500 may need another fiat

[sawman]

Just popping in to say hello!

I have been circling 500 twain airs since they came out, but finally seem to have a reason to buy one!

I have lived with fiats of an on before.

my parents had a '65 500 (with suicide doors) in the mid70's - they bought it off a family member in bournemouth and we drove in back to merseyside in convoy with my dads beetle - took 2 days!

this was replaced by a 126

I had an uno 45s in the late 80's (didnt much like it but it was cheap!)

came back to fiat for a punto GT turbo in the mid 90's - had a love hate relationship with it, but was a bit scared of its combination of turbo lag, torque steer which were interesting on a greasy/muddy back road.

traded the punto for a seicento sporting - one of my favourite cars ever - like a little terrier!


been riding around in japanese metal for the last few years, so havent had to drink much garage waiting room coffee - I am feeling the need for a bit of latin fun...

 

[Eklipze3k]

Welcome back

I saw your post in the 500 section, but although my wife has a 2014 500S Twinair, I don't know enough about it yet to be able to provide any specific advice. I would say the usual things though - rust; knocks, bangs and squeaks, and check the service history as regular oil monitoring/changes are a must.

 

[varesecrazy]

Hi. Fun little cars.

Very characterful engines...but a bit MARMITE...

Love or hate..and the 500 itself has some issues.

Test drive a few and get a feel

Charlie . punto twinair. Oxford

 

[typecastboy]

Annoying clutch noise groan in reverse

 

[varesecrazy]

Rear hatch wiring.

Corrosion in rear suspension...earlier cars

Speedo inst. Clusters

 

[sawman]

thanks chaps,

useful pointers so far.

I know what you mean about the characterful engine - i tested one a few years ago and chuckled all the way through the test - my lad thought the farty noise it makes was hilarious

 

[varesecrazy]

In my punto

all my peers ask if its got a 'cherry.bomb'

The original factory
'Zorst looks like its from a royal enfield

 

[frupi]

thanks chaps,

useful pointers so far.

I know what you mean about the characterful engine - i tested one a few years ago and chuckled all the way through the test - my lad thought the farty noise it makes was hilarious

The ONLY thing you need to remember, Fix It Again Tomorrow......:devil:

I've owned and sold a 0.9 TwinAir. Yes, the engine was lively as you like. We bought ours errr, pre-reg at a significant discount off a 'brand new' price. Upshot was, we bought a 14 month old 500 that a Fiat dealership flogged to us as a errr 'new car'. At 14 months old, it was anything but 'new', it was, what it was, a 14 month old car. So, for anyone reading this who is thinking of buying a pre-reg car, any pre-reg car, make sure you see positive proof of the build date of the vehicle and negotiate an appropriate deal. If the dealership won't show you the build date of the vehicle, my personal advice is, walk away, unless of course you get a pretty massive discount.

Anyway, we only owned it 18 months before flogging it off and trading it in for a brand new Hyundai i10. The TwinAir was a really fun car to drive, sounded great but sadly suffered some of the more well known 'issues'. It had the instrument cluster, passenger door handle, boot handle/micro switch replaced, all under warranty. That was enough for us. We don't regret owning it at all, but I'm glad we didn't keep it out of warranty.