I've been given a Punto. Abuse me :-)

1.3l petrol, runner but needs tyres (4 different ones fitted) and a battery (stolen). Given to me by a friend, a safe source as in not nicked.
1998 vintage with some 57k km on the clock only, good mechanical condition, I also have a second one for spares at my brother’s.
The intention is to get is roadworthy and then… should I keep it or flog it? I want to get my wife behind the wheel so I won’t have to drive her to and from work every day. My thinking is – get it running, get it tested and taxed, flog the Pug before the next test (it’ll need both front shock absorbers with mounts and the turbine is leaking a bit, the cambelt will need replacing in 13k miles too).
What should I expect when I change from a 406 to a Punto? Will I elbow my wife a bit more often? Will it be noisier at motorway speeds? Will it be less steady on the twisties? Generally, will my body suffer more than it does now?
Or should I fit skirts, spoilers, chav sub, paint it bright green and flog it?

Check the coolant. Puntos of that age were prone to HGF. Other than that mine was very reliable. Galvanised body ensured the famous Fiat rust problems are no longer an issue. Radius arm bushes also prone to failure but easy to fix. Fun to drive cars with a lot of room inside.

You own a Pug and a Fiat? Do you like maintenance/garage bills?

@PJ, the Pug would need its first large service, it’s done 188k miles, 50k-ish mine. Tyres, oil, filters, wipers so far only.
Fiats are family favourites, we’ve driven them forever and like them (genetical mishap I suppose 😉 ).
My garage bills are paid in beer vouchers, no hick-up.

I’ve been given a Punto. Abuse me

I think the car will be doing more of that than we ever could…

I like Fiat’s naming convention. I had a Fiat that was a CL spec to the best of my knowledge CL stood for Clock/Light.

My garage bills are paid in beer vouchers, no hick-up.

😀

I’d get rid of it quick. There was a crash outside my work the other day – Punto of that era (mk1?) went into the back of a Suzuki Vitara or something – little, cheap, nasty 4×4 thing. The Suzuki looked completely undamaged – literally no creasing of bumpers or anything but the Punto looked like it’d been hit by a train.

Change the P for a C and you have a more aptly named vehicle.

Kev

I had a Punto – only thing wrong was it was a bit light at the front. More fun than the polo that I had before it, and less trouble.

I might even be given a second one, bright yellow with a smoking engine but the rest pristine – the girl has run out of spare cash. Two Puntos in the house would be beyond funny 😀

I’d get rid of it quick. There was a crash outside my work the other day – Punto of that era (mk1?) went into the back of a Suzuki Vitara or something – little, cheap, nasty 4×4 thing. The Suzuki looked completely undamaged – literally no creasing of bumpers or anything but the Punto looked like it’d been hit by a train.

The occupants of the pinto probably came off better then. Crumple zones…

The occupants of the pinto probably came off better then. Crumple zones…

Assuming no passenger-space intrusion, maybe, but bear in mind the much larger mass of the vitara it probably didn’t accelerate very much anyway so it’s passengers were probably fine too. We used to have a classic rangerover, the one with the steel bumpers. Some tool barrelled into the back of it at about 15, his car was mashed royally and there was a slight scratch on the bumper of the RR, both people walked away fine, he said it had been fairly soft, my parents said it felt like someone had given them a slight nudge.

got to be worth 600 bike vouchers with an mot. the thing will run once sorted. the head gaskets do go even if serviced and maintained ( about 60-70k miles was my average with the three i had) only two had the radius arms go at the rear though. i ‘d have another anytime did 100k in each of mine two red one silver the last was wreked on the M56 when another punto rammed me from behind whilst i was at the back of a queue ” i never saw you..” car written off alarmingly the drivers seat ( and me) ended up in the boot!

Well yes coffeeking, but the point being if a car is in a crash it is meant to crumple – it isn’t an indication of it being dangerous.

Different crashes have different effects, you can’t infer anything at all from ‘such and such car looked all crumpled’

The Merc that hit us on Saturday didn’t have much damage, our car has a bumper all smashed in and a bent boot. Maybe their bumpers are springier, maybe it was the corner of her car vs the middle of ours.. doesn’t mean Mercs are any safer than VWs.

I couldn’t see how the cabin couldn’t have been intruded – the front of the car was literally a foot away from the bottom of the windscreen. So unless the entire contents of the engine bay had been crumped into a foot of space…… Accident happened at lights, in traffic to so can’t have been going too quick.

To get back on topic, I got given two Fiat Pandas, made one good one and it was a great little car FOR FREE and surely thats the point

Fix It Again Tomorrow

Alternatively

Ferraille Invendu A Turin

My friend has a Punto 02 98k and she does 100 miles a day for work and it’s never let her down.

My thinking is this – the shite ones have died, only the hardy ones survived.