Volkswagons.expensive to maintain?

Continued from above:
You just need common sense and to be able to follow instructions.
Goodluck with it all and don't be afraid to come back and ask questions!

BTW if you post your actual price range I might be able to help narrow things down a bit. Also any feedback on what you like/don't like about the Punto and others suggested would help too.

cont.are these fiat Punto HGT's good on gas and other fiat puntos! this is a must for me! especially coming from a gas guzzling subaru! and are they easy to maintain on my own as a japa car would be! e.g oil change etc.its hard to steer from the stereotype of the expensive maintenance on euro cars.are they really cheap enough to get! on the other hand however my eyes are more open to the bigger picture with all the information that i am now armed with! :)

A lot of the comments re repairs above depend a lot on the age of car, mileage, how it was driven, where it was imported from, if its had a major prang and how you like it to drive. Some years ago a lot of BMW's came in from Singapore that had been dunked in salt water. If an import a lot of cold countries put salt on roads.

Just to go back to maintenance. You said you want to maintain it yourself, well the Punto is great for that. It has really long oil change intervals so unless you are doing a lot of km's you only need to do it once a year.

They are very straight foward to deal with and there is nothing strange or odd about them, while they have some clever features everything is laid out in a nice straight forward manner.

The only exception is the timing belt which is easy to change but does require a special tool. You can buy the tool and do it yourself or just take it to the Italian Auto Centre (up in Auckland where you are) and get it done for a reasonable price. Just be wary of other mechanics doing it as it can be done without the tool but you may not get peak performance or economy afterwards.

BTW, another great advantage of getting parts from the likes of Dino or Italian Auto's is they are experts. No mucking around on the phone while they look through a book or fail to understand what you need. They can advise you first hand and usually know exactly what you need even if you don't.

The Punto is really very low maintenance so there is not a lot to do which makes things cheap and easy.There is also an excellent international Fiat Forum with lots of enthusiastic and helpful people to guide you if you get stuck.

With regard to your questions about other Punto's really you need to be in that year 2000 or newer catagory (much better more refined car than the previous version Punto's) and as I said try and go twin cam (16 valve). If you really have to have an HGT or Abarth then so be it but you do pay a bit more in fuel. (although they are a HEAP of fun).

I appreciate time is of the essence but do try and get a nice example. I think you can definitely squeeze one for your budget, but if you do need to go a little over its well worth it as you will get the money back in fuel savings alone over the other options before long.

I must call it a night. I am happy to give you a bit of a buyers guide to finding a good one and checking it out tomorrow if thats of help.

Best of luck, I have full confidence in the Punto for your needs, definitely no scary expensive boogieman hiding in that closet. I say that as someone who has owned, serviced, driven and recommended quite a few of them too.

Best of luck!

You deserve a medal Jazz.

Hey Jazz, I better sell my VT SS 5.7L and buy a Punto!LOL.Cheers

LOL, nah not at all. I get much more satisfaction talking about cars and helping people than I do watching T.V.
Especially when my health is not up to par, although I am going great guns in that department at the moment!

LOL, remember its Horses for Courses!
The Punto is not going to perform or tow like the SS.