1999-03 Mk2 Punto - What to look for?

[snotrag]

Been trying to find the OH a £2k car for ages now - bloody nightmare. She 'doesnt like' most of my reccomendations for all sorts of random reasons.

She's seen this -

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20101535703...

2000 Punto 1.2 (I guess this is the 8 valve model? Wouldn't be my choice but then its not my money...

Whats to look for thats particular to these cars?

[Red&WhiteMonkey]

I ran one for about seven years without any major hassle. The only thing that kept on going wrong was the exhaust brackets failing causing an annoying banging on left hand corners. Not the most exciting vehicle but generally reliable. The one you've found has, provided their genuine, not done enough miles to cause significant issues.

[fraserbottomley]

I had one for my first car. Had it for about 3 years and covered 40000 miles, only thing that broke in that time was a coil pack. We've still got it now as a run around car and it's still going strong.

[bazking69]

Look for Friday afternoon cars. There are more about than nice ones sadly.

[kambites]

Ours has been pretty good, reliability-wise. The rear window came un-bonded but that was only about 50 quid to get reattached and one of the HT leads failed causing a misfire. Otherwise it's been largely just wear and tear (brakes, tyres, etc.).

I think the power steering motor is on the way out now though, occasionally when you start the car the power steering doesn't work and you have to stop and restart the engine to get it to work. Apparently that part is a common failure and the replacement unit from fiat is the entire steering rack so it's not cheap to get fixed. However you can buy just the motor and fix it yourself. The thing is quite drivable without power steering anyway.


That one your looking at is pretty much identical to ours except for the colour. the 1.2 8v is OK around town but is shocking under-powered on the motorway. I've found motorway hills that it wont get at up 70-mph in any gear, albeit in the Scotland. The 16v and diesel are considerably nicer to drive if you can find one in your budget.

A few things to note: The seats don't split-fold, which is a pain in the arse if you want to carry three people and luggage. The rear suspension creaks constantly. The suspension is shockingly under-damped and the steering is almost worryingly light. Fuel economy is terrible if you drive it at anything over about 60mph (but quite good under that). The driving position isn't very adjustable and the seats give me chronic back ache.

So overall it's done what we bought it to do pretty flawlessly but nothing more. I bought ours for £2400 three years ago, so if anything I'd say that one you've linked is a bit over-priced.

Edited by kambites on Monday 17th May 14:31