New member in need of some constructive advice!
I am new to 500's and I have the option of buying a 2009 1.4 sport dualogic and a 2009 1.3 multi jet both in great condition with approx 30k on the clock and both come in at around the same price. Which car has the best drivability, which one is likely to give me the least issues and which one is likely to have the best re-sale? I cover quite a few miles on a weekly basis with a fair bit of motorway driving, so that really needs to be a consideration. The diesel is lovely but just seemed a little on the noisy side but the tax and fuel costs of the 1.4 are also an issue!
Thank you in advance.

The 1.4 is going to give you the least issues that's for sure.

306maxi said:

The 1.4 is going to give you the least issues that's for sure.

Click to expand...

Even with the dual logic? is this deemed as a positive or negative on re-sale?

Dualogic makes no difference tbh, it's generally very reliable.

Is the 1.3 a manual? If so, might have fewer potential issues .

Diesel is worse than a dualogic by about 1000x times in terms of issues

Getting very drawn to the 1.4 sport!! Is 45-50mpg achievable on a motorway run or am I kidding myself?!
Can't believe how hard the suspension is on these little things :slayer:

I doubt it.

plantpot50 said:

Getting very drawn to the 1.4 sport!! Is 45-50mpg achievable on a motorway run or am I kidding myself?!
Can't believe how hard the suspension is on these little things :slayer:

Click to expand...

I get 35 mpg. you can get 40 mpg if you drive on the motorway not passing 70.

Are they really that poor on mpg? The sport I took out today on the dash stated I was averaging around 47mpg on the run I took it for! I really need a better mpg range than 35-40......maybe this is the wrong car for me
Maybe I need to test drive a 1.2 sport?

plantpot50 said:

Are they really that poor on mpg? The sport I took out today on the dash stated I was averaging around 47mpg on the run I took it for! I really need a better mpg range than 35-40......maybe this is the wrong car for me
Maybe I need to test drive a 1.2 sport?

Click to expand...

Strange question, any reason why you're looking at the sport spec?

Not sure why its a strange question, the engines are the same across the range aren't they? - And surely the 1.2 offers better mpg?
I like the styling on the sport.
I own two cars as I drive a lot of miles for work and don't like putting the miles on my family car. The last three 'work' cars have been a golf, a smart roadster and a peugeot 107 which have all given me 50mpg quite happily. I am a just a little surprised to hear the 'real' mpg on the fiat being such a small car.

Just wondered if you were thinking that things like the suspension were different across the specs that was all Try the 1.2, it's a nice little engine and will easily do 50+ on runs.

306maxi said:

Just wondered if you were thinking that things like the suspension were different across the specs that was all Try the 1.2, it's a nice little engine and will easily do 50+ on runs.

Click to expand...

Perfect......Thats just what I wanted to hear
Thank you, I will keep you updated with my search!

Just to say, we regularly achieve 43+ mpg in our 1.4 Lounge Convertible on shortish runs and 45+ on longer journeys. The mileage is 32,000.

I have to agree that the ride is quite harsh, though. Harder and more bouncy than our other car, a late model Mazda MX-5.

Have been looking with interest at so many comments about fuel economy on the forum so I converted your fuel cost per litre to Aust dollars, and was truly shocked.
We believe our fuel is pricey here but it works out to 0.86p per litre...the US would be cheaper still.

I have managed to locate a 1.2 Sport start-stop with only 16k thats within my budget. Going for a test-drive tomorrow. Hoping this is the solution

BigKev said:

Just to say, we regularly achieve 43+ mpg in our 1.4 Lounge Convertible on shortish runs and 45+ on longer journeys. The mileage is 32,000.

I have to agree that the ride is quite harsh, though. Harder and more bouncy than our other car, a late model Mazda MX-5.

Click to expand...

Cheers BigKev, thats good to know. I've not ruled out the 1.4 yet