Faults:

I had a cracked rear wiper replaced under warranty.

The electric sunroof wasn't very well aligned on delivery.

The heater doesn't heat the drivers feet nearly so well as the front passenger.

General Comments:

After 20 months I still really like this car. It hasn't let me down and continues to impress.

I have averaged well over 50mpg since having it. This equates to a great range which most diesels have trouble achieving. In fact I have driven more than 500 miles between fillups!

Over my commute to work it will usually keep up with most performance cars with twice the power/weight ratio, and overtake most normal family cars. If you want, then it can be fast off the lights, and generally nippy round town. It pulls well even from 20mph in 5th gear. I feel a sixth gear would be practical and help the economy even further for out of town driving.

The steering took a little getting used to (as I hadn't had power assistance before), but with the city mode it is excellent.

The servicing is more than I'd like, but then I know we all get ripped off at main dealers. 12000 mile intervals help though! the standard tyres are not common, so be prepared to pay a little more - My front set lasted 20000 miles.

There's plenty of room and storage. Compared to my girlfriends Corsa, I fell I have lots more room. There is a place to put anything within reach of the driver, which dissuades me from changing as I'd have nowhere to put anything! It is barely smaller inside than my previous 1993 Astra, and has rear headrests to give a more luxurious look.

The stereo is fantastic, aided by the subwoofer. I was able to have a 10CD changer fitted easily which brings the best out of it.

The lights are fine, although the small size doesn't help being seen in daylight. The blue tint of the dipped beams makes it seem like an expensive sports car to an onlooker at night.

I wish my Punto had been fitted with ABS and air conditioning, as there's no other reason to want anything else.

Faults:

Clutch failed at 15000 miles.

Exterior door trim coming unstuck, repaired by garage, coming unstuck again.

General Comments:

The headlights on this car are not bright enough and do not shine far enough up the road.

Faults:

Rear suspension squeaks- been back to dealer 9 times, but they still can't fix it! sent off to fiat UK and still haven't heard back after 10 weeks.

Head gasket blew at 30000 miles.

New headlamp unit at 4000 miles due to leaks.

Rear compartment leaks.

Steering squeaks when turning right.

Stereo-fast forwards on it own.

Poor wear on brake pads- lasted 20000 miles.

General Comments:

The punto is pretty nippy and good for long journeys.

Seats are comfortable and the interior is visually nice and well designed.

Good looking car.

Very good economy- regularly get 52 mpg!

Faults:

The indicator stalk has never worked efficiently, from purchase. We've taken it in once for repair, but it pretty much came back in the same condition. It won't stay indicating for a right turn, apparently it's a design fault.

We had to replace the brake disc's after 12000 miles which I feel is strange as we drive very reasonably and never work the brakes hard.

We've had to replace the clutch at 23000 miles. Again, we do not work the clutch hard, we don't 'ride' it. Fortunately our extended 3 year warranty paid for it.

After about a year the car developed a number of irritating rattles and squeaks.

General Comments:

The 'city' button has been superb and really makes parking the car or driving in confined spaces a cinch.

The Punto is comfortable and we have enjoyed the interior.

We bought the 3 dr hatchback and it has been wonderful whenever we've needed to transport stuff. It's really easy and quick to remove the parcel shelf and flatten the back seats etc. Great space for a small car.

It has a big car feel on the road and drives very comfortably on long distances.

Great economy.

Our greatest fear after having to replace the brakes and clutch is that the Fiat parts are going to start disintegrating at pace, which is a real worry for after warranty expiry.