Competition - post a photo you've taken of nature >>

First car

I was going to buy a Fiat 500 next week (haven’t put a deposit down yet) but I’ve heard from two completely separate people in the last week that they are very unreliable, is this true?

If so, what other cars that are in low insurance groups for 17 year olds are there? (Under £4000)

Reply 1

macpatgh-Sheldon

In my experience Fiat 500 is not a bad car, especially the current model; my uncle had the original model in the 70s, which had a 500 cc air-cooled engine. The current model, I believe, is a 1200 cc one. My uncle's one never gave any major problems, and I would guess that this one 30 years later might be even better.

I would check detailed info on it at:
https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/fiat/500

In terms of other cars, consider:
a) Nissan Micra 1.0
b) Toyota Yaris 1.0

I can't say offhand which insurance groups these are in, but they would be quite low ones - you can google it or go to Parker's guide.

Reply 2

AH-64 APACHE

Common Fiat 500 failures + ones I've seen my friends experience
Multiair system; Costly replacement, surprisingly common. Can cause running issues such as reduced power and misfire Can also cause temporary failure of TC, ABS and Electromechanjcal steering systems.

Power steering Pump failure, caused by previous owner dry steering. Intermediate replacement cost

ECU failure, Oil warning light comes on, sometimes causes car to fail to start, car requires a new ECU to be programmed, which can be expensive.

Spontanious Power Loss, a famous issue was featured on watchdog, cars would lose power and be unable to climb hills. Software fix was deployed however

Oil leak fires, oil leaking from faulty gaskets and burning off the exhaust manifold, causing a fire.

Problems I've observed from friend's 500s

Failure to start: Low compression, engine turned iver extremely quickly. They scrapped the car as it was only worth £1500 and was uneconomical to repair

Auto transmission burning it's fuild; I was told this was a "cheap fix" but not sure exactly how much

It seems everyone who owns these fiats think they are reliable, however I would beg to differ. Although they could just be poorly looked after, since the people who drive them are not exactly Bruce McLaren.

Reply 3

yoyo polo

if you find one with low mileage and full service history, you should be okay

Reply 4

pon1de2replay3

get a KA (the newer less potatoey version), i absolutely love mine its so reliable, relatively affordable insurance and only cost like 3000. definitely better than a fiat 500

Reply 5

Sophhhowa

I have a 2009 fiat 500 and no problems. Had it over a yr done 8,000 miles and it had 81,000 when I bought it. Insurance isn’t too bad plus they’re like tarduses you can fit so much for such a small car

Reply 6

username5147954

Original post by pon1de2replay3

get a KA (the newer less potatoey version), i absolutely love mine its so reliable, relatively affordable insurance and only cost like 3000. definitely better than a fiat 500

Is that a ford KA, I’ve been looking at them they look nice I’ve seen one with only 30,000 miles 2010 for only 2,900 probably the car I will go for

Reply 7

macpatgh-Sheldon

Hi Amy,

You seem to have located a good car (although I am not a fan of British cars) if the mileage is genuine - check it by googling "MOT history" then enter reg no. - all the MOTs [from age of 3 oc] will show the respective mileages [it goes without saying that they should be sequential].

If you are quick [such v low mileage cars don't hang about too long - did you locate it on autotrader.co.uk?] check out a few basic things (owner preferably an old person or a lady - ideally only one owner from new - even better if the owner is disabled - these types of people treat their cars like gold dust, so there will be much more life in it). Check the tread on the tyres - if they are too worn in just a couple of years after fitting [ask when fitted] [they might be original ones with a mileage of only 30K); they should tally with the mileage claimed.

Also, with 30K miles any pattern/corrugation on the steering wheel should be intact; just have a quick look, and seats should look like new.

Sorry if this sounds paranoid, but car sales are a major sector of the fraud market, so you cannot be too careful!
Best of luck!

M (Member of the Institute of Advanced Motorists)