Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 16:50
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - Chessell

Hello everyone, I have a few things I'd like to ask regarding the purchase of a new car. I have a few options but I'm not sure which one to go for.

I'll briefly explain how I found myself here. You may have known my dad, James Pickett, A regular poster on this forum before he passed away in 2016. He bought me an old Seat Arosa before he died, and it has carried me around the Isle of Wight until October 1st, where its MOT was it's death sentence. You know somethings wrong when the certificate of refusal has big bold letters saying "Dangerous to Drive."

But I digress. I'm in the need of a new set of wheels but my oracle of knowledge regarding cars has long gone. I'm nervous and panicky and don't want to make a decision I'll regret.

I'd like to know the steps people take when they go to purchase a new car so I'm not missing anything obvious. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

With the help of my local garage I've narrowed it down to these two. My budget is about £2000 - £3000. This will be my second car.

Fiat Grande Punto, 1.2 Litre, 2008 - £1995. Link: www.wightbay.com/shanklin/cars/2008-fiat-grande-pu.../

Citroen C1, 1.0 Litre, 2011 - £3195. Link: www.wightbay.com/shanklin/cars/20-tax-2011-61-c1-c.../

Has anyone had prior experience with either car? Is there an obvious choice here? Are both of these a terrible idea and is there a similar car that you would recommend instead?

Sorry for asking so many questions, I just want to make the right choice. Money is tight and this will be coming out of my dad's savings, so I want to make him proud.

Thank you for reading.

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 17:11
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - yokel38

The C1 is essentially a Toyota Aygo with a different dress on, a manual aygo is as reliable as the tides. Not had too much to do with FIATS, however as a colleague who ran a Fiat workshop for years called them Fix It Again Tony's ... says it all..

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 17:30
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - badbusdriver

Out of your two choices i'd go with the C1. Very economical and cheap to run in general, it uses well a proven Daihatsu 3cyl engine. This was one of a trio of cars which looked almost identical and mechanically actually were identical. As well as the aforementioned Toyota Aygo (who own Daihatsu), there is also the Peugeot 107 and later 108. A quick glance on Autotrader however, using a random Isle of Wight postcode (near the centre) throws up this little gem,

www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180924081...1

Curiously, when i went on the gov website to check the MOT history, it was showing as a Ford Ranger pickup so not sure what is going on there!. But according to the ad, the owner has had it since new, and these are great little cars, so definately worth a look i'd say.

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 18:15
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - Chessell

The red Mazda 2 had a custom number plate - GX13 WPE Is the original one.

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 17:46
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - Chessell

Thanks for the reply. Haven't seen that one before, thanks for the recommendation!

Edited by Chessell on 02/10/2018 at 17:46

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 17:47
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - Chessell

Thanks for the reply. I've heard the acronym Fix It Again Tomorrow but wasn't sure how much truth that held!

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Tue 2 Oct 2018 21:41
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - SLO76

Thanks for the reply. I've heard the acronym Fix It Again Tomorrow but wasn't sure how much truth that held!

Plenty of truth in it I’m afraid. The 1200 motor in the Punto dates back to the mid 80’s and although pretty reliable they’re known to pop head gaskets past around 70-80k and electrics get a bit ropey past a decade so I’d probably steer you away from a Punto. The C1/107/Aygo is a good wee car with a pretty much bulletproof Daihatsu chain driven engine that’ll run and run if it has seen fresh oil EVERY year. Don’t buy if it hasn’t. They’re also known for premature clutch wear which this one has apparently had a replacement but you have to ask yourself why they’ve spent the money replacing it only to offload immediately. Has it been done properly? You need to go for a decent test drive to see that it’s changing gear cleanly without balking and there’s no or very little judder from cold. I’d personally be viewing this armed with a cheeky £2k offer in mind depending on how tidy it is and whether it has a decent service history. At this mileage it’s barrly run in and these will go on forever. Auto Trader: www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/20180926089...1 The wee Mazda 2 is a great car too and it looks fresh in the pics but something doesn’t sound right in the advert. Needs to go because it doesn’t fit in the drive? Why did you buy it then? What’s changed? It might stack up but you’d need to call and view if it does. These are a hoot to drive and it suits red.
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Tue 2 Oct 2018 21:44
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - SLO76
Weird when you use an iPhone and use the quote previous post option it won’t allow you to post in paragraphs. Strange software quirk.
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Tue 2 Oct 2018 22:51
Citroen C1 or Fiat Grade Punto - A 20 Year Old Who Needs Some Advice On Cars - Chris M

I'd be suspicious of the dealer selling the C1. The VT is the entry level model and very basic spec. Unlikely to have air con and as far as I recall it wasn't available as an extra. Optional on VTR and standard on VTR Plus (the model we had). Despite the dealer's description stating it has rear headrests, reach adjustable steering wheel and height adjustable drivers seat, I doubt it has any of these things. What other bulls excrement will he spin you to get a sale?

Good cars though and ideal for the IoW.

Edited by Chris M on 02/10/2018 at 22:53

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