First question are you mechanical and planning on fixing it yourself!
craig04,
Sep 6, 6:48am
Parts are cheap and very easy to fix. They are very reliable and almost never give any trouble.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 6:49am
As a car they are fantastic, best value cheap small car around in my opinion. They don't rust (galvanised) they have plenty of go and they are super economical on fuel. They are very reliable, parts are cheap and easy to get, service intervals are long and they are super safe (4 1/2 star NCAP) and really well appointed with factory sub woofer, ABS, 4-6 airbags etc.
However if you are paying someone else to fix it it may not be the bargain you think it is. It could be if you were super clever about who/where you took it but it is a fair risk for not a huge amount of reward (when you can buy a non-dented fully operational one from about $4500)
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 6:50am
Snap! Incidentally its very rare to get one nowadays with the power steering fault especially of that year which makes me wonder if it has been abused a bit.
mugenb20b,
Sep 6, 6:50am
It's a heap of poos. Buy a Toyota Echo instead, much better and more reliable car and very cheap and easy to service / maintain.
sueh,
Sep 6, 6:50am
No not a mechanical girl at all I'm afraid. What sort of price would it be if it didn't need this fixing!
craig04,
Sep 6, 6:53am
It's probably quite telling that Andrew Simms European (Auckland Fiat agent) are selling it as is. I imagine if it was a simple fix, they would have done it already. Maybe keep looking.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 6:59am
It is actually a fairly inexpensive and surprisingly simple fix to those in the know. Possibly an O.K buy for someone keen on Fiats but if you are paying wages and for new parts (as opposed to re-manufacturered and guaranteed) then its unlikely to be worth while.
My advice is stick with the Punto as an idea, even though the Toyota's are closing the gap now on price the Punto is still the superior vehicle. I would just suggest keeping your cash handy and watching Turners and TM for one at a good price thats all ready to go.
I am happy to give opinions on which ones might be good buys if you throw some links on here now and then.
sueh,
Sep 6, 7:00am
OK thanks for that will keep looking. What Toyota's are you referring to!
franc123,
Sep 6, 7:01am
Highly suspicious as to why its being sold far too cheap, whats a bet that this electric steering column, motor or rack or whatevers needed to fix it has to come from Italy and costs more than the entire vehicle is worth, ditto that tailgate panel.They would have fixed it if it was easy and cheap to do so, that car is quite presentable otherwise
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:02am
Yes, although if it was a smaller Fiat specialist it would likely be worth their while to fix and sell but only just. You have to be realistic, doing the labour yourself and really knowing how to go about it you are still going to burn through $1000 and some time/hassle fixing the known faults and who knows what else has been wrecked given they have managed to scrape the bumper, dent the boot and screw up the steering. $1500-$2000 profit/value gained for a fair amount of risk and time, there are better buys out there.
supernova2,
Sep 6, 7:04am
Hey jazz what you think likely cost of the bits to fix might be!Can do work myself
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:04am
They were likely being smart as I always push the Punto over the Toyota. Go and drive a nice example of a 2001 or newer punto and then jump in any small toyota for the same money. Make sure you tackle some hills and open road. Then compare the spec list. Its easy to draw a conclusion.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:06am
Refurbished steering column thats pre-programmed would set you back around $700 delivered at a guess. Time to fit that can vary from 1 hour to a day depending on how familiar, schooled up you are on it. Then its going to need the hatch replaced/repaired and with the metallic paint touch up thats going to set you back around that again. Its tempting but I think you may be able to do better, up to you, if you have a great run with no surprises would be O.K.
Its the "what else is wrong that worries me. Its almost a good buy if it went for the reserve, I would be nervous about paying any more.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:12am
One more thing, I thought the cambelt was done. It appears not so that would be overdue. You may be able to borrow the tools from Italian Autos but if you have to buy them allow around $200 ordering online. Then cambelt/waterpump/tensioners not sure on current price would guess around $300. So thats another $500.
The key thing is don't let any monkey try and do the belt without the proper tools. Sure it will run and seem fine but you almost always lose economy/performance.
grangies,
Sep 6, 7:15am
The tailgate panel is easily repairable.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:17am
Thats good to know, I was hesitant without seeing it close nicely, would it be a pull and bog! If you can respray metallic yourself it would be good but if you have to outsource it could still be pricy I would have thought $250 for painting the tailgate after you have repaired it! Then you still have the bumper to do as well. Again good if you can spray metallic. I am no painter or panel beater though so take this part of the advice with caution.
EDIT I agree, looking at that bigger pic the gap still looks good and even. I would be tempted to suggest a super talented PDR person but I think with the repair coming up to the edge they would get stuck. Besides the front needs paint anyway.
grangies,
Sep 6, 7:39am
A Paintless Dent Repair person wouldn't even try it.
The kink at the bottom cant be done without heavy hammering, and the sheetmetal panel is too uniform and flat, to iron out straight without filler.
Painting a light metallic gold like that is not simple either. It is a basecoat-clearcoat, and can change colour on a light coloured metallic, simply by notapplying it properly. Too dark. blotchy, flooded, stripes etc.
But all in all a panel and paint shop could sort it with ease.
Cost any where between $500 ( quicky ) to $1000+ ( perfect ).
If I was buying a simple little runabout car like that, I wouldn't even bother to get it fixed. It will still open an close properly and the lock isn't smashed. So really what's the point!
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 7:53am
Yeah good point. If its a keeper and not a seller then may as well leave it. Spend the money on sorting the timing belt properly.
If you had all the time in the world you may even find someone wrecking a gold one privately one day and just grab the tailgate if its going cheap. You may even be able to sell the dented one for a few dollars on TM.
BTW, they are not that simple, little yes but very well featured and aside from a bit of road noise (which you can deaden) surprisingly capable on the open road. They feel and run like a bigger car, can't remember what revs the manual does in top but the CVT is doing less than 2000 at 100km/h. They don't muck around passing either and even at 100mph have power to spare and sit on the road beautifully. I would say a manual one is probably good for an easy 180km/h but I value my license!
richardmayes,
Sep 6, 7:57am
Obviously you aren't a tame mechanic, or you wouldn't be asking these questions.
Therefore.
Run, run away now.
m16d,
Sep 6, 7:59am
Yea, like they said. If it was an easy fix he would'a done it. Get a jappa.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 8:14am
No need to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Just get a Punto thats not been broken and abused. They are actually extremely reliable and in my experience are just as good in that department as any little Toyota. Which is a testament to their build quality and design given how much more spec/features/car they are than most little Toyota's.
grangies,
Sep 6, 8:18am
LOL.
There's plenty of Jappa's around that have issues too.
Christ almighty. Anyone would think Jappa's have some kind of devine blessing. rofl.
Motors aside, the Fiat's body will stay tight and firm, compared to your average little Toyota , Mazda, Nissan.
grangies,
Sep 6, 8:23am
I know what you are saying . But.
That is totally and fully up to debate though.
It all comes down to what kind of bigger car you are comparing it to.
thejazzpianoma,
Sep 6, 8:40am
Fair call, and I agree there is an element of subjectivity. I have spent significant time driving both my MK2 Punto and my old work car (2002 Mondeo 2.0) on the open road. In my opinion anyway the 2 Litre Mondeo is a Medium sized fairly Typical car of the same era.
In terms of spec, fairly similar. The Punto has a couple extra toys over the 2.0 Mondeo but the flash 2.5 wins out over the Punto.
In terms of a relaxing long open road drive aside from the extra wind noise I would rate the ride, steering feel, cornering agility as much the same. The 5 Speed Mondeo has more passing grunt than the 1.2 Punto but they feel just as relaxed at cruise, and the Punto while slower to pass is still quite capable and surprisingly not that far behind.
The CVT Punto vs the Automatic Mondeo is the other way, sure technically the Mondeo probably easily keeps up, but what a horrible noisy racket it makes doing so! Cruising up the Kaimais in the CVT Punto is very relaxed even when loaded. Doing the same in the Mondeo feels reminiscent of an Austin 1300 Auto with lots of noise and fuss and little action.
Now throw the Yaris and other small Japanese cars of similar engine size and price into the mix and there is just no contest on the open road, its just not fair to compare those to the Mondeo for open road ability at all especially in auto form and spec wise they are miles behind both cars.
Hows that! All I wanted to point out is if you have only driven the old Demio's and similar priced Toyota's the Punto is a real treat. Thats why they were Europes biggest selling car of that size. You have all the advantage of a cheap to run city car but you can bail down an autobahn at 100mph in very relaxed fashion.
We don't do 100mph here of course but the effect still works at 100km/h.
You get the best of both worlds because the car has been fitted with proper modern technology to give you the extra power etc without sacrificing economy at all. The Toyota etc is really archaic by comparison.
Since the public registrations are closed, you must have an invite from a current member to be able to register and post in this thread.
Have an account? Login here.