Hi all. Just joined. I've been looking at a few cars to replace a 4x4 for something smaller. I was advised to look at a Fiat 500 as opposed to a MINI. I'm from the UK originally but now based in Ireland. Road car taxes are a bit bonkers here and was paying around €700 on the 2.0L Vitara. Plan to spend around €8k on a secondhand car but will go higher by another 2K-3K if I have to.
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General Fiat 500 or a MINI
If you ask wether to buy a fiat or a mini on a fiat forum you can guess what the answer is gonna be 
But seriously, i've never driven a 500 so I cant comment but I have driven my mothers mini and its horrible! Far too small and i dont consider myself the tallest bloke ever at 5'11, uncomfortable and just generally a car I don't enjoy driving :/
I find it a very annoying car too, for some reason when you open the door you have to grab the handle twice! I'm sure this can be turned off somewhere but its still so annoying!! And for a car thats supposed to be 'mini' the doors weigh a tonne! but now i'm picking at straws
But seriously, i've never driven a 500 so I cant comment but I have driven my mothers mini and its horrible! Far too small and i dont consider myself the tallest bloke ever at 5'11, uncomfortable and just generally a car I don't enjoy driving :/
I find it a very annoying car too, for some reason when you open the door you have to grab the handle twice! I'm sure this can be turned off somewhere but its still so annoying!! And for a car thats supposed to be 'mini' the doors weigh a tonne! but now i'm picking at straws
The Mini is a better drivers car if that's anything to you.
ahmett
Prominent member
The only Mini I would buy is the Mini Cooper S. If you can find a decent one for 10,000 Euros second hand (07 onwards model), then buy the Mini.
Otherwise buy the Fiat 500. Do not buy the Cooper or One, they are too slow as the Mini Cooper is significantly heavier than the Fiat 500.
The Fiat 500 is great but 2nd hand values are a joke (far too high) and lets be honest, running costs wont be much less than then Mini Cooper. So if you can find a Mini Cooper S 07 onwards model for that money, buy it!
Otherwise get yourself a Fiat 500. Do let us know what you find and we'll tell you if its worth it or not.
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Welcome to the forum!
you are likely not going to get completely unbiased answers in here overall but FWIW we really liked our 500 (1.2 Lounge) and only changed it for something bigger as we needed more space.
My gut reaction is pound for pound at £8K you will get a better/newer 500 than you would a Mini.
Have a look at this comparison and see what you think and drive both before you decide-
Fiat 500 V Mini
I'm only going on what I've heard, but everybody who has been in a Mini has said how uncomfortable it is compared to the 500. But if you have people riding in the back seat quite often then it is quite cramped in the back of the 500.
I have no idea about the technical stuff though!
I have no idea about the technical stuff though!
Reading your post I assume you'd be looking at a mini one as your hoping to save money on running casts therefore I would advise the 500. I drove both mini (JCWorks) and 500 before I purchased mine and for sheer grin factor alone I went for the 500 twin air. Even though the mini was 210bhp it felt leaden to drive and very uncomfortable. On running costs alone the 500 1.2 beats the mini one with cheaper insurance and increased mpg.
Hi Baracuda,
Welcome to the forum.
All good advice above.
Re your point about being "advised to look" at a 500, does that mean that you aren't overly fussed about what you're going to drive? Or are you dead keen on getting a 500?
If it's the former, you'd do well take a look at the new Panda as well. Of course it isn't anywhere near as cool as a 500 (I know full well as I've owned both!), but it's basically the same car in a different body. And it's got the same 1.2 and TwinAir engines in the range. Oh, and you get two extra doors, lol
Not sure what the prices are like in Ireland of course, but new Panda prices are roughly £1-2k cheaper than their 500 equivalent (it's hard to compare like for like as the specs aren't the same, but it's roughly that much). A proper poverty spec Panda 1.2 Pop can be bought for £6,995 new in the UK; yeah, it's really not got an awful lot of kit at all, but it is not inferior enough IMO to be more than £3k cheaper than a 500 1.2 Pop.
Best of luck anyway
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Thanks for all the replies so far.
I'm only 5ft 1inch in height but my son who is about to do his driving test and is like is dad at well over 6 foot. My daughter is now living with her boyfriend and she's tall and I wanted the option of travelling with them and not ending up in the back seat !
I drove several minis at a main dealer last weekend and most of them had no air conditioning. They were pushing the Diesel one as a good option even though I only do about 10k miles p.a. with road tax at €180 p.a. They had a 2010 Mini Cooper but it was pricey at €13k with road tax at €270. I'm not a fast driver but it seemed to go quickly for me anyway.
I'm hoping to get a drive in a 09 1.2 lounge at around €8k tonight. It's red with low mileage of 23k and it seems good value. There are several minis for around €9-€10k 08 onwards but only about 1 or 2 have the a/c. I'm starting to think that the a/c is important since I do a lot of city based driving. Any '08 onwards car has the road tax based on emissions.
On the last posting - I would have no interest in a Panda but thank you for the insight. I'm leaning towards a mini but was looking at a 500 as a cheaper option. What I 'm looking for is a quality small car that's different to what I've had to drive for the last 20 years with the children and the 2 dogs. Dogs have got old now and I walk from the house with them. I'm unsure if I need good headroom in the back of the car since it's really just me and sometimes my son.
I'm only 5ft 1inch in height but my son who is about to do his driving test and is like is dad at well over 6 foot. My daughter is now living with her boyfriend and she's tall and I wanted the option of travelling with them and not ending up in the back seat !
I drove several minis at a main dealer last weekend and most of them had no air conditioning. They were pushing the Diesel one as a good option even though I only do about 10k miles p.a. with road tax at €180 p.a. They had a 2010 Mini Cooper but it was pricey at €13k with road tax at €270. I'm not a fast driver but it seemed to go quickly for me anyway.
I'm hoping to get a drive in a 09 1.2 lounge at around €8k tonight. It's red with low mileage of 23k and it seems good value. There are several minis for around €9-€10k 08 onwards but only about 1 or 2 have the a/c. I'm starting to think that the a/c is important since I do a lot of city based driving. Any '08 onwards car has the road tax based on emissions.
On the last posting - I would have no interest in a Panda but thank you for the insight. I'm leaning towards a mini but was looking at a 500 as a cheaper option. What I 'm looking for is a quality small car that's different to what I've had to drive for the last 20 years with the children and the 2 dogs. Dogs have got old now and I walk from the house with them. I'm unsure if I need good headroom in the back of the car since it's really just me and sometimes my son.
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Whatever you do don't do what a work colleague once did and bought (leased) a Mini not realising it was only a 4 seater.
She was that caught up in the excitement of getting one she failed to notice the missing belt in the rear seat. (the 500 of course is only a 4 seater also)
She was that caught up in the excitement of getting one she failed to notice the missing belt in the rear seat. (the 500 of course is only a 4 seater also)
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I'd go with that. But the 500 is probably a more reliable car, it has to be said.
Hi, the 500 any day. We had a Mini and it is far too bulky outside for the amount of room inside, also the 500`s boot is better. Access to the back of the Mini is a joke and the seat itself is like a droopy hammock! When a friend was with us last year my wife drove our 500 and I sat in the back, I am c. 6ft. and had adequate head/legroom. Also, I feel the 500 is better made than the Mini and lacks the impossible to keep clean black finishers round the wheelarches.
It`s all down to personal choice but we would never have another Mini but would go for another 500.
Cheers and good luck.
It`s all down to personal choice but we would never have another Mini but would go for another 500.
Cheers and good luck.
had a similar dilemma earlier this year
We ended up buying a very high spec Mini Cooper D.
we looked at the 500 and decided that it was too small felt small and lacked in luxury and quality feel.
Cheaper Minis such as the mini one and the lower spec coopers feel very similar to the 500. we went for the diesel purely because of the huge number of miles we do (no fiat 500s have cruise control), and here in England the road tax is free on the diesel models.
this worked out to about 21,500 euros so much higher than the costs you're looking at.
if you are doing lower mileage then there is no real need for the diesel, would probably cause more hassle than its worth, personally because of your budget and needs I would suggest you go for a fiat 500 both hold their value fairly well but if you're spending the sort of money mentioned then you'll see no real difference in the features between the two cars.
a lot of the comments above seem to be based on the older mini which is a very different car to the current post 2007 model (even if it does look the same)
i'm 6'1" and found the 500 to be a little cramped, you sit very close to the passenger and i had the seat back as far as it would go.
the mini has a much 'sportier' seating position which far more adjustment of the seats, you seem to sit lower and if you put the seat right back i can't touch the pedals, this obviously comes at the expense of rear leg room (actually no rear legroom at all with the seats back) width wise the mini gives more spaces between the doors which gives the car a much bigger feel. where as the 500 feels like a small car
both are great fun to drive in different ways, the 500 isn't fast but handles well and loves to be chucked about. the mini is faster with a much stiffer suspension drives like a go cart and doesn't roll much in the corners, the disadvantage being a broken spine on bad road surfaces and speed bumps, but is not as tiring on long motorway journeys
boot space in hindsight is probably not really any different however the mini has a little trick to give a bit more boot space and still keep 4 seats if needed.
obviously the choice is yours however i think you'd find the 500 a better choice for you and that's coming from someone who bought the mini i like both cars and would happily have a 500 to replace my punto however its still very small for our needs feels small and probably wouldn't be so happy to eat the miles. mini also have something called TLC which means we don't have to pay for servicing, in fact our only expense for the first 3 years are tires and fuel everything else is covered.
We ended up buying a very high spec Mini Cooper D.
we looked at the 500 and decided that it was too small felt small and lacked in luxury and quality feel.
Cheaper Minis such as the mini one and the lower spec coopers feel very similar to the 500. we went for the diesel purely because of the huge number of miles we do (no fiat 500s have cruise control), and here in England the road tax is free on the diesel models.
this worked out to about 21,500 euros so much higher than the costs you're looking at.
if you are doing lower mileage then there is no real need for the diesel, would probably cause more hassle than its worth, personally because of your budget and needs I would suggest you go for a fiat 500 both hold their value fairly well but if you're spending the sort of money mentioned then you'll see no real difference in the features between the two cars.
a lot of the comments above seem to be based on the older mini which is a very different car to the current post 2007 model (even if it does look the same)
i'm 6'1" and found the 500 to be a little cramped, you sit very close to the passenger and i had the seat back as far as it would go.
the mini has a much 'sportier' seating position which far more adjustment of the seats, you seem to sit lower and if you put the seat right back i can't touch the pedals, this obviously comes at the expense of rear leg room (actually no rear legroom at all with the seats back) width wise the mini gives more spaces between the doors which gives the car a much bigger feel. where as the 500 feels like a small car
both are great fun to drive in different ways, the 500 isn't fast but handles well and loves to be chucked about. the mini is faster with a much stiffer suspension drives like a go cart and doesn't roll much in the corners, the disadvantage being a broken spine on bad road surfaces and speed bumps, but is not as tiring on long motorway journeys
boot space in hindsight is probably not really any different however the mini has a little trick to give a bit more boot space and still keep 4 seats if needed.
obviously the choice is yours however i think you'd find the 500 a better choice for you and that's coming from someone who bought the mini i like both cars and would happily have a 500 to replace my punto however its still very small for our needs feels small and probably wouldn't be so happy to eat the miles. mini also have something called TLC which means we don't have to pay for servicing, in fact our only expense for the first 3 years are tires and fuel everything else is covered.
Definitely, the things that go wrong with 500's tend to be small and cheaply/easily sorted, that's if anything goes wrong with your car at all of course.....
No probs at all!
I can see you have no real need for the extra doors/space you get with the Panda. We only have one car, and unfortunately the 500 was becoming too difficult for my wife and our little boy due to her joint condition.
It's been great for us swapping from a 500 to a Panda, but if we didn't need that extra bit of practicality then we would have kept our 500, no doubt about it.
IMO if you want a quality small car go buy a Yaris.
The quality of the 500 is exactly the same as the quality of the Panda, but the equivalent 500 costs roughly £2k-£3k more whether new or s/h.
The Panda is an adequately built & engineered small car of no better than average quality but is keenly priced. The 500 is a fashionable version of the same car without the keen pricing.
BTW I have both a Panda & 500 as long term keepers. Over 3yrs + they have proved both economical & reliable but I would not describe either as a quality small car.
Only problem I have with a yaris, its ugly as sin!
TrevC
Established member
I had an 04 reg. Mini Cooper before my 11 reg TA Lounge, here are my thoughts:
The Mini is certainly a sportier drive - it corners flatter, and the steering feel and response is excellent. However, the ride is firmer than the 500, albeit better damped.
The 500 is smaller on the outside but has more room inside. You sit more upright in the Fiat.
Interior material quality below the facia is better in the Mini.
I like both in their own way to be honest, but you'll get a newer 500 for the same money. In general, of course, the engine range in the 500 is less powerful than the Mini.
Finally, bear in mind these comments are made on a Mini that's probably 2 generations old - newer ones will have further improved. Try one of each!
The Mini is certainly a sportier drive - it corners flatter, and the steering feel and response is excellent. However, the ride is firmer than the 500, albeit better damped.
The 500 is smaller on the outside but has more room inside. You sit more upright in the Fiat.
Interior material quality below the facia is better in the Mini.
I like both in their own way to be honest, but you'll get a newer 500 for the same money. In general, of course, the engine range in the 500 is less powerful than the Mini.
Finally, bear in mind these comments are made on a Mini that's probably 2 generations old - newer ones will have further improved. Try one of each!
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Fact is, they do have a certain innate quality where it matters. The body and paint is class competitive for example.
And the engines and gearboxes are *much* more reliable than the MINIs in general. The R56 Cooper S, for example, has a *dreadful* reputation for reliability - it has an amazing appetite for cam chains. So whilst the fluff on the carpets might be deeper, the plastics a bit heavier and the doors shut with a slightly heavier thunk - you will find the important bits of the car are more adept at destroying themselves.
I know what I'd prefer.
