The Fiat Punto - An ideal First car!

Advantages: Cheap to run and Fun to Drive, Excellent Value for Money
Disadvantages: Safety, Style

...your shopping in easily. My car only has three doors so getting people in and out of the back can be interesting. I can however, fit 5 people in my car easily. This includes me and four of my footballing friends, three of whom are over 6ft tall! The Punto is fairly comfortable to drive and the seats are pretty nice. The longest I have been in it was three hours and nobody in the car suffered any bad injuries from being uncomfortable. 7/10 Safety I'd be lying if I said that my Fiat Punto was a safe car. It has no airbags or other safety features. Therefore I am always careful when I drive. It is important to know the cars limitations and stick within them to be safe. The car does have pretty reasonable acceleration and speed, but I don't advise it for speedy drivers who are more likely to crash. 4/10 Reliability My Punto has done...

sbutler1 02.11.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Living and driving with Fiat Punto

Advantages: Economical and spacious
Disadvantages: Heavy steering and noisy at speed

...Why, of all the cars on the market did I choose to buy a Fiat Punto? I have to admit that I only considered this car because I had been driving one on hire for a few months. When I looked at the vehicles available, Fiat seemed to offer good value. Have I come to regret this decision? I bought an ?98 registered vehicle in early 2000, and have driven about 16,000 miles since that time. So what are the pros and cons of this vehicle? This isn't the current model, but the immediately previous one wnich is very commonly available second hand. Firstly, I should say that I am married but have no children and virtually all my mileage is from my daily 50-mile round trip to work. Most of my driving is on the motorway with a few intervals of stationary urban traffic. Pros ? Decent fuel economy, not the best in class but I return about 43...

pauljm 16.03.2001 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

1998 Fiat Punto 55 sx

Advantages: Parts are cheap, fuel efficent, drives well (when running)
Disadvantages: Car suffers mid life crisis after 40,000 miles.

...I bought this car for £500. It was a 1997 (R) reg Punto 1.1sx. It had 50,000 miles on the clock with full service history. I thought the car would be OK as the milage was quite low and there was only two previous owners. After a month of owning the car the heater matrix went. These cost £60 from fiat and about £300 to fit as the whole dashboard has to come out. When the matrix goes you know about it as steam starts coming through the heater vents inside the car. I fitted the matrix myself, the job wasnt hard but it was time consuming. The car lasted another 2 months when the engine started overheating, this was a blown head gasket. apparently punto's are known for this problem, they fail around 30 to 60 thousand miles. A month and half later the clutch went. two months later there was a water leak from the bottom of engine...

masterm1nd 29.10.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Fiat Punto MK1 60 SX - 5 years on

Advantages: Well designed, Fuel economy, reliability
Disadvantages: Underpowered with a load, airbags optional

...1999 Fiat Punto SX 60 - the mid-range Punto of the time. 1.2 Fuel Injection Engine Alloy Wheels Front and rear foglights Power Steering Power Brakes Electric Windows Casette/Radio built-in Body coloured bumpers Immobiliser In 1999 I purchased a car - a Fiat Punto 60Sx - from my local dealer. For the past few weeks I had tried several other cars, Saxos, 106s, 206s, VW Polo, and I had been driving a Ford Fiesta for a year. None of them seemed right, confortable or able to accomodate my tall, long-legged body type. Then, on a whim, I visited the Fiat garage. At first, I wasn't that keen on the Punto - I didn't like the body shell in particular - but I sat in and had a look around the interior. Interior: The driver's seat instantly took to my favour because it could be raised as well as slid backwards...

frostrobo 17.08.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 60

Fiat Punto Active Sport 1.2i 8v

Advantages: Great Looks, Low Tax, Cheap Insurance
Disadvantages: Ride Hieght, Slight Roll On Cornering

...Having recently handed my little Saxo over to my little sister for her lessons and run around. Its time to look for a new car, So I came accross a really nice "Fiat Punto Active Sport 1.2i 8v". Read below to find my opinion of this car so far....... Performance~ This car is awesome on petrol, Obviously depending on the way its driven its averagin about 48ish MPG. ALthough not as responsive as the saxo was and requires higher revs in lower gears to do this, Another slight downside is the ride height and suspension set up as the car feels very high, and also as if it is going to roll when taking corners at speed. Exterior~ The Active Sport variant of the Punto is in one word "sexy", Its got curves, and straight lines in all the right place. Again a slight draw back is the gap between the top of the wheels and the botton...

caz1145 30.12.2008 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 8v

Fiat Punto 1.2 3DR

Advantages: Nippy, cheap to run, ideal first car!
Disadvantages: Body can dent easily

...effectivly in any car on a hot day, which is a bit of a let down. The drivers seat can be adjusted forward back and is capable of reclining, there is also round thing that you can turn to adjust the bottom of the seat it can push it out or bring it back it to give comfort to the bottom of the back. Spaciousness is good for a small car and there is a lot more space in this car than in the mk1, although it can be difficult in the 3dr getting into the back, so if you often plan to have a fullcar my advise would be the 5dr! Security is not too good, just a standard locks and a standard immobiliser, no alarm as standard which in my opinion fiat should of incorporated but no. The car does however look great, it has a modern stylish shape and is liked by many. The car is in insurance group 3. If you are unfamiliar to insurance groupings they...

dale2424 06.09.2005 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Fiat Punto 1.2, to buy or not to buy!?

Advantages: Cheap to run, looks, practicality.
Disadvantages: performance not fantastic

...Many of us know that the Italians have produced many wonderful cars, often decribed in term of their sole and passion. However, does this statement remain true with the Fiat Punto, I believe it does. Being one of the most unoffensive vehicles on the road, it is a car which simply blends in to all surroundings, and will often go unoticed (unless bright yellow and pimped!). This in my opinion is a good thing, as it allows you to get by from day to day without having complete strangers stare at you; this also prevents embarassment on the odd occasion when you have to pick your nose for example! Looks: you gotta love the design of this car, its funky, smart, and just looks a nice piece of work. Inside is rather basic, but everything that is needed is there, so I give it a thumbs up. Performance: With this car, you're not gonna be...

howser17 15.05.2009 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Fiat Punto 52 plate 1.2 Dynamic (5 door)

Advantages: A small, low cost, but zippy car which is also reliable and easy to fix
Disadvantages: A difficult car to drive

...I recently purchased a Fiat Punto 1.2 Dynamic (5 door) straight from the dealers (Rockingham Motors, Northants). The Fiat website was exceedingly useful and allowed me to email the dealers to arrange a test drive. In short the car was excellent: at a cost of £3300 for a 52 plate with only 42,000 miles on the clock and 6 months warranty. The car's benefits by far out weigh the negatives which I have seen and been told by friends (i.e. not reliable, cheap nasty car, not spacious). The drive itself is comfortable, but I have been informed by passengers that in the back it is not so good. It is excellent for short journey's for both comfort and fuel efficiency (even though I had some issues opening the petrol cap). Longer journey's it guzzles petrol but I expected that with such a small engine. For me, I needed a reliable car...

AlexandraLawrence 27.07.2006 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 8v

THE DEFINITIVE REPORT ON THE FIAT PUNTO

Advantages: Cheap and Cheerful
Disadvantages: Very little boot space, not built to last.

...THE PRICE This has to be what attracts people to buy the Fiat Punto. It is very reasonablly priced and is ideal for a first time driver. If you shop around you can get a perfectly good Fiat Punto second hand. I strongly suggest you do this. THE LOOK The Fiat Punto comes in many different colours. They are all perfectly fine apart from white. It gets dirty very quickly and will have you cleaning it once a week. The Fiat Punto is a very european car, it is small but elegant. Perfect for a small family. The overall look of the car is excellent. No bits stand out or look out of place. HOW DOES IT RUN? Unfortunately this is what lets the car down. It isn`t exactly made to last. I usually only get around five years out of one before it plays up. I have been to the garage several times with the car to fix repairs. Is it just...

spartacus_kev 10.06.2003 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2 

Pedalling the Punto

Advantages: Fairly inexpensive to buy
Disadvantages: Parts are expensive, insurance grouping is high

...As you fellow Ciaoers may know by now I do like to write the occasional car op. After having driven the face-lifted model Fiat Punto I could not resist putting "pen to paper." The Fiat Punto has been "re-invented" since it first appeared on our roads, the very latest version has modified light clusters and a few other adjustments, but is very similar to the range made up to 2003. What does it look like ? ************************* The Punto is one of the smaller Fiats (Fiat have just launched the NEW Panda), the Punto is available in both 3 and 5 door. Compared to most cars if it's class it is not that distinctive, it blends in with most cars on the road. The main head turner with these cars is usually the colours they are manufactered in, I really do not understand who would buy a car in some of the shocking paintwork they...

Buenosdias 21.04.2004 · Read review
Ciao members have rated this review on average very helpful
Review of Fiat Punto 1.2