Faults:

Hand-brake cables had to be re-routed, as cables rubbed on wheel.

Rear seat holder not aligned correctly.

Engine very occasionally misses when Idling.

Rear suspension had to be greased as too noisy.

General Comments:

I find the seats uncomfortable after a while.

The pedals are so close together that people with wide feet like me, may find themselves applying the brake at the same time as the accelerator, as I have done several times.

For a brand new car, I am disappointed.

Faults:

The motor in the front windscreen wipers made strange noises ever since the car was new. This has recently started to fail, and the left-hand windscreen wiper has worked its way loose.

About six months after I bought the car, the exhaust started to sound as though it had a small hole in it. After a couple of weeks this problem went away by itself and has never returned.

General Comments:

This car is very quick off the mark for a 1.2 and the engine is very quiet, however the amount of noise transmitted from the road surface is disappointing, and the suspension is hard.

The interior is very spacious, especially in the back compared with other 3-door cars in the same class.

I think the Punto is very nice to drive, the gearbox feels solid and the car holds the road well.

I like the exterior of the car, especially the front, but I think that the material and plastic trim inside look very cheap and basic. The seats are thin and appear rubbery - reminiscent of those in the old Fiat Panda and Uno.

There was very little choice of colour and trim for the inside. The only colour available when I bought mine was bright blue which looks very cheap!

The dash board, lights, controls and ventilation are all good and very well thought out.

Overall I love the car and I think it was great value for money. The only regret I have is that I didn't purchase a model with a higher specification.

Faults:

Have currently owned the car for 9 months and not a single fault so far!

General Comments:

While I do have a few gripes with the car, I have to say that, on the whole, I am quite pleased with it, and in no way regret choosing this model.

My biggest gripe is with the headlights: while they are quite 'trendy' to look at, the individual light units are far too small, and road illumination is very poor (I'm surprised that no one else has commented on this). I find it makes night driving (particularly in poorly lit areas) rather stressful. I have replaced all the bulbs with the 'Xenon gas' type (30% brighter) which has made some improvement - but road illumination is still not particularly good.

This model is well reputed to have something of a 'bumpy' ride. I quite agree that it is, but as my last car (which I owned for 22 years!!!) also had a rather bumpy ride, his 'weakness' does not concern me too much.

General comfort inside the vehicle is fairly good, and I love the appearance of everything on the dashboard - particularly at night when the lights are on (more impressive than Blackpool illuminations!). The heating and ventilation system is very efficient.

I sometimes feel a little worried when starting the engine. On turning the ignition key, the first revolution of the engine is sometimes very slow - as if the battery is almost flat - however, the engine spin-over soon speeds up and it always starts 'first time', so no 'actual' problem here.

I am highly impressed at how quiet the engine is; however, the benefit of this feature is somewhat dampened by the amount of road noise that fills the cabin. This can be startlingly loud (and irritating) on some poor road surfaces.

I find the dealers (Auto-world - Sheffield) generally disappointing. They always seem very willing to help, but most questions leave them scratching their heads - they don't seem to know much at all!

I was surprised to discover that Fiat send out many of these models minus a boot light; however, all the wiring is installed, and if you look over on the right (as you look into the boot) you should see the wiring dangling down (presuming your car does not have the light already fitted, of course). If it is not visible, you'll find it tucked behind the lining material (a bit fiddly to get out - as mine was) close to where the light unit clips in. The light units cost only about 7 pounds from the dealers, and take about a minute to clip into place - worth adding, in my opinion.