A very subjective thread, but I was wondering how reliable people consider their cars to be. We had someone this morning with what most would consider rather minor issues who thought their car was the worst thing in the world and their opinions regarding what are relatively minor issues seem to be far from typical.

My car has never failed to start other than twice when I've flattened the battery of course..... neither has it ever been a danger to anyone in it so from my point of view it's been very reliable though certainly not trouble free.

It's had the following done under warranty

2 airboxes
3 big breather pipe hoses
2 small breather pipe hoses
2 rear dampers
2 front strut top mounts
1 Washer motor
1 drivers seat base leather

and possibly one or two other things I've forgotten, but I still consider it to be quite reliable and other than the suspension bits and the leather none of it really bothers me.The passenger side mirror doesn't heat up and needs replacement but that's not warranty sadly. It's 15 quid part and it's not worth having a hissy fit over and 3/4 of the year it's not even needed.

Do you consider your 500 to be reliable and if not why? Minor issues may be annoying but you can hardly say that a car which has wiper nozzles that fall out is unreliable can you?

2010 1.2 Dualogic 13,000 miles.

One significant fault - timing out of whack after one week's ownership. Fixed very quickly and with zero drama by Glyn Hopkins St Albans.

One hose replaced recently and paint repeatedly peeling off parking snesors (fitted post production).

Generally (and without temptimg fate) a more reliable car than I expected.

Ou

Our old 500 was a 59 plate 1.2 Pop which we said farewell to April.

We never had any issues at all in the two and a half years we had it, and under different circumstances I'm sure we'd have kept it. Always sounded a little reluctant to go in the mornings when the weather was colder but it was always 100% consistent in doing this.

I don't know how widespread the dodgy breather pipes/washers are but I was always quite chuffed that ours seemed OK

Funnily enough our window cleaner came over the other week to do the windows (he has an 8 year old Doblo) and we were talking about how our Fiats had been no problem to own whatsoever, and that I hoped the new Panda would be the same.

I just wish Fiat would do more to publicise the fact that their cars actually do hold up with the perceived market leaders in terms of reliability. Maybe they just can't be bothered, I don't know, but seems a shame IMO.

mine was very reliable as this old thread backs up

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/188177-year-1-4-sport.html

i must say the Bravo is a much better car, design and materials wise

the 500 feels like it was made down to a price rather than up to a standard, i would love another though!

I had my 500 for two years (2008-2010) and only problem was passenger door handle getting stuck (replaced under warranty). Oh, and I washed my key fob by mistake (replaced under warranty, nice of them although I was economical with the truth ) No other problems apart from occasional flashing mileage (which I ignored). I found 500 to be one of the most reliable cars I had (apart from my old Mazda 323), although I have to add that it was the first car I ever had from new. If it hasn't become such a fashion statement (my main reason for getting rid) I'd get it again as I think it is a very well thought off design nod to the original car. I enjoy the anonymity of Punto more I have to say... (and the T-Jet engine, and the better interior, and the bigger boot, and the better ride....) so no, I'd say I loved the 500 but love Punto more!

No problems for us in the now almost 10 months of ownership, except for the crappy windscreen washer barrels, but now glued in, so not really a problem.

I've been pleasantly surprised I have to say having never owned a Fiat before this one.

frupi said:

No problems for us in the now almost 10 months of ownership, except for the crappy windscreen washer barrels, but now glued in, so not really a problem.

I've been pleasantly surprised I have to say having never owned a Fiat before this one.

Click to expand...

You won't be the first person to have changed their mind!

Before we got our 500 I just assumed Fiats were a bit dodgy in the reliability department. Probably like 80% of the UK adult population to be honest

Now I understand the cars a lot more, I know how wrong an assumption that was. Of course you will see some dodgy examples on here, but the fact that Fiat-built engines feature in so many cars tells you that they can't be all that bad...

Super Uwe said:

.... but the fact that Fiat-built engines feature in so many cars tells you that they can't be all that bad...

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Yup, and my mate with his 1.9 diesel Vectra and my other mate with his 1.9 Saab 9-3, both have exactly the same Fiat engine as is is also in the Fiat Croma and the Alfa 159 (amongst other Alfa's). So yes, Fiat engines defo can't be that bad!!

RobinPJ said:

2010 1.2 Dualogic 13,000 miles.

One significant fault - timing out of whack after one week's ownership. Fixed very quickly and with zero drama by Glyn Hopkins St Albans.

One hose replaced recently and paint repeatedly peeling off parking snesors (fitted post production).

Generally (and without temptimg fate) a more reliable car than I expected.

Click to expand...

Peeling on mine sensors also, which were fitted post production. Thank goodness for BNW touch up paint. My OH thinks I was silly having the sensors fitted, as she says they annoy her when in operation and it being a small car I should be able to reverse park without a problem. However my last 4 cars have had the sensors and must admit I would miss them if not fitted.

Faults

After 11 months ownership of the TA only had to have the windscreen wipers realigned (minor irritant) and a coil pack failure (Major running problem) All done under warranty without issue. Would I buy another one in 2 years time ? Currently I would say YES.

Compared to all the other Fiats we have had the 500 has been terrible.

errr why

Well you should know, you had a good moan about the list of faults I posted.

In the first 3 years of its life.

power steering failure twice
hill holder constant fault
boot lock jammed
boot lock wiring shorted out
clutch peddle snapped
washers packed up twice
handbrake cable brackets snapped
door handle snapped
oil change warning fault
numberplate light wiring failed
eats sidelight bulbs
steering lock stopped working.

Over the last year.

Hill holder AGAIN
rear bump stop fell off
at least 3 more sidelight bulbs
new timing chain (70,000 miles) not even mentioned in service scheduled

2009 1.2 Lounge - 18 months of ownership - No problems apart from creaking dash

2010 1.4 Sport - 18 months of ownership - No problems

I consider my 500 to be extremely reliable.

Had it 2 years, it failed to start on a couple of reaaalllyyy cold mornings but it started after 3 or 4 attempts.

Never had any work done on it, though there is a rattle from the front when I go over potholes or speedramps which might be a suspension issue, other than resetting the B&M system a couple of times.

1 of my DRLs packed in, but that was my fault..snapped a wire trying to get the damn holder out, had to solder it back on...lol

Oooh, almost forgot, the boot switch stopped working just after christmas but the dealer sorted that out when it went in for it's service under warranty.

madrat said:

In the first 3 years of its life.

power steering failure twice
hill holder constant fault
boot lock jammed
boot lock wiring shorted out
clutch peddle snapped
washers packed up twice
handbrake cable brackets snapped
door handle snapped
oil change warning fault
numberplate light wiring failed
eats sidelight bulbs
steering lock stopped working.

Over the last year.

Hill holder AGAIN
rear bump stop fell off
at least 3 more sidelight bulbs
new timing chain (70,000 miles) not even mentioned in service scheduled

Click to expand...

I'm assuming looking at your post your 500 was built 2008/9? Obviously, when we buy our cars, especially modern vehicles, most of us would quite rightly expect them to run properly, not have bits fall off etc etc. However, I've personally made a point of never buying a new car when they first come out. New models often have faults that are eventually ironed out over the coming months/years after first release. Our own POP is a 2011 model (built November 2010) and I would obviously expect many of the initial problems the early 500's appear to have suffered, to have been mostly ironed out.

When we chose our own model, we had no intentions of buying Dualogic or TA, just an ordinary bog standard 1.2 with a proven engine (I believe the engine design is at least 20 years old?). I think my point is, for those that decide to buy a new model of vehicle when it first hits the streets, perhaps one should really not expect things to be quite so hunky dory initially. Despite the hundreds of millions of pounds the manufacturers invest in their product, they often don't always get it right first time around.

I'm actually very pleased with our POP. I'm also glad I didn't by a brand new one either. My first introduction to Fiat and as I stated in my earlier post, so far a pleasing experience.

Had 2 Fiat 500s...

2008 1.4 Sport bought with 34K sold with 40K. Needed rear shocks and 2 services needed. Unhappy with the sag on the leather on the driver's seat.
2009 1.4 Lounge bought with 3K sold with 8K. Had it for 10 months. Rear shocks starting to rattle. Serviced. Chasing an A500 - hence the reason for selling it.

Partnered with a Marea as a hacker but on occasions improvised very well with an excellent rear loading hatch.

Had no problems with them aside from the rear shocks. Sweet 6 speed gearbox. Would have liked to have given it a bit more power but the figures didn't stack up. Not built to the same quality standard as the MiTo but it was more entertaining. Would find it hard to go back to a NA after the T-jet with 162bhp which is an amazing engine but the M32 gearbox is a bit of a horse of a gearbox. Didn't get on too well with the Fiat developed C635 gearbox in the QV. Hoping that the Euro (if we're still in it) gets a bit stronger so I can get a decent A500. Don't expect a A500 to be as reliable as the F500 owned.

It's the most reliable car I've ever owned.

Mind you, I've owned a lot of Holdens......

A vast improvement on the GP but still a little disappointing in the reliability department especially after 2/3 years.

(speaking in general not just one vehicle)

Very early days (3 months/2700 miles) but i do think this bedding-in period can be when a brand new car is very liable to going wrong, so i'm pleased to say the Parents 500 TwinAir Lounge has so far been spot-on.

The wipers had a major juddering session the other night, which left me feeling annoyed for a few minutes since this problem was well-known on the Mk2 Puntos over 10 years ago and really shouldn't be happening on the 500, but the juddering stopped after about 5 minutes & hasn't returned. It will be rectified under warranty if it re-appears.

Other than that, not an issue, and you can hardly call juddering wipers 'unreliable' anyway. I suspect there will be a couple of parts, most likely suspension, that wear out long before i would reasonably expect (as it seems that Fiat's bean-counters are forgetting that by spending an extra £2 per car would mean they might actually get more repeat custom ) but i'm not expecting it to leave us stranded, save for being slightly apprehensive about long-term life of the TwinAir engine, but if Fiats other engines are anything to go by, i needn't be worried.

The nearest i've ever come to complete failure in a Fiat was the Crank Sensor in my Stilo in 2011 (7 years old/75,000 miles) which meant it refused to start after being parked-up for 3 days. Even then it didn't just die without warning - it'd been into a garage for intermittent starting problems that couldn't be diagnosed, and it failed whilst parked, not whilst i was driving, so i wasn't stuck at the road side. Incidently i believe the Crank Sensor was made by Bosch! The 2 Punto's never failed to start over a combined 5.5 years & 85,000 miles (save for a battery wearing out in the Mk2) & I required only rear radius arms (Mk1 Punto) and an aircon pipe (Mk2 Punto) besides scheduled servicing.

A friend was chatting to an AA man the other night & asked what his thoughts were on various makes of car reliability. He advised 'avoid anything French, Ford are decent, Vauxhall not great, VW Group nothing special'. My mate (knowing how i am about Fiat) asked 'what about Fiat' to which the AA guy replied 'they're not bad at all, actually' This echo's the comments by the RAC man who attended my Stilo who had nothing to say in terms of reliability except he'd just bought his Mum a new Panda - so there you have it - from the guys who see hundreds of stranded cars each year. Anyone who says Fiat is unreliable needs to be asked:

A) Have they actually owned one or are they reading bull**** surveys in Auto Express?

B) If they've owned one, what went wrong? Did it actually break down or did the door handle come off in their hand, as broken trim isn't a reliability issue, it's a quality issue. A couple of people on here would do well to learn the difference