Fiat Punto 1.2 Mia

i got my fiat Punto Mia when i first passed my driving test, i've had the car 6 months now and had a few problems but first of all ill start with the good points

City driving is very useful and great for parking, (however if you hold onto the steering wheel to tightly it seems to cut my power steering completely off )

the inside is very spacious!, much larger than it seems on the outside and the boot space is a generous size too. also its pretty cheap to run to i normally get around 50mpg

Bad points - the interior is pretty basic very plastic and the blue seats doesn't do it any favours. I feel when im driving I need to really put my foot down to get to 40mph, it feels very sluggish. the cars not very good with changing down gears id have to sit in a jumping car at second or come to a complete stop to go into first when either in traffic or at junctions roundabouts ect.

There isn't a rev counter so you really have to listen out when to change gears, but you get the hang of it quite quickly. It's quite noisy in the cabin when travelling on motorways, the car really struggles when you get to around 70mph.

When filling with fuel it always seems to click off and it takes me about 10 mins to put 20 quid in.

My engine light has been on twice since iv'e had it. battery went flat due to leaking water windscreen wipers broke on me in a thunderstorm, break and indicator lights seem to go quite a bit too.

in conclusion if you want a car that you can pop to the shops in twice a week then id consider buying one, in my personal opinion i wouldn't advise someone to buy one due to my experience but maybe it was just my luck to buy a dodgey car.

This car is fantastic, I like the blue interior. It is my first car and I've had it just over a year and it runs very well. Very spaceous for such a small car but fits 4 adults in no problem. Easy to park, reasonably cheap to run. On the down side, the headlights have gone cloudy, the wipers are juddery and it is a bit of a pain to refuel as it keeps thinking the tank is full when there is nothing in it, you have to master your own thechnique to fill up but once you've practised a bit it's not too bad. It has a heated rear window and a good radio, but the sun shades are not great as there is only two settings when down and they don't work for me, maybe they would be ok for a taller peson. It has a self locking boot, so when you put the lid down it locks without using the key and there is a leaver inside to lift the boot which is very convenient. Oerall, weighing up the good and bad points I would reccomend this car as I have not had any issues with it (yet).

I buy damaged cars from insurance companies so I only buy cheap run abouts.. I always buy VW Polo and Ford Ka's use them for 6 months and sell them. The Punto was a totaly different buy for me..

Impressed! yes I am.. It's abit bigger than a Polo as big almost of the Mk1 Golf of it's day so you can chuck your kit in the back ok and 2 kids..

Parts well they are so cheap... Easy to work on. But then I know a fair bit about cars..so if you don't know how to work on them it's like any other car.. it only goes wrong if you abuse it.. drive it like a rally car or don't service it and change parts as you need them..

Remember the Austin Allegro.. always slated as a rubbish car.. I have a mint 48K one from 1977. It's serviced and looked after never broken down once.. so budget cars get a bad rep. For one reason.. they are never looked after!! no one spends any money on them when faults happen and then hence they break down.. what a supprise..

I bought a 2003 1.2 Mia for £260 ( damaged on the side insurance write off ) on the road with MOT and tax for £523 50mpg for my 60-65 mph on the motorway.. RESULT!!

Well, where do I start? I bought my red Fiat Punto in January 2009. As I had just passed my test this car was a dream when first bought. I must say it's great as a first car, although I struggled 70 on the motorway, under the bonnet is cheap and worst of all in the MIA's is the bright blue seats. However this was bought as a present for passing my driving test. As mentioned in previous reviews is the car as box standard, nothing special about it. It doesn't even have a rev counter or temperature gauge. City mode I guess could be quite useful although I've never properly used it myself, last time I used it the power steering pump died and had to replace for £300 plus labour which apparently problematic with all punto's. On a good note, I play in a band, and I've carried all of our instruments (including a double bass, two amplifiers, guitars etc. comfortable with the rear seats down. Also another thing is that because there's nothing special/electric about there's less to go wrong with it, which I suppose is good with Fiats. I'm now in the market looking at an Fiat Punto ActiveSport as the 8v 1.2 engine is absolutely appalling.

For the record, no I'm not a speed freak/boyracer, but the engine just isn't powerful enough for all round driving.

It's a car of Magic, I've driven my Fiat Punto 1.2 Mia for ages and after what bad mouthing I've heard, I have found this car to be the ideal for young driver's. People say this car will break down, but I say they are wrong or just drive pedal to the floor. This car has given me no problems, never has it even coughed on me, I was wanting to upgrade for a while until I found this to be more cost effective and the fact that it suits my needs in every way.

The Fiat Punto 1.2 Mia requires an adjustment of expectation. There's nothing fundamentally wrong or unsafe about it; it's just basic. It's low performance as distinct from under-performance.

Over the last 11 years, I've had several Puntos. This is the lowest spec one I've ever had, and being at the bottom of the range, it lacks the zip and the refinements of my previous twin cam ELXs. It had one previous owner who put about 50K miles on it.

Having said that, nothing has failed, broken or fallen off, and it returns about 42mpg. Oil consumption over the first 3K miles has been negligible, which is a good sign. Brakes are very good, responsive and powerful, but acceleration is lethargic at best and it runs out of steam uphill on motorways. It's hard work sustaining a press-on 70 mph on the motorway. The gearbox is OK, but the lever needs to be moved accurately to make slick changes. The clutch is light, but its bearing can be noisy reversing first thing in the morning. The steering is on the firm side, but the "girlie button" can be pressed to engage additional power assistance, but I find it becomes far too light, even when the car is stationary. All the electrics work fine, and the stalks and horn do just what they should. Heating and ventilation is good, but I suspect the vents are partially blocked with leaves or other rubbish.

The unbranded tyres are noisy, and I really should change them for decent Michelins or Pirellis. There's more headroom than in the MkI but there's no sunroof. Seats are fine, and adjust easily to accommodate my 6'2" frame. I've upgraded the basic (there's that word again) FM Radio/Cassette to a Radio/CD Player, and the sound quality has improved considerably without having to upgrade the original speakers. There are no rear speakers but the mountings and wiring are all there.

Boot is good for the groceries, but it was a real task to get two suitcases in. It has the volume, but it's wrong shape somehow.

I used Turtle Wax Colour Magic on the paint work, and it came up a treat. A few more applications should hide all the tiny scratches on the roof, which were probably made by the previous owner putting bags &c. on there while opening the door.

There's key operated central locking, and the interior courtesy light is linked to the ignition key and door locks, one of the few refinements. The front windows have electric winders, but no "one touch" facility.

If you want a basic car, it's fine. However, I expect most drivers will soon want more in the way of refinement. I hope to be moving on to another car soon, not because the Punto is problematic, but because I want a higher level of trim and bit more power.

So it's a conditional recommendation - don't expect a basic car to be like a higher spec'd model.

I bought my Fiat Punto in 2003 and kept it about 10 months. The car was ok'ish, and as this was the first newish car I had bought, I was very pleased with it. The car never gave me any mechanical problems and always started first time, however after having the car 3 months I realised just how basic it was inside, but then again, I did buy the basic model!!!The gears are terrible in them. As I use my car to and from work- and as in any city centre (Crawling traffic) the gearbox cant handle changing gears while moving slow. I had to either leave it in 2nd and feel it jump and struggle or stop the car completely before putting it into 1st (Hope that makes sense!). The inside is very plastic and bits did start to fall off things. Like I say the car never gave me any problems mechanically but I certainly wouldn't buy another one- or another Fiat for that matter!!!