Fiat 500

[Veesix75]

Comrades

My daughter is 17 soon, and wants a fiat 500. Can’t believe the asking prices of used ones, but if we get one it would be the earlier 69bhp 1.2 petrol version (the 0.9 twin air looks to be higher insurance).

Anyhow, do any of you have any experience of owning and driving one that you can share ?

Thanks

[alfadave]

Bullet proof 1.2 FIRE engine is a good choice.
Three of us hired one in Italy. Took us up and down the Dolomites passes easily.

They don't seem to have rust issues.

I look after one here.......only daft problem, is the wires from the body into the hatch tend to fray, and cause problems.
Pull the convoluted rubber hose back, and have a look.

Also door handles break.

All the fixes for these things are on the Fiat Forum

[alfadave]

Or, talk her into a Mazda 2.
Japanese reliability!

No cambelt or turbo to worry about, like some small cars.

Tamura has better safety than TS2.

1.3 engine is £30 pa road tax.

You'll have to check insurance costs.

[alfadave]

...........third generation from 2007 has the more attractive styling!

[junior]

My partner has a 1200 lounge one after years of a panda that was bulletproof.

So the 500 is not quite as reliable as that, but that was exceptional.

She loves driving it, occasionally on the motorway i find the seats a bit uncomfortable, but I very much enjoy driving it.

Frugal, light on tyres, handles well but occasional rattles in the pre 2010 models we noticed when buying, so went for the later one.

Hope that helps.

[KevJTD]

We don't see a huge amount of them at work Tim, which you could take as a good thing!
I like them, wouldn't be against one as a runaround myself. But hardly bangernomics enough for my tight pockets
A lot of parts are common with other stuff like KA so parts such as brakes etc are very reasonably priced, I guess 500 specific parts would be more expensive but running costs for consumables are no worse than anything else.
In fact I could be tempted to get one for our Sarah now she's passed her driving test to replace the old KA she learnt in, she was on about a Polo last year....need to nip the VW one in the bud..

[Veesix75]

Thanks all.

Tbh they’re out of our price range both money and for a first car that I’ll get scraped and dinged, but that’s what she wants so it will likely be a cheap, high mile old one.

Thought about a KA, newer aygo but couldn’t sway her.

Form over function for a teenager, in honesty I’d feel a bit bad if I forced her into a c1 so I guess I’m guilty also on this statement.

Thought about a cheap mito but the insurance is higher.

[junior]

I would go for a Panda then after my experience, if you can find a good one. My son took our old one to right across Europe, Serbia, Montanegro, and so on with lots of gear changes in the Alps ! Left it in a car park in Athens, flew to Greece came back weeks later and it just fired up and ran home never missing a beat. .
Sold to to my ex wife and its still bombing around Bristol full of tools for her job.

[Oleino]

My wife has had a Fiat 500 with the 1.2 petrol engine since new (2014) and at the moment there is 105 000 km or so on the counter. It was our no. 1 car before having kids.

Parts that have been replaced so far are:
- hinge for driver side door handle
- battery
- brake pads
- airbox bushings (well actually I just showed angle grinder for the sleeves)

Honestly I can't remember there would have been anything else. Excellent car for the value. Idle is jumpy for couple of seconds when engine is started on cold weather, and sometimes the engine might stall because of this. On second try it stays running every time. Not sure what is the reason for this, but it hasn't really bothered myself or the missus that much. MOT guy told me that rear shock absorbers should be changed at some point because the upper bushing is starting break. He has said about that twice already, and the car still passes the inspections though. No rocket science in the engine bay and maintenance is easy to do yourself. The sound insulation is pretty much as non-existing as you could expect for a small car, so it's not the best car for highways. Color Therapy trim level (probably others as well) can be equipped with OEM aux-in device which is connected to cd-changer plug on the standard radio. I can check the part number for this if anyone is interested.

The car is nice to drive and easy to park. It looks good both inside and outside, and makes you feel happy. My wife wouldn't change it to anything, except maybe for another 500. All in all it is a very nice small car. Would recommend.

[Veesix75]

Thanks all, appreciate the feedback. Looks like I’ll be trying to find one. Sod’s law she wants the least available colour, black, whereas about 50% of them are white. Lockdown will hold us up anyhow but gives me something to search for while Mrs veesix watches cr@p on telly

[alfadave]

If you can talk her into a Panda , they are half the price.

So, its the cute styling of the 500

against the Panda.

Designed by a bloke with a Labrador and a white stick, to match 20 storey tower blocks!

Your powers of persuasion may be under extreme duress.

[Veesix75]

I like the original panda, the new one is like a bit sit up and beg. But the newer panda is still better than the breadvan style polo’s and Honda jazz etc.

I’ve lost the fight Dave, and so long as she doesn’t crash it then it will retain a decent resell value when that time comes.

[alfadave]

Black 1.2 in Tipton, on Autotrader for £1995.

Got the miles, but got the history.

Must be good mechanics, they can't spell!

[KevJTD]

Had a Panda 4x4 in today, had actually been serviced on the 1st only a handful of miles ago at a Main Dealer whose name I've spared to prevent any nasties. But really....

Came into us with the complaint, still that the brakes were making grinding noises.
Needed front & rear discs & pads, plus 3 tyres and tracking.!

Being the 4x4 the rear discs threw up an odd one, the pad carrier bracket fixing bolts were hidden by the extra material that the rear axle has. So to take the disc off you needed the pad carrier off, which you couldn't do as the bolts were hidden!
So the method is to undo the driveshaft nut then drop the whole rear hub off by removing 4 fixings bolts, first gaining some slack in the ABS sensor wire so as not to damage it.

The bolts sit in these recesses that for some strange reason are blocked off at the back side so you can't get at them!

In reality it was no big deal, but just shows that car designers still haven't learned to think ahead..

[Kegsti66]

Shocking service from a dealer.
My work mate's daughter has a Vauxhall Adam and the main dealer worked to the same standard. They offered to do the MOT with the service but he said just service the car. Two days later he took it for an indi MOT and they said the same as your Panda. Front discs were worn and ridged and pads down to about 4mm. She pays for one of those service packages so it went back to the dealer. When they replaced them they said it was fixed, but when they went to pick the car up, the half wit who did the job had crushed both sill trims as he didn't adjust the feet on the lifting arms. Special order from Germany.
Took months to sort it all out,