General How overpriced is the 500?

[Benis]

Just out of interest are any 500 owners on here previous mini owners?

I drove a Mini Cooper S (2007, generation 2, 175 hp) before a bought my Fiat 500 (2010, 1.3 MJT 95 hp, Sport).

I can say that the Mini Cooper feels a lot bigger. The quality felt the same. The Mini Cooper S was better when the road was bad, bumpy is no problem for my 500 but when there is small holes and stuff the 500 don't feel premium as the Cooper S did.

Maybe it's not fair to compare a Cooper S to a 500 1.3 diesel. My past Cooper S cost 27 k euro (I bought is for 40% less used) and my 500 cost 18,5 k euro (I bought is for 12 k euro).

I changed car because the Cooper S was expensive to drive and own. And in Sweden you got free parking if you've a environment friendly car (under 120g/km).

And one more thing, I really love my Fiat 500. Is fun to drive and very good looking! (hotter then the Cooper S imo).

 

[blitz7287]

When i got mine i did think £10K was expensive for such a small car. But i've always liked the look of the 500 and when i test drove it i just feel in love with it big time. So i just had to have one. Looking around now yeah i could of got a better specced car elsewhere but i had to have a 500 after id drove it and thats probably why they sell so well because there fun to drive and also a style icon. i always get people coming upto me asking me about it.

 

[loveshandbags]

I know some will agree and some will disagree, but what do people feel is a reasonable price for the 500?

Countries differ on prices but these are the prices in IRELAND for the 500...

Our scrappage price including delivery is €10.5K for the basic 1.2POP and €12K for a TA – this is over at the end of June 2011.

That allows for 1,250 for the government contribution and €1450 for the Eco bonus.

If you have no car to scrap Fiat you can negotiate the Eco bonus so in effect the car will cost the scrappage price plus the government 'bit' of €1,250.

€11,750 for a 1.2 POP and €13,250 for a TA POP
If you add on the LOUNGE spec it is €2,000 extra.
So a 1.2 Lounge in BNW will cost €13750 (no extras) and that's for a car with a 3 year warranty on a limited mileage of 60K miles (& the last year is limited)
This is boundering into Mito Junior terrority where they have keenly priced the car and it comes with air con as standard on the basic model.

I think the 500 is expensive but it's OK value for money on a basic 1.2 POP in BNW at €12,500 which allows for €750 on extras which would cover alloys and B&me on their special package price.

 

[mjsmke]

I dont think its overpriced at all. when you look at other small cars with the same spec the 500 is one of the cheapest. Also they use the same bluetooth system as some BMW's.... but i bet BMW charge a lot more for that add-on.

 

[306maxi]

I dont think its overpriced at all. when you look at other small cars with the same spec the 500 is one of the cheapest. Also they use the same bluetooth system as some BMW's.... but i bet BMW charge a lot more for that add-on.

Show me a car (Mini excepted) in the same class that is more expensive than the 500.....

 

[bgunn]

The other cars in the class aren't aimed towards the same market though. They're A>B 'applicances', rather than a fashion statement.

 

[DraigFlag87]

I think the Abarth, performance, looks etc wise represents superb value. It holds it's value better than most small cars too. However when you spec up a "normal 500" with similar toys/options then it's somehow dearer to buy a top spec F500!? The A500 comes with all the toys as standard, plus more if you want it.

Saw an on track test recently, the lap times for an A500 and a Lotus Elsie were almost identical, it's a capable little car for less than £15,000

 

[306maxi]

Saw an on track test recently, the lap times for an A500 and a Lotus Elsie were almost identical, it's a capable little car for less than £15,000

Again with twisting the facts

The Elise lap was WET and the Abarth lap DRY

http://www.bbc.co.uk/topgear/show/powerlaps.shtml

but hey whatever, there'll be ten people on here soon saying how horrible I am or something for pointing out that you're talking crap.

 

[DraigFlag87]

I'm not talking about Top Gears laps before you go into psychopath mode again...

 

[306maxi]

I'm not talking about Top Gears laps before you go into psychopath mode again...

Oh come on, no one in their wildest dreams thinks that a 15k Fiat is going to beat an almost 30k LOTUS. You're either dreaming or trolling on here for a fight.

 

[multiplied]

i had no idea what price a 500 was before this thread (i drive a multipla).
i think the 500 looks cool, but it also looks an £8k car at best for an entry level.
fiats dont fair well in residual value and imo the presumably artificial used values (due to price hikes) will flatten out in a few years and follow the poor used market value of most fiats.
i think fiats are quirky, fun to drive, different.. but not the most reliable brand and coupled with a dealer network that has a bad name for being unhelpful & ripping people off....used car prices will reflect this in the end.
just my opinion.

 

[306maxi]

i had no idea what price a 500 was before this thread (i drive a multipla).
i think the 500 looks cool, but it also looks an £8k car at best for an entry level.
fiats dont fair well in residual value and imo the presumably artificial used values (due to price hikes) will flatten out in a few years and follow the poor used market value of most fiats.
i think fiats are quirky, fun to drive, different.. but not the most reliable brand and coupled with a dealer network that has a bad name for being unhelpful & ripping people off....used car prices will reflect this in the end.
just my opinion.

To be fair the residuals are holding up well because of demand for 2nd hand cars. Sadly as good as other Fiat's have been they just depreciate badly because the demand for 2nd hand cars isn't there to the same extent.

 

[DraigFlag87]

Not sure if it's modified, don't speak German (only English, Welsh and French!)

Have you driven one yet?

 

[Super Uwe]

i had no idea what price a 500 was before this thread (i drive a multipla).
i think the 500 looks cool, but it also looks an £8k car at best for an entry level.
fiats dont fair well in residual value and imo the presumably artificial used values (due to price hikes) will flatten out in a few years and follow the poor used market value of most fiats.
i think fiats are quirky, fun to drive, different.. but not the most reliable brand and coupled with a dealer network that has a bad name for being unhelpful & ripping people off....used car prices will reflect this in the end.
just my opinion.

I think you're probably right to be fair.

The sad thing is that the general perception of Fiat is still one that errs towards unreliability, and yet the 1.2 version of the 500 has proven to be one of the most reliable engines around.

I guess the crunch (as stated by others previously) is exactly how much work is needed to keep the car going in years 4,5,6 etc.

 

[Stu DemonD]

Not sure if it's modified, don't speak German (only English, Welsh and French!)

Google Pogea 500 then, it isn't hard

http://www.zercustoms.com/news/Pogea-Fiat-500-Ferrari.html

The extra horses of the Pogea Fiat 500 Ferrari comes from a new ECU, a new and larger stainless steel exhaust system, a modified downpipe, and a new catalytic converter. The Pogea Fiat 500 Ferrari also comes with the tuner's own turbocharger which can be offered in two versions. The Pogea Fiat 500 Ferrari also comeswith a new air intake, two new smaller intercoolers that replace the standard one, new fuel pressure valves and upgraded Bosch fuel injectors.

All that extra power must be managed somehow, so the Pogea Fiat 500 Ferrari package also features upgraded brakes that reduce the stopping distance by 1,8m.

So pretty standard then :shrug:

Edit - I don't speak German either, you don't have to

 

[306maxi]

Not sure if it's modified, don't speak German (only English, Welsh and French!)

Have you driven one yet?

As usual you conveniently seem to forget that the "Abarth" you're talking about has almost TWICE the horsepower of the standard 500 T-jet

Funny, you don't seem the sort of guy who would ever go out of his way to exaggerate how fast a 500 Abarth is so this sort of glaring omission is very uncharacteristic of you.

 

[loveshandbags]

I was quite surprised to see the Abarth up there with the Elise S particularly given that the Elise is

a shade over 900kg,
it's so low to ground that you would literally 'fall over it' and
it probably hasn't got any airbags or ABS or Air-con or whatever you have in a 'normal' car.

I remember on the 'timed' laps recorded on Top gear that the A500 was only a shade behind a GTI - I thought that was impressive. Well given the topic and as an 'outsider' I think the A500 is great value for money particularly when a speced up 1.4 with the bells & whistles would roughly be around the same price. And Maxi if you think if it - if you were into making the most of his car the way Draigflag is - why not let him 'enjoy the moment'. After all he's contributing to your thread and everyone's opinion is valued even if it was a little exaggerated (I did miss the 'Pogea' thing as well!).

 

[306maxi]

I was quite surprised to see the Abarth up there with the Elise S particularly given that the Elise is

a shade over 900kg,
it's so low to ground that you would literally 'fall over it' and
it probably hasn't got any airbags or ABS or Air-con or whatever you have in a 'normal' car.

I remember on the 'timed' laps recorded on Top gear that the A500 was only a shade behind a GTI - I thought that was impressive. Well given the topic and as an 'outsider' I think the A500 is great value for money particularly when a speced up 1.4 with the bells & whistles would roughly be around the same price. And Maxi if you think if it - if you were into making the most of his car the way Draigflag is - why not let him 'enjoy the moment'. After all he's contributing to your thread and everyone's opinion is valued even if it was a little exaggerated (I did miss the 'Pogea' thing as well!).

He's not contributing to the thread. As usual he comes into one of my threads and tries to derail it will claims which are later proven to be rubbish. He's obsessed with talking about HIS car and the Abarth spec level and jamming references into every thread purely for the sake of it.

If we talk specifically about the article posted then the Abarth has as near as makes no difference to 270bhp and a standard Elise S only has 138, now halve the horsepower in the Abarth and it'll be miles away from the Elise, freaking miles away..... but as always Paul seems to persist in trying to say that his 500 is quicker than Aston's, Golf GTi's and other cars which will give the Abarth a hiding.

He's free to "enjoy the moment" elsewhere tbh, there's a whole forum devoted to jabbering on about the Abarth spec level if he really wants to, this is a thread devoted to talking about how overpriced people think the 500 range is and not a place to discuss modified cars.......

 

[loveshandbags]

It isn't a standard Abarth though, far far from it. Did you not read what I posted

(I did miss the 'Pogea' thing as well!).

O - I did read your post and I had seen that article before. I did refer to Pogea in my reply. My point is that the A500 is good value for money compared with the higher end of the range of the 500 and the A500 can 'hold its own' with the GTI brigade of 'hot hatchs'. The points I raised on the Lotus Elise is that it's a different animal and putting a standard A500 in that pot would be an unfair comparison - it's not comparing 'like for like'. Still this thread is about 'how overpriced is the 500' and IMHO the A500 isn't.

 

[306maxi]

Still this thread is about 'how overpriced is the 500' and IMHO the A500 isn't.

But take a look at the price of a Rennosport Twingo or a Rennosport Clio and you have to agree that as a performance car it's rather overpriced.