Advice please from Italian experts - what are Puntos and Cinqecentos (sp?) like? Looking out for a sub £500 first car for my sis and have been looking at 205s, 106s, Micras, Swifts and Fiestas - all cars I know about. Suddenly thought about the Fiats today but dont know anything about them Anything to look out for - specific rusty bits, engine/'box issues etc etc?
What do you think to this one in particular:
early puntos rot like theres no tommorow.
trust me i've had 2 :)
good enough cars for a puddle jumper but my heart would and i hate to say it be with the micra :)
None at all, because I wouldn't even think about it.
It's poverty spec. and when I say poverty spec, I mean it. The cheapest, nastiest cabin you've ever sat in.
It's got the horribly underpowered and rattly old pushrod lump that couldn't pull the skin off a rice pudding.
They don't really rust, because the shell is pretty well protected, however, the bottoms of radiators drop out regularly and the cross member below the engine can rot through.
All in all, they're to be avoided.
500 quid will get you a slightly rough around the edges but still usable Sporting, which is vastly superior.
No they don't.
Not unless they've been crashed and repaired on the cheap.
They're like small badly built cars designed for apes.
"Carl Gibbs" wrote in message news: snipped-for-privacy@individual.net...
I would take someone along that knows about cars and get it inspected before buying. That way you will not be held responsible when it is found to be a stolen recovered or car that was bought from a scrap yard! Both the cars you mention are great cars. The Punto is OK even if it's a girls car, the Cinquecento is amazingly nippy in the town and is economical to run, but insurance on both will be around £1800 for a new driver depending on the area. Tax will be cheap. Your sister might be able to get cheaper insurance as companies haven't realised a lot of women claim via their husband's insurance - so they think they are safe drivers. They are both far too easy to pinch, the Cinq being easiest to get in to and away in around 20 seconds. The gearbox should not be knackered, so it makes me think the mileage is incorrectly stated. The bodywork is a bit stuffed so maybe the car had a few bangs and has been written off and bought from the insurer? Get the HPI check done, also check it doesn't belong to someone else. Check all documents. To me a car with low mileage, missing parts, dents and bumps, incorrect parts fitted and stuffed gearbox is NOT a good idea. If you can't hear it shouting "don't buy me" then you're mad. If you don't know what to look for when buying a car, get someone else to do it for you. You might have to pay but you will not get caught out. I doubt your sister would thank you for that car. For cheaper insurance she would be better off with a 1.25 fiesta.
I'm not fussed about that, it's not for me!! :) Seriously though, it's a first car so anything will do - it'll be a step up from a moped!
That bad? Hmmm I though the engine was a bit more modern than that. Needs to be able to hold its own on the motorways, so maybe not so good then.
Gotcha.
Are the engines in these better then? I was under the impression they were pretty good for a small donk, and assumed the smaller varieties would be a similar sort of thing. Obviously not.
Will put the Sporting on my list of maybes then. Cheers Steve!
I'd like to get her a Swift, becuase they're so damn cheap - £500 can get you a late 90s model, but not any local to me at the mo :(
Rob, I get the feeling you've never actually owned a modern(ish) Fiat at this point.
The Fiat CODE immobiliser is almost impossible to get around, unless you're carrying a de-coded ECU around with you.
This is why Fiat charge a grand for a lock set and ECU.
They were one of the first manufacturers to fit a properly theft proofed immobiliser to a car - theft rates for Fiat CODE vehicles are around 1% of the average car theft rate.
yeah get your own name instead of blackening the name of ex punto/nova/shit french car owners you gimp
Heh. It's only *just* a step up.
Aye, it was an ancient lump - never understood why Fiat kept using it. Can't remember when it was first introduced, but it was used way back in the early 70s in the 127.
The 903cc lump is an ancient pushrod design, with tappets that go out of adjustment as often as they do in a Ford Kent.
The Sporting is a much more modern 1.1 OHC engine.
Sporting is definitely worth it - you get alloys, electric windows and leather gearknob / steering wheel as well as red seatbelts. Oh, and the fizzy little 1.1 OHC engine.
If you want something that'll hold it's own on a motorway, then the 1.1 is the only choice really.
Heh.
piss poor undersealing in the factory on mk1's leads to uber rot concerns
Well thanks for an utterly useless post there.
Ooops. Sorry 'real' Rob. I hadn't noticed.
I predict a comment about pinking, a comment about V8 Puntos, someone called Brian popping up and saying not to touch anything with a bargepole that hasn't passed an RAC inspection and has ever seen pattern parts (regardless of quality), as it's probably like something off barryboys, and also at least 5 further comments about pinking.
-- "For want of the price of tea and a slice, the old man died."
got a nice bx if she wants it :)
Possibly a little big/overpowered for her!!!!!!!!!
I believe the power in Rob's BX is currently very manageable.
(c:
"AstraVanMan" wrote in news:5Zjlg.1475$ snipped-for-privacy@newsfe1-win.ntli.net:
Wots pinking?
Cinqs by now are well past their sell by date. The gearboxes will be knackered and the headgasket on its way out. And the fuel tank probably leaks. They're fun to drive when they're working though. Puntos based on the same mechanicals will be worse thanks to the extra weight they have to lug around. I've noticed a huge drop in the number of people representing Cinquecentos at Clubcento meets of late. Because the cars died and they couldn't find a good replacement Cinq.
Got to be a K10 Micra for a first car.
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