2000 Fiat Punto review from UK and Ireland

Exhaust snapped after 20,000 miles.

This car is not going to win any awards for speed, it is a capable town/city car that will happily cruise at 70mph.

The interior has faired really well for a four year old car the only mark is a scratch that I did whilst transporting a full length mirror.

This is a cheap car and as such you miss out on a lot of equipment, the standard radio I found was quite poor, but it was easily upgraded (with the aid of a faceplate). The "City" button is a nice addition as it makes the power steering even lighter to aid parking and narrow street driving.

I still think that it is a good looking car, the lights on it are fantastic, and not a single thing so far (other than tyres and exhaust) have need replacing, not even a bulb.

I have recently started traveling up to 650 miles per week and the Fiat has never once complained, it's as smooth as it ever was. One thing I did notice was that if you go over 70mph the fuel economy suffers rather badly, as the car only has a 1.2 8v engine this has to be expected.

Overall the fuel economy is quite good with 400 miles usually returned from a full tank. As a student this car served my very well, and I think it is an ideal first car.

Also another strong point in its favor is the fact that it achieved 4 stars in the Euro NCAP crash test, for such a small car this was quite impressive.