Faults:

Just like my old Punto 1994, this one I bought it worn down and not starting because of the immobilizer... leaks everywhere, worn brakes, suspension etc.

After I renewed everything it's a really good reliable car and economical at around 5.5l/100km in city and 4.2l/100km on highway at or lower than 100kph. Much more economical than my 94 Punto, but really sluggish power; this car's 60hp is really weak; it will do the job, but for overtaking or if you have people in the car on uphills, it's sluggish.

General Comments:

Small economical car with good level of comfort and noise insulation, unlike my 94 Punto, but power wise it's not there... it will do the job from A to B, but if you push it will drink the gas as if it's a 2 liter engine.

Great safety wise, I recommend it... cheap to run...

Faults:

Where to start?

ECU.

Door handles and locks.

Electric windows.

Hand brake lever.

Gear lever.

Gear linkages.

Bonnet catch.

Airbags.

Coil packs.

Rear wiper arm snapped.

Stereo broke.

General Comments:

The car looked to be a good economical little runaround, however within a few miles it started to run on 2 cylinders. Discovered the ECU was broken. This was repaired through a friend at trade prices, as the local Fiat dealer wanted well over £500 to resolve.

All the other things wrong with this car are very surprising and disappointing; it has the worst build quality I have seen on a car in a long time. We have even had cars from early 80s that were better than this.

There are sharp edges everywhere; even the interior door handles cut you; it's a really bad car. Has been in family since nearly new, and has always had local dealer service history, and even they admit it is one of the worst cars they have seen.

It has always been well cared for, oil checked every week, serviced on time, garaged, washed and waxed once a week, and it even has rust bubbles along every door and the wheel arches, and in random places. This is really bad on a 2004 car.

The Proton we had previous was a cheap car too, but so much better in reliability terms, and it had no rust when it went off to the scrap yard.

Everything seems to break: switches, electrics etc. This car has been back to dealer under warranty frequently when new, and still now requires work regularly.

It eats front tyres, despite being looked at several times and the tracking put right etc. There are several warning lights on that no one can find the cause of the problem.

It just feels as though it was built in a shed somewhere. They may look classy and smart, but they are utter rubbish.

I will never buy Fiat again; we have had a Fiat Uno in the past and it was a very good car, so naturally we were expecting the same with the Punto.

Not sure whether we got a bad one or not, but we'll just buy something Japanese next time.

Not a good buy at all.

Faults:

Throttle body, main dealer price to include new battery £580, beware Fiat owners

General Comments:

Was a good shopping trolley.