Hello dear people of Fiat Motor Club,
my name is Walter, I am 33, and moved from Italy to live in MIlton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, at the end of March 2012.
After some months I rewarded myself with a brilliant little car: a Fiat Punto Convertible, produced in 1998 in the (sadly gone) Bertone factories in Torino.
I was looking here and there for a car with the following features: small engine to avoid the anger of the 1st year car insurance, roomy interior for 4 people, decent boot room, economical run and parts.
Believe or not, the ONLY car in the market achieving this goals was right that old banger. Competitors, whose names are Mitsubishi Colt CZC and Nissan Micra C+C, despite the bonus of the hard top have RIDICULOUS leg room for the rear passengers and boot space. I avoided on purpose the Peugeots 206 and 207 due to excessive engine displacement and lack of budget.
Now I am facing a problem that a lot of Punto Convertible owner, unluckily, know good: when it rains heavily, the rain goes into the car.
I am managing to sort out the rear window, whose glue dried and got rotten after 14 years of hot, cold, rain and sun (and maybe ice and snow) with a little of silicone sealing paste, but my real nightmare is that I had rain inside a couple of time, and going into the winter the driver's seat who got soaked will NEVER dry, before new year's spring!!!
Needless to say, another problem to face is that when is sunny, all the damp from the carpets and seats rises and the windows get foggy from the inside. First car I have ever had that needed the glasses to be wiped from the inside!!
Does somebody know a car body workshop or a garage in my area in which have my car fixed? Going to Fiat requires a whole lot (and a half) of money, I have been asked 114 GBP just for the FIRST hour of diagnosis, plus parts and extra time.
How can I get out of this situation? Luckily I have been given a new soft top by the previous owner, that couldn't have it fitted on the car as the decision of selling it came all in a sudden, I am not able to do that (probably the problem of raining inside will become even worse).
Soft tops can be an issue. I've no experience of the Punto Cabrio soft top so do not know what, if any, known problems/leaks are associated with them.
You say the drivers seat is wet which indicated a soft top or hood to windows rubber seals.
If the carpets are wet on top then this would also point to a leaky hood.
If you also have water under the carpets then you could have a leak elsewhere as well.
Leaks elsewhere are usually (in most cars) due windscreen rubber/bonding, a block bulkhead drain hose, or a missing blanking plug on the bulkhead.
Have you sat in the car when it is raining or being hosed with water? Can you see any water getting in and if so where? Finding water ingress is never easy so it often far cheaper to try and find the problem yourself.
Failing that then any decent small independent garage, as recommend by someone who has used them would be your next best bet.
I don't live in your area so can't recommend a garage for you.
However if I were you I would try to find the leak yourself (may take some time).
Also check/search the rest of this Fiat MC Forum (Technical sections etc.).
ALSO have a look here: http://www.fiatforum.com/punto/
This is a fairly active Punto forum so you may find more info on the Punto Cabrio etc.
Hello Walter, my cabrio also had the wet driver's seat, and also the passenger's! A bit obvious really, but the rubber seal between the hood and the top of the screen is most likely not sealing correctly. The seal becomes damaged where the roof connects to the catches. These seals are still available from Fiat in Italy (Ricambio can obtain), but the price is eye-watering (£430 from memory!). I was really lucky in obtaining a perfect replacement from a breaker for £5. Keep an eye on ebay for dismantlers and you may be lucky! regards Richard
Hi Walter (I just bought his gen Fiat radio on eBay, for my Cabrio - 'great eBayer', as they say).
I too got a near-new hood when I bought my Cab, and to my great pleasure, found a local garage well experienced with hoods - usually they won't touch them. So they fitted it, under £300 incl VAT, incl taking the whole hood into town to a bowden cable specialist to get a tensioning cable end re-made. Yes it does leak a bit after sitting out in the snow, above passenger door where the old tatty one didn't, but I'm confident they will fix it and adjust the closing alignment too, at no cost. Great to have a rear window I can see through!
I would strongly recommend Tor Garage, Haytor, Dartmoor, Devon - couple of young brothers in spacious well equipped garage, motor sport experience, lots of interesting machinery lying around, real engineers.
