Ive just sold my 500 for a kicking on the price. Truth is it was too small as a family car.
Ive had it for 12 months, and the car has been 100% reliable. Despite all the scaremongering on this forum about the gearbox, mine has been perfect. I would say use your own judgment if buying one, don't be scared by all the things you read about dualogic.
Its impossible to say how good or bad these cars really are because in my experience, complainers are more likely to sit in front of a computer and make their feelings known than happy owners are to give compliments.
Would I have another? No but only because it was too small, otherwise Ive really enjoyed owning it.

My wife and I owned two 500's, a 1.2 and a Twin Air, consecutively. Obviously, the body shell was the same, with only minor differences on the interior, A/C on the 1.2, climate control on the TA, but of course the engines were very different. For fun factor, the TA was great, but I did still enjoy the 1.2. The let downs? Yup, snapping door handles, failing micro switches, dodgy climate control, failed steering motor and a failed instrument pod all fixed under warranty, but the inconvenience these faults caused us, were unacceptable.

So we no longer have neither, been there, done that. It was disappointing that the well known let downs, snapping door handles, boot micro switch failures etc, were just almost accepted as being a 'normal' part of 500 ownership. Personally, I think these faults were/are poor and completely unacceptable problems for a modern car to be suffering on an almost routine basis.

I still drive Fiat 500's regularly, indeed, I drove two today, one an automatic TA, with the passenger door handle snapped off, which was no surprise. I now work in the motor industry and I drive hundreds of cars a week, everything from Citroen C1's to Mercedes Sprinters, so I do get my fair share of Fiat's thrown in. I'll reserve further comment on other models lol!

I do still like the Fiat 500 though, honestly, I do, I just wish the two we had were put together as well as my wife's 2015 Hyundai i10, which in my very humble opinion, is a far better car with a lot more bang for your buck, four doors, a 5 year warranty and cruise control included (if you're a Premium model owner like us).

I don't think 12 months is a sufficient period of ownership to comment on reliability.

The dual logic gearbox will go bad, it's not a question of if but when. Fiat are of course not alone in this, all robotised manuals have issues long term.

Not that I really care as I only buy manuals, and IMO buy a 500 DL is paying extra to miss out on one of the cars strongest points, a lovely manual shift.

UFI said:

I don't think 12 months is a sufficient period of ownership to comment on reliability.

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:yeahthat:

Metalguru3 said:

Its impossible to say how good or bad these cars really are because in my experience, complainers are more likely to sit in front of a computer and make their feelings known than happy owners are to give compliments.

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This thread suggests otherwise. There are enough common stories there to give anyone contemplating long term ownership, or a secondhand purchase, pause for thought.

If you're buying new and trading away before the end of the warranty, you'll likely be fine with it. If you're going to keep it for >50,000 miles, there's a significant risk of having problems, and if you keep it for >100,000 miles, there's a serious risk of having problems.

The general advice is that at the first sign of a significant fault, reset all the warning lights and trade in before it reappears; if you buy secondhand, you risk buying a car previously owned by someone who's followed that advice.

I can see everybody POV's. Just giving my personal experience.
If we all wanted maximum reliability then I guess a fiesta or micra would come higher on the list but you would sacrifice the joy of owning a cheeky car with loads of charisma.
Personally I'd love to replace the 500 with a nice Alfa, but my pockets arent that deep - but you do get the style, character, sporty Italian car feel etc.

We have a 59 plate POP, the first Fiat we have ever owned, (I) having driven nothing but Honda Accords from when I passed in 84 until 2013 when we got the Mazda and two years later the 500.
Fiat, good points, style, nippiness, steering/circle,general charm
Bad points, POOR ride, lack of grunt(unless revved, not a happy sound), material quality in general, not a fault but no AC(on our model), fear its only a matter of time before the hatch wires break.

We haven't had ours for long enough to give any opinion on reliability by any stretch (two weeks today) but my first impressions are very favourable. I prefer driving older high spec cars and use a 318 touring steptronic as my car. I was genuinely surprised by the quality of the 500 and whilst there are a couple of bits that feel cheap (the seat tilt release jumps out) overall it seems a really well put together car and not 'tinny' like the other small small cars we looked at. The driving experience is much better than expected, it's not the fastest thing in the world but is fine for everyday driving. On its first long distance run we got 70.1mpg one way (driving like a granny) and nearly 65mpg the other sat at 70mph which I was very impressed with. Around town we are getting about 50mpg. The BMW has sat on the drive all week and hasn't moved, the 500 does what we need on a day to day basis.

The only negative so far has been a minor issue with the Dealer. I am not sure if it was a genuine mistake or a bit of old fashioned dodgy dealer trickery but I was promised a call 'next week' last Friday and am still awaiting the call so will withhold judgement for a few more hours.

Bottom line here chaps is on any car forum & any make or model you will always have queries about faults, niggles & problems simply because most use forums to remedy their findings, no real surprises there. How fast can I make my car & what's the best oil are up there as well...

At an educated guess there are all types & ages on here, but there is a high question/feedback from the younger drivers on here. Ranging from how to change wiper blades to the more clued up who seek more technical information for more difficult projects and the like. Bottom line again is you will have a plethora of peoples views, thoughts & what you can/should do. Some will be helpful, some will not. Perhaps a simplistic view but true non the less.

I know Metalguru bought the 500 based on ;
need for an auto , and it's style / looks / appeal

the 500 has NEVER sold on practicality.. ,the 2003 / 12 panda and the later Ford Ka, were very similarly built / equipped cars.. but without the compromises of "cutesy looks"

the panda was probably the most reliable platform for FIAT of the last 15 years,
corrosion in the rear suspension being the only real issue to date.
I suspect the ford is similar - even the dashboard is the same part..!!

but with upright seating , and general practicality.

500 - nicely styled car , but NEVER worth the artificially high asking price.

T Bay said:

The only negative so far has been a minor issue with the Dealer. I am not sure if it was a genuine mistake or a bit of old fashioned dodgy dealer trickery b

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it's been that kind of lottery for the 30 years I've been dealing with the brand..:shrug:

we could have a forum section just on "dealers/ agents"

the adage of 20 years ago was - "FIAT.? -don't buy one unless you are married to a dealer.."

sometimes I'm not sure even that would've helped.

my panda 2004 , now 14 years of ownership,
still on original bulbs / fuses,
only basic servicing , and life limited parts replaced.:worship:

the reason I bought my 1st ever NEW car 3 years ago,
Punto TA,
a few paint defects..otherwise top car - "for a Vauxhall"

Charlie - Oxford

I remember an old mate of mine back in the 80's (car salesman) saying, there is no such thing as a bad car choice, it's just a matter of which one will fit your needs or wants. I'm very open minded & can see/accept things that others will not admit for various reasons. Fiat man, Ford man, or any other, they have all good&bad points. Believe it or not even back in my day as a mechanic (70's) there was a lot of rivalry & words of wisdom exchanged regarding your choice in four wheeled transport. Difference nowadays is the fact that it's all out here, on there & all over the "tinternet"

Just remember when expression your views about that certain car/fact that you disagree with & make your views known. It's too easy these days to jot down anything.

varesecrazy said:

it's been that kind of lottery for the 30 years I've been dealing with the brand..:shrug:

we could have a forum section just on "dealers/ agents"

the adage of 20 years ago was - "FIAT.? -don't buy one unless you are married to a dealer.."

sometimes I'm not sure even that would've helped.

my panda 2004 , now 14 years of ownership,
still on original bulbs / fuses,
only basic servicing , and life limited parts replaced.:worship:

the reason I bought my 1st ever NEW car 3 years ago,
Punto TA,
a few paint defects..otherwise top car - "for a Vauxhall"

Charlie - Oxford

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I am Tamworth like the Op oddly enough, the dealer experience was great apart from the issue that the 'free' paint protection wasn't. I know it's well used add on to fleece a bit out of your pocket so double checked that the 'gift' was indeed free (free and gift were the salesmanship words not mine). I was more than a little annoyed when I then found out he had taken the same amount off via our trade in. Unfortunately the numbers came at different times so it was only later I put two and two together. The manager has investigated it and the salesman is adamant that he made it clear (no surprise) and has offered a boot mat as a gesture of goodwill. I doubt there is any point in making an issue of it as it was done in such a way as cover the tracks very well. The manager seemed genuinely to want to come to a solution and offered an equivalent sum off a nother new car (that's a lot of use) but didn't offer a refund. We are very happy with the car and the deal we got but something like that leaves a bad taste which to me is stupid of them for such a small sum of money. I am pretty savvy as well so you wonder what happens if people just turn up and check nothing.

T Bay said:

We are very happy with the car and the deal we got but something like that leaves a bad taste which to me is stupid of them for such a small sum of money.

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That's just dealers across the board. When I bought my first Renault, I optioned the factory floor mats. The car was delivered with rubber matting that had been cut from sheet from the hardware store ($10/metre- I checked).

Do you think I went back there two years later? So they missed out on a $45k sale (and servicing) for the sake of a set of floor mats that should really have been complimentary anyway.

I ended up buying six cars over three years and none of the dealers want repeat business. Thing is even if you get a good salesman, chances are the sales manager will be a tool, or the service manager, or the finance guy etc. There's opportunity to get screwed at every step.

I really enjoyed my 500 DL which was my first car, but I am glad I switched to the (manual) Panda this year.

Having only driven automatic for 6 years meant I never dared take up a garage on the offer of a courtesy car, because they only ever had manuals, which was rather annoying given the dealership I got it from originally was about 2 hours away on public transport. (Then the nearest Fiat dealer)

Plus on the hills around here the DL sometimes made stupid decisions, like shifting to 3rd just as the hill was about to get steeper, then having to hop back into 2nd again straight away, nearly rolling backwards (or feeling like it was about to!) in the process, and not all the transitions between gears were terribly smooth - at least now if the car lurches, I know it's my fault!

The convenience of an automatic would have probably been much bigger if I regularly drove in inner city stop start traffic, but having not driven in such a long time prior to buying the car I just didn't want the extra hassle.

The 3 door nature of the 500 was also somewhat problematic in the long run when giving people lifts or taking pets to the vet, plus the sheer size of the doors meant you had to be extra careful not to hit anything when opening the doors.

Plus I ended up opening the boot several times a day to put away my swim kit and other stuff that I can now fit on the back seats easily, thus adding to the strain on the wiring harness which ended up causing problems after about 4 years, most noticeably the boot not automatically unlocking (which the garage at the time ended up "fixing" with a new boot handle, then admitting it hadn't been broken after all).

All in all an extremely fun if not 100% practical car though.

I am on my second 500. I had a diesel sport in 08 and changed to a TA by diesel in 2011.

My Ta has been used and abused, by me, and is at nearly 95K miles. IMHO a lot of problems with cars come from 'not' using them rather than driving them. Low mileage cars can be a nightmare. Mine gets thrashed, but only when its warm.

Its needed bits, of course it has.

One door handle, 4 front top mounts (I have a Bilstein B14 kit), many tyres (in fact many many tyres, I only buy good quality, soft compound), but not much else.

The local Fiat dealer where I now stay is soooooo much better than the supplying dealer. So good, that I am prepared to pay for him to service the car.

I bought the car for £13K over 5 years ago, its worth about nothing so depreciation of £2600 a year isn't bad, I would have thought.

I am now investing about £3K in tidying it up...have I gone mad? Possibly, but I think the car will keep going (hope I am not proved wrong) and I can't replace it for £3K, nor even £13K.

Cheers

D

If your keeping the car for a while I would remove the lower suspension arms bolts and gease them and any other ones that may need removing in years time replace the bumper small screws with stainless ones front and rear pre planned preventative measures.

John202020 said:

If your keeping the car for a while I would remove the lower suspension arms bolts and gease them and any other ones that may need removing in years time replace the bumper small screws with stainless ones front and rear pre planned preventative measures.

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Also remove, derust and apply your favourite brand of corrosion protection to the rear beam, paying particular attention to the spring cups (see this and other threads from the Panda section).

Untreated, similar beams on the Panda have been known to fail catastrophically due to corrosion once the cars are about ten years old, and replacements aren't cheap. The early 500's are not far off that age now; IMO it's a ticking time bomb which is going to see a lot of 500's scrapped in the future.

Lucky we don't have that rear beam rusting problem here in Australia.
Out of curiousity I checked under a friend's 08' fiat 500 the rear beam is pretty much in very good condition!!!