Morning. I’ve an Electonica Blue 500S twinair 105 which I’ve owned for just over 4 years now. Very happy with mine and never received any negativity or snide comments in the time I’ve had it. I average about 48mpg (though I usually travel with a Greyhound in the back, so I try and drive smoothly yet swiftly
) I’ve also owned 14 Pandas, consecutively, over the last 20 years, having recently bought back my first ever one - and never had any adverse comments there either.
The 500S your looking at looks really smart and a great colour too. For me, and it’s a matter of personal choice, I’d loose the sport and hybrid badges though. I personally prefer just the 500S stitched on the front seats.
I’m sure your smiles per gallon will increase too - and I do get great delight in nipping in all the parking spaces that bigger cars can’t.
So I’d say go for it and don’t worry what anyone else thinks. Let us know how you get on.
Fun In A Tin as it’s says on my Panda’s number plate
Yours looks fantastic! I remember sitting in one of the S models with those blue seats in the dealership near me back in like 2015 / 2016. The colour on the outside matching that is great looking. I do miss the portability. I was at an outlet park yesterday, packed for the bank holiday, and turning the Avensis around was one hell of a manoeuvre within the car park clusters.
Personally I have heard too many garages say the 500 is a pain in the butt to maintain, ever to be an owner. I do love them though, and the cute look, even if they are monstously huge compared to the original. I think the Panda is worth the extra for the practicality and personality. Cars are so personal though that you should buy what you like and to hell with the opinions of others, They can buy what they like too and hopefully everyone is happy. I kep saying it htough, buy it to keep it. Changing is a very expensive game that few can really afford to play.
I heard about the things like the door handles having issues, and issues mostly with the 'special' fancy parts they have, mostly in service to looking like the original. Changing is my main issue, I think I'm on £220 a month for the Avensis. For this, it'd be £280 a month. See, that's one of my primary issues, paying MORE for 'Less'. It'd be nice - and when I first had this idea to come back to Fiat - if I could step down into a simpler car, with a slight reduction in monthly payments to match, a win-win for me as I personally liked the simplicity and never struggled much with how 'impractical' a small car was. Although to be fair, the Panda is a league of its own in that regard with how boxy it is. Versus the 500, but again, I'm not buying it for anyone or anything other than myself - sounds selfish to say, but it's true.
Young men seem to have very poor car knowledge these days. And looking objectively, the 500 is very expensive for what you get, a bit like the mini, it's a fashionable trendy car.
I grew up in the days of more power, more speed, more acceleration. Even more powerful cars nowadays are pretty bland to drive. Oddly I find more powerful cars much easier to drive, and the safer larger brakes, tyres, suspension, etc make it a far higher insurance risk, meaning far more dangerous small cars are cheap to insure.
Young people dont seem to care, and older men (car people men) just think young people are too dumb to know the difference, a car's a car.
With current market prices then there are so many other better cars I'd choose. Especially after having to deal with all the 'common' 500 problems
That's true, most guys my age have graduated from the beat out old A4 stage, and are now on to the BMW 3 series / 4 series (not so beat up, some quite nice models around 2018 ish model years) but equally as neglected with the bald tyres and permanent coating of dust - such a shame too as some of the paintwork on them would be spectacular in the sunlight if washed and treated well. Although in their defence, they're also driving more, and working way longer hours than me for it - and making a tonne more money. But fair play to them, it's not for me frankly (
the cars and the hard work). Interestingly too, they've told me it didn't do much for their luck with the girls - most of whom don't care so much about the car, which I was surprised to hear really. And also, they're quite acutely aware, for example, that even if that did matter, there are going to be the guys with the M3, or the M4 - the flashier ones no matter what. And I'm sure when you get there, there's going to be the guy in the Porsche or AMG... never ending ladder.
Much as I like both Fiats in general and the 500 in particular, I have to agree.
My now 13yr old Panda, bought at the time primarily on price (at least 25% less than any deal I could have done on an equivalent Ford, Vauxhall or Renault), turned out to be best value for money new car I've bought with my own money. In contrast, my 500 has been the most unreliable, least practical and troublesome new car I've ever taken delivery of, period. Despite having charm and style by the bucketload, the near constant stream of niggling (and not-so niggling) faults, combined with its lack of practicality over the 4 seater Panda, meant the Panda was the 'go to' car at least 90% of the time.
Buying a 500 on the strength of your experience with a late model 169 Panda could end up leaving you very disappointed.
I still love the charm, character and sheer fun of the 500. If I were looking to buy a brand new car to keep for no more than three or four years, it'd be on my shortlist. But for a secondhand car as a keeper, it wouldn't even make the long list.
Given the lack of any meaningfully decent value in today's market, my suggestion is to stick with what you have for the time being.
I'd also be wary of anything made post COVID; only time will tell if all the labour and supply issues have affected the long term reliability of what's been produced.
To summarise, I don't see the point in spending good money to end up with what could easily turn out to be a less reliable car than the one you already have.
They just don't seem to be great value anymore at all. For around the same price I specced a high level Aygo with an auto gearbox new... it's a shame though. But these are the same cars, that already got slated for being 'dated' platforms in 2015 too :-/
That sort of puts me off the 500 though, especially if the experience is vastly different to the Panda (both 169 and 'cake fed' variant as I saw it referred to on here a long time ago lol). The Panda never disappointed in fairness, and when I did give people lifts they'd remark how unbelievable the rear headroom was etc. When I had the Mercedes CLA a few taller bigger people actively disliked it for long trips as their necks were permanently bent because of the sloping..
Sticking with my car and seeing what Fiat do, or letting prices crash is probably the wisest idea. But I can't help but feel a little sad that, perhaps in one or two years max, that old dated Panda and 500 we know so well won't be available to buy new at all anymore. It's just lasted so long!
Whether or not the Avensis is reliable, is uncertain... mine is one with the dreaded BMW N47 engine... like being a peak fitness world class athlete (for reliability) with a serious heart defect.... who knows when or how long it might last, but I suspect it's no "Toyota" like I wish.
Ive had many pandas.. kept a 1.1 active for 14 years
There is a reason it took me so long to get a 500
Its less practical.. amazing what a panda can carry
Parts I changed myself on my panda are much more awkward on a 500
I have to really try for MPG 48 is normal..52 at best
My 1981 panda did 45..Im not calling it progress
Seats..always subjective.. but I think the 500 has the worst seats of any FIAT I have owned..quite some feat..Ive had lots
In 2017 I was a volunteer collection driver for the BHF charity shop here, I had some unbelievable collections making use of every square inch of the Panda interior! I'm getting about 45-50 if I'm careful on the Avensis presently. Contrasted with the DS3 which easily got 65, 68 if you coasted! But I'd go for a petrol every day of the week now even if it meant worse MPG.
One thing you can almost guarantee is that what ever you pay for a car, as soon as you drive it off the forecourt it will be worth less
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So much in the same way if I visit an auction, I only spend what I can afford to throw away.
Often the ones I pay the least for have proved to be the best value, though I will admit I have bought some dogs in the past as well
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Somehow, around £12,000 is a reasonable price for selling my car privately at the minute... That's what I paid in January 2022. But the issue being, any car I buy also has been inflated stupidly too :-/
My wife has a 500 TA which I seem to be driving more and more as the years go on. Good on fuel, goes surprisingly well and easy to park so it often gets chosen over our larger cars. Visits to multi-storey car parks certainly prove its worth as there always seems to be that difficult space available even if rest of the car park is full.
Perhaps it’s an area thing but only downside I’ve found is that a few other drivers have taken liberties with the 500 that they wouldn’t have done with my high performance “toy” or even with my “run of the mill “ Focus. Over the years I think the “ I must get past this little fiat asap” attitude has diminished as most drivers have come to realise that the little 500 can be quite quick for a small car. The only recent exception to this was an Audi driver that attempted to overtake me on the inside by going up a cycle lane but he was obviously a bit “special“ anyway.
Over the years we’ve had the car I’ve had several positive comments and I’m fairly sure no negative comments or looks. Even if there were, life’s too short to worry what others think anyway.
All the retro style cars have probably caused a lot of smiles over the years and most importantly from their owners, so I would say go for it.
That's one thing I don't miss. I took a relatives Panda out (1.2 Pop) a few weeks ago to remember what it was like and the amount of people pulling out in front of me at roundabouts or overtaking before I had a chance to get up to 60, it feels worse than I remember. Nobody ever does that with the Avensis, not often anyway. Nobody did it with the CLA, period. It's crazy like. Though I do see a fair share of flashy cars doing way below the limit, more than I see anyone in a Fiat doing the same!
So far I've only ever had the threat of damage from ex girlfriends et. al, but no delivery of the promises (bit of a theme with them I suppose!).. Most of the damage from my cars has come from Autoglass or 'Axa approved' repair bodyshops truth be told :')
You're right though, not caring what others think is the truth
I would agree on the cloth seats, my wife was complaining at the end of our original test drive which was only about 30 minutes.
It cost us a lot more to spec leather seats but worth every penny.
I remember the leather seats costing like £850 was it on the configurator for the 500. Are they actually a different or better design? I thought it was just the material change and look. The Panda never felt bad but a few are remarking that the 500 seats are particularly bad.
After nearly 9 years in our old panda, I recently bought a 500s. I'm actually really enjoying it. I'm over 6 feet tall, bearded, from a proper northern working class town & have no problems being seen in it. The old car was what my wife deemed "pensioner spec" & considering we are both in our 30s, it never bothered us for 9 years & 90k miles. Drive what you like. In fact, I've had lots of people stop & ask questions about it. I think the styling on the sport makes them stand out a little. Just go for it. Also, we've done the run from Cornwall to the in laws in Dundee, Scotland 4 times in the last 6 weeks. Handles those motorway miles like a dream. Comfy enough & great once you get them into a city centre for nipping in & out of traffic.
That's reassuring! I got a lot of remarks about pensioner spec when I had my Panda's. The longer journeys thing is good to hear, I did a tonne of big journey's in my old Panda, and thankfully then and now, other than for fun, I don't 'need' to drive for work or do long journeys. Not that there's much physical road here in NI anyway. To me personally the 500 is a classic, design wise. The side profile and the little spoiler etc, such a cool silhouette!
I'm in my 70's now and I've had my black Twinair for nearly ten years and still love it. The 'hippie' floral decoration draws sarcastic comment from some males, such as "Is that your daughter's car?" but far more comment from females such as "Love your gorgeous car!", so I'm content. I did have someone deliberately kick in the front fender but he was probably jealous...
You were about (possibly) in the 60s when real style and classy music was the norm! Can't imagine what that must have been like. On one hand lacking all of todays fancy technology, but I wonder what life was like without the constant distractions and ease of.. well, everything! I wonder if when I'm in my 70s, we'll see any 'retro' millennium themes cars... Maybe Ford will bring out a commemorative 50 year on original Focus?! (We can all hope and pray not!). Interesting about the female comments, that's what I like to hear! haha
Well for a little perspective!- i own a bright yellow 2012 1.2 engined car i live in Surrey and i am 66 years old my other car is a Mercedes ml 4x4 and i have no MAN ISSUES with driving the fiat !love it to bits fun& funky! and as i used to tell folk about my hair style "it suits the wearer -not the starer!" basically if YOU like it- whats it mater what anyone else thinks! your friends should understand and the rest are strangers so who give a s--t!
Although I'd avoid white and the turquoise colour purposely, the yellow is a beautiful shade. Anytime I see one it's a bit of a brightener to the day, just funny how carefree and out of element they look in that colour, on a dull grey rainy day here in the UK stuck at a traffic light.
To be honest the 500C is even better, but again, sounds and would be ridiculed even more... but that, nearly justifies itself for the unique driving experience you'd get along the coastal roads, and even the Panda 4x4 - its party trick being the 'go anywhere' aspect when the snow hits, or you take it some weekend to an off road track, again something unique that not many other cars can do which makes the smiles-per-gallon factor higher. I must go looking for these, though the 4x4 discontinued and the 500C costing more / also being rarer, to the extent where I'd have to come to the mainland to find one for sure.
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