General Comments:
First of all I have to admit that FIAT was not on my shopping list. I was considering a Peugeot 207 or a Ford Fiesta diesel.
But one day, only one week after new Punto has arrived, I saw it in the showroom late at night, and stopped by to see it closer. The security guy welcomed me inside, and I had the chance to see it closer although the cars were locked.
I searched for it all over the Internet to see more pics of the inside, and it didn't seem very attractive to me. So the first thing I did next day was to go there again, and see what's inside. I have to tell you, the moment I stepped in and closed the door, I knew I would buy it. Fantastic (standard) music system, trip compter, electro hydraulic steering with city option (standard), mp3 player (on the Dynamic version), fog lights (Dynamic), 5 stars from EuroNCAP, superb award winning 1,3 multijet common rail turbo diesel engine power train with 90HP option (1.3 diesel variable turbo), and best of all, the state of the art italian design. All comes with a true Italian sports car feeling and an incredibly low price!
So that day I bought it. Never gave a second thought for new Clio, 207 (no diesel in the short run) or Fiesta. I was so sure, because we already have a tiptronic 1.4 petrol Fiesta 2003, which is one of the best cars in this segment, and I had the chance to compare these two cars.
The most obvious and important factor is the difference in character of these cars. The Fiesta is a boring car, it doesn't give you any feeling of joy while driving. But Grande Punto is very different. You get Italian sports car feeling the moment you step in. I bought it even without a test drive, and the first Grande I drove was my own. I cannot express how beautiful the feeling was to drive it.
Now we're still keeping the Fiesta for a couple of months more, until the automatic option becomes available here, and then we will have two Grande Puntos. Hopefully the next one will have 90 HP (1.3 diesel) and a skydome.
The Grande Punto's interior is dark, so I recommend buying a light exterior color. Mine is white and I think it looks gorgeous. BTW, there is no extra charge for metallic paint.
26th Jul 2006, 02:39
Strange, my 1.3 Diesel Grande Punto doesn't have any of these problems. To my knowledge these cars have a central processing unit that manages all these electrical devices. That's why when it's broken everything will work improperly. My mechanics warned me about not to have the engine washed in order to keep that unit safe, so I think when you had the engine washed and that unit is effected. It's nothing to do with the durability of this car. In fact all cars need special attention to these electronic stuff. Next time make sure you keep the "brain" dry.
The misalignment is also strange because the front bumper is a minimalist design as it can be and the junction points are nearly seamless. Was that misaligned when you purchased it? and if so why didn't you notice during the purchase? You're buying a car man, you should check everything during delivery and if something is wrong don't accept it.
The roof liner is a form of plastic which is sensitive to polish and all plastics in all cars are sensitive not Grande Punto. I'm afraid to ask, but did you have the car polished or did you have a chemical applied to it? and the same question arise: was that like that when you first buy it?
Well my friend, frankly I don't think you know how to take care of this baby. If you spray water on the central unit, every electronic device in the car will fail, if you apply polish on plastic it will stain.
That's what I think, LOL:)