2000 Fiat Punto Sporting (new shape) from UK and Ireland - Comments

Fuel line cut through by the rear wheel.

Second gear in the gearbox playing up.

Replacement gearbox on order to be replaced under warranty shortly.

Excellent car, I love the looks and performance, the handling is superb. I particually like the city mode which makes the power steering lighter in town, it also detunes the engine for town driving and makes the car more managable in heavy traffic (not a lot of people know that).

The dealer has been a pain though, the blighters kerbed the car while it was in having some work done on the fuel line, badly damaged one of the alloy wheels and upset the tracking, it has taken nearly 4 months to get them to admit this and replace the wheel.

Still, I would buy another tomorrow.

Obviously Fiat have not solved their gearbox woes, my 75SX needed a new box at 15k, how you can put a punto up with the class leaders is beyond me. Your experience is indicative of most other owners with respect to the gearbox and the dealers who couldn't care less.

Nice styling, shame about the quality.

I'll agree with you, the new Punto looks great, but when I test drove a new Punto I put my foot down and the acceleration was non existent, and the handling was dangerously crap. This needs good stiff sports suspension and a bit more torque, and it would be a beast.

I'll half agree with both of you, the handling I thought was very slick compared to other small cars, but the gearbox is a total disgrace on this car, looks good, drives great but still needs improvements.

I have to agree with the comment above. I really wanted to like the Punto, due to its gorgeous looks, but when I test drove a Sporting, it had seemingly non existant acceleration, and low quality plastics in the cabin.

I think it needs a 1.4 100bhp engine and then it would be a good little motor, more worthy of the claimed 10.5secs 0-60.

I own a Punto Sporting, it is now six months old and has covered 5500 miles. I have had no problems with it whatsoever!

I think this car needs to be driven hard, but at the same time with respect, driving this car slowly doesn't feel right, 3000-5500rpm is where the power is, owners should know this and shouldn't start comparing the Punto to other hatchbacks, it's its own car (individual)!

What other £11,000 hatchback could park next to a Ferrari and look comfortable?

Hi, I have been an owner of the new Punto for almost 2 years now. The only problem that I had was with the gearbox (1-2) which has been fixed. But when changing gear it does not feel right.

I wiil disagree about the plastics. They are made of good quality and they are definitely better than the Corsa's hard plastic or the Peugeot 307's cheapy plastics.

In the next Punto they should definitely change the engine (more power) and the gearbox...

I've owned my ELX 16V now for 2 years, during this period I encountered the following problems :

door lock needed to be exchanged, horn started to blow when gripping the steering wheel, clutch made terrible noises, exhaust pipe almost rotten by now (23 months), and finally the speedometer passed away, fixing took already more than one week and I am still waiting...

I have had my Punto for 18 months now and for the last 6 months the air conditioning hasn't worked. My luck it was just out of warranty, and I was told that there is a leak in one of the tubes. Apparantly this was not a rare occurance at the garage I spoke to. It's gonna cost over £225 (disgusting). With everything else that's gone wrong with it, I would have been better off with an old banger, at least they can take a knock, unlike the Punto, which seems to be made of tin foil.

So the 'city' mode detunes the engine to make it more manageable for town driving eh? That is total rubbish... who told you that, the dealer? If you need a 1.2 engine detuned to make it more manageable then you might find an electric wheelchair more suited to your requirements. With regard to all the build quality comments, if you're going to pay peanuts for a car, what do you expect. I think you are expecting too much. Why not buy a better quality nearly new car if you are that strapped for cash?

I have owned a Sporting for 1 year and have had absolutely nothing go wrong with it, I have added an induction kit to add to the already great performance.

The interior and exterior styling are both great and as far as the the gearbox goes, I think out of all the cars I've driven it is the best, the precision changing is great!!!

My father drives a Porsche Boxster S and I prefer to drive mine over his due to its round town nippiness!

Overall it's a great car, although I added an Abarth spoiler to it to replace the standard sporting spoiler, it acts and looks amazing - a brilliant car!

I have two Punto 1.2 8v models (2000). I believe there have been epidemic failures on Punto of the E-Steer (slight rattling in the worm drive) and wiper motor (juddering wipers on intermittent / flick). Of course, the headlamps can also mist up in cold weather. Nevertheless, nothing serious has gone wrong and I find they are a pleasure to own and drive. Economy wise, I get 54mpg on average (over 2 yrs). Despite the minor problems, I think they are still excellent value and good at their job of being a town or city run-about. The standard of componentry and quality of assembly is certainly comparable to any other car in it's class. The service network is very good too.

I have a Fiat Punto Sporting Mk2 from July 2002 and until know I have done 10000KLM in hard and difficult conditions (Mountains, hard dust roads, bad Greek roads with holes). The car is absolutely fine with no problems and the steering is as like the first time I bought it and maybe better. I put yesterday a filter kit of K&N and the engine is working and sounds better know. Absolutely I love this car and in the beginning I was a little bit worried about FIAT cars, but now I am not.

HI, I have a black Punto 1.2. I am thinking of putting a k&n air filter on to mine and also a power bust valve. Does anybody know a good place to get one from.

Never had any problems with my car I think they are a superb car to drive.

I bought my basic 3-door 1.2 Punto on 29/08/00. I now tell all I meet NEVER to buy a Punto, NEVER buy a Fiat and certainly do NOT buy anything whatsoever from the dealer I used. I looked after my car like a child, always had it serviced on schedule and kept it in pristine condition. However, the litany of woe I have had with this car leaves me wondering if I need a mechanic or a priest. Make your own judgment when you read the following...

As I say, I bought it on 29/08/00 - on 05/10/00, it was in to have the power steering unit replaced, as that was failing. That was just the start. The car developed major water leak problems within a year - despite allegedly following the repair instructions from Fiat (as this was apparently a fairly common fault), it took three goes to fix it. Along the way, the carpet began to smell with the dissolved glue etc., causing me headaches and stinking the car out. It has also had the indicator stick replaced as it jammed on several occasions. The seat runners on the driver's side have seized - and the cherry on the icing of the cake?? Last Monday, the cylinder head gasket blew, 48 hours after I drove it home from the dealership where it had its 3-year service. I am now deeply embroiled in a fight with the garage to get them to buy this heap from me at a reasonable price. Service and customer care are not the first words that spring to mind.

Needless to say, I will never drive another Fiat and it will probably be quite some time before I can look at a Punto without shuddering. I'd be interested to hear if anyone else has had similar problems, as it's my understanding that the water leak was an endemic fault in the 2000 Punto. When the car was going, it went well and got great mileage - it's a lovely, solid-feeling car to drive and I'm sure, on another plane of existence, it's a source of joy for all who own it. Unfortunately, that's not my world.

I am now going to chance my luck with Ford. Bring back the horse and cart, I say...

We have a W Reg Fiat Punto ELX, year 2000. The head gasket has just blown 5 months after it's last service and at 36500 miles. It has cost us 400 quid to fix. Some research on the internet seems to uncover a lot of people experiencing the same problems. Our garage said that an air lock had formed in the system which led to the engine over heating. The temperature gauge never rose, we never needed to fill up the water and we always kept the car properly serviced.