This morning my 500 ticked over to 80,000 on the odometer.
I know some people have less than ideal experiences with theirs, but mine has been as good as you could expect from a car that cost £8,720 back when it was picked up from the forecourt back on July the 16th 2009.
In terms of things that have gone wrong.
The rear dampers and front strut top mounts were replaced under warranty in April 2012.
The leather on the drivers seat base got saggy and wrinkly and was replaced under warranty also.
It's used one set of Vredestein Snowtrac 3 tyres and still has two of the original tyres it came with, the other two got murdered by my Fiat garage who put a ridiculous amount of toe out on it when replacing the strut top mounts, they were replaced with part worn tyres which had the same amount of tread as the tyres that came off. For all intents and purposes the car would still have the same set of tyres ot came with.
Last month I replaced the boot handle as the chrome was bubbling off.
The backbox has lost the outer casing at the bottom, but still passed its MOT in July.
It failed its MOT in July due to a leaky front damper. I replaced all the springs and dampers with a Bilstein B14 kit.
The thermostat went a couple of months ago.
In terms of showing signs of wear...
The drivers seat leather has bum marks on it and the boulsters show signs of someone having gotten in and out of it a few thousand times.
The drivers door card is scuffed from my work boots.
It's done quite well in terms of stone chips and I feel no need to buy a touch up pen.
It has not a single dent on it.... Not a single one and only one scratch on the drivers side rubbing strip.
All the controls feel taught and not sloppy at all. In fact with the new suspension the steering feels weighty and precise, something it never felt before....
Had a new battery too.
It's been serviced at least once a year depending on mileage. The timing belt and water pump need to be done but I'll probably leave it to the spring.
Things that should have gone wrong with it but haven't .... Hatch wiring, still fine, but the hatch might get opened once or twice a week or once a month. The door handles are still attached too.
Can't think of many cars that could have been purchased for that price which would have been so reliable and cheap to run over the last 6 years.
Oh and to top it off webuyanycar say they'll give me £3,500 for it if I were to trade it in (I'm not going to!). You can't complain about that at all.
I know some people have less than ideal experiences with theirs, but mine has been as good as you could expect from a car that cost £8,720 back when it was picked up from the forecourt back on July the 16th 2009.
In terms of things that have gone wrong.
The rear dampers and front strut top mounts were replaced under warranty in April 2012.
The leather on the drivers seat base got saggy and wrinkly and was replaced under warranty also.
It's used one set of Vredestein Snowtrac 3 tyres and still has two of the original tyres it came with, the other two got murdered by my Fiat garage who put a ridiculous amount of toe out on it when replacing the strut top mounts, they were replaced with part worn tyres which had the same amount of tread as the tyres that came off. For all intents and purposes the car would still have the same set of tyres ot came with.
Last month I replaced the boot handle as the chrome was bubbling off.
The backbox has lost the outer casing at the bottom, but still passed its MOT in July.
It failed its MOT in July due to a leaky front damper. I replaced all the springs and dampers with a Bilstein B14 kit.
The thermostat went a couple of months ago.
In terms of showing signs of wear...
The drivers seat leather has bum marks on it and the boulsters show signs of someone having gotten in and out of it a few thousand times.
The drivers door card is scuffed from my work boots.
It's done quite well in terms of stone chips and I feel no need to buy a touch up pen.
It has not a single dent on it.... Not a single one and only one scratch on the drivers side rubbing strip.
All the controls feel taught and not sloppy at all. In fact with the new suspension the steering feels weighty and precise, something it never felt before....
Had a new battery too.
It's been serviced at least once a year depending on mileage. The timing belt and water pump need to be done but I'll probably leave it to the spring.
Things that should have gone wrong with it but haven't .... Hatch wiring, still fine, but the hatch might get opened once or twice a week or once a month. The door handles are still attached too.
Can't think of many cars that could have been purchased for that price which would have been so reliable and cheap to run over the last 6 years.
Oh and to top it off webuyanycar say they'll give me £3,500 for it if I were to trade it in (I'm not going to!). You can't complain about that at all.
