Hey there! New here, I’m wondering if i could get some new information on Buying a used 500. I want a Lounge spec, how hard would it be to find one for £2000? Does anyone have one to sell me? What should i look out for? Rust prone areas? Cold start issues? Anything at all you have to tell me, im all ears for

Dane Cowan said:

Hey there! New here, I’m wondering if i could get some new information on Buying a used 500. I want a Lounge spec, how hard would it be to find one for £2000? Does anyone have one to sell me? What should i look out for? Rust prone areas? Cold start issues? Anything at all you have to tell me, im all ears for

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Buy a written off one for £1200, 12 plate, spend about £400-500 on parts and you’ve got yourself a low mileage good car. Otherwise a plus 100k Miles bit of a dog. Never seen an unwritten off car anywhere near as cheap as that.

I’ve just bought a 10 plate lounge with £34k for £950. Needs bonnet, bumper, door, front panel, hatch and dash/airbags. Luckily I have already got some of the parts.

Dane Cowan said:

Hey there! New here, I’m wondering if i could get some new information on Buying a used 500. I want a Lounge spec, how hard would it be to find one for £2000? Does anyone have one to sell me? What should i look out for? Rust prone areas? Cold start issues? Anything at all you have to tell me, im all ears for

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Hi.
I think you need to do more research..

Corrosion.. vs .. price

Corrosion.? .... its not a FORD

PRICE..? These cars hold their value very well..

as stated :sub FOUR k. You will be looking at something needing SOME work.

THAT is why I have owned 2 pandas..
and 0 500's.

Easier to maintain..and a better value used buy.

The cost of 'Style'

Charlir

Dane Cowan said:

Hey there!

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Hi and welcome :wave:.

Dane Cowan said:

I want a Lounge spec, how hard would it be to find one for £2000? Does anyone have one to sell me? What should i look out for? Rust prone areas? Cold start issues? Anything at all you have to tell me, im all ears for

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At that price point, you'd be well advised to forget about buying a 500; a well used example (and it will be for £2000) is probably one of the worst value cars you can buy on the secondhand market.

The 500 is a desirable car and is hugely fashionable; it carries a substantial 'fashion premium'. At that price point, you want every pound to be working hard to get you the most reliable and least troublesome car you can find, and that isn't a 500.

If you want a Fiat, take a look at a Panda instead; this is an example of what you might get for your money.

That car in 500 form (and it's the same car under the skin) would likely be upwards of four grand on a forecourt.

If you choose to disregard this advice and buy a bargain basement 500 which goes on to give problems (and there are plently of posts here from folks who have), then you are now at least deprived of the excuse of ignorance.

You won't buy a decent 500 lounge for £2000.

Dane Cowan said:

Hey there! New here, I’m wondering if i could get some new information on Buying a used 500. I want a Lounge spec, how hard would it be to find one for £2000? Does anyone have one to sell me? What should i look out for? Rust prone areas? Cold start issues? Anything at all you have to tell me, im all ears for

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As above, you can find a Lounge from any price if you ignore the smacked front, back, roof and sides... but I presume you want one that's not been in an accident with an articulated lorry.

£2000 is very optimistic. You'll need another £500 to even get onto the pitch.. and then you're in the realm of high-mileage, slightly damaged (dents and scrapes) or former write-offs that have been repaired but are formerly Category-N or S. Any of those might do for you, depending on what you're looking for.

There's no specific issues with the 500. You just need to check that it starts okay and runs okay with no coughing, or hesitation from cold until it's fully warmed up. Gearboxes and clutches get abuse (from new drivers maybe?) and a few can therefore give trouble.. so check the gears don't graunch or jump out and the take-up is smooth. Gear change is a bit notchy even on a good one... but the changes should go in without excssive force.

If you're skint, or just a cheap-skate buy the 1.2 rather than the TwinAir (0.9) since the latter needs a bit more TLC whereas the 1200 is bomb-proof.

And the car should heat up to mid-way on the gauge fairly quickly and then stay there. The fan should come on if the temperature increases... so check that too.

Check all the electrics work, especially the dashboard and the rear lights, since the hatch wiring loom is a weak spot and can fray = odd behaviour with the lights... but this is easy and cheap to fix.

Some cars knacker their dampers so look at those and check the springs are not missing any pieces of coil. Brakes should be okay.

Have a poke about through the car's MOT history (you can get this online if you know the number plate) so you can see what any particular car has had problems with, so you can check those things have been sorted out... (and something like persistent "tyres worn close to limit" on the Advisories section might suggest the owner didn't spend too much money on looking after it).

But.. from experience.. if you plan to keep it a few years and you're not going to fix it yourself, save up another £1500 and get a rather good one. If you're just going to hoon around for a few months and you can fix it yourself/or not at all before you sell it again then a cheaper one with issues might be not the worst thing.




Ralf S.

I had a 4 grand budget and couldn't find a decent one 18 months ago. All had problems with minor dings, excessive stone chips, faded paint etc gave up in end and bought a 14 years old mr2

I bought my current car for £950 [emoji3] I think I already mentioned that but if you’re prepared for some work, panel damaged and new front panel cars can be bought for less than £1500. Buy a white one and parts are much wider available and cheaper. You can pick up a bonnet for £100, a wing £60, bumper £120-£150, door £100-120 all in the right colour.

typecastboy said:

I bought my current car for £950 [emoji3] I think I already mentioned that but if you’re prepared for some work, panel damaged and new front panel cars can be bought for less than £1500. Buy a white one and parts are much wider available and cheaper. You can pick up a bonnet for £100, a wing £60, bumper £120-£150, door £100-120 all in the right colour.

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Very good advice, for £2k you can get a lot of car, just try Autotrader and set the price leaving make clear then do some filtering, like, exclude ALL diesel cars(trust me), mileage etc and remember you can get a much bigger newer car for the same money as a older small car, its true.

My car did belong to my daughter, who paid £2500 with 78K on the clock.
Its been reliable as in starts, but the list of consumable parts was massive.

Part.........Cost
Alternator bearings & recondition 45
Front Shocks 140
Front strut top covers 10
Clutch kit 80
Clutch fork and bearings 35
Water pump 35
Thermostat 35
Rear brake drums 50
Rear brake shoes 40
Rear brake slave cylinder 22
Brake hose unions 8
Oil and filter 40
Spark plugs 20
Gearbox oil 20
Air filter 15
Coolant 20
Cigarette lighter socket 15
Repair to damaged wiring loom 0
Repair to damaged DRL bulb socket 0
2 x wheel centre caps 20
3 x Windscreen wipers 25
Fiat badge 10
Rear view mirror 20

Plus 15 years labour......

I now have nearly new car so when she bought a new 500 I bought it to use as a hack instead of using my other car. Because of the outlay on parts I need at least 2 years out of it to break even and by then it will have nearly 100K on the clock.

If you raised your budget and considered the Panda, is this any use?!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classi...rice-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&page=3

Al D said:

If you raised your budget and considered the Panda, is this any use?!

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/201811262751594?make=FIAT&model=PANDA&radius=1500&onesearchad=Used&onesearchad=Nearly%20New&onesearchad=New&price-to=2500&price-from=2000&postcode=la80ja&sort=price-desc&advertising-location=at_cars&page=3

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That illustrates my point rather well - a similar car in 500 form would likely be another £2k on a dealer's forecourt.

With all the recent bad (and somewhat unfair IMHO) publicity following the NCAP test results, you might even be able to negotiate that down to £2k as the dealer will likely be keen to get it off the forecourt.

It ain’t a 500 though is it. I’ve never got the Panda at all, and most young female drivers wouldn’t be seen dead in one, cheaper or not.

typecastboy said:

It ain’t a 500 though is it. Most young female drivers wouldn’t be seen dead in one, cheaper or not.

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Its a car(Panda) your granny drives or someone who "just needs to get around"

John202020 said:

Its a car(Panda) your granny drives or someone who "just needs to get around"

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Or a car for a prudent young person on a tight budget who wants to make their motoring money go as far as possible .

The real reason so many are driven by old people is that we've seen enough of the world to know what really matters and we know good value when we see it .

James May has a Panda.

Have to be honest, with decent Panda 100HPs available for under £2k, that's where my money would go.

Mines had a few wear items
Front and rear brakes
Two tires
Air con regas

Then new rear shocks
And back box for the exhaust

wardpaa said:

My car did belong to my daughter, who paid £2500 with 78K on the clock.
Its been reliable as in starts, but the list of consumable parts was massive.

Part.........Cost
Alternator bearings & recondition 45
Front Shocks 140
Front strut top covers 10
Clutch kit 80
Clutch fork and bearings 35
Water pump 35
Thermostat 35
Rear brake drums 50
Rear brake shoes 40
Rear brake slave cylinder 22
Brake hose unions 8
Oil and filter 40
Spark plugs 20
Gearbox oil 20
Air filter 15
Coolant 20
Cigarette lighter socket 15
Repair to damaged wiring loom 0
Repair to damaged DRL bulb socket 0
2 x wheel centre caps 20
3 x Windscreen wipers 25
Fiat badge 10
Rear view mirror 20

Plus 15 years labour......

I now have nearly new car so when she bought a new 500 I bought it to use as a hack instead of using my other car. Because of the outlay on parts I need at least 2 years out of it to break even and by then it will have nearly 100K on the clock.

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But aren't most of those wear and tear and service items that you'd expect with any car?

Spike

Schumi2001 said:

Have to be honest, with decent Panda 100HPs available for under £2k, that's where my money would go.

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A 100HP is not a good choice for a newly qualified driver on a tight budget. A 1.1 or 1.2 will get you a much better car for the same money, with significantly lower running costs, especially (for a 1st time driver) insurance.

But once you've a couple of years no claims bonus behind you, then a 100HP makes sense, and is probably the most fun car you could buy for its price.

There's an old adage about running and walking, and the precise order in which those two activities are best attempted.

John202020 said:

Its a car(Panda) your granny drives or someone who "just needs to get around"

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Been driving pandas for years I'm 53 and the panda is so cheap to run, great in the snow in 2wd form, my last one cost £5500 one year old 6000 miles now almost 5 years old and 26000 miles and probably still get 4 grand for it or near. costs so far servicing only. Depreciation minimal, if I keep it for another 5 years i still won't lose what most BMW, Audi and any plus 30000 pound cars cost in depreciation just taking it out of the showroom.
And I've owned Beemers, audis etc and lost fortunes over 3 years. The Mrs wanted a 500 but couldn't find a decent one with 4 grand of readies, she loves driving the panda even though we got an mr2 instead of the 500 which she uses daily, at 13 years old and 46000 miles the mr2 is in better condition than most 5 year old 500s. I asked her recently if she still wanted a 500 and she said buy me a panda.

jrkitching said:

A 100HP is not a good choice for a newly qualified driver on a tight budget. A 1.1 or 1.2 will get you a much better car for the same money, with significantly lower running costs, especially (for a 1st time driver) insurance.

But once you've a couple of years no claims bonus behind you, then a 100HP makes sense, and is probably the most fun car you could buy for its price.

There's an old adage about running and walking, and the precise order in which those two activities are best attempted.

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The OP didn't say anything about being a new driver.