For the first time ever, I can afford to buy a new car :sunglasses:

Blah blah blah

Show me someone who thinks a car is a status symbol and I'll show you a fool.

I'd sooner own one of these and put money into property or investments any day than the amount of people out there driving new BMW's and renting.

I had to scrap a Fiat with 50k on the clock 10 years old. Repairs were too expensive. The last straw was a linkage between the gear lever and the gearbox which was made out of plastic. To replace this requires taking the engine and gearbox out and dismantling the gearbox. £1000 repair so that Fiat could save a few pence making the car. That was just one example.

Fiats have a very poor reputation for a very very good reason.

People slating it because it's a Fiat are showing just how out of touch they are. Forget the 500, the platform and some engines are shared with the current Ford Ka. If you've driven a 1.3 or 1.9 Diesel over the past 15 years then chances are it was a Fiat JTD unit. The multi air petrols are very well respected in terms of modern engine design and make the likes of VANOS and VTEC look quite dated in many respects. Fiat had a reputation as being unreliable and poorly built in the early 90's but back then the idea of a battery powered Kia was hysterical and your grandad would of wrote a cheque for his E class estate as only drug dealers leased their cars. :innocent:

checking

For the first time ever, I can afford to buy a new car :sunglasses:

may be £30 roadts but not on the new rules as £145 after the 1st year

Pass me a balaclava.

The panda is OK, it's better than many at its price point. Heat.

only 4 seats too

A friend of mine purchased one of these new in January. The 1.2 Lounge model. Seems well built and from what I can tell seems almost identical to my Daughters 500, same chassis engine etc. Just the shape and the extra space with 5 doors. Great value at this price.

it says new, not prereg in the title