Some of the parts listed are wear and tear but others like the Alternator bearing, Starter motor gears and fan resistor etc were down to the design of the car (they are made by other manufactures like Delco).
At 80K things like Clutch/Belts and Brakes are likely.

wardpaa said:

Some of the parts listed are wear and tear but others like the Alternator bearing, Starter motor gears and fan resistor etc were down to the design of the car (they are made by other manufactures like Delco).
At 80K things like Clutch/Belts and Brakes are likely.

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I find that the 500 just eats through some components-
Brake pads at 20k miles then discs
Rear shocks every 18k.. last gas filled monroe units looked fine, but were shagged
Drop links every 12k miles to get rid of the knocking sounds - they literally fall off when removed
Top mounts every 3 years unless you cover them completely - for example

The 500 doesn’t last well unless looked after... but I find it cheap to fix when it needs something!

p6baseunit said:

I find that the 500 just eats through some components

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Remember that the 500 is based on the Panda 169; that started out as a 60HP car running on 155x13 wheels and the components are stressed and spec'd for that. With the larger wheels and wider tyres of the 500, the forces and stresses acting on the suspension components are significantly greater, and tbh the OEM parts aren't really up to the job.

On the Panda, they'll go the distance if driven carefully - my 1.2 has now done almost 90k and all I've replaced is one set of pads & discs; apart from wiper blades, tyres and filters, the rest of the car is still running with the parts it left the factory with, except for the spark plugs - they were swapped out for Iridiums at an early stage.

Aftermarket parts from reputable manufacturers may perform better than their OEM equivalents.

One encouraging thing is that corrosion has improved over the years with only the lower front sills/ inner front wing area looking vulnerable when i removed the plastic wheel arch liner to find a build up of mud.
I have applied some underseal paint and waxoil to help this area.

On older Fiat models the running gear would out last the bodywork but with some preventive maintenance and regular servicing the 500 could last a few more years.

wardpaa said:

One encouraging thing is that corrosion has improved over the years with only the lower front sills/ inner front wing area looking vulnerable when i removed the plastic wheel arch liner to find a build up of mud.
I have applied some underseal paint and waxoil to help this area.

On older Fiat models the running gear would out last the bodywork but with some preventive maintenance and regular servicing the 500 could last a few more years.

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Not so fast.

The core bodyshell is galvanised and well protected, but quite a few of the components which are bolted to it are not; particularly the rear beam, which is prone to corrosion areound the spring pans - it's seeing a lot of Pandas being scrapped as the repair cost (unless done DIY using secondhand parts) is greater than the value of a 10yr old car.

Sumps are notoriously prone to rusting as they're made of thin mild steel with just a quick powder coat, which soon fails. I've seen better sumps on 50yr old classics than on a 5yr old 500.

Radiators (particlularly the A/C condenser) are also prone to corrosion-induced failure; look through the front grille of an older 500 with A/C and I doubt you'll find one with many of its fins still intact. They do seem to carry on regardless, but even the most minor of shunts will likely prove to be the final straw.

A leaking main radiator, if not dealt with promptly, will soon lead to HG failure; the final repair bill could easily exceed the value of an older car. It doesn't really matter whether you're scrapping a car because the sills have rotted, or the engine has seized following a coolant leak from a corroded radiator; you're still ultimately writing off the car because of corrosion.

p6baseunit said:

I find that the 500 just eats through some components-
Brake pads at 20k miles then discs
Rear shocks every 18k.. last gas filled monroe units looked fine, but were shagged
Drop links every 12k miles to get rid of the knocking sounds - they literally fall off when removed
Top mounts every 3 years unless you cover them completely - for example

The 500 doesn’t last well unless looked after... but I find it cheap to fix when it needs something!

Click to expand...

To be fair, those can't be a generic 500 problems.

a) The discs are the same as on a Grande Punto, which is heavier, so relative to its weight the 500 has plenty of brakes. They're not super-thin discs and pads.. regular, same as made by Ferodo and Bosch and fitted to loads of other cars.

b) Rear shocks.. again, Monroe make shocks for loads of cars, same design as the 500 which is a lot lighter than most... so I dunno why they would just fail because they are on a 500 instead of a Toyota. It could be the springs are too soft and the dampers have to work extra hard but I dunno if 500 rear springs are regarded as too soft. The Ford Ka anti-roll bar is thicker (as is the later Fiat one) though so it is possible that the rear dampers get a hard time on early models...

c) Drop links are the same part number as on the Fiat Stilo and they last okay on Stilo's which are all heavier than any model of 500... so not sure that they're too bad.

d) Top mounts on 500 I have no experience of... but I presume they're very similar to Cinquecento or Punto mounts, neither of which are disasterous. I've had quite a few Fiats and I've never replaced the top mounts because they were worn out.. only as part of replacing the dampers or the odd broken spring (not worth the hassle of swapping all that and then replacing old mounts).


Ralf S.

Ralf S. said:

To be fair, those can't be a generic 500 problems.

a) The discs are the same as on a Grande Punto, which is heavier, so relative to its weight the 500 has plenty of brakes. They're not super-thin discs and pads.. regular, same as made by Ferodo and Bosch and fitted to loads of other cars.

b) Rear shocks.. again, Monroe make shocks for loads of cars, same design as the 500 which is a lot lighter than most... so I dunno why they would just fail because they are on a 500 instead of a Toyota. It could be the springs are too soft and the dampers have to work extra hard but I dunno if 500 rear springs are regarded as too soft. The Ford Ka anti-roll bar is thicker (as is the later Fiat one) though so it is possible that the rear dampers get a hard time on early models...

c) Drop links are the same part number as on the Fiat Stilo and they last okay on Stilo's which are all heavier than any model of 500... so not sure that they're too bad.

d) Top mounts on 500 I have no experience of... but I presume they're very similar to Cinquecento or Punto mounts, neither of which are disasterous. I've had quite a few Fiats and I've never replaced the top mounts because they were worn out.. only as part of replacing the dampers or the odd broken spring (not worth the hassle of swapping all that and then replacing old mounts).


Ralf S.

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Ralf, do you even own a 500?
I have two late 2013 sports, one hatchback one convertible and the hatch is worse!
The top mounts sit in the heater drain area and the bearings get water sitting in them.
The convertible has the updated rear beam from the Abarth, with the hatchback makes more use of the front antiroll bar and I get 12k miles before the front suspension starts to clonk, telling me that the drop links are gone.
Many people on here complain also of a noisy front suspension.
Re rear shocks, my last Toyota had rear shocks installed vertically, not at an angle to dampen and control the up and down rear suspension movement. This has been less of an issue on the heavier, more controlled convertible... but on the lighter hatch there are beyond useful after 18k, the rear end begins to hop around at speed if it hits the smallest of motorway furniture - sleeping policemen

No.. I don't have a 500 but I'm looking at a few (the Younger Mrs S. wants to retire her Cinquecento) so I've seen good, bad and even a few ugly ones.

I'm still not convinced 500 is generically all that bad. I know a lot of people can get emotional as soon as their car develops some kind of problem and blame Fiat for it... but Fiat doesn't make the drop links for example... and the drop link doesn't know it has to go wrong when it's on a Fiat, but last for ever if it gets fitted to a Toyota..

Drop link is just a steel rod with a ball joint at each end. If the ball joint doesn't have dirt in it and it has a bit of grease added when it's manufactured (I guess the manufacturer doesn't leave the grease out, if the drop link is for a Fiat) then the only way it can wear out is by the number of up and down movement cycles, also bearing in mind the actual load on the ball joints.

I don't know why yours wear out. The exact same drop links on my Stilo JTD (diesel, so it's twice the weight of a 500) last 90,000 miles so something's not quite right with yours. I use TRW drop-links. I dunno if it's worth giving them a punt (cost more but last longer?).

The rear dampers I don't have experience of. Monroe is a budget brand so it's probably not a surprise that they don't last long... but I don't think the attitude of the damper is a problem... The Younger Mrs S. Cinquecento has 90,000 miles on her OE dampers and they are inclined at about 40 degrees from vertical.

It's more likely the 500 dampers have a thinner (cheaper) damper rod and can flex during its travel (all suspension travels in an arc) which would cause the seals to fail sooner rather than later. There probably isn't a "cure" since anyone making dampers for 500 will just copy the standard (e.g. if the problem is caused by a thin rod) design.

Top mounts, I dunno... I didn't see the design up close but I'll have to take a look. On the Stilo the bearing is part of a top-hat type of thing so it gets some protection from water and dirt.. and it also has a cap on top.. and it's inside a turret, so no surprise that they last forever maybe. Cinquecento just has a rubber "shower cap" thing on the bearing but again, they also don't sit in an area that can be flooded. I'll have to get more familiar with 500 top mounts by the sound of it.


Ralf S.

One of my drop links lasted only six months and was a reasonable brand Febi the new top mounts seem to be better made(Lemforder) than the originals that were 8 years old I think