Owner PeachorLemon_Archive    Posted in Fiat Punto   Comments 0

The Fiat Punto HGT Abarth. I have owned this car for 2.5 years Most of the time it has been great, with a willing engine which delivers great performance. The sat nav works great, through a fabulous sound system. All standard on this model, but life hasnt been quite as rosy as it could have been After a week, the rear brake disc dust plate kept rubbing on the disk causing a noise like running nails down a blackboard. Not to worry, just smacked it with a stick. Problem solved After 2 weeks, there was an annoying vibration in the engine bay. Took weeks to find it, but in the end it was the horn. The horn is mounted by one bolt. If the bolt is not tight enough, the thing vibrates, like when, as a child, you would sit at your desk in school with a ruler half on your desk, and ping it making a vibrating sound! Well I did anyway After a year and a half, the brake discs had warped, third gear crunched, there was the most annoying rattle coming from somewhere behind the dashboard, and the rear wheel bearings needed replacing. It was also great to know that the discs were not covered by warranty. Car repaired except for the rattle After a year and 6 months, the annoying rattle was still there and the brakes were not right again. Turns out they had only skimmed the discs, and not replaced them as I had thought and paid for. I made them replace the discs for free and watched them do it! Also, they finally found the rattle, (under warranty) which was the alarm housing After 2 and a half years, (48000), I am sitting here with a car in the garage with a broken timing belt and a very hefty bill for the damage done to the valves. The garage quote _2200 I say, how can they quote this without even removing the cylinder head. They quote _300 (5 hours work) to remove the cylinder head. I think all but the very worst mechanics should be able to remove a cylinder head in 1 to 2 hours. I am now trying to get Fiat to pay something for this. The cambelt change in the service plan is not supposed to be until over 70000 miles, yet the car is on 48000 Unfortunately, this car was purchased by myself, in Germany. This means that the car only has 2 years warranty I love this little car dearly, but all these problems have meant that I shall never buy a car from Fiat again.