I have recently had a rental Gran Punto 5 door for 3 weeks. I did 1300 miles in it and found it OK but not compelling. My first impressions were good. The styling is smart and the grille is reminiscent of better Italian cars of bygone years. The boot proved surprisingly large and was able to swallow two 60cm suitcases standing up with room left for a couple of smaller bags. Inside the seats were comfortable and seemed better than average for a budget car. It had lots of little storage areas however they weren't a very useful size. I ended up having to put my sunglasses in the door pocket because there wasn't a suitable dash space. Same when I wanted to put a bit of small change handy for bridge tolls. The interior looked smart but didn't seem as practical as my Mazda 323.
The engine was a 1.2 with a 5 speed manual. Much to my surprise it managed reasonable performance in town provided you revved it hard and used the gears. On the motorways and A roads it could keep up with the traffic and cruised ok at 70mph and even 80 in places however there was no power left for overtaking. It could do with a bigger engine. It was also a bit noisy at speed but that has to be expected from such a light little car. I didn't keep fuel consumption figures however I was pleasantly surprised by how little petrol it used. Another pleasant surprise was that the rear visibility was quite good.
Dislikes - it didn't come with a users manual and I had trouble figuring out how somethings worked. Unlocking the fuel cap in a crowded service station on the A1 proved embarrassing. Eventually I got the hang of it but I still think it unnecessary and complicated. If someone wants to steal your fuel and the cap is locked he will just put his tin under your fuel tank and bash a hole with a screw driver. Lockable caps are a waste of time. Same problem with the radio. I could get it to switch on but not to switch off. I spent 3 weeks with the volume at zero! Either it was broken or it was over complicated. Then the seal on the drivers door fell off and the grille became loose.
Conclusion - I wouldn't buy one. Poor assembly and lack of quality control. The woman at the Hertz desk said the same and she has seen dozens of them.
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 24/10/2007 at 14:49
|
In Legoland (of all places), Fiat have had a huge display inside the main gates recently showing a Grande Punto and a couple of other models.
These shiny new examples look nice, but the fact remains that of the five people I know who have owned Fiats, not one would even consider owning another.
Cheers
DP
--
04 Grand Scenic 1.9 dCi Dynamique
00 Mondeo 1.8TD LX
|
Our family have now owned 4 Fiats. We had an original Panda that was a delight but sold because my wife wanted 4 doors to get the kids in the back.
Currently we have a Cinquecento on SORN in the garage for when my son passes his test, I drive a new Panda 4x4 and my eldest daughter has a new Panda Active 1.1.
Whole family would buy Fiats. My younger daughter only went for a new Corsa because she didn't like the interior decor of the Fiat GP.
|
|
|
|
Grande Punto 1.2 Active 3dr BASE £6,595 sounds a bargain to me (drive the deal)
loads of room good engine for bobbing around in
cheap insurance and service costs
so a bit of trim fell off and you had a dodgy radio ,you never said anything about the choppy ride the power steering or the plastic dashy things
i reckon for the price i found its a bit of a bargain
only my opinion mind
|
Having now driven mine for over 2K,I feel I have a reasonable feel for the car`s good and bad points.
Good points are:- Good value for money,it`s quite a sizable car and seems considerably bigger than it`s predessor. It`s very economical, managing over 50MPG according to the on-board computer and seldom drops below 48MPG. That`s the 1.4 by the way.
Seems relatively quiet,it`s much quieter than SWMBO`s Toyota Corolla.
Comfort is good with adjustable steering wheel height and length.
The bad points are:- Rearward vision is very restricted,the C pillar is a particular obstruction when pulling out of a parked position if parked on the nearside of the street.
Ventilation is not very good on hot summer days and requires the use of the fan on setting 1.
Lastly, the horn sounds like someone that`s overdosed on curry!
All in all,very good value particularily if bought with a few K on the clock,as mine was.
Like DrChris,I have had a lot of Fiats over the years and find them very good cars with a lot more character than most Euro boxes,and having seen the latest Bravo,I think they are placing more emphasis on quality than in the past.
------------------------------------------------------------
hurrying on- to a receding future
|
|
|
I'm with BB on this, including the comments about choppy ride and power steering.
If the radio is a Blaupunkt, it probably just needs the volume button pushed in for a few seconds to turn it off. A brief push is mute. If you had the instructions you could do other things too - auto off after so many minutes.
I find most Italian design to be quite clever, or even good design. But the radio is German, so it must be logical, I suppose.
But lack of instructions is down to the rental company.
|
Excellent cheap car in my view build quality and reliability i think is generally improving from model to model.
I have the previous model Punto a 2003 bought new for less than 6K. So far its done 103K and up to 100K had no reliability issues, just the costs you would expect servicing, tyres, brakes etc.
OK at 100K it suffered Head gasket failure, but the local garage fixed it for £300 and it was due for a service anyway, so really what more do you want.
|
|
|
|
"so a bit of trim fell off and you had a dodgy radio "
I have been spoilt by having a Mazda 323 for 8 years with only one minor fault. Having had that experience I don't see why I should settle for less.
"you never said anything about the choppy ride the power steering or the plastic dashy things "
Different things annoy different people. I didn't find the ride too bad - it is a light car after all so I expect that. I didn't find any problem with the steering. It seemed fine to me. I agree about the dash though.
|
The radio can be run with the ignition on simply by holding the volume button in for a couple of seconds. It will turn itself off automatically after 20 minutes,making it unlikely that it will drain the battery.
-----------------------------------
hurrying on- to a receding future
|
My GP 130 Sporting was bought new in June. So far I've done 8,000 miles. Not much to report. Fit and finish are good - nothing squeaks or rattles. Car hasn't missed a beat. Performance and handling are pleasing but economy could be better; around 45 mpg.
Dislikes? There is a little bit of dead travel at the start of the accelerator pedal travel and I'm not too fond of the speed-related intermittent setting on the wipers, I'd rather have control over that myself. There's not much throughput of air into the cabin without the fan on. Otherwise... that's it.
Edited by AlanGowdy on 28/10/2007 at 21:03
|
|
|
|
|
