Fiat Punto - Any Opinions

foxylady said:
Budget is 1500 max as have just put deposit on house and cant afford to have any loans.
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Found a spotless Starlet for E1500 it looks perfect, can't see this hanging around long so go and see it try to bump the dealer down to 1200-1300 for a cash deal remember it's a buyers market at the moment so if you are buying with cash you should have no problem getting a few euro knocked off the price :)

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=413291

If you know a mechanic bring him with you to see the car as he should be able to spot any obvious problems that a novice may not spot. If you don't know a mechanic then bring somebody that knows a good car when they see one.

Good Luck ;)
 
DOBBER22 said:
Found a spotless Starlet for E1500 it looks perfect, can't see this hanging around long so go and see it try to bump the dealer down to 1200-1300 for a cash deal remember it's a buyers market at the moment so if you are buying with cash you should have no problem getting a few euro knocked off the price :)

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=413291

If you know a mechanic bring him with you to see the car as he should be able to spot any obvious problems that a novice may not spot. If you don't know a mechanic then bring somebody that knows a good car when they see one.

Good Luck ;)
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thanks for all the advice from everyone.
 
foxylady said:
Budget is 1500 max as have just put deposit on house and cant afford to have any loans.
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To be honest with you, with 1500 euro's, maybe a mid 90's Micra off your local paper would be best option. or possibly same age starlet but bigger engine.

try to find a one lady (or man!) owner car if possible, if you can bring along someone mechanicaly minded and able to haggling for cars with you, and don't buy the car straight away or the first one you look at, think about it for while.

that starlet dobber22 mentioned looks good.
 
i owned a FIAT, my brother owned a FIAT, my neighbour owned a FIAT and I know lots of people who ownd FIATS and they all have problems. I'm sure you can get ones that are fine but for a first car on a limited budget it is too much of a risk to take.

Find yourself an old jap car and take your chances.
 
DOBBER22 said:
Found a spotless Starlet for E1500 it looks perfect, can't see this hanging around long so go and see it try to bump the dealer down to 1200-1300 for a cash deal remember it's a buyers market at the moment so if you are buying with cash you should have no problem getting a few euro knocked off the price :)

http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=413291

If you know a mechanic bring him with you to see the car as he should be able to spot any obvious problems that a novice may not spot. If you don't know a mechanic then bring somebody that knows a good car when they see one.

Good Luck ;)
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Looks like that Starlet was snapped up was it you who bought it FOXYLADY?

This car was recently SOLD (Sunday, 21 May 2006)
 
DOBBER22 said:
Looks like that Starlet was snapped up was it you who bought it FOXYLADY?

This car was recently SOLD (Sunday, 21 May 2006)
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no it wasnt me and i have just missed out on a corsa since then too.
 
Everyone told me not to buy a FIAT when i was looking around but i had a small budget and the Punto worked out perfect for me. I have it 5 years now
 
Foxy lady,
as an ex-Yaris owner, never had a days trouble in 4 years (that was 80k miles, so believe me Toyota are reliable).
check out BuyandSell.ie, there are a number of starlets '93-95s on that site for less than Eu1.5k, and most have NCT for next 1-2 years.
as a few others have said take someone with you who knows cars, if you don't have someone in mind I believe that the AA will do that service for you for about Eu100 (i'm prepared to let someone correct me on the cost).
 
foxylady said:
no it wasnt me and i have just missed out on a corsa since then too.
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Pity but theres no shortage of good second hand cars around so keep looking if I find any other good ones I'll let you know ;)
 
Wife has one , daughter has one
Plenty of space - not rubbing up against passenger.
Does 42mpg
Nippy - easy to park with 'City' power steering

However - always buy at least an 01 reg - it has temp gauge - gives you a chance if head gasket wants to go.

good as a first time starter car
 
Have had Punto experience. Never any major problems (touch wood). I think the car suffers from a bad reputation. There are certain Punto specific probs - wiper motor, squeaky noise from back, condensation on headlights. But for the price you pay I think the Punto is a great buy. They are v affordable and v reliable. They will get you from A to B every time - it mightn't be the most comforatble ride and you may lose some pieces in transit - but at the end of the day you get what you pay for!
 
My first car was a Fiat Punto, I must have been one of the lucky ones as it gave me no trouble was so ever. If you are buying one privately or with a car dealer bring your machanic with you. But then you should do this no matter what second hand car you buy.
 
3 friends had Fiat Punto, one purchased brand new. 2yrs old and started giving trouble. Other 2 also had problems (serious ones) - stick to toyota or sucuki(I know these don't look great but boyf drove one for 4 yrs and absolutely no trouble)
 
gianni said:
Have had Punto experience. Never any major problems (touch wood). I think the car suffers from a bad reputation. There are certain Punto specific probs - wiper motor, squeaky noise from back, condensation on headlights. But for the price you pay I think the Punto is a great buy. They are v affordable and v reliable. They will get you from A to B every time - it mightn't be the most comforatble ride and you may lose some pieces in transit - but at the end of the day you get what you pay for!
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Hi Gianni,

I have an '01 Punto and I have similar prob's - "squeaky noise from back, condensation on headlights" - At present I'm looking into getting the car serviced for these 2 specific reason's.Did you ever get these fixed on your Punto? And if so,where? ( I'm in Dublin )

Also,do you know what that "Squeaky" noise is? I was afraid it was a serious suspension prob. but as you've had this problem and it seem's to be common enough then I guess it can't be too serious??
 
owned a punto for several years - no major problems - good space - good car for the money.
 
my sister in law has a 96 Starlet from new. Never once gave her any ounce of trouble. She even phecked off for a year abroad and left it in her drive and was started the 'odd' time and she's been back 2-3yrs and still runs on.
No power steering though which is a pain.
Wife had a Punto. Most of the faults were fixable by myself, but in general as a first car, I would stay clear.
 
Back in 90s once got a Punto as a hire car from garage while normal car (Honda Accord) was in getting door replaced.
Had to drive to Galway and back to Dublin.
Only fun was driving round multi storedy in Galway.
Had to rev the bloody cr** out of it to get it to move.
It felt unstable, noisy, unresponsive and I could not find any redeeming features bar my fuel bill was a lot lower than with the Honda.

Buy Japanese, they are more reliable and usually offer more features for your euro. Yaris, Starlet or Corolla would be far better buy.
You could also buy an old VW as they used to be reliable back in 90s.

You do know that FIAT does stand for Fix It Again Tomorrow :)
 
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