General Punto (2008) has excessively sharp brakes

[davidhemsworth]

My wife has just bought a 2008 Grande Punto and we both find the brakes excessively sharp - not progressive, as with our previous (pre-Grande)Puntos, just all or nothing, it seems. We thought we'd adjust to it after a while but we still find the braking sudden, jerky and potentially hazardous for anybody close behind.

Is this a feature of Grande Puntos we have to live with, or is there something wrong with the brakes on this car?

 

[a_shippen]

[comment removed due to excessive moderation] seriously?!?

 

[Andy Monty]

has the car got alloys can you see the brake discs? if it has steel wheels pop one off and have a look at the braking surface..


with the recent weather any car that has been stood on a garage forecourt is bound to have a decent helping of surface rust on the discs and drums and might require some attention from a wire brush or several long braking sessions from speed to knock the rust off back to clean the disc rotors (and drums)


saying that when i first got mine i did find them a bit keen

 

[GymJunkie]

i did notice this, took a few weeks to fully get used to the brakes before i was able to brake smoothly without jerking

 

[Mozarella]

If it's a used car and you think there's a brake problem, shouldn't you be back at the dealers? You could have a sticking caliper or brake shoe.

My 2010 GP has 'keen' brakes - as the other poster said, they can feel over servo-ed. Also the car is quite light for it's class, (300Kg lighter than my previous G*lf) and will stop quite quickly.

 

[angelnight]

I've only had my grande punto a while as well and I've found the brakes to be very sensitive and sharp! I think it just takes a bit of getting used to. My previous car had really poor brakes which required the foot to be pushed down a heck of a lot, the gp doesn't need it at all. I'm getting to terms with it, but still jerking a bit from time to time...