[Brin]

I think at the moment its the Seat Ibiza 1.4TDi thats leading for practicallity and economy.

but if i can find a 1.9MJ Sporting to test then i'll go for that. I have only tested a Elaganza and really didnt like it so would need to try a Sporting out first.

But the white Seat looks gorgeous.



Newer VAGroup deisels are very good, the older ones are very Tractorish and unreliable. a friend has a A3 1.9TDi and has never had a problem. I had more problems in my old 1.4petrol Leon. My local mechanic knows my Punto by name

fair enough the white seat looks best imo

be awar thoughvery common and costly problems:
*turbo blown
*aluminium sumps cracked
*sump plug threads gone
*turbo sucking oil running on its own oil then bboooooom engine blows
*ECU problems

thats just personal expirience from work mate mosty do that but some may not had worse expirence with the newer ones tbh...but could just be that people round here dnt take car of them lol

 

[RuSZ]

Looks like ive been neglecting this thread..

Well everything is well in Punto World. New pads and discs have been fitted after a track blast.

The springs and induction are offically for sale, mainly for finacial reasons.

and sadly in the summer the car will be "upgraded" most likely to a Honda Civic 2.2 i-CDTi or a Ford Focus 2.0 TDCi.

The following photos are from Yorkshire ITALIA day trip to scarborough