Faults:

Water pump developed a small leak around the 30,000 miles, and needed to be replaced. Very small mileage for such a failure.

Starter motor faulty after 50,000 miles; also very early failure, and needed to be replaced (not cheap), and hard to source a replacement.

General Comments:

Punto's are cheap and almost cheerful! You know what you are getting when you compare against other mainstream manufacturer's.

The Multijet is extremely frugal on diesel and regularly returns 60+ mpg, regardless of how I drive. 600+ miles per fill and reasonable performance when you get it over the 2000rpm range. (engine also used in Opel/Vauxhall 1.3 diesel models).

Faults:

Nowt yet.

General Comments:

Driven the petrol and the diesel HGT. Opted for the diesel for the high mileage I do.

I wouldn't call either of these cars fast though, better than average maybe, but not fast. Just a nice car with nice spec.

I plan to chip the diesel, but I've just gotta be a bit careful cos I've heard that the clutch and gearbox ain't that strong if modded.

Faults:

Blowing exhaust, but was replaced for me free of charge when I bought it. Now fine.:)

Power steering failure light, making the steering a bit heavier. It's come on about 3 times for a day or 2 since I've had it. Now it doesn't come on anymore:)

A yellow light has come up telling me there is a problem somewhere in the car, and recommending me to go to Fiat garage to put it on a computer to get it checked out, but I have left it because it's only come on 3 times, and now it doesn't light up anymore:)

That's it. Nothing major :) Drives beautifully.

General Comments:

It is the Active Sport, so it looks very sexy with the alloys, spoilers, sports bumpers.

Very comfortable seats, very roomy for a hatch back (much roomier than a Clio or 206), big boot, quiet, excellent standard 6 speaker audio and economical, and very cheap to insure on my dad's name. Only 310 pounds fully comp.

I was hoping to buy a 16v version, because I heard it's much better than the 8v. But I couldn't find one, so I opted for the 8v because the condition was excellent and mileage was low (only 20.000 miles) and it's a very sexy broom bright yellow, so it stands out from the crowd.

The 8v is surprisingly nippy though for round town. So far it's been reliable. Don't underrate Fiat because they are excellent cars if you find a well taken care one.

Faults:

I've been looking for a bright yellow Punto (face lift version) for ages, and I finally found one.

I've only had it for 2 weeks off a private sale, and the exhaust was making a slight rattle, but it got sorted out at no expense. The mechanic just put a small rubber next to it to keep it still, and it's done the job.

The other night the power steering light came on whilst I was driving, which made the steering a little bit heavier, because I had lost the power steering. I pulled up and switched it off and turned it back on, and it hasn't done it again.

I've read on the Internet that it's a common fault, but so far it only happened once to me. Besides that, nothing wrong so far. Fingers crossed it will keep on going like my old Fiat Uno.

General Comments:

It looks the part in bright yellow, with sporty front and back bumpers, 15 inch really nice alloys, a subtle spoiler, and very comfortable bucket seats.

Has a lot of head room, and a lot of leg room.

Very quiet.

Nippy.

A real sexy italian hatch back that gets looks.

Easy to drive.

Excellent 6 speaker sound system.

Decent boot.

Solid body.