Fiat 500's... any good ?
Discussion
Thought I might ask this question here, looking to help our daughter get her first car.
The little 500's seem popular with the younger crowd. If we had say £7K to spend, what would be a good choice, is there a preferred engine option and anything to avoid ? What trim level is desirable ?
I might end up doing the servicing myself so are they easy to work on ?
Cheers
The little 500's seem popular with the younger crowd. If we had say £7K to spend, what would be a good choice, is there a preferred engine option and anything to avoid ? What trim level is desirable ?
I might end up doing the servicing myself so are they easy to work on ?
Cheers
Don't get the automated manual if an auto is required if the car has to negotiate really steep hills or steep maneuvers.
The car can come to a standstill with the engine lacking sufficient torque to move the car, i believe there might be a video or two on the tube about this, we had a hell of job loading them onto the top deck of transporters, only possible using some unapproved methods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFpa26h5Hp8
and that's with a manual
The car can come to a standstill with the engine lacking sufficient torque to move the car, i believe there might be a video or two on the tube about this, we had a hell of job loading them onto the top deck of transporters, only possible using some unapproved methods.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFpa26h5Hp8
and that's with a manual
Edited by Smint on Wednesday 20th April 19:51
pcn1 said:
Thought I might ask this question here, looking to help our daughter get her first car.
The little 500's seem popular with the younger crowd. If we had say £7K to spend, what would be a good choice, is there a preferred engine option and anything to avoid ? What trim level is desirable ?
I might end up doing the servicing myself so are they easy to work on ?
Cheers
We've a 500 Lounge 1.2 pool car. 2017 with 14k miles. Probably worth £7k. No it isn't for sale!The little 500's seem popular with the younger crowd. If we had say £7K to spend, what would be a good choice, is there a preferred engine option and anything to avoid ? What trim level is desirable ?
I might end up doing the servicing myself so are they easy to work on ?
Cheers
It's a cheap little car, but at the business of being a fun little runabout there's nothing better.
No, I would not want to own one into its old age, particularly if I were home spannering. But I think your daughter would thank you. They are cool.
We've had a few in the family, bought one for my daughters first car, but her only requirement was that it connected to her phone.
They have a bit of an appetitie for front shocks and clutch master/slave cylinders.
She sold it because of Uni and covid screwing up her driving lessons, I'd probably steer her towards something else such as Fiesta, Polo or MINI if/when she passes her test after Uni.
They have a bit of an appetitie for front shocks and clutch master/slave cylinders.
She sold it because of Uni and covid screwing up her driving lessons, I'd probably steer her towards something else such as Fiesta, Polo or MINI if/when she passes her test after Uni.
I'd be going some something like a VW Up. Niece has one and it's a cracking little car.
Lots around at the £6k to £7k price point.
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202204074...
Watching with interest. My daughter will be starting the car thing soon. She's already looking at what car she wants (similar budget to the OP).
Trouble is, it's all about image, I showed her some VW Up's, no, doesn't look cool enough. She likes the 500, and Mini's.
It's going to be a tough sell!!
Trouble is, it's all about image, I showed her some VW Up's, no, doesn't look cool enough. She likes the 500, and Mini's.
It's going to be a tough sell!!
I think they are very hit and miss - the traditional 'Friday afternoon car' has mostly died out with modern cars, but if there's one place it's still prevalent it's with Italian cars!
Anecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 2014 1.2 Sport. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
Anecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 2014 1.2 Sport. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
Edited by resolve10 on Thursday 21st April 09:50
resolve10 said:
I think they are very hit and miss - the traditional 'Friday afternoon car' has mostly died out with modern cars, but if there's one place it's still prevalent it's with Italian cars!
Anecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 20141.2 Sport, think it was a 2014 car. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
On the subject of warranty, Fiat replaced the door frames on ours outside of warranty at no cost to us. Couldn’t have been nicer about it either.Anecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 20141.2 Sport, think it was a 2014 car. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
If you want a decent one then I traded this in last week. I’d been driving it round since Christmas, including a few long motorway trips, and there’s nothing wrong with it bar the usual few bodywork blemishes a 10 year old car has.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363800192405?mkcid=16&a...
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/363800192405?mkcid=16&a...
resolve10 said:
I think they are very hit and miss - the traditional 'Friday afternoon car' has mostly died out with modern cars, but if there's one place it's still prevalent it's with Italian cars!
Anecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 2014 1.2 Sport. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
We have one of those at the moment, its possibly an ECU issueAnecdotally, I have a few examples but two in particular stand out at opposite ends of the spectrum:
My wife had a 2017 1.2 Lounge from new, The car was serviced on time with Fiat and for the first 2 years was pretty much faultless, but then the car developed a strange engine issue where it would occasionally misfire or go into limp mode. This was at around 20,000 miles.
Fiat took a look at it under warranty - the details are sketchy now as the wife dealt with the dealer but if I remember rightly they struggled to replicate the issue, and then after pressuring them they replaced something (can't remember what) but it continued to happen. In terms of frequency it was intermittent but usually a couple of times a week, and in my opinion was dangerous (it would sometimes go into limp mode on a dual carriageway!). The dealer then became less and less interested as the car was very close to the end of the warranty period, and having lost all trust in the car she decided to cut ties with it.
On the plus side we paid less than £10k for it and traded it in for £6.5k, so in terms of cheap motoring they are great if you get a good one. Which brings me onto my next example - a colleague of mine had a 2014 1.2 Sport. He did the bare minimum maintenance to keep it on the road and it never let him down in 5 years....
Edited by resolve10 on Thursday 21st April 09:50
isn't £7k an awful lot of money to spend on a first car?
This is the car that she will collect dings and dents (and possibly worse) and suffer at the hands of her inexperienced driving and possibly her friends. Better to spend about £1k and promise her that if all goes well for a year, THEN she gets a nicer car, worth £7k.
My experience of the cheap end of the market is to watch out especially for Head Gasket issues and structural rot, and try to buy from a private seller whom you believe is honest. Have some questions 'up your sleeve' when you view, as 'Lie Detectors'
This is the car that she will collect dings and dents (and possibly worse) and suffer at the hands of her inexperienced driving and possibly her friends. Better to spend about £1k and promise her that if all goes well for a year, THEN she gets a nicer car, worth £7k.
My experience of the cheap end of the market is to watch out especially for Head Gasket issues and structural rot, and try to buy from a private seller whom you believe is honest. Have some questions 'up your sleeve' when you view, as 'Lie Detectors'
We got one on hire in Italy. It was brand new so no mechanical issues. Plenty space, alright to drive, comfortable enough on the autostrada.
At this price point though, these Fiats seem to hold value due to being trendy with young lassies.
If it was me I would look to a Yaris you'll get a cracking car for £7k and it will be reliable.
At this price point though, these Fiats seem to hold value due to being trendy with young lassies.
If it was me I would look to a Yaris you'll get a cracking car for £7k and it will be reliable.
We've owned a 2011 1.2 since it was 2 years old, currently our youngest daughter is running about in it.
As well as the usual wear/tear stuff like rear brakes/handbrake issues, there have been a few specific and unexpected failures. These include;
Door handles break every few years (not too expensive or difficult to fix, just a pain in the arse when it needs done)
The wiring in the rear tailgate flexy fatigues and breaks internally causing lights/wiper, etc to not work
The plastic pipes out the back of the water pump eventually fail causing coolant loss and potentially a warped head
It's just had it's front lower suspension arms replaced (again!) - they were only done about three years ago
Plus points are that overall it's cheap to run and she loves it; the internal trim seems pretty robust too.
Not sure that I'd buy another, the base Panda that we had for a while seemed more honest and robust (deeply uncool to her though!)
As well as the usual wear/tear stuff like rear brakes/handbrake issues, there have been a few specific and unexpected failures. These include;
Door handles break every few years (not too expensive or difficult to fix, just a pain in the arse when it needs done)
The wiring in the rear tailgate flexy fatigues and breaks internally causing lights/wiper, etc to not work
The plastic pipes out the back of the water pump eventually fail causing coolant loss and potentially a warped head
It's just had it's front lower suspension arms replaced (again!) - they were only done about three years ago
Plus points are that overall it's cheap to run and she loves it; the internal trim seems pretty robust too.
Not sure that I'd buy another, the base Panda that we had for a while seemed more honest and robust (deeply uncool to her though!)
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