Fiat 500 pop

Thinking of buying one. I have driven one as a rental car for a few days.

Anyone who has got one can recommend? Do you love it? Reliable? Cheap to service? Had any problems?. Do they comfortably fit 4?

Where did you buy? Very few second hand ones on trade me. And they all seem to be a similar price to a new one, so may as well buy new and get colour etc that I want.

Any comments appreciated. :)

Have a search here for comments on panda too, same basic running gear. They'll be some stuff from resident expert.
Twin air is a hoot of an engine, great noises and eager as all good Italians should be.
personally I prefer panda but I'm an old fart, whereas the 500 is a style icon and cute as. Rear seat in 500 is tiny, but if that's ok for you go for it. They've literally never been cheaper- cheaper now than a year back.
Go for it.

No not a four seater. depreciate fast, the look is each to their own, cheap to run, Bit tiny for open road, good around town.

Yes, terrible depreciation. as the OP has already found out!

Do you even read these threads before posting the same tired troll lines every time?

I don't have a 500 but have the mechanically identical Panda and have had the Grande Punto etc.

The 1.2 is a darling motor, you won't find a more basic and reliable little engine in a modern vehicle. It's been around over 30 years and is as well proven as they come. However, it is a bit low on grunt, the very clever and reliable dualotic auto transmission (if you are going auto) does help it a lot so it might not seem too bad compared to other small cars, but if you jump in to the 0.9 litre twin air you will get a fright.

So, for this reason, if it was me I would be doing my best to hunt down a slightly used Fiat 500 900cc lounge. Incidentally the CC rating means NOTHING, the 900cc is the far more powerful motor because it's a cutting edge modern design as opposed to a very old one. Better economy AND far more go.

If the styling doesn't mean that much to you, I too would actually buy the Panda. It has more usable space and it's very easy to get the superior 900cc twin air engine. They are still tremendous fun to drive too. The Panda is also obscenely cheap at the moment and depreciation it is also one of the best cars around for low initial depreciation.

Servicing on all those little Fiats is inexpensive with very little required. The 1.2 and 1.4 do have a timing belt, but it only needs doing every 5 years and is at most a one hour job involving $120 worth of parts. You will pay more for a dealer to do this, but that figure (which is what it cost me in parts and time to do my own 1.2 engine recently) should show you how it's going to be one of the cheapest around.

I would recommend an annual service though, even if you don't get to the 30'000km oil change interval in 12 months. It still makes sense to get a service as the oil does break down with time. The Automatic transmission is the lowest maintenance of any automatic transmission you will find. It is just the same transmission as the manual version of the car with a robot and computer bolted on the top to operate the gear selector and clutch. The result is, it's pretty much maintenance free, just like a manual transmission. If you have a problem with the robot part, it's easily removed with 6 bolts and can be serviced on the bench. No need to remove the transmission.

Can't recommend new small Fiats enough, ours is just about to tick over 200'000km of very hard use. it has also almost done 1 million gear changes (service computer tells you this). It's a super reliable and ultra cheap to run workhorse.

Can't speak for the 500 as I don't have one, but the Panda is actually very roomy for a small car and carry's four adults with ease and comfort. They are very capable on the open road, we have done regular 500km round trips in ours and I have not felt hard done by at all, even after doing the same trip in our very nice Alfa Romeo's etc. The only drawback on the open road is a little extra road noise and you will feel a very strong side wind gust more than a larger car.

What do you mean "bit tiny for the open road". My Smart Fortwo ( BIG MART) does 90% open road (50K), not noticed any issues except for, Falcon/Commodore drivers who seem to have an inferiority complex when I pass them on the open road. Also Big trucks who's drivers are short sighted and need to get up as close as possible to my rear bumper to see what the badge on the back of "BIG MART" says.BTW the Fiat 500 is massive compared to "BM".

Don't worry, msigg is just trolling. If you have a look you will see he posts pretty much the same thing on any thread where someone is looking at a European car. Pretty much he just regurgitates any over generalised wives tale/myth that he think might apply. It's a shame as most OP's are not familiar with him so could easily mistake this pot stirring for genuine advice.

Lovely thank you for the comments. I still think of the fiat as being a "fix it again tomorrow" car. sounds like they are fun reliable little cars. I have found two I am interested in. One is an ex demo and nicely priced, but white and hubby wants me to get a red one. racy red I guess. The other one is racy red but the inside is a little oddly coloured. red and cream. makes me think of strawberries and cream, kinda not sure if I really like it, but it is used so is a little cheaper than a new one. (About 6000 less than a new one).

I think it would be really wise to drive the 900cc version as well. It may be a case of once you have, you won't want any other version. Just a shame not many are about.

Feel free to post links of any you are interested in if you would like an opinion.

Happy shopping!

No Jazz you are incorrect as usual, I find them too small for me on the open road,full stop, give me a comm /SUV or such size car with plenty of room, high up, That's my opinion not yours, we all like different things,Big euro car is fine for me, End of story.

Wifey has the 1.4 with 6sp manual. Cool little car, and enough pep for all driving. Have driven it over Napier Taupo hills many times and it's a hoot with Sport mode on.

AppreciTe the comments. I have noted that some appear to not have head rests on the back seats, were these optional extras?

Can you post an example of one without head rests in the back?
Shouldn't be an optional extra, so I suspect they are just in the down position or have been removed for better visibility out the rear window (not that they make much difference on a 500)