Had my Grande Punto for more than 8 years from new Jim.

Very few problems with it, a broken front spring probably due to the speed humps all over the place here and the clutch release bearing occasionally made funny noises from new, never when it was at the dealership of course.

It turned out to have seized so was not turning, simply wearing itself and the clutch diaphragm arms to pieces. It was a 2 hour job to change the clutch on the drive last year.

No corrosion problems, really reliable never failed to complete a journey. Its a 1.3 diesel Dynamic model.

Can't see any point in changing it for another car in the near future.

Well, we went to see it and... it was a nice little car; clean, fully ramped and stamped. So, Stepson knocked the dealer down to £1750 and bagged himself his first car. Hopefully, his record over his driving career will be better than mine!

Ah yes, I forgot the springs... both my front springs broke within a month of each other at under 30K miles.

I think this one has had some front suspension work done. It felt fine on the road with no knocks, clunks or rolling. Then again, what do I know?!

Congratulations to your step-son in joining us Grande Punto owners.

I'm sure it will give him many miles of trouble-free motoring, as long as it is serviced regularly.

Thanks Possum. You may want to avert your eyes from Stepson's attempts to "make it his own"...!

Looks like you guys got a good one there. Hope your stepson looks after it

Jim, could not see from the photos if it is fitted with Cruise Control.

Our 2008 Dynamic has it fitted whereas the later "povo pack" Puntos sold here did not. Maybe it was a marketing ploy to keep the price of the base model down.

No idea about cruise control, Possum; I wasn't looking for it and I doubt stepson will be interested. His ideas about what constitutes controlling a cruise and mine may well differ!

ETA: Parkers Guide suggests it was not standard fitment, so I think not.

Thanks Jim.

The control is a stalk below the indicator stalk on the left side of the steering column, if fitted.

Must admit that I very rarely use it myself, and the wife does not know how to use it. Is that because we are "old school" or just old?

Drove the Grande Punto home today, sharing the honours with the L-plate king. One very happy lad!

Only slight issue; we went out this afternoon and stopped off at Tesco. When Stepson went to start the car, we just got rapid clicking and blinking lights on the dash. We tried locking/unlocking the doors and tried again - still nothing.

Eventually, I bump started it and it has been fine since (Stepson stalled a few times, so plenty of practice restarting).

I suspect the starter motor. What do you reckon?

My Renault Laguna does the same if battery voltage dips below a certain level.

Battery is probably weak. It'll have been stood for a while at the dealers being locked, unlocked, started, stopped, all without getting a proper run to keep the battery topped.

I'd suggest checking the battery voltage with/without load, started/stopped to give you an idea of the charging system state. I'd guess though, it just needs a new battery

Fair point. Will a long drive not recharge it or will it have lost the ability to hold charge?

Looking through the service record, it has full, Fiat dealer history up to 51k, and has only done about 4K miles per year since 2012. It looks to have had the cam belt changed at 38000 miles in 2011, which seems very early (72k is recommended interval), though perhaps it was done on time rather than mileage?

Should I be advising Stepson to get it done again? If so, any owners know how difficult/costly it is? Until he learns the brutal wallet-crushing lesson of car ownership, I'm going to get the blame for anything that goes wrong!

May be a bad earth or a dodgy battery..

Cambelt - piece of mind says change it. I'm sure it'll only be a cheap job, 200 quid maybe.

It should help, but really once they go flat a few times they're not the same. You can charge them, and if the charger conditions also it can help top them up to full. It'd be worth looking at the battery voltage to get an idea if it's worth trying.

I'd also change the cam belt. Even though the car has done suspiciously low miles since it was last done.

Wife bought her Grande Punto 1.3 diesel 5 door Eleganza new in 2009. Over 100,000 miles now and all it has had are three drop links, rear shoes, a set of pads and just recently another set of pads with new discs. Still shocks me how reliable it has been. My son has just decided to take on the car and sell his 1.2 Fiesta so hopefully it will continue.

Regarding the cam belt. Some of the small engines hit and some don't. Not 100% sure but I think it's only the 8v engines that are non interference, so yes you should really get it done.

Just looked at belt changes in my Grande Punto service book, it says cambelt for petrol engines every 72k miles or 4 years if subject to heavy ueage( Cold climates, town driving, long idling stops) or every 5 years.

So a change is due any time now.

Not sure about the 16v engine, but when we did the cam belt change in our 8v, my mate, a Fiat trained mechanic, used the workshop's cam locking tool.

Thanks Possum, but I'm not sure what to do with that information!

Booked in for full cambelt/aux/tensioners/pulleys/water pump/uncle tom cobbley and all. £210 including VAT and labour. Not too bad. I'll buy a battery online - any recommendations?

My only worry now is that when I drove it today (after stepson has been driving it around seemingly endlessly since Saturday, with either me or MrsC in attendance), the clutch now bites about an inch of the floor and creates a certain friction-plate fragrance. I fear the worst. Oh well, that's car ownership...

It'll be dragging, hence the smell. I'll bet the slave calender is halfway dead.

Well, it doesn't seem to be dragging at all - or slipping, which is surprising. I don't have enough optimism to think it's only badly adjusted, but so far it's still - just - doing everything a clutch should do...

An inch off the floor it will be. It won't be disengaging fully between changes, hence the smell.

This. As well as dragging when hot.

Thanks gents. That seems fairly conclusive. No wonder the garage made it a "trade sale" because "the mileage was a bit high"!

OEM Valeo 3 part clutch kit was about £100 from Eurocarparts Jim.

Thanks, Pete. I might see if the garage can add the job on. Feel bad for the lad, but what can you do?

I'd just check the slave cylinder first. Might be a 30 quid diy fix.