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General new her and potential suspension problems

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General new her and potential suspension problems

I'm a bit of a car enthusiast .. So I'm trying to balance style and economy :) .... I'm going to see what happens on Friday then ill make my decision as to what i want to do but - hopefully I'm worrying over nothing :) .. If its only a.few people that have problems then fingers crossed he will be ok .. I had a fiat punto 01 plate as a first car - did lots of miles/travelling etc in it and it never flackered .. Just hoped the 500 would be the same.. Ive also noticed its a little Smokey on mornings when i put my foot down ... I noticed it on the way home too yesterday - i put it down to cold engine etc as i couldn't reproduce the same while revving the backside off it when i got home
 
jrkitching said:
Don't worry too much, it's only a few folks who've had problems.
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thanks :)
i think i just need to run it a few year and see what happens - after all - I'm sure everything wouldn't come at once! And he only has 36k on him (believe it or not bought it last august with 29k on clock)
 
New shocks and you'll be good to go.
Don't forget that most on here (inc me) are 'enthusiasts' and we tend to be very picky (OCD) and critical of everything lol.
We have 2 x 500's and really love em.
Mine is both toy and workhorse. 14000 mikes in 6 months!
I think any car can have a problem and if you do have to change the Shocks at least you'll have a better ride/handling than most new ones ; )
 
jrkitching said:
My personal take on this is that the 500 is a car better bought new than secondhand - the combination of sky-high residuals & a significant number of relatively expensive items that are likely to need replacing between 3-6 yrs mean folks buying a 3yr old car & trading in at 6yrs old could end up paying more in total than those buying new & trading in after 3.

It's an odds-on certainty that used car buyers keeping for 3yrs will have to fork out for a set of tyres, front pads & discs, an exhaust, a battery (expensive on a S/S car), top mounts, wishbones & rear dampers - all of which should make it through the first 3yr on a new car (well they have on mine ;)).
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Sensible points indeed, unless you have had the car since new and know what is coming up.

rachfiat500 said:
Ill wait and see .. Ive been down this route before with my 206 convertible and would hate a repeat!

maybe buying new is th best way to go after all
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rach, taking JRKs argument and if the monthly outlay is affordable over 3 yrs plus final payment (and deposit) it could be worth passing your car back and getting a brand new one !! just a thought. On another thread some one is looking to pull out of their BWM lease and go the 1.2 500 route - not exactly related but on the same lines.
 
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arorat said:
rach, taking JRKs argument and if the monthly outlay is affordable over 3 yrs plus final payment (and deposit) it could be worth passing your car back and getting a brand new one !!
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Probably a bit late in the day for Rach as she's fairly recently bought the car & would likely lose too much by trading it in at this point. But the economics might be useful to anyone else faced with a similar choice. You can buy a new 1.2 lounge for about £10500, which is around £3000 less than Rach paid for a 4yr old car. That's £750pa! - and a 4yr old car could easily cost an extra £750pa in repairs & maintenance over a new one. Looked at like this, you are getting a brand new car for the same price as a 4yr old one, which to me is a no-brainer.
 
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arorat said:
Sensible points indeed, unless you have had the car since new and know what is coming up.
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Interestingly my own car has had its first component failure yesterday - the large breather split on the way home, so this month, I've an extra £12.39 to add to my running costs :(.

The economics are different if you maintain your own car :).
 
jrkitching said:
Probably a bit late in the day for Rach as she's fairly recently bought the car & would likely lose too much by trading it in at this point. But the economics might be useful to anyone else faced with a similar choice. You can buy a new 1.2 lounge for about £10500, which is around £3000 less than Rach paid for a 4yr old car. That's £750pa! - and a 4yr old car could easily cost an extra £750pa in repairs & maintenance over a new one. Looked at like this, you are getting a brand new car for the same price as a 4yr old one, which to me is a no-brainer.
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500's are really holding their money so a lot of folk must be buying used.
I bought my TA new 'pre reg' for less than 9k and it's still worth not far off now!!
Maybe Rach could go back to dealer and trade the car for a new one. As they sold it I would hope that they would help her. Just a thought.
Having said that, maybe all it will need in the next 3 yrs is Shocks/discs/pads and tyres. That's the thing with cars, you never really know : /
 
The Twins said:
I bought my TA new 'pre reg' for less than 9k and it's still worth not far off now!!
/
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Buying a new car at the right time with a good discount can easily take care of the first 18 months depreciation.

To get the very best deals, you do need to have the cash waiting and strike whilst the iron's hot.

There were some cracking deals on Pandas last week, but they're about £700 worse today.
 
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jrkitching said:
Probably a bit late in the day for Rach as she's fairly recently bought the car & would likely lose too much by trading it in at this point. But the economics might be useful to anyone else faced with a similar choice. You can buy a new 1.2 lounge for about £10500, which is around £3000 less than Rach paid for a 4yr old car. That's £750pa! - and a 4yr old car could easily cost an extra £750pa in repairs & maintenance over a new one. Looked at like this, you are getting a brand new car for the same price as a 4yr old one, which to me is a no-brainer.
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the difference was i wanted diesel (thinking it was the better option) and the fact it is better on motor ways etc as that's all i do .. The 1.3 diesel new in lounge was 16k or above ..my car was 7.5 but has leather, blue and me, sat nav etc etc so reason why i opted second hand as opposed to new petrol - as i did think about it - ive looked on net too and my car is worth just over 7.5k now :)
 
rachfiat500 said:
the difference was i wanted diesel (thinking it was the better option) and the fact it is better on motor ways etc as that's all i do .. The 1.3 diesel new in lounge was 16k or above ..my car was 7.5 but has leather, blue and me, sat nav etc etc so reason why i opted second hand as opposed to new petrol - as i did think about it - ive looked on net too and my car is worth just over 7.5k now :)
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There us nothing wrong with the deal on your car Rach.
If I was you I'd fix any issues stick with it. There is a big hike to £16k!
As I mentioned before you'll have a better suspension than any of the new cars if you fit B4 shocks.
 
I just want to stress again that it's not certain that it's the dampers, a few people have had the handbrake cable brackets break and they can make a similar noise also.

Don't get rid of the car, there is no inherent issue with the design of the 500's suspension components, merely the quality of the parts that were fitted to your 500 when it rolled off the production line.

IF it is the dampers, then 2 of the following will sort the issue for the lifetime of the car.

http://www.kamracing.co.uk/bilstein-b4-damper-19-184104.html

An hour or so for labour and your car will be back in rude health for not that much money in the big scheme of things.

I know it might sound a bit scary when you need to have bits replaced on your car that never failed on old cars, but the quality of the Fiat bits is shocking. Buy a decent quality set of dampers or arms or whatever and they'll more than likely last the lifetime of the car, rather than just 2 or 3 years as genuine bits will.

If you need any advice as to what constitutes a good part then feel free to ask :) But don't go selling your car just because a few easily replaced bits need to be replaced with decent stuff :)
 
306maxi said:
But don't go selling your car just because a few easily replaced bits need to be replaced with decent stuff :)
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Sound advice (y).

I am still miffed at having to replace my large breather today after only 3yrs :mad:.

But a total of £12.39 in unscheduled maintenance over the first 3yrs is no reason to think of selling the car, or rubbish the whole thing :).
 
That's one area where my car is cheaper than yours, breather pipe costs! Mine has cost me nothing in the nearly 4 years I've had it ;)
 
I just expected to at least have 1 year problem free considering a garage looked over it .. We have a feel of the rubber on the suspension (forgotten the names) on the rear and there are noticable holes in the rubber...you can just about poke your finger through the other side.. Really i need time to jack car, take wheel off and take a look myself .. We've been looking at those B4 shockers... 150.00 for a pair of rears and 170 for fronts is ok, just expensive when i spent 7.5 on my car that's all .. Bit gutting i always get done over! :( Thank you so much for all your kind words and wisdom! Its greatly appreciated :) ill let you guys know how Friday goes :) but from having a feel of the rubber tonight .. Think its gonna be my first big expense .. Sigh
 
jrkitching said:
Don't worry, your diesel doesn't have this part. It used to be a common fault on the 1.2 petrol, but there's a redesigned part that fixes it permanently. Most will have been replaced under warranty by now - mine is probably one of the last old type breathers left.
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Yours will be the last one I suspect!
 
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