USED Fiat Grande Punto Hatchback (06 - 11)

My car

I've had this car for 5 months and covered 5000 miles.

Good points: - Large small car - lots of room with the seats down and for the driver (I'm just over 6 feet tall). - Comfortable front seats. - Surprisingly quiet motorway cruiser. - Cheap to buy and run. - Eager engine - Very nice looking - especially in the blue metallic and in this Sporting trim. - Blue & Me handsfree phone and voice command + USB port for music on a memory stick works very well...and it comes as standard.

Bad points: - Firm ride without being especially grippy. You will feel all the potholes. - Build quality could be better, I've had a rattle in the dash which is very intermittent so hard to replicate and get fixed (something like a cable hitting underneath I suspect) plus a rattle towards the left rear of the car. - I can max around 44mpg on the motorway, I was hoping this would be a little better but is acceptable.

Overall I think the car is very good value for money, especially with the big discounts available. Other cars such as the Corsa and Fiesta have better build quality but I do think they lack the good looks of the Punto. It is also a very good car if you want a lot of space but don't want a car quite as big as a Focus or Golf.

My car

since day 1 of owning this vehicle i have had nothing but problems with the car and the dealership. as of today the car has been in for repairs 8 times and is still worse than when it 1st went in.

i have had water leaks, badly fitted interior and also bumpers and sideskirts, needed oil topping up after around 6 months, seats click when breaking, glove box wont close properly and was wonky (i was told this was acharacteristic of the car)bonnet wasn't secured properly, creaking and knocking noise from rear suspension when driving. passanger door not fitted properly, paint came off when washing the car, roof lining replaced 3 times and still not done properly, window switches replaced 4 times they seem fine for now, safety recall 3 months after mentioning the recalls to the dealership, i am now in the process of trying to cancel the agreement.

I think that everyone who is having problems with fiat should contact watchdog and see if they can sort it out once and for all.

My car

Despite reading about all the failures that other owners have had to endure, I'm delighted to be able to write about the fact that not one single thing has gone wrong over the last 6 months of ownership. Average mpg somewhere just over 40 and that's a mixture of town and Mway. No rattles or trim issues, paintwork looks like new and the engine starts every time. A very low insurance group rating means that fully comp costs just £11 per month. The icing on the cake. Well done FIAT!

My car

Great small car. I downsized when I moved to the city, and this is a great run-around , cheap on petrol, can handle city roads and motorways equally well and fits a mountain of stuff in the boot. It's hugely more sturdy on the road than previous puntos and has as many gadgets as the top - end car I (reluctantly)exchanged it for. I bought it 12 months old, and the exhaust rattled badly within days, the door seal is coming off (so door leaks) and I too have a broken front door handle which means I've been opening the driver door through the front window for six months as the dealer has faffed about with fixing it. Surprised? no. Dissapointed. Yes - but with the dealers and not the car. Fiat needs to have more discipline in how it monitors and maintains the quality of customer service and responsiveness of its dealers.