stu0710 said:

The A4 is not a big car though, if that fits you for size then you might as well buy a Skoda Octavia estate (basically the same running gear at a more sensible price!). The Qashqai is a good suggestion and I would have bought one but for the fact that I could buy the Volvo for not a lot more than a fully loaded Qashqai.

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The A4 is a big joke i cant even fit my legs in the back, the back space is not much better than the fiat 500 and the fiat is not even 4 doors! I may be 6ft 3in, but whats the point of buying a 4 door car that you cant even fit in the back in? For some reason, and i think due to clever body engineering, i fit in the back just fine on the VW Golf, the Mini Countryman, the Mercedes B Class even the VW Polo isnt that bad. The funniest one for me was the Audi Q7! SOOOO BIG, but barely much space in the rear seats? Are you joking or what!? Might as well call the Q7 a train it looks at least 1.5 times as long as the Fiat 500.

Arorat, re car recommendations I think that Mazda 6 fits all your requirements. Its not ugly, combined is just over 40mpg and not a bad boot space. I used to have 323 for 3 years and the only thing that needed doing in that time was air con re-gassing. I still think they are very underrated cars. Sorry, off topic!

Mate bought a brand new Mazda 6 1.8 petrol in 2008 for €28k and now wants to sell it to buy something 'cool'. Nice car, very spacious and with its MX5 type drive I gave it the thumbs up for the corporate car park plus it has some nice eco figures. He was offered around €10k on a trade in last month . At least the 500 doesn't suffer this type of depreciation and it makes sense to buy the 'bigger' cars secondhand. It really only makes sense to buy new small unless you're looking to write off some of the cost against a business or if its a company car on a HP agreement.
Good plug for the 500.

73000 miles on my 1.4 lounge now.

- Front wishbones done once because Fiat won't sell the ball joints separately
- Replaced the oil pressure sensor the other day
- Tons of brake pads and discs but I use it on track and drive it hard
- Had the steering wheel recovered in Alcantara because the leather split
- The boot microswitch comes and goes
- Half a dozen sets of tyres (mostly to track abuse)
- Exhaust back box rusted off giving me an excuse for a cat back stainless steel one

Beyond that just service items, filters, oil changes etc. I do oil changes every 4000 or so miles and the engine is stronger than ever.

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what is a boot microswitch? = )

ahmett said:

Sorry to sound ignorant, but what is a boot microswitch? = )

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The microswitch in the boot handle which enables you to open the hatchback manually.

200000 just clocked up on our LHD 500 which was driven over from Italy in 2007 and one of the first in the country. Bravo little Fiat.

My orange pig of a 500 1.2 is on 94k. Oil consumption minimal, compressions good and sounds like a swiss watch under 3000rpm.
I have had to replace the alternator bearings, cambelt, thermostat and starter motor has been refurbished.
Still on the original exhaust after 10 years but it hasn't long.
I predict the gearbox will break before the engine despite maintenance.

Mine is 2013 1.2 pop. I have it new and it has been 6 years of ownership. It has done 166,000km at the moment. For the first few years, it has done a lot of country miles and it probably leads to very good condition despite high mileage. When it is reaching the sixth year, I have done a few things to replace some vital parts. I have done the timing belt, water pump, spark plugs, thermostat, brake light switch, input shaft bearing, refill of transmission oil and coolant on or around 155000km. I have also replaced the front and rear suspension with Koni struts, eibac springs and spider abarth 17" alloy. It has completely changed the driving characteristics and it is now running beautifully. A tow bar is also fitted to haul along trailer to expand the carrying capacity of this little car. I am expecting to have another 10, 20 years of ownership.

My wife's early 2012 500 TA is at 70k miles now and is still a decent drive although the age of the car is showing on the interior trim/rattles of various plastic bits.

Apart from the regular oil/filters servicing and MOT has had the following issues done:

- Replaced clutch around 50k miles due to the known reverse squeak/moaning sound
- Clutch pedal linkage broken which was causing S/S unavailable and the car to stall randomly. The linkage was welded back into place (Fiat dealer was asking ridiculous £ to change the entire pedal box)
- Replaced one of the climate control airflow actuators.
- Replaced coolant tank and flushed system at 60k due to a small crack on the return pipe which was leaking fluid

The following can be classed as maintenance:
- Replaced brake pads/disks and rear shoes and drums once so far
- Replaced brake fluid
- Replaced spark plugs
- Replaced brake light bulbs a number of times. This car seems to like eating brake bulbs more than any other car I've owned so far

Next on the list I need to replace the top bushings on the rear shock absorbers as factory ones are of low quality and have split (known problem)

stu0710 said:

You're going to struggle with all those particularly petrol and 40mpg round town, our 500 only just manages that!

Our other car is a Volvo XC60 Drive 2WD diesel - it does all of the above (OK it averages 41mpg) but around town it's doing 35mpg.

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500l 1.4 petrol - big enough - cheap, fairly bullet proof - not 4 wheel drive but I've never had any trouble in the bad weather.
Steer clear of the auto box go with the 6 speed.

we get 45 plus around town and 60 plus on the motorway.