My daughter needs an inexpensive used car.

JimD

Waiting for Godot...
Moderator
My daughter has a 2001 Beetle that needs to be replaced. She doesn't have much money, so I have been looking for cars under $6K for her. My question is this: What are your thoughts on buying a 2012 or 2013 500 that has 50000 - 75000 miles on it?

I have found a couple 500 Sports that fall into this category. They appear to be well kept, but I figured I would ask current owners before I get her all excited or paying for CarFax reports. It also needs to be an automatic, which I suspect not many Xweb members have experience with.

So.... what say you?
 
Hi Jim,

A good used 2012 or 2013 Fiat 500 with a 4 speed automatic transmission is probably one of the best used car buys to be had in the market today. These cars are very reliable despite what the mainstream thoughts and wisdom says and as far as I know the Asin manufactured automatic transmission is supposed to be very good and reliable. Of course, it would help if the previous owner properly maintained the car that you happen to buy and that is the risk of buying any used car.

Good luck to your daughter on her search for a good used car. My wife and I bought a 2015 Fiat 500e with 16,000 miles on it a year ago and now it has 36,000 miles. No problems at all and the car is extremely fun to drive and very comfortable for two people and the luggage that two people normally need to carry around. Can carry four people if necessary if needed too and that is also nice.

George
 
Thanks George,

I appreciate the feedback. I had read thru some of the Edmunds.com owner reviews on the 2012 500. Lots of complaints about clutch issues with the 500 manual transmission. I don't think I saw a single review on an automatic. The car in question looks very clean, but it is 6 hours away and I will run a Carfax before I make that trip. Here in St Louis, all the used 500 are priced above what I consider a reasonable price. There must be too many young folks living here. :)

I tried to get her to buy a 500e last year when they were selling for really good prices. It seems that market has picked up on the 500e and prices have gone up. My daughter only drives around town. She actually works about 1/2 mile from home and goes to school maybe 5 miles away. I thought the 500e would be perfect for her, but she was still in love with her Beetle last year. Now it is dying (well, she is killing it slowly) and not worth the cost of repairs. :(
 
Hi Jim,

Too bad you couldn't convince her to get the 500e. I was very lucky that I pulled the trigger and bought one last year as they do seem to have increased in value since then, still a bargain though. I can tell you that the 500e is excellent in every way and if your daughter doesn't exceed the range limits of the battery in her daily use requirements then I would personally recommend getting a 500e over a regular 500. Regarding the clutch issues on the manual transmission in the regular 500 having problems I don't think that I would agree with that. I feel that more of the problem is due to bad driving behaviour than an actual problem with the car itself. Most Americans and especially young American drivers don't really know how to properly drive a car with a manual transmission. If your daughter wants a regular 500 with the automatic transmission I have heard nothing but good praises about the Asin made 4 speed automatic in that car. I drove a loaner car twice with that transmission and I can personally tell you that it shifts and drives very well and I don't really care for cars with automatic transmissions but this one I could live with quite happily.

Good luck Jim, I hope that your daughter can find a good Fiat to replace her beetle. Would she consider a used 500L or is that out of the price range? Those are nice cars too and due to the fact that too many Americans are shunning it you probably could get a good deal on one.

George
 
George,

She would like a 500 or a Honda Fit. I don't think the 500L is on her radar. I will show it to her.

Thanks again
 
My daily driver is a 2013 Fiat 500 pop. Just turned 50k on the miles. I live in the middle of now where so I drive about 15 miles each way on a dirt road (World Rally eat your heart out...) and I am very happy with it. The clutch was replaced under a recall and there have been no issues with it. The only problem now is there is a short in the rear hatch some where which prevents you from opening the rear hatch, and for some other reason, it also disable the alarm system.

It seems the wires for the hatch fray at a point near the top where it goes from the hatch back into the body.

Otherwise, if I would not hesitate to buy another.
 
Here is the 500 that has her attention right now. 2013 Pop automatic with about 70000 miles and new tires. In a brief conversation with the sales d00d, it seems they have had it for a while and the price is really more like $6300. The Autocheck site shows it as a 1 owner car with no accidents. It is clean with one or two dings. It drove nice and the interior was very clean.

Any thoughts on this car or things I should be looking for in general on a 500?
 
I am on the hunt for a starter car as well for my daughter to use, it will be mine for a few months as my 18 year old Golf is starting to suffer from excessive lightening from midwest salt dip. My wife wants her in a larger car than the 500 so I am looking at 2008-2010 VW Jettas.

Good luck with your purchase, I think a 500 will serve her well.
 
Good luck Karl.

I am not a VW guy really, but I would love to have my 1984 Rabbit GTI back. Another car I wish I had held on to.
 
Hi,
My wife has a 2013 pop 5 speed. She uses it daily for her 100 mile commute. The car presently has 97500 miles one it. We had a couple of suspension problems early on and after a couple of trips to the dealership they finally fixed it. The last problem was rear wheel bearings that seized to the hubs. Other than that the car has been reliable.

Pros..
You drive the car faster than you should, it just brings that out in you. At first I disliked the car but after a while I grew to like it. Now I love driving it, this weekend I chose the 500 over the Jeep Grand Cherokee for a 100 mile trip. You forget how small the car is until you park it. It's hard to keep the car under 80.

Dislikes...
Car is really just a one seater with room for your coffee mug and back pack. Friggin A pillars are huge and hard to see around. Blind spots galore, huge b pilar.
 
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Dislikes...
Car is really just a one seater with room for your coffee mug and back sack. Friggin A pillars are huge and hard to see around. Blind spots galore, huge b pilar.

Thanks for the input. The A pillar is big, but I think the A pillar in my Pilot is even bigger. It hides entire smaller cars coming from my left at the 4 way intersection at the bottom of my street. I feel like an idiot about once every 3 months when I start to pull out in front of someone. I am sure these A pillars are some type of safety feature, but they are too damn big these days.
 
My daughter is the proud owner of a 2013 Pop. Looks dark blue or dark green depending on the light.
20180131_140315.jpg

Seems in good shape, so hopefully it will treat her well.
 
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Congratulations to your daughter Jim!:) The pictures of the car look like the previous owner cared for the car quite well. I hope that she got a good one and it will treat her well.

The 2015 500e that I bought last year was cared for well by it's previous owner too and that is one of the reasons I jumped on the car and bought at first sight. It was the first 500e that I went to look at and I was planning to take my time and look around for awhile before I would actually buy one but I could tell that the car was well cared for and that makes a big difference when you are buying a used car that you hope to keep for some time.

Keep us posted as to how the car performs and how your daughter enjoys owning it. These cars are fun to drive and I am sure that she will like it. By the way, I have a 2002 VW Passat wagon that I absolutely love and hope to keep for some time yet, so I know VW's and I like them so I can understand why your daughter didn't want to let her beetle go.

George
 
They had it all washed and ready to go today, so naturally I see flaws now that weren't apparent the other day. All fairly minor blemishes, which isn't unexpected on a 5 year old car with 70K miles. She didn't even notice them, so I decided I would not point them out.

She was suffering big time from "let it go" syndrome with her Beetle this morning. I think she got over it once the deal was done and I reminded her that the 2001 Beetle was 17 years old and in need of retirement. I think the 500 is a great replacement with a lot of the same style. And since the 500 is smaller, perhaps she won't run it into as many things? Maybe? :p:D:cool::eek::rolleyes: I father can hope anyway.
 
My son has a 2012 purchased in May of 2011, it has 125,000 miles on it. Apart from oil changes, tire and brakes we have changed the drivers door handle twice because it broke and the starter had a corroded terminal on the solenoid. That is it. Many scoff at the 500 but it is great on fuel and really hasn't needed anything. It is a 5 speed standard and the recall came out but we have never taken it into the deal for clutch work. My son is 30 and has been driving standard since he was 17 years old. He knows about clutches and it is apparent in this car that it has lasted this long.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.
 
After I waxed poetic praise on my wife's 500. I was rewarded with a check engine light. Code reader says misfire at #1. Hopefully it is just a coil. Plugs are only about 17000 miles old.
 
My son has a 2012 purchased in May of 2011, it has 125,000 miles on it. Apart from oil changes, tire and brakes we have changed the drivers door handle twice because it broke and the starter had a corroded terminal on the solenoid. That is it. Many scoff at the 500 but it is great on fuel and really hasn't needed anything. It is a 5 speed standard and the recall came out but we have never taken it into the deal for clutch work. My son is 30 and has been driving standard since he was 17 years old. He knows about clutches and it is apparent in this car that it has lasted this long.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.

Thanks Tony,

I hope she got a good one. It runs nice and is fun to drive. The Carfax says this car lived its life to this point in San Antonio, TX, so at least it hasn't been subjected to snow and salt yet.

When we test drove the car, we had no idea how to work the automatic stick thing. My daughter pulled it down to what she thought was the "D" for drive, but had the stick in the left channel where the + and - are. So we were in third for the first quarter mile or so. I kept thinking "This doesn't sound right". We pulled into a parking lot and examined the arrangement, after a bit of staring at the pattern it made sense. Lesson learned. :)
 
After I waxed poetic praise on my wife's 500. I was rewarded with a check engine light. Code reader says misfire at #1. Hopefully it is just a coil. Plugs are only about 17000 miles old.

I was looking at the scheduled maintenance and "change spark plugs" was recommended more often than I would have expected.
 
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