Punto V's Polo

Volvoboy

in the new year myself and my mam are thinking of getting a car together

she wants, an vw polo 00- for the very good reason it looks 'cute'

i want a fiat punto 99-04 mainly because of thier relabilty i've worked on a few and they seem nice cars and good to drive.

we will have around 6-7k to buy it, looking on carzone during the week you could get a mint 2001 punto

or

a mint 1999 polo (old shape).

do you have any experences of these cars good or bad?

Atomic Pineapple

no contest in my opinion -

polo is more reliable, nicer car and will hold its value far better than the punto

commited

Polo is boring to drive, but I'd definately put it as more reliable than the punto. We've had bad experiences with puntos in the past. Quicker than the Polo generally, but the handling is fairly pants.

Illkillya

Volvoboy wrote:

i want a fiat punto 99-04 mainly because of thier relabilty i've worked on a few and they seem nice cars and good to drive.

If you've worked on these cars then I'll assume you're a mechanic of some sort so you probably know a lot more about this than me but... reliability? All I've been hearing about Puntos is head gasket blown, and lots of problems which result in them getting rid of the car. I could be wrong, but I can think of at least 5 people I know who had nightmares with Puntos.

bazz26

Volvoboy wrote:

in the new year myself and my mam are thinking of getting a car together

she wants, an vw polo 00- for the very good reason it looks 'cute'

i want a fiat punto 99-04 mainly because of thier relabilty i've worked on a few and they seem nice cars and good to drive.

we will have around 6-7k to buy it, looking on carzone during the week you could get a mint 2001 punto

or

a mint 1999 polo (old shape).

do you have any experences of these cars good or bad?

Are you set on these two cars only?

The Polos tend to be overpriced for what you get and it maybe hit or miss with the Punto. Some people have had years of trouble free motoring with the Punto while others will tell they have had nothing but bother from day one.

Have a look at the Skoda Fabia which is basically a Polo but is better equipped, roomier and cheaper to buy. €6k or €7k will get you a 2001 model:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=318028

Another one to look at is the Ford Fiesta. The 1.25 litre engine is the one to go for and in Ghia trim you get things such as cd player, alloy wheels and even air conditioning. Something like this one:
http://www.carzone.ie/usedcars/index.cfm?fuseaction=car&carID=315527

Dcully

lol Punto and Polo i same breath,bizzare:)
Actually mentioning punto with pretty much anything else in same breath is an insult to everything else,nuff said.
Dont go near the punto imo.

BrianD3

Volvoboy wrote:

i want a fiat punto 99-04

Would you get a 04 punto for your budget? I doubt it, but maybe you would if you bought in January 06. There's also the Fiat Panda which should be a bit cheaper.

I was just browsing Fiat ireland's website recently and from Nov 2004 they have been offering a 4 year/60,000 miles warranty on their new cars. The first manufacturer in Ireland to offer a 4 year warranty apparently. Buy one of these in Jan 06 and it will still have nearly 3 years warranty left.

Yet i'm sure some people would still recommend you buy a shagged old Polo compared to a much newer Fiat with a full warranty and much lower mileage. It makes me laugh how people buy into VWs marketing hype (as can be seen by some of the comments in this thread)

Gurgle

BrianD3 wrote:

Would you get a 04 punto for your budget? I doubt it, but maybe you would if you bought in January 06.

Thats one of the great mis-conceptions of the used car market, as I've learned the expensive way.
They do not drop in value come january, they actually go up a bit.
Why?
Before christmas, people selling their car would like some cash for the drinking season, people buying are putting it off until january because they think that prices go down.
Watch the buy&sell. You'll see the same cars advertised week after week for the rest of the year with the price going down slowly.

BrianD3 wrote:

There's also the Fiat Panda which should be a bit cheaper.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!
*breath*
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Why not buy a pair of warm gloves and hiking boots with the money you save. You'll need them for pushing it to work on those cold december mornings.

TheBigLebowski

The Skoda Fabia is definitely worth a look. A lot more for your money.

And it's at No. 9 in the top 151 cars for this year according to top gear...

As seen here...
http://www.topgear.com/content/features/stories/2005/11/stories/01/20.html

BrianD3

Gurgle wrote:

Why not buy a pair of warm gloves and hiking boots with the money you save. You'll need them for pushing it to work on those cold december mornings.

If I had the choice between a 04 Panda and a 99/00 Polo I know which one I'd be more likely to be pushing to work. A 5 or 6 year old car could well need a new battery and other parts of the ignition system replaced. Everything seems fine till the first hard frost then....As well as that, the clutch on a Polo that age could easily be on the way out as could the exhaust, brake pads may need doing, coolant flushing and various other bits and pieces.

fletch

Gurgle wrote:

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!
*breath*
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh!

Why not buy a pair of warm gloves and hiking boots with the money you save. You'll need them for pushing it to work on those cold december mornings.

We've had a Panda for over a year now with not one single problem whatsoever, starts every morning, lovely to drive (gear stick is in the dash) etc etc
Previously my mam had a Seicento for 4 years with not one single problem whatsoever.
In saying that we've had these cars from new, my mam does small mileage & we look after our cars meticulously but in saying that I'd probably still advise buying the Polo, unless you can afford to buy new

Gurgle

fletch wrote:

We've had a Panda for over a year now with not one single problem whatsoever, starts every morning, lovely to drive (gear stick is in the dash) etc etc
Previously my mam had a Seicento for 4 years with not one single problem whatsoever.

Fair enough, thats quite a testimonial to recent Fiats then.
My experience hasn't included anything later than 99.

Who owns Fiat now anyway?

drdre

i had a polo before and they are really nice and realible cars.

johnnyrotten

The Polo has to be the most overrated and overpriced Small car on the market.

eth0_

I have a 2001 1.25 Punto ELX and it's great. ok I only have it six weeks but no problems so far and I think it has great handling.

I got it for 5500 euro with a years warranty from Toyota garage, and there's only 30k miles on it.

I'd go for the Punto or a Fabia...although personally i'd prefer a Fabia VRS but that's a little outside your pricerange

SouperComputer

The Polo has to be the most overrated and overpriced Small car on the market.

Agreed, Seat Ibiza, similar running gear without the price premium. Better brakes seemingly too

lazylad

Polo is a more reliable car in my opinion. Although I agree puntos seem to give a good output depending on the history of the car in my opinion.
On the other hand polo is more womans choice, older polos are more saloon shaped? If that's the case it's a help.

Eoin

If you do go for a polo, try and get one with power steering. It is an absolute pig to drive without it - especially parking. I would think that it did not come with electrics as standard in 99, so look for that as well.

LostinBlanch

I've had a punto for the last 4 years. Great car and very nippy too! The only things I've had to replace on it were front bulb for headlamp and the battery (my own fault I left the radio on while I was away for a week. I thought it was off but it wasn't :mad: )

I've heard people say bad things about the punto but on my experience I'd go for one again.

The only reason I wouldn't get another one is that I need a slightly larger car.

Hope that helps.

2003yaris

You Know you wants a Yaris!

Dcully

I had a yaris in 2000,absolutely rocket of a car for a 1 litre.
Oodles of torque,very comfortable,feels like a much larger class of car,bomb prof reliablilty,cant recommend the Yaris enough.