Faults:

When turning on the ignition, it takes a while for the car to start.

Tends to oversteer (maybe not used to power steering yet).

Gear box feels clunky.

Clutch pedal is very slippy, and quite small.

Lots of blind spots, especially when reversing.

General Comments:

The Punto is a very gentle, smooth and comfortable drive.

I am impressed by the City Drive electrically assisted power steering; a very lazy extra.

There are a lot of different ways of adjusting the seats and steering wheel. This makes the car very individual to a person.

Surprisingly nippy for a 1.2.

My last car had induction kit and twin exhaust, 4 point manifold, and de-cat. I knocked 5 seconds off the standard 20 second 0-60 time, but the Punto does this as standard.

I paid £3,600 for my Punto. It's worth every penny!!

I'm not keen on the CD player, but it doesn't skip all the time.

I drove from Birmingham to Scotland on a full tank, and had a quarter left on arrival. And drove around for a week until topping up.

Faults:

I bought the car in April 2005, so the weather wasn't too bad. It came to September, and I had quite a big pool of water in the back passenger foot well. This is a continuous problem, and Fiat cannot fix it.

It's been 7 months now. Rain enters on the left side, and I suggested replacing both seals, and if it still continues, both doors. I was told that it is not cost effective to replace parts if they cannot prove that they are faulty, but it seems like a huge waste of money to pay men to hold a hose over my car for hours at a time, on more than one occasion, trying to find a leak. The money spent could have paid for a door and a new seal.

Constant rattling of the radio unit.

Rattling of the left hand side passenger door.

Screeching noise began a few weeks ago every time I turn left.

General Comments:

Nothing mechanical has gone wrong with the car (with the exception of the new wheel noise when I turn left, which is my only complaint).

Great fun to drive, although seats are a bit uncomfortable.

I have had enough of the leak, and although my service manager has agreed to keep repairing it even though it is out of the two year warranty, there seems to be no end in sight, and I do have to travel quite a distance to get to my Fiat garage.

I emailed Fiat UK to complain and wanted to know their policy on unrepairable manufacturing problems, but they don't care and sent me back to my service manager.

I asked if they wanted to send the car away and I would pay the difference for a new car, but they don't care and can't help, even though Renault do that for ongoing manufacturer faults in their cars.

I am hoping to trade it in tomorrow, because although I love the car, I can't go on like this any more. They are wasting my time and theirs by pretending they can fix it.

They did replace a door seal eventually, but I don't think it's the one they should have replaced, and it didn't help anyway.