Advice on buying (old) fiat as first car

[moocakes]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, but have been using it for a while to help solve problems with my parents' cars (both fiats). My situation at the moment is that I will need to buy a car to get to work around September/October time. As it stands, I cannot yet drive! However I should be sorting this out soon (Am 24... maybe I left it a bit late...).

At it stands, I am hoping to spend around £500-£750 on a car and have been looking at Classic Pandas, Unos, Tipos et cetera. My requirements from this car can be summed up as cheap to maintain and reasonably reliable. I do not mind getting my hands dirty having to fix something, as long as it is gonna be cheap and doable by a novice!

So, my questions are:
1: Is £500-750 a reasonable amount to by a car that I can rely on (I have never had a car so I really have no clue!)
2: Out of these cars (Uno, Tipo, Panda), which is likely to best fit my criteria of cheap to run (including insurance) and reliable/easily fixed.
3: Am I looking at the wrong group of cars, should I really be looking at old Puntos/Bravos?

I will add that I really do like fiats (especially old ones!), so there aren't just practical reasons behind my interest in fiats...

Thanks!

 

[JustAndy]

If i were you id try and go for a cinquecento (maybe thats because I own one )
But they are cheap to maintain cheap to insure and parts are readily available where as some panda parts and really hard to come by now
They also have a lot of character looks wise
Welcome to the forum also :wave:

 

[PuntoHowTo]

in all honest the old panda's probably win on cheap to insure cheap and easy to fix and fun to drive, but parts are becoming hard to find.
you could look at the Uno still quite a few about but you might encounter the same problems as the Panda for parts availability.

you are probably better off looking at something a bit newer like a punto/bravo as there are dozens about parts are cheap and most jobs can be done by the DIY mechanic.

insurance probably won't vary greatly between these cars unless you go for a HGT or Turbo model.

one thing you really need to worry about first however before thinking about what car to buy is actually passing your test because its bloody expensive and you might have completely changed you mind by the time you pass

 

[moocakes]

Thanks for the replies!

I had forgotten about the Cinquecentos actually... Thanks for reminding me! I checked them out and there are quite a few available, for quite a good price, and they do tend to be a few years younger than the Pandas. Seems like I need to be looking at an era older then really (Pandas, Unos -> Cinquecentos, Puntos) I'm guessing the engines from Cinquecentos, Seicentos, Puntos, Bravos etc are all in the same family?

Yep, thanks for the advice about learning to drive first. I'm aware I'm getting ahead of myself a bit, it's just that I can see a lot of things springing out on me closer to the time when I start work (which is when I'll actually get the money to afford a car). Just wanted to get a few ideas in my head before it becomes a bit of a scramble!

Once again, thanks for your help!

 

[TONY55S]

hi,the cinquecento is really a very small car,and the majority have a small
little engine.
Look for a fiat punto mk2,should get a 2000 reg for around 1000,maybe too dear for you,so look for a punto mk 1,maybe 1998 or 1999,should get one for 700.
The 1.2 8 valve is a good little engine,i have one with 115k miles.
make sure whatever you buy that it has SERVICE HISTORY,otherwise you could be buying a piece of junk.If the engine has been serviced every 5000 miles,it should be ok.
make sure also the cambelt has been changed recently
good luck!!!:yuck:

 

[Sam574]

If you have more than £800 you can probably get a reasonable 2000ish mk2 punto, if not go for a mk1, 60's are reliable enough, the 85 has better fuel economy though! All depends on budget...

 

[fingers99]

Cinq Sporting should be on the cards for around £600. Check for rust around the extreme rear of the rear wheelarches (inside and out) and for signs of overheating.

They're group 3 and will generaqlly be faster and more fun (and easier to work on -- no canbus, no dodgy ECUs) than a Mk2 Punto 1242 8v.

 

[rubadub80]

Hi,

I'm new to this forum, but have been using it for a while to help solve problems with my parents' cars (both fiats). My situation at the moment is that I will need to buy a car to get to work around September/October time. As it stands, I cannot yet drive! However I should be sorting this out soon (Am 24... maybe I left it a bit late...).

At it stands, I am hoping to spend around £500-£750 on a car and have been looking at Classic Pandas, Unos, Tipos et cetera. My requirements from this car can be summed up as cheap to maintain and reasonably reliable. I do not mind getting my hands dirty having to fix something, as long as it is gonna be cheap and doable by a novice!

So, my questions are:
1: Is £500-750 a reasonable amount to by a car that I can rely on (I have never had a car so I really have no clue!)
2: Out of these cars (Uno, Tipo, Panda), which is likely to best fit my criteria of cheap to run (including insurance) and reliable/easily fixed.
3: Am I looking at the wrong group of cars, should I really be looking at old Puntos/Bravos?

I will add that I really do like fiats (especially old ones!), so there aren't just practical reasons behind my interest in fiats...

Thanks!

You'd be surprised what £500 will get you these days. Almost 2yrs ago I bought a 2001 Brava JTD ELX (fully loaded with heated leather and Climate) 59k miles with all MOTs to back up for the sum of £480!
Almost 2yrs on the car has 82K on it and has been fantastic, I have recently sold it to my parents as I have just bought Bravo 150 MJET.

If your looking for your first car and are young, whatever you get is gonna hurt on insurance. I am a teacher and I regularly hear students talking about insurance costs, 1 guy had a bog standard X reg Punto 1.2 and his premium was £2500!

 

[Austin Mini]

The old Mk1 Puntos are easy to fix, parts everywhere and cheap to insure. We have just returned from holiday on Gozo, Mk1 Puntos are everywhere Mk2 Puntos we saw three and Fiat 500s we saw one. A whole industry has been established on this small island for service and repair of this wonderful car. Earlier this year I overhauled my sons Punto Mk1 cooling system it was childs play and cost peanuts. They seem to go on forever. My son paid £200 for his '98 Mk1 and its a five door. Heres a pic. Over 200k on the speedo