Monday 28th September 2015

Fiat Grande Punto: PH Carpool

This PHer took a long time searching out his perfect Punto and the wait was worth it!

---

Name: Jake Pocock
Car: Fiat Grande Punto T-Jet
Owned since: March '14.
Previously owned: Ford Ka

A worthy upgrade from a Ford Ka

Why I bought it:
"I wanted something subtle, different and quick-ish. The insurance costs for an Abarth were comical so I settled on a T-Jet (which shares the engine with the Abarth). Finding one was a different story! I knew exactly what spec I wanted: a series two with the smoked headlights, optional alloys and cruise control, so naturally I had to wait a while for it. Six months to be exact, then two came up and I broke the biggest rule in the world; I bought the first one I saw."

What I wish I'd known:
"Not a great deal if I'm honest. I took my time researching what to look out for on these, and thankfully they aren't built like Fiats of yesteryears. I do wish I'd known how much the spark plugs were though; they're iridium tipped which means they're fantastically expensive compared to normal ones. Other than that, nothing."

Things I love:
"The engine. It chirps and whistles, and the exhaust pops and bangs when you've got your foot down. It makes me smile, and if a car can do that on the commute then it has to be good! But when I'm not driving like my hair is on fire I still manage decent fuel economy, and while the ride is very firm, it's comfortable enough to drive with very good seats. People do seem to look at it, although that may be because of the exhaust and stripes, so they probably think I have a tiny willy or something... but I don't care! I bought this car because I liked it, not because of what people thought, otherwise I would be in another dull German diesel box."

Looks a big part of the appeal

Things I hate:
"I'm struggling to think of much if I'm honest. The only thing I can really think of is that the local chavs like to try and coax me into traffic light GPs with them which I mostly ignore."

Costs:
"Other than consumables, it's cost me a spring (I blame the roads around here more than the car itself). I did have a custom exhaust fitted which fits in the bumper well and doesn't sound antisocially loud. It's been surprisingly reliable!"

Where I've been:
"A few road trips, Birmingham, Peak district and a couple of trips to Cheddar for a drive around there!"

What's next?:
"A Ford Focus ST. A Mk2 facelift ST-2 in any colour but orange with the Mountune kit. Can you tell I've decided yet? Power and noise. Can't go wrong!"

---

Want to share your car with PHers on Carpool? Email us at [e-mail]!

[kellyt]

Nice colour, looks classy and understated. I only hope it doesn't share the same traits as the only Punto I've driven. More rattles than a nursery on speed and a clutch pedal that sounded as if it had a hamster taped to the back of it.

[Frimley111R]

Always liked the style of these, simple, clean and classy. The facelift ones are shockingly hideous.

[Carlique]

I'm afraid my experiences of the Grande Punto couldn't have been more different. I had a 1.4 16v Sporting which is the same as the T-Jet albeit without the turbo, and it was an absolute nightmare to own.

During my ownership I had to replace the Gearbox (Infamously fragile 6 Speed box), the steering rack (again, well known issue), drive shaft, Front springs (common issue again!), tracking rods, exhaust down pipe (multiple times) etc etc. The list is endless.

Having said all that, I managed to overlook all the faults and love it for what it was. As is the case for most Italian car owners.

[Blanchimont]

Carlique said:

I'm afraid my experiences of the Grande Punto couldn't have been more different. I had a 1.4 16v Sporting which is the same as the T-Jet albeit without the turbo, and it was an absolute nightmare to own.

During my ownership I had to replace the Gearbox (Infamously fragile 6 Speed box), the steering rack (again, well known issue), drive shaft, Front springs (common issue again!), tracking rods, exhaust down pipe (multiple times) etc etc. The list is endless.

Having said all that, I managed to overlook all the faults and love it for what it was. As is the case for most Italian car owners.

The 100hp engine fitted to the GP sportings are slightly different, they're shared (I believe) with the Panda 100hp and they're known as "starjet" engines.

When the T-Jet was released they fixed a lot of the common faults with attributed to the earlier cars, and the S2 facelift fixed them all.
The M32 gearbox, used the diesel GP's too are famously made of cheese so break a lot.


It's been pretty good, I service it yearly, and drive it hard once it's warmed up but it's never left me stranded.

[Swanny87]

I didn't have a T-Jet, just a poverty spec model. As someone said above; I had to replace steering rack. The springs and drop links were made of spaghetti. What's the steering feel like on the T-Jet? I always felt like I was driving in a video game, although it cornered pretty well!

[italianpurist]

I enjoyed my GP ownership, it's a very cheap car and you loads for the money. Main issues I found was interior heating fans failing and gearbox dead after 4 years. I got a used gearbox from a breakers for £125 so it was all good!! I must admit I have since owned a golf and won't be going back to Fiat but for the momey a good car.

[italianpurist]

I'm sure there was a recall on the steering rack? When I had my car.

[DeltaEvo2]

For the money, I would have a little Fiat over a BMW Mini...any time.

[LotusOmega375D]

We had an early second-hand 1.4 8V Dynamic GP as the wife's runabout.

Faults during this time included a front spring (don't know which cheepo steel mill Fiat sourced these from!), alternator, steering column stalk, water pump and an A/C re-gas. But overall we were very satisfied with it. Just too slow for me, so I can see the attraction of a turbocharged version.

When the time came it sold privately within a day or two: we only lost GBP 1350 on it after 4.5 years ownership.

[anonymous-user]

My 09 T-Jet spewed its oil and blew its turbo after only 4 years and 75,000 miles. Car drove like a dog after a £1000 repair bill so I sold it through the auction.

Dealer costs were insane - over £400 for a service. Even had the audacity to charge me £10 for a piece of printed paper after they'd had over £3000 in service/repairs from me over 4 years. Nothing ever seemed to be covered by the warranty.

Probably a good used buy though if you know your way around an engine.

[TNH]

I had a Grande Punto in New Orleans Blue which I bought new back in 2008. Absolutely loved it at the time and still think they look cracking. I used to be quite active on FiatForum back in the day.

Yours looks like a nice example. The Abarth wheels are nice but the stripes aren't really to my taste.

Steering feel was completely non-existent and very light but didn't handle that badly.

[carmadlad]

Nice looking car! the alloys & stripes are just enough to make it stand out, these are i think mistakenly a very underated fiat, brings back memories of 1987 when i was in my 20s and had an Uno Turbo, i wish i still had that one now!

[muppet42]

Don't mind the Grande Punto or indeed it's current incarnation the Evo, certainly a different, more characterful choice than it's Corsa relative and less awkward looking than it's other relation the MiTo (think I got the letter cases right(!)).

The T-Jet would've probably been the only version I'd have gone for. I drove a non-turbo 1.4 16v Phase 1 and thought it was pretty terrible though. Had jumped out of my own 1.2 16v Stilo (basically the same engine/gearbox) and just found it didn't ride very well (this was a Sport spec with 17" multi-spokes and I'll admit I'd upgraded my own suspension to Eibach springs/dampers) and just felt like it didn't feel as good on the road though the steering was quite similar.

I knew a person at my old work that bought an Evo Punto Abarth SS and had a proper nightmare trying to get every bit of the SS kit. The dealer was clueless. My own experience of Fiat (Fiat Paisley, now an Arnold Clark) was similar - truly moronic and dust their hands of you once the car's been sold. Use independants and you get a far better ownership experience. I think in general in fact, Fiats are underrated things and get a really bad press in comparison to the other brands hitting the values hard. Means you get a bargain for your money though...

[SoupSatchel]

I've had one of these since 2010 (a 57 plate), cheap to buy and run, interior is a bit plasticky (the glovebox catch has broken twice but it's an ebay buy plus five minutes fix). It does 34mpg when I drive (my wife gets 40), the engine runs out of guts beyond 5000rpm, but it's punchy enough (150lb/ft) for overtaking. I changed the Bridgestone tyres for Conti Sport C 5s and it handles much better esp in the wet.

The thing I like best is I don't have to care about it because it's cheap. If it gets reversed into a pebble dashed lamp post (just for example), I can give gallic shurg and give it a quick dab of paint to stop rust, job done. Hint - black's a good colour for hiding scrapes. And I have no rust (on 2008 Fiat! How things have moved on). Marvellous.

Oh, and because it a petrol, children don't end up with miner's lungs when I drive past.... at least until they start smoking anyway.

[Theophany]

Had an 08 plate 1.9 MultiJet. Unfashionably diesel, probably, but it was a cracking motor to own. Though, as has previously been said, gearboxes are a known weakpoint. Had mine replaced under warranty, but not great 18 months into brand new car ownership!

[Effjay]

I bought an "Exotica Red" one of these to use as a daily and I really like it. In a way it's much more fun around London than my 5.0 XKR. I don't think the interior is too bad on them either, a far cry from the mk2 Punto I had for my first car anyway.

I've warmed to it so much that I'm currently gathering the parts for a TD04 turbo conversion (because they do run out of puff at 5000rpm in standard form - the turbo is tiny) I'll stick a thread on here when I get round to installing the bits.