Jazz, your opinions?

Hes not around he quit on a self imposed vacation

economy wise it be the best car you can buy in nz Read up on problems on fiat forum electric steering can be a problem if it got that.

He is on threads other than motoring.

True, I haven't checked. I just remember him making a thread saying hes quiting.

I know, but I have seen him around, regardless of the vacation thread.

Hi michael, was just passing through and saw the thread.

They are a brilliant little car those, economical, surprisingly good safety rating and pretty reliable.

My only concerns with that particular one is that its got some nasty dents in it which always raises an eyebrow to how well its been treated. Remember even the most reliable car can give you grief if its been badly abused and neglected.

Good to see the cambelt done though as these don't like being taken much ast the 5 years/100'000km mark. Just remember its due again early 2014.

Parts are cheap from Italian Auto Centre in Auckland, Dino Enterprises in Rotorua and Intrade has another source which is apparently excellent also. In an ideal world I would actually arrange to get it pre-checked at the Italian Auto Centre but it might not be economical/possible.

Those manual transmissions are fundamentally reliable but they can get notchy with worn syncro's if not treated nicely. Its something you can usually adjust your driving (slower change into third) and just live with if its not too bad.

The electric power steering like any part on any car can break but its not overly likely, especially on an 01 model as opposed to an 00. Its just a motor which works on a spline so nothing particularly scary to replace. Like anything if you needed to do it a little bit of research and shopping around makes it an affordable job should it ever come up.

That particular one only has front airbags while some have them in the seats as well. I would expect it to have ABS and pre-tensioners though too.

Are you going to go up and look at it!

If so I can give you a list of the things to check but if not I will save my breath.

In short excellent safe vehicle, parts are cheap, its pretty good to work on and the big expensive bits (engine, rust, transmission) don't tend to give trouble. If you have problems its usually just fiddly bits that are not often urgent and there is usuallya good cheap DIY fix on the net.

They are over a decade old now so expect some little bits to attend to but no more likely than any other similarly featured car of the era. I will be buying one again soon myself.

Anything else you want to know just ask.

Depends entirely on how much it looks like it'll go for :)

Yeah, think I might go have a bit of a look at it .

Don't want to make you write a novel for me, but what sorta things should I look out for in particular !

Main thing to look out for is Jazz's consumption of your bandwidth.Probably the most helpful person on the motoring thread, but any enquiry will result in a torrent of information that might crash your pc.

No problem, I type fast.

Firstly, don't be put off by this list, I could write one at least as long for any car I know a reasonable amount about.

* Check all electrics work

* Run wipers and look for excessive shuddering, also keep running the wipers (use screen washer to keep them lubed) for a good 30 seconds. The joints in the wiper mechanisms can pop out, especially on black colored cars or become loose. Its an easy quick and cheap fix but good to know where you are at.

* That car is probably NZ new but on imported ones look carefully at the rear lights for excessive fading. I have a cheap easy fix for that but again worth checking

* Plug the drivers seatbelt in and out a few times with the ignition on while sitting in the seat. Make sure the seatbelt light goes out. Fairly easy fix again.

* With the car running make sure the steering is smooth and just emits a quiet hum when turning lock to lock. Check the CITY button lightens the steering too.

* Run the car through all the gears a few times, look for smooth operation of they syncro's.

* Make sure that the ABS, Airbag and Seatbelt lights illuminate and then turn off again when starting the car. Not illuminating is a sign of the bulbs being removed to mask a fault and can be a WOF issue.

* Open and close all the windows and look for smooth operation of the winder mechanism with no jerking or nasty noises.

* Find some bumps in the road and listen for a thumping noise from the suspension.

Other than that just all the normal checks you would do on a vehicle. It would be good to know that the tensioners and waterpump had been changed when the belt was done. I know of one case where a waterpump was not changed and it did fail at that age (more km's though) and unfortunately the car cooked before the owner realized what was happening. Similar deal with any car of that age though.

Price wise, its a bit rough so I would suggest definitely staying under 4K as 5K buys you a really nice example. I would have thought it to be very good buying in the 2.5 - 3.5K price bracket. Whether it goes for that though I do not know.

There is a small chance I might throw a bid on it myself but only if its going stupidly cheap, I will try and avoid bidding against you though if its just us. Don't worry you didn't alert me to it, I get the Fiat listings emailed to me daily and its one of a few I have watchlisted the day they were put on here.

Best of luck with it, I think you will be stoked with the power/economy situation. They are surprisingly capable on the open road too even at high speed. You do get a bit of road noise though.

Torrent of information! Me!
Nah. .I don't see it aye.

Very true, just make sure you make a coffee while the pc downloads the information.

You're a legend mate :)

I've too have been watching them lately. have a feeling this one could go stupidly cheap. Luck of the draw eh ;)

No probs!

Good to see prices are starting to ease on them again. They have not really deprecated at all in 5 years!

I used to push them hand over fist because they were a better car than the Yaris etc which was usually over twice the price. Nowadays the likes of the Yaris are priced much the same. Punto is still the better car though especially if you need an auto.

Best of luck with it!