What do you reckon?

Jivin Turkey

A mate of mine (24) is looking to buy his second car after finally shipping his first one which he had a nightmare with (Opel Agila).

He's now looking at a 03 Punto with 19k on the clock from a main Fiat dealer, 12 months warranty, e8k.

In order to fund this he is going to have to put in another 3k of his own money on top of what he got for his previous car.

He ended up losing about 2k on the Agila and now just wants something reliable and safe (risk wise). I think that despite the age and mileage on the Punto he would be better buying an older more reliable car (Golf/Polo/Focus) for the same amount.

He's looked a bit but hasn't really found something that he likes so he seems content to take this.

Any ideas? Do you think its a good buy?

crazyhorse1980

He should obviously buy my car !


http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=292495

HungryJoey

Hello there. I may just have the perfect car for you

03 Punto 1.2 16V Active
24K On Clock
5 Months warrenty Remaining
Alloy wheel's
Electric Windows
Sunroof ( electric )
Blaupunkt CD player 4 x 45 watt's. Nice sound
Adjustable Steering wheel.
Silver Metallic ( Metalic - i am 90% sure )
Full Service History, Although its not high milage So hasnt be serviced lot's of times but has had its full service history up to 24K, so Should be good for a long time.


Anything else you want to know just ask Anyway its my mother's and we are selling her in about 2 weeks or well about 1 and a half week's and i was hoping to get her sold on board'.s Havnt advertised it yet. Anyway, The car is in GREAT Condition in and out.

We are looking for just around 8000, Well between 7800-8000 And we will be happy. Its a nicely spec'd car, well for a punto and look's great. I will post some pic's up for you as soon as i can. Most probably be monday un;ess i have somehere with my now ( i am in the UK ).

Anyway, Get back to me if you think he might be intrested.

Thanks,

Hj.

Interceptor

Jivin Turkey wrote:

A mate of mine (24) is looking to buy his second car after finally shipping his first one which he had a nightmare with (Opel Agila).

He's now looking at a 03 Punto with 19k on the clock from a main Fiat dealer, 12 months warranty, e8k.

In order to fund this he is going to have to put in another 3k of his own money on top of what he got for his previous car.

He ended up losing about 2k on the Agila and now just wants something reliable and safe (risk wise). I think that despite the age and mileage on the Punto he would be better buying an older more reliable car (Golf/Polo/Focus) for the same amount.

He's looked a bit but hasn't really found something that he likes so he seems content to take this.

Any ideas? Do you think its a good buy?

Its not a bad buy - 19k and a years warranty for 8k from a dealer is pretty ok. You don't mention how long he had the Agila or what age it is - he should try to sell it privately via the Buy and Sell or Herald/Times small ads - (I've had great results from these on some cars) and then go with cash to the dealer with an offer of €7000, but plan to come up to a max of 7350 without a trade-in.

The 03 Punto has the very reliable 16v engine - the old 8v gave head gasket trouble, these don't. It also comes with power steering which is nice. Don't pay any attention to the old 'Ah them FIATs are made of recycled biscuit tins' brigade - I rate the mkIII Punto higher than the Yaris, Micra and Fiesta of the same vintage.

On some choices, your advice to choose older and more reliable is not bad but the Punto will be cheaper to run, be more fun to drive and no less reliable than those you mentioned - the Polo has to be the most dreary prison-sentence of a car to ever leave Wolfsburg.

The choice of used cars is huge at the moment - you can see your thread attracted two sellers desperate to shift stuff privately, one selling a higher mileage no warranty car for the same price with no trade in and the other selling something silly that the French dreamt up one sunday afternoon. Tell your mate to drive the Punto, a Polo and a Corsa (even if he does hate Opels, he needs variation) and if he prefers the Punto then he has made the right decision.

'c

HungryJoey

Excuse me, There is a warrenty on my mother's car, 5-6 Month's left. And i was mistaken. We are looking for about 7500. And do not accuse me of desperately needing to sell this car. I do not. No hurry here, Just though. Heck, if we were ina hurry it would of been gone months ago as we planned to change this car months ago and i have made previous threads about it. We have been taking our time too look for a nice car to replace the Punto. As my mother usually upgrades every 2 year's and now's the time. So do not accuse me of despretally trying to force this care upon him.

Hj e

Jivin Turkey

Thanks for the replies/offers

Interceptor wrote:

Its not a bad buy - 19k and a years warranty for 8k from a dealer is pretty ok. You don't mention how long he had the Agila or what age it is - he should try to sell it privately via the Buy and Sell or Herald/Times small ads - (I've had great results from these on some cars) and then go with cash to the dealer with an offer of €7000, but plan to come up to a max of 7350 without a trade-in.

He had the Agila about 18 months, it was an 01 and he just wanted to cut his loses and sold it for 4.9k. I think hes already got the dealer down from 8750 to 8000 with a cash offer so Im not sure if there is much scope to go lower but Ill tell him to try and push it to 7500.

Interceptor wrote:

The 03 Punto has the very reliable 16v engine - the old 8v gave head gasket trouble, these don't. It also comes with power steering which is nice. Don't pay any attention to the old 'Ah them FIATs are made of recycled biscuit tins' brigade - I rate the mkIII Punto higher than the Yaris, Micra and Fiesta of the same vintage.

Thanks I didnt know this, and will definitely pass it on.

Im not one of the folk that has something against Fiats, sure I used to drive a 899cc Cinquecento for a couple of years

Interceptor wrote:

On some choices, your advice to choose older and more reliable is not bad but the Punto will be cheaper to run, be more fun to drive and no less reliable than those you mentioned - the Polo has to be the most dreary prison-sentence of a car to ever leave Wolfsburg.

I think he is going to have a scout around anyway to see if he sees something he likes more. I take your point on the Punto being cheaper to run, and Id imagine it would be quite nippy with a 16V engine in it.

One last question, what sort of depreciation would it incur in say 18 months? He is planning on going travelling at the end of next year and would probably be looking to sell it then. I would have though he would probably get around 6K for it?

Interceptor

Jivin Turkey wrote:

One last question, what sort of depreciation would it incur in say 18 months? He is planning on going travelling at the end of next year and would probably be looking to sell it then. I would have though he would probably get around 6K for it?

If its still got an NCT and some tax, the mileage hasn't gone stratospheric and it hasn't been bashed then maybe just under six, otherwise closer to 5k but depends on how quickly he wants to sell etc.

@HungryJoe, take a chill pill - warrantys don't usually transfer between owners, check the small print. And if you pimp something on a 'seeking advice' thread you attract comments from the lower orders having a pop at you.

'c

Malorkus

NEVER get a Fiat, especially not a Punto.

Interceptor

Malorkus wrote:

NEVER get a Fiat, especially not a Punto.

Thats an informed opinion, well constructed and highly detailed. Please comment on the fact that FIAT owns Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Should people not buy these either?

I would like to counter-argue, NEVER, ever get anything made by GM, especially not an Opel or a Daewoo. Do I win a prize?....

'c

HashSlinging

Interceptor wrote:

Maserati


'c

Don't VW have more than just an interest in Maserati.

bazz26

Interceptor wrote:

Thats an informed opinion, well constructed and highly detailed. Please comment on the fact that FIAT owns Ferrari, Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Lancia. Should people not buy these either?

I would like to counter-argue, NEVER, ever get anything made by GM, especially not an Opel or a Daewoo. Do I win a prize?....

'c

The new Punto on sale in November uses the Corsa platform and both cars will share most parts including engines. GM also use the Fiat 1.9 common rail diesel engine, this is found in the Saab 9-3, 9-5 and Opel Astra, Vectra and Zafira.

Interceptor

bazz26 wrote:

The new Punto on sale in November uses the Corsa platform and both cars will share most parts including engines. GM also use the Fiat 1.9 common rail diesel engine, this is found in the Saab 9-3, 9-5 and Opel Astra, Vectra and Zafira.

Fiat also rejected the Giugiaro design that is now the Chevrolet Matiz but they are STILL rubbish.



'c

ds20prefecture

HashSlinging wrote:

Don't VW have more than just an interest in Maserati.

No. Apologies for wandering off topic.

They don't even have an interest any more. Audi were sniffing around them for a suitable RWD platform, or failing that access to Maserati's transaxle technology. They fell out over something minor, though. Luca Di Montezemolo recently put Maserati under the control of Alfa Romeo, having formerly been under the control of Ferrari. Hopefully reports of common platform SUVs between Alfa and Maserati are just rumour. It might work well for Alfa to have a nice RWD coupe like the 8C concept.

IrishRover

Just wondering, if he's travelling at the end of next year anyway, why does he have to buy a 2 year old car? Why not buy a 10 year+ old Corolla or Civic and put the money saved towards his travelling fund. I doubt he'd lose much money at all on it when he goes to sell it if he sells it with a new NCT.

Oh Boy!

All i can say is don't listen to all the sniping from the "you can't beat a VW,Toyota etc, them Fiat's are rustbuckets" brigade. I put up 170,000 miles on a 98 Punto without a days problem! And it's still going strong with a new owner!

Have a 00 Bravo at the min and it feels better bullt than the equivalant corolla, and a lot more reliable than modern VW's. Passats with the suspension falling apart after 30,000 miles? Why pay the overinflated prices for that sort of trouble?

In fact, its Fiats former bad reputation that keeps their second hand value low, hence more bargains for those of us who know different. So maybe it's a bad idea to come to their defence.

LegacyUser

I wouldn't get a Fiat if I were you! My brother had one and he is a light driver. Took three times to get it through the NCT. It nearly fell apart after 4 years! He ended up trading it in for scrap. No joke. Have a look for an Opel Corsa - they are a LOT more reliable and stable. You'll get more return on your money. If you thought the loss on the Opel Agilia was bad - the Punto will be MUCH worse.

Dagon

Fiat are not recommended, unless you are looking for trouble!

You are better off getting a 10+ year old Toyota than a new Fiat... cheaper too!

Jivin Turkey

Just to let you know, a Punto was bought during the week.

Ill let you know if he has any trouble

Thanks for the input.