Fiat’s cheeky little new-era 500 is fun, fashionable and frugal.

After being first launched in 2008, it was updated with TwinAir 0.9-litre petrol turbo power in 2011, then revised again three years later to create the 2014 to 2015 version we’re going to examine here as a used buy.

The 2014 model year changes brought buyers the option of a pokier 105bhp variant of the petrol TwinAir engine and there was a smarter TFT instrument display on top models, along with a trendy ‘Cult’ trim level.

If you can stretch to a later Fiat 500 model, then it could well be a car from this era that you end up inspecting.

What You Get
Who couldn’t love a face like this?

In developing this car at the turn of the century, the Italian designers took on a big responsibility in seeking to update (and indeed re-size) arguably the cutest shape ever to clothe four wheels.

Still, the sustained clamour for this Fiat, in both fixed-top and convertible 500C guises, suggests they got it spot on.

This remains a head-turner that makes people smile, not least its driver when it’s time to park up.

What To Look For
The 500 has earned a decent reliability record, helped in no small part by its reliable engines.

The biggest reported issue to date has been premature ball joint wear and pressure plate issues - but these had mostly been sorted by the time of the 2014 model year models we’re looking at here.

The 500 isn’t bad on consumables like brake pads and most people should be able to park it without nerfing the extremities.

Overall
To be honest, Fiat didn’t need to do a whole lot with the 2014 model year changes to retain this 500 model’s popularity.

Like earlier examples of this car, this later version looks great, and was fun to drive.

As for this updated version, well the interior improvements were welcome but of more importance was the addition to the range of the 105bhp TwinAir petrol engine.

This bridged the gap between this car and the slightly more powerful small city runabouts that previously had often seen themselves as a class above this Fiat.

Principally BMW’s MINI.