Fiat Punto [2011-2014] User Reviews

Hi All

I had plan of buying a good quality car from last 6 years. My dream come true. Blessed with Fiat Grande Punto Emotion 1.3 (Tuscan Wine) on 18-March-2012.

My habit is to test drive any car in mid size comes into Market. At last, I ended with Punto and now, I am completely happy with my Italian Beauty.

If I am the sales person for Fiat, my word to the people would be "Buy any hatchback. But before that just try Fiat Punto once. You may change your decision to buy Punto"

Exterior

 1. Highly Visible Head Lamps. 2. Powerful Fog lamps. (this itself is good enough for even Highway). 3. Lengthy car in its segment. 4. Wide Body. 5. Strong Doors. 6. Cache Side view mirrors. 7. Stylize Head Lamps. 8. Stylize looks. 9. Very big tyres (in emotion. Vento uses this same size tyres). 10. Better road grip and better braking.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 1. Very Big Dash board (make you feel like you are riding a big sedan). 2. Quality Seats. 3. Instrument Panel with more features. 4. My car settings menu. 5. Blue & Me. 6. Quality Plastics. 7. Audio (but when you keep the sound more, you hear the vibrations). 8. Follow-me Head lamps. 9.Quick Chill Auto AC 10. Real time mileage indicator, Distance to empty, Travel time, Average Speed and Instance Mileage. 11. Four speakers and Four twitters. 12. USB support. 13. 280 Liters Boot space.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox No words to say about engine performance (most of you might be knowing that this diesel engine is used in Ritz, Swift, Dezire, SX4, Manza, Vista, Linea and Punto), without touching the accelerator, you can reach fifth gear by just changing the gear. without acceleration, it reaches 40 KMPH. No difference in performance with and without AC. The diesel engine performs excellent. Highway will be your playground. I decided to drive maximum of 70 KMPH speed up to 5000 KM. In Highway, I got mileage of 25 (with a/c) and 25.5 (without a/c).  In City driving, I am getting 15 mileage. Hope this to increase after 1st service. Gear is very smooth and no need to change very often in city driving.

Ride Quality & Handling You can enjoy driving and none of the passengers will feel the tired for any long distance due to very good suspension. Ride Quality is very good. Nothing is compromised by Fiat.

Final Words Service once in 15000 KMs (visit the service centre once in a year). Value for Money. Will not feel bad about your decision. I could see many people buying Punto nowadays. This is the only car in the hatchback segment selling by direct word of mouth by users. Every user of this car will do marketting for this good product from Fiat. Fiat is about to detach from Tata tie-up and going to setup new dealerships and service centers in India in near future.

Areas of improvement Speakers are good but vibrates when sound is more.

Exterior One of the best looking cars in India. Fab Italian design. 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Cabin Space is pretty good.Best Boot Space among hatches(close to swift desire). Top end Emotion variant has some great features. Steering mounted Controls, Speed Sensitive Audio Blue and Me, My Car, Follow Me Headlamps and so many. Fiat could have improved Interior Fit and Finish.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine Performance is very good in city as well as Highway. Absolutely zero Diesel Engine Noise from 0 to 100 inside the cabin. 1st gear is bit short . Thereafter it multijetdiesel engine goes like a jet. Gearshift is little hard compared to Polo/Swift.

Ride Quality & Handling Superb Ride and Handling. High Speed Stability is Fantastic. At 140 KPH it feels like 80 KPH. 185 mm Groud clearance tackles the Indian roads very well. Punto is having best in class Hydrolic Power Steering.

Final Words Best Car in this segment. No other hatchback can come close to it. Ride Quality is better than some of the sedans.

Areas of improvement Interior Fit and Finish, TATA-FIAT dealership.

Exterior Wonderful is the only word I can say. When I see first punto on road some time back then only I decided if i buy a car that would be punto. Extreme italian design and marvellous in any angle. I can say it is the most stunned hatch in india. Pefectly designed for indian roads now with more GC.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) The driving seat itself distinguehses punto from others. I tried Swift,Ritz,dZire,Fabia and no one matched it.Extreme comfort. Rear space is I feel is optimum though i dint like Vista or caaaar kinda of space. Much better than Polo,swift,ritz and much more comfort. Blue and me is the feature now all the sedans and muvs start implementing.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Though I am novice @ driving and the car is of big size ( in car specifications it is mentiioned as sedan :)) it never induced any fear in me besides made me much more comfortable and made my learning expeircen wonderful.Steering resp is awesome . Gear shift initially was bit tough and now after one or two trips became normal.FE at start showing 15-16 and I can see it is increasing trip by trip. Nothing to say on engine as most of the market leaders  heavily relying on it.

Ride Quality & Handling Awesome and the bad roads will not distrub your ride as most of them filtered. And Handling is good and road grip is excellent. Steering holds solif even at speed of 100KMPH and gives a solid feeling.

Final Words I dreamt of buying it . But compared with all leading models like Swift, vista, fabia and polo (hatch only) and made my mind to go with my heart.My brother who kept coming with new options also finally settled with it and now he also enjoying with.

From the bottom of the heart Punto is much better car than any car in the hatch segment. It needs only shading of the bad image on it and sharing of a word.

Areas of improvement NA (as of now at least).

Exterior The looks are good, features inside are decent if compared to other cars in the same segment. It's a car you would like to drive very safe and good car.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Fuel economy is good engine should have been more powerfull. The suspensions also goes bad after 30000 Kms.

Ride Quality & Handling Its a value for money car but it has pathetic customer service and that's the reason fiat is unsuccessful in India.

Final Words I had a very bad experience with fiat in customer service I had a few issues with the service dealer the way they cheated me and after complaining to fiat they hardly cared what I went through I would suggest though the car is good but don't buy a car who's manufacturerfront care for the customers.

Areas of improvement Till the time fiat don't have their own service stations customers will never be satisfied with the after sales service. I hope they do it very soon.

Exterior It has a unique style and sporty design. It will make people to turn and look at him when it crosses.  Good sporty tyres especially which other Hatchbacks not used.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) It is the car which is extra 50K more and getting it all the features and Quality Product. Swift is not this much quality but selling it for same price but still depending on FIAT.Think and buy it. Good space ,Good Plastics,Good Seats, All features for jus 7.8 L.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox If you want to feel the butter smoothness of clutch and gear box,jus ride this car and compare with any Hatchbacks. Definitely u'll never get that feel with any other cars. Performance is awesome in  1,3,4 and 5 th Gear.It will behave like his name( "MULTIJET" ). Because of more weight when compared to other cars its bit slow in 2 nd gear. Mileage is 13-14 in city , 20.5 KMPL in Highways.

Ride Quality & Handling Suspension is the highlight which I didn't feel in Swift, Micra, Figo, Liva..etc. 140 +  speed is not enough in our roads. You will feel that comfort and grip in our roads. You will not feel tired riding this car in highways especially. Handling will definitely increase the confidence level for anyone.

Final Words FIAT is opening their seperate Showrooms and Service centers soon. So buy and Enjoy the driving with a good car. Worth for Money.

Areas of improvement TATA Motors. But anyways our FIAT is opening their seperate showrooms and service centers soon :).

Exterior Very good exterior look. My car is Fiat Punto Emotion 1.3 Diesel, Bossa Nova white. I go people praises it so much. Personaly when I look at my car I find difficult to remove my eyes from it.

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) I was most concerned about interior space and comfort before buying a car which also happen to be my first car. At first look space appear to be cramped. But while you sit in the front and back seat you find it to be extremely roomy. Comfortwise it is uncomparable to any other car of its segment. You get the smooth drive and confident and secured feeling while you drive it. Just take test drives of it and other cars like swift Dzire and you could find out the difference. Many people ignore it because it is less selling. But if you want to buy a car of your own decesion after proper judgement then only punto will stand out. I have taken test drive of almost all the cars and taken decesion after one year of analysis of all the cars because I was a very confused buyer. But now Punto has fulfilled all my expectations. Featurewise the top model offers all the features and you cannot ask fore more (as the advertisement says). Blue and me, dual airbags, delayed power windows steel backseat rear , auto door locks, door open warnings, seat belt warnings etc. If you take turn even at more than 100 kms per hour there is no shear force felt by the passangers and the car is extremely stable. If you apply sudden break from very high speed like 120 kms per hour the steerins is as smooth and controbale as usual driving.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine performance including pick up, torque excellant. Milleage little bit less than swift or indica vista but that is at the cost of more weight of the vehicle that offers you more safety and smoother drive. The car is extremely noiseless and there is no body noise at all indicating the solid built of the car. It is unlike swift Dzire which is very light and gives you an insecured feeling and vista which produces too much enzine and body noise. Only problem is gear shift is not smooth and it tends to struct to neutral position while you shift gear. But it may be due to newness of the car and I hope to improve it latter.

Ride Quality & Handling Ride quality I sometimes employ my driver who has 10 years of driving of all models of car. He tells me the it is a very easy to car to drive in spite of its heavy weight and he designates it as a car for the beginners. The door opens at three steps to prevent sudden striking with nearby vehicle during parking. As I have already said all the bumpyness in the road disappears while you drive it. You can drive in a reasonable high speed even over the speed breakers because of its excellant suspension and high ground clearance of 185cm (contrary to 170cm of swift and 168 cm of i20). Safetywise Fiat has given highest importance to safety of the passangers which is uncommon in othe cars of this segment. All the safety features of the luxurious sedans except curtain airbags. Its safety starts from its designing. Fiat has even compromised little bit of milleage by increasing the weight to provide more safety. Of course many of the Indians are yet to realise the importance of safety even after knowing the fact that life is precious and it comes only once. I think government should promote seeling of cars with increase selling of cars with increase safety features like they promote use of helmets by bikers.

Final Words It is uncomparable to any other car of its segment from all the aspect: style, performance, safety and comfort.

Areas of improvement To smooth the gear shift.

Note: I am not a sales executive of fiat, rather I was a very very confused buyer who took one year of analysis to buy a car after lots of internet surfing and giving test drive to almost all of the cars. It is a very good car at a reasonable price. It is not like swift which is a featureless car at a very high price, very ligt and you will fly up if you drive at more than 120 speed, neither the steering will allow you to drive at this speed. This is my personal experience and you give a test drive over bumpy road and in highway at above 120 kms per hour speed before buying it. Thank you for readind this review. I hope this will help other confused customers like me before buying a car.

Exterior Its stunning look. Hearst eye appeal. Alloy wheels so fentastic.

 (Features, Space & Comfort) No hatchback cars so far launged in india like punto in this segment. Punto is drivers car. Very comfortable, very sharp. Good grip on the road in high speed. Strewing wheel so graeat to handle. All the advanced fecility have in this car like luxury cars, its very fun to drive.

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Engine power and sound so nice. Fuel economy it gives 22 kmpl on high way. Gear shifting so smooth better than swift.

Ride Quality & Handling It's really woow. Very good handling its very sharp. It's gives more grip on the road in height speeds, I touch nearly 175 kmph. It's really amazing. The car keep pulling and stable. On the very bad roads in side the cabin u can feel very less bump only. Ground clearance So great. U can load this car full its still good. Not like the a swift. 

Final Words It's fentastic fun comfort. It's really best car , so for I drove among in this segment cars.

Areas of improvement Must improve in interior plastics quality.

Exterior Best looking premium hatch. Its never ageing timeless style/design is excellent and loved by all. 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort) Dashboard design & low seating position feels sporty.
Dashboard feels solid & other plastic quality is above average.
Front seats are spacious, cushioning is soft & comfortable. Space at the back not lavish, but is sufficient enough and better than swift. I like the cozy feel it gives at the back. Back seat design & cushioning are excellent. 60:40 split & full flat folding is a boon.

All latest feature are available. To name a few, auto climate control, blue & me, my car, follow me home lamps, exact door open indication, auto down for all four windows & auto up from driver etc. are all very useful & excellent VFM. 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox Bit harshness is felt on startup, but have not felt any shake-up on starting, like with Polo 3 pots.
Once on the move & windows rolled up, it delivers a smooth & peppy feel. Engine noise is very much in control. Doubts of diesel harshness I had, are put to rest.

Gear shifts quality is fine except downshift from 5 to 4 which I feel is not self directed & needs little effort.

Fuel economy is great, 17-18kmpl in city and 22-23 kmpl on highways with 100% with 100 a/c.

Ride Quality & Handling Solid build has always been one of the qualities of European manufactures & I can vouch that Punto sits on top amongst all cars available in India in its segment. Once inside, it insulates you from all the noise outside & gives a safe & secure feeling at any kinds of speeds.

Ride is superb on all kinds of roads. With raised GC, you drive worry free without bothering of road condition, fear of scratching on any kind of speed breakers, bumps, etc.
It handles all those potholes brilliantly and occupants are kept at ease.
195/60R15 alloys provide excellent ride & stability.

Final Words Overall it’s been a nice drive. The more I get to drive, the more I fall in love with it. I would reccomend Punto to all those who are looking for an exciting yet VFM car & who love to drive.

Areas of improvement The only thing which requires improvement has been taken cae of now with Fiat opening its own sales & service outlets.

Exterior

Just see it to feel it. Realy Grande in terms of looks

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 Loved to be in car more often compared to swift

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

 After 13k kms engine is now behaving butter smooth. overall great engine to drive. fuel economy is out standing even when drivven at 120 km/hr it gave 20 km/pl with ac on 1 mode. i have runned new engine in power mode so i think performance is great now.

Ride Quality & Handling

 Nothing can match ride quality and handling of punto. problem is you will never feel scared at higher speed as any speed wont make you feel that car is at triple digits due to its solid chasis. i think chasis demands some more power of abarth.😄

Final Words

 Must buy it as it is real value for money compared to all japanese, korean, french toys.

Areas of improvement  

 i wont comment on service part as i am getting preety decent service network Bhashkara Fiat at vadodara. i am preety much satisfied with them. only top speed is my concern as often i drove car at 150 km/hr but need some more speed say 200 km/hr considering solid built and chasis of punto.