Faults:

Not very much, but I have only had it one year. I have done a service and at the last MOT there were no advisory besides rear suspension. The car had brakes and exhaust replaced before I bought it.

Small oil leak, but cannot see where it is coming from, nothing serious though.

General Comments:

After my old 2004 Corsa died, this was a car I bought as a cheap run about, I needed reliability and had doubts over poor experience with Fiat's in the past.

This Punto however has been just fine the last year, putting nine thousand miles on it trouble free.

The car is nothing special at all. It is grey, pretty dull but a very smart looking little car, "Easy" model has alloy wheels and some electric extras.

Interior is not the most refined and I hate taking this car on long journeys, the seats are OK but it is too noisy to use on the motorway all the time.

The car has poor performance but low running costs, insurance and tax are pretty reasonable, and the car does anything between 40 - 50 mpg, which for a 1.4 petrol is as good as it will get.

All in all, if you want to buy one of these cars used, do not pay too much and look for a looked after car and they should perform better than Fiat's reliability of the past.

Faults:

No serious issues with the car, some condensation in the tail lights and a globe in the dash, all rectified by the dealer, no issues.

Comfortable, well designed interior... I'm nearly 6ft and there's plenty of room for me. Comfortably fit 4 adults with reasonable leg room, but it's a super mini not a people mover, so be realistic. Great driving position though; armrests in perfect positions and easy to use cruise control.

The 1.4L SOHC EFI motor has a sporty feel to it, coupled to the quirky but fun dual logic 5 speed gearbox. Though engine power is around 59kW, it's a lightweight car and nips around fairly well. Excellent handling even when pushed hard into corners and zipping through traffic... very predictable and forgiving. The 1.4L revs hard but never feels harsh, just sporty even past 5000 RPM with a 6000 RPM red line.

Once you familiarize yourself with the semi-auto robotised gearbox, its throttle response and feel is very similar to a manual gearbox (just no clutch pedal) with an intuitive smooth action. Up shifts and downshifts in manual or auto mode are relatively smooth (but notch if pushed hard in auto mode), but are also how you'd expect a manual to feel with a good driver behind the wheel. I think the gearbox is actually quite good and gives the car a unique spirited character that makes it fun to drive. In manual mode you can really put it through its paces and have some fun.

The design of the exterior I think is really quite good, and not dated but stylish and sophisticated. It's not a Ferrari or a Porsche, but it looks good with a bit of an Austin Martin nose on it. I paid AU$16000 for this car brand new and I think it's great value for money. It's just a shame that FIAT in Australia are now concentrating on its 500 and 500X branding, so the Punto will no longer be available in Australia. I would have happily bought the next Punto, especially if it had a 1.4L turbo or the 1.9L turbo diesel.

General Comments:

I just think it's a great little car that has a lot of character. Excellent value for money and SUPER economical for around town.