Hi all,

I am looking at picking up a 500, down sizing from an Audi A3 cabriolet and was hoping for some help on here. I have a bunch of questions but thought I would ease in with a couple to start with.

One of the attractions of the 500, living in London is its size and economy.

I quite like the 500 0.9 Twin Air Lounge but worried that coming from a faster car (the Audi is a 2.0 T) that the 0.9 may seem too slow. I have also noticed that a few members here have moved up from a standard 500 to an Abarth.

Is the Abart worth sacrificing some of the fuel economy, road tax and insurance savings for is the 0.9 the way to go ?

Also, looking at the classifieds and new price, there does not seem to be much difference - probably £2k - £3k between new and a car that is 2-3 years old. In this case, do people I would be better off with a new car and taking advantage of some of the low rate Fiat finance deals ?

Thanks in adavnce for your help.

Spy said:

Hi all,

I am looking at picking up a 500, down sizing from an Audi A3 cabriolet and was hoping for some help on here. I have a bunch of questions but thought I would ease in with a couple to start with.

One of the attractions of the 500, living in London is its size and economy.

I quite like the 500 0.9 Twin Air Lounge but worried that coming from a faster car (the Audi is a 2.0 T) that the 0.9 may seem too slow. I have also noticed that a few members here have moved up from a standard 500 to an Abarth.

Is the Abart worth sacrificing some of the fuel economy, road tax and insurance savings for is the 0.9 the way to go ?

Also, looking at the classifieds and new price, there does not seem to be much difference - probably £2k - £3k between new and a car that is 2-3 years old. In this case, do people I would be better off with a new car and taking advantage of some of the low rate Fiat finance deals ?

Thanks in adavnce for your help.

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Hello and welcome. Personally i think the 0.9 is enough for london! If you go to trackdays or do some continental motorwaying then the abarth may be better for you.

Regarding used cars i agree with you completely. Only buy the twinair used if it is a good deal with a preregistered car that is no more than 3 months old and less than 1k miles. If the difference isnt big pricewise than new for sure! Hope this helps.

The TA for Central London 100%.

It has the extra umph over the 1.2 and if you drive in the congestion charge zone you are still CC Free Till 2015 (as long as you register this year).

Having driven the 1.2 Abarth and TA around London, the TA wins hands down the 1.2 feels lacking at times and the Abarth is just a bit much.

TA is about £1300 more than lounge (Or was when I bought mine), but for me that is more than covered with the Congestion Charge savings,

TA Will no longer be congestion charge free from Later this year, but cars registered before the change over will carry forward the exemption till Mid 2015

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I am not looking to drive teh Fiat into teh Congestion Charge zone so not too concerned about its exemption there. Its zero road tax though is of interest.

Even so, when does the car need to be registered with TFL in order to avoid congestion charge to 2015 ? Does that exemption stay with the car or expires on a change of owner ?

Also, I thought the Abarth was a 1.4, not a 1.2 - is that correct ?

flashyphotos was referring to three different models, the 1.2 the Abarth and 1.4.

306maxi said:

flashyphotos was referring to three different models, the 1.2 the Abarth and 1.4.

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Maxi for clarity's sake and not to confuse the OP lets refer to the engine unit of the abarth as the 1.4 Turbo.



So yes OP, the Abarth is a 1.4 turbo.

At the moment I am waiting on delivery of my twinair 500C, I am coming from a Hyundai Coupe with a V6 2.7l engine. When I test drove the TA I was impressed by the eagerness of the engine and while it hasn't got the 'grunt' of the V6 it doesn't feel slow. Most of my driving is around country lanes so out and out power is a bit of a waste (as it is in London) but the handling adds to the fun on the twisty bits .

I have worked out that in the first three years of ownership I will save in excess of £9000 over the coupe.
Road tax TA £0 V6 £270 per year
MOT £0 V6 £50 per Year
Insurance a saving in excess of £300 per year
Fuel TA 250 miles to £40 V6 230 miles to £70
Repairs TA warrenty V6 ??? (currently needs a new clutch and brake discs £1000)
the list goes on. Needless to say I am looking forward to have a bit more cash in my pocket and a big smile on my face when the sun comes out and I can enjoy some open top motoring :slayer:

What about how much the ta costs? You'll save much more money with a 106 diesel. A new car never really makes sense from a financial point of view

306maxi said:

What about how much the ta costs? You'll save much more money with a 106 diesel. A new car never really makes sense from a financial point of view

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Depends on how long you keep it. We have a
2007 Honda Civic. Bought new and never let us down and we know the full history and the way its been driven ALL its life. The intention is to pass this car (500) to my wife then my daughter so again I will know the full history. When buying a car long term buying new is better IMHO than buying 2nd hand.

As for the 106 I'd rather chew my own leg off than drive one of them. (not a great pug fan ).

scout500 said:

As for the 106 I'd rather chew my own leg off than drive one of them. (not a great pug fan ).

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Actually the 106 was one of their best cars! I dont know what went wrong after that, the 206 and 207 were awful. Lets see what the 208 gti gives, if anything. After the 106 rallye and 205 gti they have been lost in the woods!

Spy said:

Thanks for the feedback so far.

I am not looking to drive teh Fiat into teh Congestion Charge zone so not too concerned about its exemption there. Its zero road tax though is of interest.

Even so, when does the car need to be registered with TFL in order to avoid congestion charge to 2015 ? Does that exemption stay with the car or expires on a change of owner ?

Also, I thought the Abarth was a 1.4, not a 1.2 - is that correct ?

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Its not been finalised yet, they were talking about May/June. After that the cutoff is dropping to a crazy 75g from the current >100 (It should expire with change of owner but if say the existing owner were to renew it for the new owner not sure how Tfl could find out!!)

Even if you don't go into London a lot its worth the £10 a year registration cost, just to ensure you are covered the odd time you need to go in.

And sorry yes I was talking about driving the 1.2 / Abarth / TA in London so 3 different cars, my initial layout was confusing

Currently the 1.2 is £30 a year and the TA is £0 so not a major difference or moneysaver, the TA can be a bit more economical than the 1.2 around town if you treat it gentle but overall I find you just want to give it some beans and the economy drifts away, (But its fun!)

For town driving the 1.2 and TA would be the logical choices, take CC out of the factoring and there is probably not a huge amount in it economy wise but the TA is a LOT more fun to drive. The Abarth will of course hit you for a lot more tax and higher insurance, more frequent servicing

Lots of choices, whatever you choose its a great car.

I agree with everything above but the elephant in the room is that only you can say what is important to you, both in terms of how the different models drive, and also how significant any costs savings may be to you.

I would say to work out the numbers (which should be reasonably objective and ascertainable) then get a decent test drive over a longish period in a 1.2, TA and an Abarth, preferably back-to-back.

ahmett said:

Actually the 106 was one of their best cars! I dont know what went wrong after that, the 206 and 207 were awful. Lets see what the 208 gti gives, if anything. After the 106 rallye and 205 gti they have been lost in the woods!

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A bit :Offtopic: but I think their high point was the 205 GTi. Produced nothing of note since then. My mother drives a 1.6 307 and pays the same road tax as I do on the Coupe V6 (£270) and I think her MPG is similar

Give them a drive and see how you feel. In my opinion the 500 is a car which doesn't need to be fast to be fun.

For a town car I would suggest the TA or 1.2 over the Abarth, the diesel or the 1.4 versions..

Flashy, can I be nosy?

I can speculate that you had access to a 1.2 while, for example, your TA was in for service.

But how did you manage to wangle a drive in an Abarth?

Variety is certainly the spice......

OrangeSport said:

Give them a drive and see how you feel. In my opinion the 500 is a car which doesn't need to be fast to be fun.

For a town car I would suggest the TA or 1.2 over the Abarth, the diesel or the 1.4 versions..

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:yeahthat: The only way to find out if it works for you is to try it. I had very specific criteria for the coupe replacement and the TA500C ticked all those boxes +. I wanted something that would put a smile on my face while being cheaper to run and more comfortable than the V6. The 500 does that in spades. What I would suggest is find a hire company and rent one for the weekend, you'll then know for sure if the 500 is the car for you, if you hate it after living with one for a few days then you have your answer. (My bet is that you'd be anouncing a new addition to the family )

snes said:

Flashy, can I be nosy?

I can speculate that you had access to a 1.2 while, for example, your TA was in for service.

But how did you manage to wangle a drive in an Abarth?

Variety is certainly the spice......

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I owned a 1.2 Lounge for 3 Years before trading it for my TA 500c

(Although used it more as a City car than my everyday motor, hence only putting 22k miles on it in 3 years, compared to 18k miles on the TA in 6 months), (Shows how much more I enjoy driving the TA!!!)

I have a friend in the office with an Abarth and have managed to borrow it for a fair few jaunts around the Centre of London, and find it a bit harsh in that environment although out on the country lanes its a joy to drive.

the difference in power (and torque) will show on the motorway in the TA compared to the 2.0t in the Audi (an engine i really rate)

my TA has been reasonably cheep to run and maintain with servicing at 18k

i went to order a A500 on weekend but fortunately Thames Fiat did their usual trick so failed to sell me a car but have done me a favour as having looked at what the A500 is going to cost my to run its not going to be an itch i'm going to scratch given the 9k and 18k service costs and in reality i reckon your 2.0T will cost less

I'd go for a 500C Twin-Air.

The fabric roof be just like your current doodah.. and the TA motor shouldn't be too much faster. You'll quickly adapt.


Ralf S.