Fiat Punto [2011-2014] User Reviews

I took delivery of 1.2 Active last week (minimal grey colour). A great car for city driving. The torque available at low rpms ensures that you don't have to keep shifting to lower gears in city traffic. The car pulls effortlessly in the 4th gear at 25kmph speeds, though I haven't tried engaging the 5th gear at that speed. The weight of the car is very much evident the moment you open the doors. The car doesn't feel like moving at all and only if you glance at the speedo you will know at what speed the car is going. This actually gives an impression that the car is a bit sluggish, but actually it isn't. This beauty is definitely not for those who think cars are meant to whiz past other road users. Marutis, Hyundais, Tatas and other such lesser mortals may scream past you, only to wait for you at the next signal. The drive quality is brilliant. The suspension ensures that the bumps are taken care quite easily. Even negotiating sharp curves is a cakewalk for her. Very minimal body roll. All in all, a truly brilliant car for city driving. On the highways, the lack of power becomes very evident. Nevertheless, the poise and the comfortable ride will compensate for the slightly longer duration which you will be required to be on the road. A great car at a great price.Great looks, good ride qualityUnderpowered, suspect interior plastics

This dusshehra god blessed me with my bold new drive.. its totally smooth car, great suspension,gud fuel economy, very specious, every time i stop my car on redlight ppl around my car looks at my drive with stunning eyes, most of them enquire about the car.. this is what i call STYLE...the things fiat providing in punto i must say..if they would asked for 1more lack..ie 5.50lak or 6 lak i would have given that also...the interiors are matter of concern but if u ask me for recommending a car in budget of even 6 lack i would rather suggest u punto..buy it and save ur 1.5lak...this car will fulfill all ur desires......best deal u can ever get.....Good style, perfect control, gud safety features, great console, great legroominteriors are supposed to be gud, no manual central locking

2. This is in continuation of my first review "First day owning feedback". Got the meter and seat problem resolved. Received a very quick and satisfactory service from Sanya. Nice service center they have in Okhla, Delhi. The car is running pretty fine. Got praises even from some anti-Fiat people :)...so far so good As they call on some sites; Ice - Pioneer 4150SD, Pioneer A942 speakers, Pioneer front speakers & Sony XPload 2Ch amp. Getting excellent sound. Changed the stock tyres to 14" 175/70 Apollo Excelor. Could realy feel the difference in maneuvering. Got X2 black chrome alloys installed. Some heads did turn :) Have got used to 1st gear lag now. Just trying to get used to this long clutch. The Trip Meter feature is excellent. Just had to go through the manual to understand in detail. It is fantastic and interesting to keep a track of your driving through this. Now for the bad part; had heard that this engine gives 17-18 km/l average even in city driving and AC on. However, in the first tank, I could get only 12.5 km/l with NO AC. Although I drive in dense traffic most of the times, this is too low, atleast without AC. Just keeping my fingures crossed, let's see what happens after 1st service. Need atleast 15 km/l in city, to give a complete thumbs-up to Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 MJD. Last thing; please don't get too much influenced by somebody's peculiar and rare experience. Fiat has really done well this time. As it is said, "Listen to all, but make your OWN decision"

 

Hi! read lot of reviews before taking this decision. After lot of wait and initial hick-ups, I got my Grande Punto 1.3 MJD (Dynamic) yesterday.

I read in some review; actually it was a comparison of Ritz & Punto, that you would buy Punto from heart and Ritz from mind. So I decided to hear my heart's call :)

Cars involved in shortlisting:

1) Ritz: not as good as Swift and pathetic shape and interiors quality2) Swift: have still not been able to digest the shape3) Getz CRDi: over-powered for the size. Discontinued4) Ford Ikon Duratorque: Very very old horse

Went for Punto, as it has got style, its NEW, has a solid body, very nice Black interiors, Multijet engine and above all, IT IS UNCOMMON. I hate to be just One in the crowd...

As expected from Fiat; delively got delayed first in days, then in hours, then in minutes. Finally got it at 10 pm in the night. As I took the car, speedometer refused to move. Got to know today that the wire was deliberately removed, as registration is pending. Anyways, noticed today that back seat is not fixed. Checked and found that the screw is broken and the socket is haywire due to that. Will get it fixed soon. Well, Fiat ke saath you have to bear this much :)

You must have heard lot of praise from owners and a million complaints for the service. All is part of life, just a word of caution for prospective buyers:

1) Check the car THOROUGHLY before leaving the dealer2) It is not for you if you are used to the 1st gear thrust of Swift. The thrust is progressive and you would feel it once you reach the 3rd gear speed3) The engine is noisy at 1st & 2nd gear and gets smooth from 3rd. Once it clocks 2000 kms, the engine would be as refined as Swift's. Have seen this in a fren's Punto.4) This car wont be too enjoyable in city traffic, however, if you commute through comparatively open roads, you would enjoy. I am sure it will be marvellous on highway5) I am a bit specticle about its performance in hills. I guess you will need to use 1st gear quite often there. Power to wait ratio might be a problem there.

Anyways, don't wanna confuse anyone. However, I still believe that anyone who buys this car, thinks more from heart. Will tell more after some days.

 

sylish, solid built, comfy ride, trip meter featurefuel economy, long clutch, turning radius, back gear light

I have become proud owner of Tuscun wine punto 1.2 active just 1 month back. After extensive online, offline research & showroom visit of almost all car manufacturers. We (me & my wife) shortlisted Maruti Ritz, Swift, Figo, Uva, Etios-Liva & i20 (we never considered punto) amongt other as these were within our budget (5 to 5.25L). VW-POLO & SKODA FABIA were rejected due to after sale service cost.

After discussions, debates & feedbacks received from friends, family & coulleages we finalised SWIFT Lxi.

We went to RANA Motors, New Delhi to finalise the deal & was about to give the booking amount, then suddenly I decided to visit TATA Motors before finalising the deal. (no particular reason for that decision, may be we hv'nt visited the TATA Showroon in the process thats why).

Autolinks, hauz khas, New delhi was nearer & once reached there, we stunned by the looks of italian masterpeice @punto@.

We moved towards that white 1.4 emotion punto (I can still remember) as punto is pulling us towards it. When my wife open the drivers door, it was so heavy (many sedans are not havin such heavy door) that it gave feeling of opening a premium sedan car. interior were also much much better than other hatchbacks we tested. There was also no problems regarding leg space for front as well as rear pessengers. Boot space was ample,dash board was classy, engine had a extra support from below (which I didnt see in any car)

Morever, All version of Punto comes with power windows, tilted steering, digital tachometer, digital clock, different digitalmeter which will tell u your real time mileage, Kms to tank empty, maximum speed limit alarm, seat belt alarm, door open alarm & indicator, low petrol & low battery indicator, service reminder etc.

So stunned by looks (interior & exterior) & features we went back to home & started analysing & comparing with Swift. & friends frankly speaking, in no specs or features (after sale service not considered) swift scored above punto apart from the fact that it is most selling car in its catogary (not even in mileage) & trust me if you physically inspect both the vehicle, you will come to know that how inferior is swift as compare to Punto whether it is Built quality (swift is <1000kg & Punto is >1100kgs, punto is much heavier ensures better control & road grip during high speed & safety during accidents), or Mileage (my punto is giving 12.5kmpl to 13kmpl in city conditions & whereas u cant get more than 12kmpl in swift), or interior (punto has stylish classy interior, whereas plastic used in swift interior smells like hell), or features ( no power window in Lxi, no wheel cover, no tachometer while punto base model has everything).

Here I also want to mention a point that no one is suggesting us to buy a punto coz 1st its a FIAT MAKE & 2nd servicing is of TATA. Eventually, against everyone's wish, we made the booking & took our LOVE new PUNTO ACTIVE 1.2 on 20th feb'2012 to our home

But here come Autolinks (the villain), first they tried to give us 1 yr old car for which we refused. Then they gave us a different car but with only 1 key, sunshed broken, without toolkit, without basic accesaries by saying that these are not available now & will be handed over to you as soon as we receive them. But till now I have only received the keys & nothing else, they are just promising everything & doing nothing. Any FIAT top executive viewing this pls make a note that why one of the best selling car in europe is struggling to get a respectable sales mark when compare to other same catogary hatchback in india eventhough it has everything (spec & feature) to compete them.

I think i went little bit off the topic, now lets start talking about punto...,,,what a riding experience...,,,,suspension is best in class....,,,driving on bumpy road is no more a problem (i have a santro as well which is not very smooth on bad road at speed of 40-50kmph) but in punto u dont observe the jerk even at 60kmph.

 

Gearbox is smooth, accelaration is bit bit slow in 1st & 2nd gear but once you are in 3rd & 4th gear, punto accerates much better, car can easily goes on at 3rd gear @ speed of 10-20 kmph (with ac off) which is comendble. so it gives you a gear shifting free ride in city driving.

Engine generate best accelaration when in 5th gear. you can jump fom 70 kmph to 120 kmph in no time.

maximum speed reached in my punto is 130 kmph with AC on & car is very stable at this speed. I think 155-160 is quite reacheble in this car.

 

The only big issue is "after sale service" in my opinon. Also the vehicle ground clearance in low & front below side got hit if you drive at high speed on bad road & try to cross speed breaker at high speed.

A very good car to buy...

Stunning looks, ride quality, atteractive interior, VFMHorrible TATA dealership, low ground clearance

Exterior

 Excellent

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort)

 Little bit poor

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox

 World class engine. Diesel price is less compared to petrol therefore I dont bother about the price issue. Gear box is good,smooth in operation.

Ride Quality & Handling

 Before I taken a decision, I had taken TD for Volsvogan Polo, Tata Manza, I 20, Chevrolet Aveo,

  Honda Jazz,swift desire, ford fida, fabia and I feels the ride and handling of fiat punto is amazing.

Final Words

 1) When maruti swift desire, Ritzs, swift , Manza is using the same engine of Fiat Punto, Punto cannot be bad car,isnt? I can say is always better to buy Fiat car having fiat engine, not a maruti car having fiat engine., are you agree guys?

2) Tire size of punto is 195 mm which is bigger than any car in this segment, it mean that there is bigger grip on road and therefore very safe in driving on road when compared to other one.

3) Ride and handling is super as compared to other car.

4)  Kerb weight of Punto is bigger than swift desire. Whereas desire is sedan car and punto is hatbach car. The car having more body weight is less sensitive to road vibration and bigger life of body , I feels Punto has strong body than other car.

5) Looks: Punto is having superior look than any other car.

6) Fuel economy: I dont bother about fuel economy as I purchased diesel model and price of diesel is much less than petrol.

7) Interior : Its not too good but its ok for me because it dosnt matters for me.

8) CD player: Its not good , but it dosnt matters for me.

9) Cost of spare parts & servive: Cost of spare parts are same as of that swift desire and

fiat is having technical collabration with Tata , therefore I feels that servicing will be improved in future.

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1) I think we Indian are typical mentality. Typical mentality is what is mean for me :

  i) We Indian always follow the route which is alreday followed by some Indian and we follow this route blindly. Before I follow I thought that If I suffers on this route everybody will be suffered and  I dont feels too bad.

But If I follows a different route alone  and that route will ends to bad situation then everybody laugh at me and I dont want this situation.

Here what we miss is that: We dont judge the things according to ours requiremnet and blindly follows the route thats too bad.

So guys before you take decision of buying a car, take a TD, compare the price, list out what you realy want then take a decision but please dont follow blindly with Indian mentality, pls.

 

 

 

 

Areas of improvement  

 

 

Ride and handling,looks,road grip.Interior and acceleration.

I purchased a Grande Punto 1.2 Active on 25.09.09 and have driven it for about 11500 kms and till date I have not even bothered to check the air pressure in its tyres. I am really very satisfied with its performance. The stares it gets from the passers-by is the added bonus. It has been an immence joy driving it. If only it had some more power! But its enough as I am not a racing freak.

Though I am very satisfied with my car, I have noticed a small hitch in my car and I want to make sure that it is an aberration and not manufacturing defect in the otherwise very good car. The problem is that when you drive at low speeds and you do not want to apply clutch fully ( as we often need to do in Mumbai traffic. ), the breakes do not work at all. Since it happens at low speeds only it does not matter much, still I just wanted to confirm whether there is any one else who has experienced this problem in Punto? This very problem was responsible for re-call of thousands of Toyota Prius in US. I hope this problem is not that serious in our case.

Killer looks, great body strength, very good interiors, good fuel economy.Initial zip in pick up is missed at the time of overtaking and climbing steep slopes.

Exterior  is  Very aero dynamic adding to better handling and road grip. Infact it doesnot require rear spoilers for the downforce, still remains the sexiest hatchback

 

Interior (Features, Space & Comfort): Good leg room for the front seat, rear the space is not as much, but the thigh support is very good, for better leg room go in for Linea. Steering is very comfortable with a very thoughtful grip/ trim. What requires to be improved are the quality of plastics. AC  is good, but my Premier 118 NE was better. Punto requires a climate control. Requires a lumbar support adjustment for the seats.

 

Engine Performance, Fuel Economy and Gearbox: The very fact that the engine has been borrowed by leading auto makers and still doing well, sufices. Fiat has calliberated the 1248cc Mulit Jet engine to give an output of 76 PS, is the highest in its class. I have experienced crispy gear shifting only in Fiat, Hundai and Honda vehs. It gives a feel that the gears know where and when to shift. It gave me an average of  24Km/l over 3300 Kms including city driving. No over speeding nor slowing (I had to  cover 900 Kms average daily).

Ride Quality & Handling: Road Grip is very good,  infact the down force is adequate, gives a feel that a spoiler is not required. The steering response is very good. The suspension is sensitive to read the road.

Final Words: The Build quality is beyond comparison in its segment A very responsive engine even on hills  when fully loaded  overtaking was smooth as well as fast.

Areas of improvement   Less plastics, NOTHING. Have more of authorised service stations.

Great build quality. At all speeds it bites the road. great handling, best mileage in its classThe plastic need to improve

I drove this car in UK and hope in India, it is same car, though it is little smaller.   Overall it is a very good and competent car with 1.4 L engine but it is no sports car.  But before you drive, one thing I will say that most people will like it from outside as well as inside and layout is charming and practical except few spots, you ignore for competitive  price.  I feel 1.2 L will be sluggish but some family will like becoz it is a comfortable family car for 5 with enough space.  You will find comfortable driving postion with height adjustment and tilt steering.  Ride is little on firm side but OK and suspension is good.  I would have liked little less road noise but handles reasonably well with some under steer at sharp turns. 

I  have no direct experience with FE.  But reading on Zigwheel, I could not believe that diesel engine gives 11 Km/L in City, whereas same engine in Ritz gives 20 Km/L in city.

I am very happy that there is another proper and spacius 5 seater H/B in market to heat up competetion.  And it will benefit consumer very soon.  I wish they tweek the engine little bit, so more people can take advantage of 1.2 L engine and 4 lakh price tag.  Punto diesel will provide excellent competetion, and now diesel lovers can buy a H/B with air bags and other safety features which is not available so far.  In past, I have heard of some reliabilty issues, I hope Fiat has resolved and improved overall quality.  BTW, stereo is good and even at 120 Km car feels solid.

Overall Fiat GP is a great car, try it before buying other cars.  It is real value fot money.  But service may be an issue in small towns.
Overall very good, comfortable, well equipped (Emotion)FE, engine

Hi,

"Sales" I have made a huge mistake of buying a FIAT Car. I purchased this FIAT Punto Active on 12th July 2014 from SKY MOTO PCMC Pune. I was told that i will get the spare Key within 1 or 2 weeks as the key comes from the Fiat Plant. I followed up with the executive Mr Shoaib. who said he is following up and will get back.its now 9 months and I dont have a spare key with me. I tried calling Mr Shoaib on the 3rd April He did not respond to my call. "Customer Service" When you call  the FIAT customer care the idiots sitting and warming their chairs trust me they do not care a dam about what is happening to the client one of the Idiots is RAVISH. I asked him to transfer the call to the floor supervisor he said he will not transfer the call. I was promised that i will get a call back from AKSHAY when I had called on 2nd April 2015 but as expected he did not call back. I then called him in the Morning around 11:30 am he said he will call back in 90 mins but as expected he did not callback. I am still under the same impression that nothing can happen I will never get my complain resolved. My Details Sunny Thanwal MH14 XXXXXX Fiat Punto Active Diesel date of Purchase 12-07-2014. Ph 9049XXXXXX regards Sunny Thanwal  Another Idiot who has got A FIAT.

Good for othingGood for othing