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General Sold our 500TA

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General Sold our 500TA

Mick, I too had the 6 year itch back in February, and our 500 TA went too. We needed a second 4-door car due to increasing numbers of grandchildren. I chose an 18 month old 500X, not because of any particular brand loyalty, but I liked the styling, particularly the interior. I find the uniform grey/black interiors on most cars very boring. The 140bhp petrol engine also appealed. I'm not too concerned by mpg, I only do about 5000 miles per year now, but my TA would easily do 50mpg on a run, and never less than 40 around town. I still miss it, my wife hasn't forgiven me for changing it!
Reliability is an emotive issue. Ours was very good (2011 build), and I honestly don't think it would have become worse than any other car as it aged. The only objective source of reliability data I've found is that published by Warranty Direct. This rates the 500 as above average, the Yaris better still. Both are better than the other small car I picked at random, the Mini.
I'm sure your Yaris will be great over the years. I've a mate who is a Toyota mechanic specialising in hybrids, and he says they are very good. He did say though that Toyota will try anything they can to avoid paying for a repair under the 5 year warranty.
Finally, careful with any poking around under the bonnet - there be killer volts in there!
 
AGH1965 said:
Personally I prefer heavy doors. For some reason I believe they are good for my safety.
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I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that the bloody door handles are likely to break off if someone is frantically trying to get you out of the car should you be involved in an accident. (n) Ours snapped off just by opening the doors in a non life threatening situation. (n)
 
Mick F said:
I see your point, but try having one close on your 60odd year old legs, when all you were trying to do was get out to open the gate. :eek:

Mick.
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You'd love the doors on my golf cabriolet, given they form a large part of the cars structure, they are about as long as a fiat 500 and each weighs about the same as a fiat as well, fortunately the springs are a bit better than those on the 500
 
If I remember correctly, the only two doors on the first generation Ford KA were similiarly big and even heavier due to the materials used back in the day. I agree, it's no fun having one of them slam on your legs, especially if a gust of wind catches one. I think the old Mini doors were even heavier.
 
We've owned seven Minis over the years.
Two vans
Two Estates
Three Saloons

Actually, we had eight, as we bought an MOT failure saloon, pulled it all apart and sold all the bits. We bought it for £25 and it had half a tank of petrol, five good tyres and a perfect engine and gearbox! We made a few hundred quid on it including the scrap metal. (y)

The doors weren't very big, but I can't remember them being heavy. What is certain though, is that they weren't spring-loaded and seemed to stay where you put them. They were on hinges (early external, and later internal) and had a check strap and/or a check rod. The rod caught as the door opened fully and would "lock" open with an audible click.

Happy days!
Mick.
 
frupi said:
I would agree with you if it wasn't for the fact that the bloody door handles are likely to break off if someone is frantically trying to get you out of the car should you be involved in an accident. (n)
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Opening the door is just secondary. Primary is that the door doesn't deform too much when someone crashes his car into it.
 
Interesting thread this one.

My wife is probably going to say bye to her 500 soon, there's no massive reason for it other than it's maybe not quite suitable for us as a family any more.

There's no huge issue in terms of space with 2 adults and 2 young children, but we have become very much aware of the size of everything else on the road, plus the fact that our children don't seem to have that much of a gap between their heads and the back window - it looks likely that we will go for a Fiesta as there isn't anything in the Fiat range that really floats our boat.

I've been on here for 8 years now and to be honest the 500 is a reliable car on the whole in my opinion. It's a Panda, and the Panda is universally regarded as a solid car. If something breaks, it's generally pretty cheap to fix and replace. Things like the door handles are pretty lame though, don't get me wrong. My wife's one has been broken for nearly a year now, but if you open it the right way the hinge looks like it works fine;)
 
Super Uwe said:
.......... but we have become very much aware of the size of everything else on the road ..............
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One thing that was immediately and plainly evident when we drove in our 500TA was how we were "bullied", tailgated, and generally pushed about.

Drive in our Clio, and we get respect and courtesy. Same as when we're in the Yaris.

The difference between them and the 500 is marked. I'm still me, and still driving on the same roads, but it's really really noticeable.

Regards,
Mick.
 
Mick F said:
Meanwhile, if you are on a slope and you can't open it far enough, it can fall back on you and maybe a leg, and it hurts. We have a narrow gateway and drive, and the doors were an absolute pain. If they weren't spring-loaded they would have been better. Pushing them open against gravity and against the hinge/spring system was a terrible disadvantage.
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Never thought of this problem, even though I park my 500 quite often on a narrow steep driveway. However, I always drive the car forward downhill. That means I have kind of the opposite problem: I always have to hold the open door to prevent it hitting the fence...
 
Yes, going out down the drive isn't a problem I suppose. It's the coming back in that's the problem.

Our drive is steep - circa 25% - and it's one of the perils of living in a Cornish valley!

Mick.
 
muttleysdad said:
I do get the impression that the early ones were better put together and the parts were of better quality. As JRK said Fiat realised they had a cash cow on their hands the price went up the build times were slashed and the parts sourced as cheaply as possible.
At this moment in time I have no plans to ditch mine I treat it as a toy these days anyway.

Without wishing to stir up this debate again, I had the 500 for the weekend whilst my daughter was doing the Great North Run. I had great fun driving it around, I doubt she ever takes it up to 4000rpm like I did.

Once again the car is giving trouble, feeling under powered at low revs. I will be checking out the fuel pump and injectors, but above 2500rpm it goes really well. So much so, like muttleysdad, I may keep it for myself for fun and a challenge, I cant let a car beat me. I will find her another newer 1.2 500 because she loves them trouble or not.

So looking back over this thread I think everybody has a valid point, yes there are reliability issues associated with high costs............ but they look great and fun to drive. So lets keep putitng our experiences on to the forum and helping each other where we can (y)
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Yes, they are one of the few modern cars with character. You get the impression of an enthusiastic following from this forum, which isn't all about problems. The Yaris that Mick changed to is a great little car, but I don't suppose there is an active forum like this one. Mick will now prove me wrong!
 
If Super Uwe considering a Fiesta, the 1.2 model in the shape just finished production of probably best. Not sure the petrol turbo engine a good idea. :(
 
Yep, looks good with people trying to be helpful with your issue. Hope you get it sorted. May be worth looking at the arrangement in another Yaris while you are at the dealer to see if they are all the same.
 
Hope trip to Toyota goes well Mick. If you ask for the technician who's working on your car to come out and see you they probably will. If it involves taking everything to bits to sort it, they will. Having a UK parts base and the factory will probably be useful in future, though chances of a problem virtually nil. (y)
 
Al D said:
If Super Uwe considering a Fiesta, the 1.2 model in the shape just finished production of probably best. Not sure the petrol turbo engine a good idea. :(
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Yep, the 1.25 82hp one is on our radar. Also hopefully going to test drive a 14 plate 1.0 Zetec Ecoboost - the non-turbo version (79hp). Intrigued to see how that one goes, haven't driven a 3cyl car before. Guess we'll soon know whether we like it or not once we have had a drive.

Some reviews say you need to "thrash" it to keep up with fast-moving traffic, but having always had 1.2 or 1.4 8v engines with our Fiats, I'm not really bothered about that!
 
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