I have a 2000 Fiat Punto HGT Abarth.And I can not say enough about them.I researched them andlistened to the naysayers and did not buy one.But I found mine to be reliable and loads of fun to drive.Only problem I have encountered so far is that there is no room for anyone to sit in the back seat.But if you are looking for a hot hatch I thoroughly recommend one.I test drove VW GTI??
vorn007,
Aug 15, 12:15pm
That should be nearly did not buy one.
hopie,
Aug 15, 12:28pm
wouldnt consider it a "hot" hatch.
The Hatch bit is correct thou.
sweetfanny,
Aug 15, 2:59pm
Really It just needs room for me and my son, and the odd friend from school, and can fold the seats down for the dogs for shows. But i want something quick, and fun to drive.
whqqsh,
Aug 15, 4:11pm
I was amazed how much room our Punto had when seats folded down (got caught out when visiting a mate when offered a stack of old car parts) & I reckon more than the 'larger' Golf we replaced it with
sweetfanny,
Aug 16, 6:50pm
Yes everyone I know Has said don't touch one. The only people that have said go for it has been on here. But then most of the guys i know are mechanics. Im always told go toyota, as that is what I have been brought up with.
grangies,
Aug 16, 7:01pm
Think of it like this.
The Fiat Punto, will be just as good as the Toyota Corolla.
Both great cars. Both a cut above the rest as far as simple reliability goes. Good strong basic cars, with no stupid bells and whistles.
Go for it. Buy a Punto.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 16, 7:16pm
You will find the people that say buy one tend to have actually owned one or even several. Those that say don't usually haven't even sat in one.
Thanks to our motor industry revolving around used Japanese imports for decades, there is a lot of mindless repetition of silly wives tales when it comes to suggesting anything not Japanese or Australian.
Luckily its easy enough to see through most of the nonsense, but it does make it tedious having to sort the real from the imagined.
sweetfanny,
Aug 16, 7:27pm
I have just been reading that other thread thejazz. Makes for interesting reading. In the odd euro I have taken out I have liked the feeling of luxury in them, But I just get told, well its more things to to wrong if they have to many extras in them. lol
intrade,
Aug 16, 8:06pm
that goes for any car. for example toyota caldina electric windo winder is new over 500$ my fiat has manual winder and the whole new geniuen part was 56$ that was at the same month where a clients toyota needed a new electic unit he got secoundhand for 250$
sweetfanny,
Aug 16, 8:10pm
Well true, it cost me $600 to get the electric windows fixed in my old holden wagon. Have since sold it, and still paying work off I had done on it. lol
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 16, 8:48pm
There is indeed some truth in that the more you complicate something the more things you have to go wrong.
However, when translated to cars its not that cut and dry. For example, it is quite possible to build a sophisticated yet reliable vehicle, the Volvo S40 is consistently one of the most reliable cars of its time, yet its also one of the most sophisticated. It is as or more reliable than some of the most basic shopping baskets on the market.
You also need to consider how much extra complication you are adding to a vehicle. In terms of a percentage of extra moving parts and equipment, are you actually adding that much given that all modern cars have an enormous amount of parts anyway!
Then, what about how complicated vehicles are compared to how they used to be! Now, you actually do have a real difference in the amount of parts used and the level of sophistication, as anyone who has worked on a Morris Minor can tell you.
Yet, were Morris Minors more reliable or less reliable than modern vehicles!
In the end most of what you hear is just regurgitated nonsense, that started out as exaggerated but plausible sounding claims used to sell comparatively expensive and under featured Japanese cars.
You can tell much of it is nonsense because a lot of claims are easily quantifiable and can be easily verified.
The bottom line is, people don't make rational decisions. They think they do but ultimately they are guided by emotion, psychological phenomena and social pressures.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 16, 8:55pm
BTW, if people really cared about reliability, they would put as much emphasis on service history, kms traveled, type of use and ongoing maintenance and research into the exact make/model/year as they do on a badge or country of origin.
But they don't, you consistently see a "badge" recommended as a one stop reliability solution. Even if someones budget means buying a tired 250'000km Corolla or a 60'000km pristine NZ new Ford Escort with service history owned by one family since new. You still get people blindly recommending the Toyota. (BTW, this example is taken directly from another thread)
sweetfanny,
Aug 16, 8:56pm
You are so right. It has been drummed into be for all of my 41 yrs that japanese is the way to go. They are cheaper and easier to fix and are reliable etc. I was never allowed to get something that I wanted, it always had to be certain brands, as my dad, or my hubby at the time did all the work on them. But now I am single, and I can pick whatever I like, it still comes back to me. I think omg, im going to get shit about getting a euro. Was talking to my bro last night when he came over and he is a Transmission Mechanic and even he told me don't be so stupid. So it is certainly drummed into us.So much so, that is why I am still hesitant. lol. But certainly taking the Fiat Punto for a drive in the weekend, will be interesting to see how it is after driving my Holden Adventura V8. Hahahaha. Be soooooo different.
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 16, 9:03pm
Interesting thing about Transmissions, some European cars are heckled because their transmissions supposedly don't last. However many of the models that get this criticism actually run Japanese made transmissions, made by part Toyota owned subsidiary Aisin. Even more interestingly, sometimes a Japanese and European car will have exactly the same Aisin transmission yet only the European car will get heckled for its transmission unreliability.
The real common killer of automatic transmissions IMO is lack of maintenance. Sometimes because people havn't bothered and other times because the manufacturer has stupidly said its "sealed for life" sometimes these sealed for life transmissions can't even be serviced properly even if you want to.
Anyhow, I hope you enjoy your new found automotive freedom. Just remember no one has a magic reliability wand. All countries and manufacturers have made models of varying success and reliability. When selecting a vehicle its important to sort the wheat from the chaff and figure out whether any known faults are real, imagined or exaggerated.
Happy car shopping!
thejazzpianoma,
Aug 16, 9:08pm
BTW, I would be very keen to hear how you find the Punto Abarth the good and the bad. If you do decide you want one, picking a good example and ensuring all maintenance is up to date will be far more influential on its reliability than the badge on the front. Same goes for any car of course. Its pretty rare to find a problem with a Punto that isn't maintenance related, of the few issues you see its normally stuff like issues relating to only the cambelt being changed when the job should include tensioners and a waterpump.
trdbzr,
Aug 16, 9:13pm
Read this news piece carefully again Jazz. Either you have comprehension issues or you are blatantly lying again as usual. Its only the 7 speed DSG that VW makes that consumers experienced problems in. Not in the 6 speed Aisin/Toyota supplied gearbox.
trdbzr, bellky, vespinae and to some degree johnf_456 are resident trolls. I suggest you pay no attention to them, I certainly don't.
They spend a lot of time coming the internet for anything that might constitute validation for a counter argument without having any first hand experience or even understanding of what is being discussed.
In this example here, the assumption is that I was referring to the DSG which I was not. The second assumption is that the DSG is supplied by Aisin/Toyota which it is not. (The 6 speed version was initially designed by Borgwarner and made by VW themselves)
The Chinese article is a desperate attempt at trying to contradict the actual numbers which show the DSG to be one of the most reliable transmissions you can buy. That's how VW can afford to offer them a 10 year warranty on it. You can find bad press on just about anything, let alone the DSG which would have to be about the most popular automated transmission in the world. Every transmission will have some failures, what matters is what percentage, with the DSG that percentage is about as low as you get.
I won't respond to any more posts in this thread from them because it only encourages them.
sr2,
Aug 16, 10:08pm
+1.johnf_456 has a long history of stalking on this MB, (those of us who know him are used to his behaviour but being a female I would contact Trademe immediately if he tries to contact you outside this message board, as he has a record of doing so in the past); his mates are just harmless keyboard warriors who are in there to stir things up a bit. As for thejazzpianoma he??
incar.,
Aug 16, 10:46pm
sweetfanny wrote: Was talking to my bro last night when he came over and he is a Transmission Mechanic and even he told me don't be so stupid.
Classic!, who are you going to call when it breaks down! the trademe euro key board expert or your brother, get realistic having few men to work on your next purchase and currently paying off your last repairs then looking at a euro in N.Z! after about 1 month the hype would of worn off and chances are it just becames a means off transport. look for go, not show!
incar.,
Aug 16, 10:48pm
amen!
sweetfanny,
Aug 17, 2:38pm
Actually I don't get my brother to work on my cars. I don't expect any favours from anyone so I don't ask him. I go to another garage. I also prefer performance and some looks. Not going to drive around in a piece of shit. Been there done that.
sweetfanny,
Aug 18, 4:49pm
Ok, so took the Fiat for a drive today. Was rather nice, Very quick, and handled from what I could tell from the city driving that I was doing. Would have been nice to take it up around the hills tho.Sales man was useless tho, could not tell me about a couple of things on the car, and had not heard of my car that I am looking at trading. Will go and try a VW Golf gti 1800 Turbo next weekend, that is also a manual.
00quattro00,
Aug 18, 5:00pm
Try and find one that has had the ecu chipped as standard they are quite lame, a decent intake, down pipe and chip will see you 200-210hp
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