I used to own a Fiat Punto - bought it from new as a second car (had my black Clio as my first car). I had it two months, and one Saturday morning, woke up, and decided to trade it in for a second-hand 1.2 Dynamique. Why? Well, the steering wheel, over the two months, decided to gradually go off centre; it flattened its battery twice; the rear wiper used to just switch itself on (try driving ten miles with it scraping back and forth on a sunny day - in the end, I took the fuse out) - the dealers tried three times to mend it (twice, I turned up, and they hadnt ordered the part); the nearest they got was when I managed to drive three miles before it switched itself back on; it didnt start four times, had to get the AA out; the airbag light used to come on and off intermittently; oh, and it was designed for gibbons - Im short, and I have to have the seat pushed forward to reach the pedals in my cars ... but push the seat forward, and the steering wheels in your face ... those Italians must have long arms and short legs!
So, one morning, I woke up, checked Autotrader, found a 1.2 at a dealer, and traded my Punto in. It cost me £6,500 brand new, and over the two months, I lost £1,500 on it. Traded it against a 2 year old Clio which was up for £5,000.
Oh, and the dealer rang up a month later to tell me the part for the wiper was in - I told them that Id had enough of the heap of junk, and had got shut of it!
Guess what Im trying to say is that you can buy a complete dog, no matter what the make of car is. If you want a car that doesnt rattle, drives fantastic and is very, very smooth and luxurious, you have to pay top dollar for it!
And the Fiat dealership was absolute sh*te! Just like the Renault dealership!