Fiat Makes a Stylish Return

Fiat Makes a Stylish Return

Daily Telegraph - Car of the week with With Graham Smith


FIAT re-entered the Australian market in 2006 with the launch of the Punto, a popular small car in Europe that was chosen to lead the new push. Many of the customers that were most likely to line up to buy a small car like the Punto were probably not even born when the Italian brand was last here.

Despite that, Fiat was a well-known brand,which meant it had a head start with local buyers who wanted something that wasn't run-of-the-Asian-mill. In a sea of small cars that merely delivered transportation, the Punto promised a fun driving experience. It looked funky and was well equipped, including state-of the art safety features.

Fiat had six variants, in three and five-door body styles, and with three levels of equipment, Dynamic, Emotion and Sport. There was a choice of no less than four engines: one petrol and three diesels; not surprising for a company renowned for its diesel engines. The 1.4-litre petrol engine came standard with a five-speed manual gearbox, while all diesels had a six-speed unit.

As well as the manual, Fiat offered a sequential manual shift gearbox dubbed DuaLogic on the 1.4 petrol and the smallest 1.3 diesel variants, which could be driven like an auto or the driver could select gears manually.

All came standard with air, cruise, remote central locking, power mirrors and front windows, CD sound with steering-wheel mounted controls, power steering and Follow Me Home headlamps. There were only two options available; a power sunroof and metallic paint. Punto owners generally appear content with their cars; Carsguide has had virtually no complaints about the small Fiat. Having arrived in 2006 they should still be under warranty and should have been serviced by the selling dealer, so any problems that have arisen should have been sorted out under the warranty. Look for a service record to confirm regular oil changes, and make the usual checks for evidence of a crash.

The Punto offered a high level of crash protection with ABS antilock braking standard across the range to add to the dynamic safety of an already agile chassis. Beyond that it had an array of passive safety features, including front driver and passenger airbags, and side and curtain airbags.

The Australasian New Car Assessment Program rated it at five stars.

Contact Sydney City Fiat to purchase your Fiat Punto today!


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