Morning all,

As some may be aware from the Euro6 thread, we were hoping to get another 500.

And we have! We have got a 13 plate 1.2 Colour Therapy in Volare Blue, although to be honest I won't get much of a look-in with it as it is mainly my wife who will be driving it.

We paid £7,600 for it in the end, it's only got 9,400 miles on the clock and felt really good to drive. We were nearly tempted in the end to go for a brand new one from the dealer we bought ours from originally in 2009, but my wife felt really comfortable driving this one and so the decision was made.

It works out quite a bit cheaper too, even with the extra APR on the finance for a used car. The car was registered in June 2013 so it's still got plenty of warranty left - I'm happy enough we've made the right choice.

So there you go, happy days!

Super Uwe said:

Morning all,

As some may be aware from the Euro6 thread, we were hoping to get another 500.

And we have! We have got a 13 plate 1.2 Colour Therapy in Volare Blue, although to be honest I won't get much of a look-in with it as it is mainly my wife who will be driving it.

We paid £7,600 for it in the end, it's only got 9,400 miles on the clock and felt really good to drive. We were nearly tempted in the end to go for a brand new one from the dealer we bought ours from originally in 2009, but my wife felt really comfortable driving this one and so the decision was made.

It works out quite a bit cheaper too, even with the extra APR on the finance for a used car. The car was registered in June 2013 so it's still got plenty of warranty left - I'm happy enough we've made the right choice.

So there you go, happy days!

Click to expand...

nice one! i think used fiat 500's are starting to get really cheap now. In a year or two they will be had for peanuts = )

Yeah, there's definitely some bargains to be had.

To give you an idea, we traded in our 1.2 Pop in white with air con back in April 2012 when it was almost two and a half years old and had 31,000 miles on the clock. That was originally put on for £7,995 and went for £7,495 in the end.

Our car is about 10 months younger and is of course a slightly higher spec, and only has 9k on the clock. I think if we'd really pushed we could have got it down to near the £7k mark, but we were happy enough with the deal we got.

To be honest with you, i am also seeing less brand new Fiat 500's on the road, at least in Greece. I guess people are realising that it is ridiculous to get a brand new Fiat 500 that has the same stuff as a 5 year old 500 for the full Fiat 500 price = )

Welcome back

"Extra APR on the finance" for a used car sounds bizarre to me. I guess this is because all vehicle finance costs about 14% in NZ, new or used.

Meanwhile my used 500 was under £4000 equivalent which still makes it more expensive than a 2009 Honda Fit or similar - I think that 500s continue to hold a lot more of their value than other small cars.

The way I look at new cars is that they rapidly turn into used cars after you've driven around for a few months - so they are about the same experience on the whole. Most people wouldn't notice the difference in NZ - where the average car is 14 years old, so six years old is practically brand new.

On the other hand, the styling of the 500 seems to be too close to the original for some people - I've had comments in carparks and petrol stations: "I had one of these, rebuilt the engine myself back in the 70s, they have that rear engine..." and I have to point out that this is the "new version" with front engine - not 40 years old! I suppose people are half-blind and a car is just a car.

If you can find the particular car you want as a used car, and if it has been well-kept, it is always better value. I drive a three-year-old Giulietta which cost half as much as a new one.

-Alex

Oh and - I'm sure this thread needs a photo or two of the new arrival and the proud owner

-Alex

Sorry I took such a long time to reply!

I don't have a camera handy at the moment, but I'll try and get one put up at some stage.

The APR side of things is slightly different in the UK then. Generally if you go down the used route, you will end up paying more interest if buying on finance than you would for a brand new one. But then of course you start off from a much cheaper asking price when the car is nearly new.

As for the car itself, I've only driven it a few times as it is primarily my wife's but it still puts a smile on your face. Great fun to drive as it lurches around the corners

Although having had a new shape Panda in between and now a Punto, it does feel quite primitive and noisy - certainly more so than when we originally had a 500 a few years back. Both of those cars are a definite step-up from the 500 in terms of ride comfort and refinement IMO.

Good choice of colour and spec , I might be a bit biased though mines been perfect since I picked it up in September

Yeah, know what you mean about the refinement - I've also had a Grande Punto since my last 500, and it was a bit more of a car, but then again, it wasn't much of a car with the barely-adequate 1.4 8v motor... I'm happier with the "lurch" of the 500 - at least it feels more willing!

I think the refinement or lack of is entirely down to size. The 500 has a bouncier ride because it is shorter, but it still feels like a solidly-made car. Unlike my Giulietta, my 500 seems to have no rattles or squeaks at all.

Still, when you've had 250bhp (147 GTA) and 237bhp (Giulietta), the 100bhp of the 500 feels very tame... still better than the 77bhp of my Grande Punto anyway I remember when the 75bhp of the 128 Sport Coupe was something special

-Alex