Fiat 500?....

dannymccann

What car do you drive now? If its some 1.4l petrol hatchback thats 10 years old but doesnt cost anything except tyres and a service every year I would be inclined to say the newer car will cost you more to run, in the whole picture

verityboo

I would say there are many plus points for the Fiat 500. It is based on the Panda which has done consistantly quite well in satisfaction surveys.
It has a 5 star safety rating and 7 airbags, more than 2 or 4 are a costly extra on most small cars.
Very cheap to run, low emissions and hence low tax. It features start stop technology as standard.
Low depreciation.
I know Fiat arn't perfect but from a money point of view the 500 makes a lot of sense.

Hintza

Sunshine12 wrote: »

Current car far too expensive.....

Can't have it all ways.

What is your current car? (Age etc)

Zazen999

Sunshine12 wrote: »

Which one have you got. Im looking at the lounge (I think thats what its called) I want a pink one but OH wont let me so thinking Im going to get the cream one. Not fussed about the bluetooth and ipod connection bits but quite like the ones with a sunroof. They are soooo dinky looking!!

We got the basic POP white with red interior; no additional add-ons as when we rang there was one that had been ordered and someone had cancelled and the lead in time was 3 weeks; as opposed to 3 months if we had it made to a different spec. As ours had died the week earlier, and we needed one, we took that one. I would have had the ipod if I would have, however 3 weeks vs 3 months was the decider.

I have driven all sorts of cars over the years, from Toyota Hilux, Nissan Navara; down to Micras, going through Mercs and Jags; hybrids/diesel/petrol...all sorts of company cars for the day/week/year/ etc and many many Capris [which were my own] But the 500 is one of the easiest to drive and park and is just a lovely lovely car.

The naysayers will always put you off....go and test drive one and see how you get on.

I've driven it on long long days [midlands down to south wales/kent and home] and still been comfy when getting home, I used it for my gardening work and filled the back with the seat down and fitted loads of stuff in the back; the only downside so far has been the lack of air con...so during the really hot period my OH was complaining a bit [I also have a Mazda for normal day to day work with air con], but it's like the ipod - we'd have liked it but the lead in time was the decider...

Inactive

verityboo wrote: »

I would say there are many plus points for the Fiat 500. It is based on the Panda which has done consistantly quite well in satisfaction surveys.

I know Fiat arn't perfect but from a money point of view the 500 makes a lot of sense.

So buy the Panda, it is a far better car than the 500, at about half the cost, it has 5 doors, far more room inside and doesn't look like an upturned jelly mould.

Financially, the 500 does not make a lot of sense to me.

Glitzkiss

sassy-one wrote: »

Wouldn't recommend a Fiat

They are costly to source parts for and the engines in them are not that great.

Go for a Ford, VW or Nissan

Oh dear, someone's living in the past. Have a look at the reviews on Honest John. Some of the engines are described as great or even excellent

Fiat reviews


Not sure how expensive it is to source the parts though as my Grande Punto hasn't needed anything yet (touch wood). However when I was looking for a new car it was my local non-dealership garage who recommended I include Fiat in my search as they were very impressed with the ones they were getting in for servicing.

cyclonebri1

Zazen999 wrote: »

Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah - We've got one and it rocks.

Got it on the scrappage scheme and we are chuffed to bits......

I really do hope thats a sarcastic yeahyeahetc, how can anyone want to own a copy of a car that was laughed at and was unbelievably crap the 1st time round??? Sinclair C5 anyone :wall::wall::wall:

cyclonebri1

Inactive wrote: »

So buy the Panda, it is a far better car than the 500, at about half the cost, it has 5 doors, far more room inside and doesn't look like an upturned jelly mould.

Financially, the 500 does not make a lot of sense to me.

And it's freakin ugly:mad:

jd82

I have a Panda (brand new) and I love it. It is so nice to drive. Done almost 600 miles in it now and no faults to report so far.

As for FIAT engines that was the funniest thing I have seen in a long time. The FIRE in general has been one of the most reliable and cheap to repair engines made in the past twenty years. Even on the Panda no real electrical problems have been reported, the only fault seems to tbe power steering motor but all modern cars suffer from this.

As for safety the 500 is one of the safest cars in the road. It is a trillion times safer than the Escort. Also if a car looks badly damaged in a crash that is a good thing, it means the energy asorbed in the crash has gone to the structure not the people inside it.

Some of this FIAT stuff really really makes me laugh as it is based on nothing but hear say.

jd82

Inactive wrote: »

So buy the Panda, it is a far better car than the 500, at about half the cost, it has 5 doors, far more room inside and doesn't look like an upturned jelly mould.

Financially, the 500 does not make a lot of sense to me.

Thats why I bought the Panda, the five doors and cheaper price were far more important than prettyness. It is a car designed to get to A to B. What the Panda does so well is make getting to A-B to much fun.