Our '56 plate civic has 130000+ miles on the clock and has never broken down. Still running original clutch & exhaust and the interior looks just like it did when we picked it up new (and we have two kids)
What could I buy that's more reliable than a 500?
- Thread starter ahmett
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What could I buy that's more reliable than a 500?
Re: Euro6 1.2 Throttle Response, Hill Start Issues & Watchdog report
Cheap compared to something made in the Fatherland.
And the Audi driver is usually tailgating you. ?
Couldn't have put it better myself
Cheap - did you say CHEAP?!?!?!?
Name me a CHEAP Toyota or Honda, in comparison to let say a Ford, or Skoda etc!
They're far from cheap, but still very much value for money as a whole in the long run.
Regarding VAG - all have gone down the pan in the last decade.
Skoda driver is a wanna be Seat driver
Seat driver is a wanna be VW driver
VW driver is a wanna be Audi driver
the Audi driver.....well it goes without saying in most cases
Cheap compared to something made in the Fatherland.
And the Audi driver is usually tailgating you. ?
TrevC
Established member
Re: Euro6 1.2 Throttle Response, Hill Start Issues & Watchdog report
Which ones are made in the Fatherland? The VW Polo is made in Spain, as is our Renault Megane.
Which ones are made in the Fatherland? The VW Polo is made in Spain, as is our Renault Megane.
GeorgeDamper
Established member
Some modern cars are just too complicated. The best reliability comes from a simple car and good maintenance.
Re: Euro6 1.2 Throttle Response, Hill Start Issues & Watchdog report
Not always what is expected.
BMW 3-series were for a time exclusively made in South Africa, as were Mercedes C-class. The Merc M-class I think was USA built only.
Not always what is expected.
BMW 3-series were for a time exclusively made in South Africa, as were Mercedes C-class. The Merc M-class I think was USA built only.
Re: Euro6 1.2 Throttle Response, Hill Start Issues & Watchdog report
Well thats not the reason people buy them tbh, there is always going to be a more expsnsie car to anything you buy, so using 'cheap' with that meaning is redundant. If you want cheap you buy a Dacia
Well thats not the reason people buy them tbh, there is always going to be a more expsnsie car to anything you buy, so using 'cheap' with that meaning is redundant. If you want cheap you buy a Dacia
I'm biased because I drive a Golf . ( I joined this forum because my daughter just got the 500). I'm on my 6th VW and they have been reliable, solid cars. Before that I had Peugeots and they gradually became crap. Last one was a 206 which seemed to spend most of it's time at dealers with electrical faults and oil leaks. (Thankfully under warranty) My only experience with Fiat was a Panda courtesy car which the wife had. She didn't like it but I thought it was a great little town car.
Hence some of my previous posts with references to VWs.
Ps. I've never had a Jap car. Drove a few. Passed my test in a Datsun Sunny. Think that put me off them for good.
. ( I joined this forum because my daughter just got the 500). I'm on my 6th VW and they have been reliable, solid cars. Before that I had Peugeots and they gradually became crap. Last one was a 206 which seemed to spend most of it's time at dealers with electrical faults and oil leaks. (Thankfully under warranty) My only experience with Fiat was a Panda courtesy car which the wife had. She didn't like it but I thought it was a great little town car.Hence some of my previous posts with references to VWs.
Ps. I've never had a Jap car. Drove a few. Passed my test in a Datsun Sunny. Think that put me off them for good.
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Riddle me this, if your car's been reliable other than the auto gearbox, why blame the car itself and not the gearbox?
What's more reliable than a manual 500? Not that much really.
Current BMW's have their share of problems, but once the warranty's up set aside 2-3x the amount you'd expect for repairs (compared to a 500).
Who makes a car makes less and less difference these days. Most of the smaller components are made by suppliers in far off lands. I spotted a Marelli part on my Renault (that can't be good). My Hanover built VW has parts from all over Europe too.
What's more reliable than a manual 500? Not that much really.
Current BMW's have their share of problems, but once the warranty's up set aside 2-3x the amount you'd expect for repairs (compared to a 500).
Who makes a car makes less and less difference these days. Most of the smaller components are made by suppliers in far off lands. I spotted a Marelli part on my Renault (that can't be good
). My Hanover built VW has parts from all over Europe too.
I'm biased because I drive a Golf
Out of interest do you buy them new? and how long do you keep them and what sort of mileage do you put on them
The one I drive now is the first one I have had new. The rest have all been used. Mark 4 golfs ate drop links but cheap and easy to change. Average miles done.Out of interest do you buy them new? and how long do you keep them and what sort of mileage do you put on them
Ps. First car was mk2 Escort. You had to learn about maintenance then. Only things electrical were the spark plugs.
Not sure where to start with this one, yes many taxi drivers bought skodas. But, and its a big but, when you're doing 200k miles a year no car is really reliable and as such many of those skodas broke down, my brother till the end of 2013 was such a taxi driver and still has his 3billion mile Octavia, it ate cv joints and dual mass fly wheels clutches turbos fuel pumps etc you name it, it's had a new one. it was just a damn sight cheaper to buy than a Audi A8 or a 5 series Bmw of the same age.....
Now all the taxi drivers are switching to priuseseses because they are more reliable and a lot cheaper to run. Brother has stated if he was still driving he would run a Prius as many of his old colleagues now are
Same brother who was a taxi driver now has his own company building vw campers and is right next door to a VW Audi specialist (though they do all vag group cars) essentially they are all unreliable to one degree or another but, when they bring a new piece of technology to the market it tends to go on the audis first then the VW and then the skodas, so hitec top end audis see more break downs from the tech that the other cars have yet to get, by the time skoda get things the problems are ironed out and they are less likely to break
Seems you are putting more reliance on the badge than the car. BMWs break down too, buy a low end manual with none of the fancy gadgets and yes it probably is more reliable than most, but a top end M5 has a whole host of stuff to break and leave you sat on the side of the road
Typical of any car most have some sort of common problem, 90s fords used to eat lower suspension arms. My Range Rover had rust issues, my Saab had coil pack problems, no car is completely fault free.
I think the real issue isn't so much the reliability as how the dealerships deal with it and as amett pointed out earlier, fiat are crap at looking after customers.
Our mini dealer is fantastic couldn't do enough and is connected to the Bmw dealers (they share a building) so I would have no issue dealing with bwm
I know that MEP has commented about the wonderful service he received from Toyota. I'm not sure anyone can truly say they have had a faultless experience of fiat dealers
Riddle me this, if your car's been reliable other than the auto gearbox, why blame the car itself and not the gearbox?
What's more reliable than a manual 500? Not that much really.
Current BMW's have their share of problems, but once the warranty's up set aside 2-3x the amount you'd expect for repairs (compared to a 500).
Who makes a car makes less and less difference these days. Most of the smaller components are made by suppliers in far off lands. I spotted a Marelli part on my Renault (that can't be good
WHAAAAAAAAT?!?!??!?!?! You mean that they don't get a delivery of iron ore, petroleum products, silica and tyres and make the car from scratch at the factory? Next thing you're going to tell me that sometimes there's more than one supplier for a particular part used in to produce a car.
TrevC
Established member
I think that most of us who have been driving for a while (I passed my test in '73) would agree that today's cars are fantastically reliable compared with those of, say, 20 years ago. This is despite much greater complexity. As someone said above, it's how the dealer/manufacturer looks after you if you have a problem that's important. I've had good experiences with Renault and Mercedes, very poor with Mazda. When I had a Mini I managed to fix the issues that occurred myself, so I didn't experience BMW's dealer network. Best to choose the car you want, and bear in mind that having a fairly local dealer is a good thing, as is a decent warranty.
I doubt if this answer is in the correct context to your original question but if you want the best quality go for a 1995 Mercedes-Benz E Class otherwise known as the W124 series. I bought one for £500 with 11months mot. The only thing wrong with it was that the abs light was on. That was a corroded fuse! The quality of these is maybe the pinnacle of car manufacturing. It felt like it go on for another 20years and they are known to go for 500k miles on the original engine. In fact I only bought it for the engine. I felt quite bad ripping it apart.
I have to agree with the above comments on this revolving around the service provided by the dealership though. That's where fiat seem to perform poorly compared to the German and Japanese manufacturers. It's mostly about perception rather than facts. Trawl around Audi and Mercedes-Benz forums if you want to be really scared.
I have to agree with the above comments on this revolving around the service provided by the dealership though. That's where fiat seem to perform poorly compared to the German and Japanese manufacturers. It's mostly about perception rather than facts. Trawl around Audi and Mercedes-Benz forums if you want to be really scared.
I think it comes down to dealer reputation and locality. I'm from near Glasgow and the furthest I travelled for a car had a Lancaster postcode. That was a VW dealer. Great service but a bit far. My wife has a Mini and the local dealer picks the car up from her work for servicing and any warranty work (not much as good cars, 5th Mini, made in GB.....).
With the kit on my daughters 500 compared to the wife's Mini, my wife spent about £4000 extra.
The wife likes the 500 but I think she'd be loath to change.
With the kit on my daughters 500 compared to the wife's Mini, my wife spent about £4000 extra.
The wife likes the 500 but I think she'd be loath to change.
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I think it comes down to dealer reputation and locality. I'm from near Glasgow and the furthest I travelled for a car had a Lancaster postcode. That was a VW dealer. Great service but a bit far. My wife has a Mini and the local dealer picks the car up from her work for servicing and any warranty work (not much as good cars, 5th Mini, made in GB.....).
With the kit on my daughters 500 compared to the wife's Mini, my wife spent about £4000 extra.
The wife likes the 500 but I think she'd be loath to change.
Yes there is not much choice up in our neck of the woods. Arnold Crap or Parks. Both of these cowboys have given me more than my share of grief when it comes to customer care. Damaged this Fiat 500 and my previous Grande Punto when having warranty and service work. Evans Hellshaw managed to damage two of my recent Vauxhall purchases prior to me collecting them new!! Beggars belief, I could write a book.
Hang on here, we bought a brand new Toyota and within 3K had breakdown out twice for the same problem. Never an apology from the dealer, just a shrug of the shoulders when asked if the problem had been resolved. So, bought the 500, then another. Not the greatest car in the world but far better built than the Toyota or the BMW Mini for that matter. So, we plod on with the 500 and so far ... well, so good!
No one said Toyotas are perfect, but they're closer to perfect than a 500
