TobiasBB said:

Hi there!
I am very fond of my pandas, the 169 model,and they are great for... up to 4 people, as a growing family we don't fit in them anymore, and have been flirting with some PSA cars on the side (lastly a citroen c4 grand picasso 7 seater), and to say the least - after the panda I'm not impressed, you need special for simple jobs, they place a crucial canbus-computer in the wheel arch :tosser: and in general if there's a way to turn a 5 minute job into a 4 day thing you can be sure it will not take 5 minutes...:bang:

SO: I just learned the 500L existed[emoji3], and it has 7 seat... and there's this one in red, and I'm falling for it, and oh no! I can feel where this is headed... I've done this before, falling in love with a car (especially little cute fiats!?), rushed out and bought it, and yeah... buyers remorse? not knowing what I got into, or taking the wrong model, spending 4 times the purchase cost and still have a not so good car...(but on the upside I can change my panda-motor in an afternoon :slayer[emoji4]

There may be someone on here who know a thing or two about what to look out for, we are in the market for a petrol-powered one (mostly super short trips to the daycares/school) [emoji4]

The one I have fallen for is the 0.9 twin air popstar with circa 105bhp, and it's the 2014 model (are there different variants?)

With this one, are there anything in particular to look out for? should I look for something else? are places where they sometimes rust early? parts that wear out or turn bad prematurely? anything that's really annoying to get at? etc?
Is it as much of a racecar as it looks? (I will stay naive!)

Thank you!

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TobiasBB said:

Thank you! That is very helpful indeed, I was thinking regular maintenance would be critical with a high performing 2cyl (very good mpg's for a vehichle seating that many).

Awesome suggestions on gearboxes, makes a lot of sense.

The larger hp motors i gather are standard fiat 4cylinder fire motors with some blower attached? Ill have to check if they are even available here, the only larger displacement motors ive found have been diesels (which does not suit our needs)

Re the parasitic drain, is it known whats causing it?

Thank you for your answer!

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redetris said:

Thanks for this thread guys, I'll be following this. What car did up buying?

I bought 500L MPW TwinAir 105 (7 seater) about 3 years ago, 14-reg. I think this variant is quite rare.

I was on a mission to find a 7-seater family petrol car with 40ish real life mpg. Now finally I can rest. Been averaging 36-38 mpg for mixed use.

My take on the car so far:

+ lively, plenty of power. If anybody thinks power is an issue, they haven't driven a TA. Elsewhere in the forum someone commented that driving TA in 500L feels like 1.6 diesel. This is true. The middle range torque is plentiful, making overtaking a breeze.
+ best mpg for a 7-seater petrol car (you can say 5+2 instead of 7 seats, but ok in our case as our 2 kids are still small).
+ superb to drive, high seating position, excellent visibility

- Very short 1st gear and weak power/torque at the start of 2nd gear (though plenty at mid rpm). Can't use 2nd gear to pull away at roundabouts/junctions even though the car is still rolling.
- Poor fabric quality on the seats for Pop Star trim. Easily stained and feels like they're skimping.

Overall though, we love the car. £30 tax and low insurance are bonuses. If it proves to be reliable, it could be the best family car we've ever owned. Had to change a £400 ECU recently, hopefully no more unexpected failures.

Do keep us posted if you did buy a Fiat.

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