2001 Fiat Punto HGT from UK and Ireland - Comments

Cd auto-changer not working when bought from dealer.

An absolute beaut - like driving a go-cart..

Get to 4.5-5,000 rpm and feel the torque.

Excellent road holding, but tendancy to understeer in wet conditions.

Seriously quick car - miles quicker than the competion.

Relatively economical when not 'ragging' it.

I strongly disagree with your comment of "handles like a go-cart". The Punto is one of the worst handling cars money can buy, I realised this when I bought a French car, now they do know how to handle. It is no-where near as good as the competition either, both the 106GTI and Saxo VTS are miles ahead in terms of performance.

From the previous comment; "Punto is one of the worse handling cars money can buy"? That comment based on the fact you have bought a car that you prefer over a Punto? Puntos drive really quite well. The HGT and Sporting versions all drive well, even when driven hard. Depends what you want. But one of the worse handling cars money can buy? No!!

I have had a punto HGT 1.8 for 3 month and it has loads of power. My old car was a Punt GT turbo and the HGT is far quicker and smoother through the revs. GT runs out of power after 80 MPH. As for saxos the might handle beter, but the HGT puts them to same in a straight line. And at the end of the day every boy racer has a Saxo or 106 GTi. They are old hot now. So buy a punto with Sat Nav, ABS and style.

I have a Fiat punto hgt they are great cars just gotta make sure you look after them I have just had a new throttle body fitted from fiat which goes on them a lot so I hear, so BEWARE is like £300 plus.

But other than that all is great and fast fine on petrol and great to drive. So If your finkin about buyin 1 BUY it is worth the money.

I have a Punto HGT, and find it to be slightly faster than my old saxo vts.

The HGT has far more torque than the vts which equates to a more relaxed drive if needed.

I drove my mates HGT and it clocked just bout 148.8mph proper fast car, trying to decide whether or not to, buy a HGT, ASTRA 2.0 G.S.I TURBO, FORD FOCUS ST170?Can't decide would really love some help!

Fiat aint even in same league. if you want a car with weak headgaskets and that falls apart then buy it, otherwise steer well clear. punto look like girls cars.

I've owned a HGT for 3 years and have never had any reliability issues with it. Very fast also, accelerates faster than my previous car (renault 19 16v).

I've owned a HGt for 3 years, and I've never had any reliability issues with it. Stop posting rubbish about weak head gaskets etc... as its NOT an issue on these cars. Very quick as well, faster than my previous punto gt.

Agree with above, I've owned 3 Fiats in 4 years, not one reliability problem. I own a Sporting at the moment, so same suspension set-up as a HGT. I think it handles well and is great fun to chuck around, although I think it's fair to say it seems to run out of grip earlier than a lot of other 'sporty' cars (eg vtr's). Probably due to it being higher and more box like than most other hatches, although that does make the Punto a very practical car for its size, great for lugging bits of rubbish down the tip with the rear seats down.

I'm looking to spend about £4000 and have looked at a few Punto HGT's, they seem to be a nippy enough little car, but reliability is a major issue for me. I owned a Fiat Bravo and that was the one of the most unreliable cars I've ever had the misfortune to own. Any opinions on the Punto HGT and its reliability? I just want something a bit sporty, that doesn't cost the Earth to insure or run.

I have owned a punto HGT since may last year and can honestly say that it was the best decision car wise I have ever made. very reliable, very comfortable, 5 cd, sat nav, good handling, quick when needs to be. buy one, but find a mint one and you'll not go wrong!

I've owned my HGT for 2 years now and had no problems with it, theres no turbo to go wrong so it's a great car for the money and extremely quick.