2002 Fiat Punto 1.9D review from UK and Ireland

Car judders intermittently when in 4th and 5th gear.

The clutch thrust bearing seems very noisy.

Car had wrong gear knob when we bought it.

Someone had hacked the cables for the stereo previously, including the aerial cable.

The Punto has been okay so far. We've only had it for a month. In comparison to a Corsa we had, the interior is pretty spacious, with quite supportive seats. The build quality doesn't feel the best, but it's a relatively young car so we should get the best of it. It has electric windows, height adjustable driver's seat and that gimmicky 'City' steering button, that lightens the power steering, supposed to make it easier to park the car, but makes it feel just like you're steering on ice. It is fairly nippy, but being a 1.9 diesel, isn't the most economical car on the planet, being comparable to the 1.2 16v petrol engined Punto. The main advantage of the diesel over the petrol is the torque - there is much more pulling power when accelerating in gear than there would be with a petrol engined Punto. The engine does seem more refined through the rev range than Ford's Focus turbo diesel. I think the car looks a lot better in this shape with the narrow front lights than the later (2003 -) shape car. I think they made the later Punto look like the old shape VW Polo...