General Time too say goodbye!

[moby125]

Well after nearly 8 years of ownership, it is time to say goodbye to the Grande Punto.
Bought from new, I still think it is the best looking hot hatch still around. Now covered 142,000 miles, which equates to roughy 5.7 times around the world. I just wish I had of driven around the world, imagine the sights you would of seen.

So reliability pretty damn good for a Fiat. Body still in very good condition, interior still looking good, although front seats starting to fade slightly (driving instructor car).
So a list of parts replaced;
2 batteries.
2 drop links.
2 air filter housing replaced (mechanic split it twice)
Front discs replaced twice, pads 3 times. Rear drums still original drums and shoes.
Glow plugs replaced 3 times.
Gear linkage cables replaced twice.
Clutch replaced 3 times (once when gearbox was stripped down under warranty)
Master cylinder and slave cylinder replaced.
Starter motor replaced.
Alternator replaced.
Drive shafts replaced.
Steering column sensor reconditioned.
And of course just usual service parts and tyres.

Many thanks to the members on here, who have given advice.

 

[cobalt01]

What's next for you after your beloved gp as gone?

 

[moby125]

Renault Captur, 3 children!!

 

[cobalt01]

They are a nice car. Hopefully you'll enjoy that as well. Good luck with your new adventure

 

[BrigiteBardot]

Thank you for this report.

Seems mostly the familiar issues , and confirms the amazing reliabilty of this engine with good routine servicing. ( and other ones, I saw a C1 with 200k plus advertised on AT recently, still with 25% value after 9 years! ).

As someone else on another thread said recently, it's all the other items which cause trouble. Only 2 disc changes seems really good, obviously soft user of brakes. Mine is same age and also from new and its paintwork, body and interior also in remarkably good condition. Compare that with rusty 12 year old Mercs and Mazda 6 ones. Incidentally, I still see so many Puntos Mark II driving around, equally looking good and a testament to reliability.

Gerabox....you were lucky there to have in within warranty. Could have been so costly. Was it bearings failure or oil loss?

Linkages: what were your car's symptoms when you needed them replacing? Imprecise shifting for all or just one particular gear?

Renault Captur. I first thought nobody would buy it, giving that , in my eyes, weird TV commercial with the jumping fish, hardly showing anything about the car itself. But in the metal it actually looks really good, and I've seen countless ones already on the road. So good luck.

 

[moby125]

There was crunching going into reverse and resistance to go in to 1st. I know neither gear has syncromesh. So they stripped it down and rebuilt it. It's never been perfect to be honest with you. Knowing what I know, I think I would seek out an independent gearbox specialist for advice. The gear linkage doesn't help matters with being cable operated. When you see the actual cable, it really is like a bicycle brake cable, so no wonder the snap. I think a change to a rod system would be better.
To be honest I think the problem might be 3 fold, master cylinder and slave cylinder, gear linkage, gearbox. I guess some people just automatically assume the gearbox, when the oyher 2 might be worth investigating first.