Grande Punto 1.9 diesel sporting.

[Pooh]

I am thinking of getting a Grande Punto 1.9 130 bhp diesel sporting as an economical commuting car once I have sold my GTV. I test drove one today and was very impressed, quick enough to be fun, good handling and a smooth free revving engine.
Just wondering if anybody has experience of living with one?

[furs307c]

Had mine since october now, very impressed with it, any specific questions just ask

[Pooh]

furs307c said:

Had mine since october now, very impressed with it, any specific questions just ask

Do you find it comfortable on long runs, what sort of mpg do you get at 70 ish on a run and have you had any promlems with it that I should be looking out for?
Thanks

[pbarlow0032]

Hi Pooh, just read your post about selling the GTV, really sucks. I don't know how much your planning on spending on the Punto, but have you considered the Alfa GT 1.9Jtd 150? You can pick these up for anywhere from £8k now (althought most seem to be £10k+).

I just thought it may be less of a heartache to go from a beautiful Alfa coupe to another beautiful Alfa coupe (albeit a diesel one)?

[Pooh]

pbarlow0032 said:

Hi Pooh, just read your post about selling the GTV, really sucks. I don't know how much your planning on spending on the Punto, but have you considered the Alfa GT 1.9Jtd 150? You can pick these up for anywhere from £8k now (althought most seem to be £10k+).

I just thought it may be less of a heartache to go from a beautiful Alfa coupe to another beautiful Alfa coupe (albeit a diesel one)?

I had considered the Alfa GT, I test drove one and liked it very much but for the money it would be an older higher mileage car with higher running costs and the object of the exercise is to commute as cheaply as possible without dieing of boredom, so my sensible head says but the Fiat.

Edited by Pooh on Tuesday 17th June 22:12

[Pooh]

pbarlow0032 said:

Hi Pooh, just read your post about selling the GTV, really sucks. I don't know how much your planning on spending on the Punto, but have you considered the Alfa GT 1.9Jtd 150? You can pick these up for anywhere from £8k now (althought most seem to be £10k+).

I just thought it may be less of a heartache to go from a beautiful Alfa coupe to another beautiful Alfa coupe (albeit a diesel one)?

I had considered the Alfa GT, I test drove one and liked it very much but for the money it would be an older higher mileage car with higher running costs and the object of the exercise is to commute as cheaply as possible without dieing of boredom, so my sensible head says but the Fiat.

Edited by Pooh on Tuesday 17th June 22:12

[furs307c]

Im averaging about 43mpg at the moment, but with motorway use this will go up. Its fairly comfortable on long runs which is nice, only slight problem ive had is the horn button on the steering wheel stopped working, but fixed now. Check out fiatforum for loads more info/ arguing on whether the 1.4tjet(petrol turbo) is better than the 1.9multijet(diesel turbo).

[anonymous-user]

Im enjoying mine its a quick little thing! Im getting about 40mpg out of mine! I think my foot must be too heavy!

[Pooh]

The Punto sounds very good but pbarlow0032's post above has made me think that maybe I should consider an Alfa 147 1.9 16v lusso as well. It would probably cost a bit more to run and has a 3 rather than 5 star safety rating but I do like the look of them, time for another test drive.

[anonymous-user]

Pooh said:

The Punto sounds very good but pbarlow0032's post above has made me think that maybe I should consider an Alfa 147 1.9 16v lusso as well. It would probably cost a bit more to run and has a 3 rather than 5 star safety rating but I do like the look of them, time for another test drive.

I looked at these and a nice car it is too! But I thouight in facelift version it didn't look as good and Fiat offered 0% finance which swayed me in the end!

[Pooh]

MonkeyMatt said:

Pooh said:

The Punto sounds very good but pbarlow0032's post above has made me think that maybe I should consider an Alfa 147 1.9 16v lusso as well. It would probably cost a bit more to run and has a 3 rather than 5 star safety rating but I do like the look of them, time for another test drive.

I looked at these and a nice car it is too! But I thouight in facelift version it didn't look as good and Fiat offered 0% finance which swayed me in the end!

I am not wild about the face-lift either, and the 147 is a much older design so the Punto is still favorite at the moment but I will try a 147 just to compare.

[Alfahorn]

I love the Fiat GP although I would be very tempted by a GT, possibly too tempted....in fact, fk it...I'd have a GT!

[Pooh]

I've just bought a 56 plate Grande Punto sporting 130 multijet in red it has done 7k miles and cost me £7850 which seems OK. First impressions are good, I think I am going to like it.
Now I just have to sell the Alfa.

[Cooldudeoli]

I owned a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Sporting, I loved the car, was nippy, good handling and being orange with go-faster stripes was an eye catcher! Now got an Alfa GT 1.9 JTD (150) and I'm loving it! Alfa looks more of a car imho. Still miss the little Fiat tho...
The diesel 1.9 Punto wasn't out when I was looking...I would say the Alfa is what you want :P You know you want it! Haha! That's my opinion anyways. The Alfa's getting high 40's, 52mpg on a run...the 1.4 sporting was 36 (dont know how!) Hope this helps.

[Pooh]

Cooldudeoli said:

I owned a Fiat Grande Punto 1.4 Sporting, I loved the car, was nippy, good handling and being orange with go-faster stripes was an eye catcher! Now got an Alfa GT 1.9 JTD (150) and I'm loving it! Alfa looks more of a car imho. Still miss the little Fiat tho...
The diesel 1.9 Punto wasn't out when I was looking...I would say the Alfa is what you want :P You know you want it! Haha! That's my opinion anyways. The Alfa's getting high 40's, 52mpg on a run...the 1.4 sporting was 36 (dont know how!) Hope this helps.

Thanks, I did test drive the GT and loved it but the Punto was the cheaper option in terms of buying and running so that is what I have got, it is doing more than twice the mpg that the Alfa was and so far I am happy with it.
I hope to buy a weekend toy of some sort in a few months.