What you need to do is buy a car that's in better condition.
:yeahthat:
For me, this highlights some of the key points in the perennial 'buy new vs used' debate.
The franchised dealer network is geared up to meet the needs of those folks who buy a car new & trade it in after 3yrs. In the particular case of the 500, FIAT's discounting policy means it's also geared up towards those buying on finance.
Using this franchised network to buy & maintain a used car will almost always end up costing you more. You'll likely pay over the odds for the car, you'll certainly pay over the odds for the servicing, and they won't want to know when it comes to taking a 6yr old car back in part exchange.
OTOH, if you shop carefully in the private market for a good 3yr old car (they do exist - there was a
recent thread about a cross on the Panda forum) and service it yourself, you'll probably save a packet. None of the issues with Rachel's car would cost much if done DIY as all the bits needed can be bought cheaply on the aftermarket; the same work done by a main dealer using OEM parts could run up a bill for thousands.
If your technical knowledge of cars can be written on the back of a postage stamp, and you can't bear the thought of haggling with independent garages, there's a lot to be said for buying new, and you'll have more certainty about what your monthly outgoings will be. OTOH, if you have the knowledge and somewhere to do the work (increasingly rare these days), a good secondhand car bought privately & self maintained should end up costing you less overall.
To better illustrate the point, consider a front disc & pad change. To me, the cost will be about the price of a tank of fuel; the time & hassle is roughly comparable to washing & hoovering the car. But to someone else in admittedly a worst-case scenario, that same job might be the price of a week's holiday in Tenerife & the best part of a day wasted driving 50 miles to a FIAT dealership & hanging around waiting for it to be fixed.
What I still can't get my head round is how the OP is seemingly happy to settle for a new 107, yet ridiculed the idea of a new 1.2 Panda - much the same money after discounting & IMO a far better car, particularly when it comes to driving it.