General Do I buy a 500 - confused?

[Sunday]

I would like to ask this question of the owners of the newer version of the 500.

I have an 11 month old Toyota Aygo which has super reliability on a 5 year warranty. However, life is short and I want (not need) a Fiat 500, I love the style and have been a fan since they first came out.

My problem is that I can't seem to get past the poor reviews and poor reliability - do any of you good people have anything positive to say that will help me get a more realistic and balanced view before I buy?

Any input would be very welcome as I am going round in circles here :bang:

 

[Bluetruck]

The 500 is a great car full of character but not without faults. The Toyota is better built but in my view dull. I've had 4 500's including an abarth and enjoyed them all. My current is a twinair sport which is great but not without fault. If you buy one make sure it still has warranty on it to iron out the bugs for free.

 

[jrkitching]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

Compared to your Toyota, the 500 has mediocre reliability, a warranty that is barely playing 'catch-up' with the rest of the industry, and frankly abysmal dealer support (in reality, manufacturer support; the dealers basically do what the manufacturer is prepared to pay for).

BUT (and it's a very big but) the Aygo is a sterile, functional tool; the 500 has real style and character and will put a smile on your face every time you look at it; that's hard to find nowadays in a small, mainstream car.

Life is indeed short; if you can afford it, there's much to be said for buying what you want, rather than just what you need; do you really want to spend the next five years driving a sterile, functional tool? And the 500's style means residual values are strong, so if you're not planning on keeping it for too long, the short term cost of ownership isn't bad at all. Despite the impression you might get from what's posted here, major problems during the warranty period are the exception rather than the rule, and if you're going to be trading in in a couple of years time, does it really matter whether you have 2,3,5 or even 7 years warranty? A new 500 traded away before the risk of expensive out-of-warranty problems begins is a reasonable proposition and could easily cost you no more or even less than an Aygo.

Otoh, if your priority were low cost trouble free motoring and you were looking to buy a 2-3yr old car to keep for awhile, then between the two, the Aygo becomes the no-brainer choice and you shouldn't go anywhere near a 500, just in case you're tempted (and you will be).

If only you could buy a 500 with the reliability and dealer support of a Toyota for Fiat money then life would be simple, but you can't.

 

[robtt]

We have owned two 500 over the past six years . Both were reliable never let us down. Our 66 plate is improved, in a lot of areas ,over the earlier 62 plater . The 500 has been about a long time now and the older cars will have reliability issues but so do all cars as they age. Get one you will not regret .

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

Toyota= boring people mover.

Fiat= Fabrica Internazionale Automobili di Torino.

It's just a way of life...

 

[Peter Pick-Up]

I would like to ask this question of the owners of the newer version of the 500.

I have an 11 month old Toyota Aygo which has super reliability on a 5 year warranty. However, life is short and I want (not need) a Fiat 500, I love the style and have been a fan since they first came out.

My problem is that I can't seem to get past the poor reviews and poor reliability - do any of you good people have anything positive to say that will help me get a more realistic and balanced view before I buy?

Any input would be very welcome as I am going round in circles here :bang:

Asking this question is given the answer allready.
You recently decided for a Toyota.
Stick with it, the Fiat will be your selffulfilling prophecy, I'm afraid...

 

[Tom95]

Toyota= boring people mover.

Fiat= Fabrica Internazionale Automobili di Torino.

It's just a way of life...

First In All Tests [emoji6]

 

[TrevC]

I think JRK's summary above was spot on. Toyotas, Kias, Hyundais etc are very good cars with the comfort of a long warranty. Even Renault give 4 years (have you considered the quirky Twingo?). But the 500 has bagfuls of character and to my eyes still looks good 10 years after its launch.
We sold ours last year after 6 years and 45,000 miles from new. It only had one minor fault in that time. The Warranty Direct reliability index rates the 500 just better than average, so not too bad.
We only parted with ours because we needed a larger car with 4/5 doors.

 

[dereham]

My wife had a Panda for 12 years and it didn't once let her down and the only thing it ever needed was a couple of batteries, tyres and some new lower front suspension parts towards the end which didn't cost much at all. She now has the newer 500 which she loves even more, and as it has similar mechanics and engine as the Panda we have no reason to think it might be any less reliable. This forum is very active compared to other makes and models but this might just be due to Fiat owners being so much more enthusiastic about their cars!

 

[Twinkletwinklelittlestar]

I had a Toyota iq3 for 5 years at which point it was 7 years old with 91000 miles on it. In that time it never failed, was all original right down to brake pads and disks. I traded it for a 15 month old Twinair 105 Euro 6 which i’ve now had for 2 years - in that time an oil cooler has failed, track rod end, new pads, quite a bit of expensive oil. Would I go back to Toyota..? No. Fiat still puts a smile on my face every time I push the pedal on the right and the engine snarls like a bear full of angry wasps! Silly, and I should know better

 

[John202020]

Don't forget the Fix I Again Tomorrow (FIAT) but yes buy a 500 new keep until warrant about to expire but expect a few trips to the dealer for things to be fixed.

 

[gazz_bee]

I have had two Fiat 500s since 2008. I also have access to a couple of Toyota Aygo pool cars which are 15 plates with 30k miles on them.

The only problems I have had with the 500 were in my 2008 model which were the hatch wiring issue and a split oil breather pipe. Otherwise absolutely faultless. My current twinair is about 15 months old and has had no faults at all. I always leave the car with a smile on my face.

Our Toyota Aygos, being pool cars, get a hard life and they're bearing up mechanically okay although both currently have slightly blowy exhausts, rattles galore and are incredibly low rent inside. I don't agree that they are unengaging to drive, far from it - skinny tyres and a free-revving, thrumming engine make them quite fun on the move, if not pleasant places to sit in traffic.

Despite what you read on forums, I don't think either is a massively different in reliability but there may be a customer expectation on the basis of cost. And that's where I see the difference. The Aygo is an £8.5k car on sale for £8.5k. The 500 is an £8.5k car on sale for £10.5k. The extra cost is in the styling that the Aygo doesn't have, not the engineering underneath the skin.

 

[alexGS]

I can’t imagine how a Toyota could be more reliable than our FIAT 500 - would be impossible to improve on our perfect record. We have a load more Toyotas in NZ than you find in the UK, and I’ve seen the worst of them. For example a 2007 Toyota Ractis, plain copper contacts in the headlight switch, they tarnish, one day your headlights won’t come on... pretty basic stuff really. On the Auckland motorway the other day I saw three cars broken down and all three were Toyotas (Echo, Previa, Corona). Not sure why they have the reputation for quality that they do - nothing particularly impressive about how they are made, unless you’re looking at a Lexus LFA or something... surely you get what you pay for.

-Alex