New Fiat 500

AJCOT

Does anyone have anything good, bad or different to say about the new 500 before I buy one? Thanks.

Zubeneschamali

AJCOT wrote: »

Does anyone have anything good, bad or different to say about the new 500 before I buy one? Thanks.

A bit pricey, but very nice indeed.

cantdecide

Really cool car, IMO but don't forget, it is a supermini.

seanan37

i got one two weeks ago and first thing it done on me was over heat and conc out!! and i've heard the same off many off people who have brought them so watch out if ur buying one!

Tea 1000

seanan37 wrote: »

i got one two weeks ago and first thing it done on me was over heat and conc out!! and i've heard the same off many off people who have brought them so watch out if ur buying one!

Is that a real story or a makey upey one cause you don't like Fiats?
The 1.4 engine is trouble free in the Panda and Bravo. I haven't heard any negative reports on them. Besides, you get a 3 year warranty.

seanan37

na its true! yh but their are aload crap anyway so!

langdang

seanan37 wrote: »

i got one two weeks ago and first thing it done on me was over heat and conc out!! and i've heard the same off many off people who have brought them so watch out if ur buying one!

Wind up surely? I've "been there, done that" with FIAT problems, but I like the look of the 500's. I refuse to believe large numbers of them are overheating and cutting out a mile from the dealers

seanan37

well they are believe, but believe wat you want

Wossack

any pics of your one seanan37?

EPM

seanan37 wrote: »

well they are believe, but believe wat you want

Give more details so. Engine, how it happened and all that...

seanan37

dont have it anymore got rid of it straight away!!

Martron

ha ha .

EPM

seanan37 wrote: »

dont have it anymore got rid of it straight away!!

Martron

its a bit early for pork pies!!

Mr. Presentable

seanan37 wrote: »

i got one two weeks ago and first thing it done on me was over heat and conc out!! and i've heard the same off many off people who have brought them so watch out if ur buying one!

Seriously? How many people do you know who bought one? Why did you buy one if you know many people who had the same problem?

If it's good enough for ADP.....



I think it looks great, and it has been very well received by the motoring press.

cantdecide

Ah bless. The old FIAT's overheat thing. Fish in a barrel.

seanan37

i got told by the dealer that its being haoppeneing to a few ppl's car!

Martron

1.
the dealer told you that there was a common fault with cars he was trying to sell.....

2.
you bought a car even after the dealer told you it was a bad car

seanan37

he clearly told me after i brought it back to him you handy

langdang

seanan37 wrote: »

he clearly told me after i brought it back to him you handy

Ah lads, is there no school today or what?

Tea 1000

seanan37 wrote: »

he clearly told me after i brought it back to him you handy

No one believes you, you're making up lies, go away please. There's enough bullsh!tters around here without a new one.
The engine overheated and then conked? You could at least have tried to make up a better story.

Anan1

Right lads, let's not get sidetracked by seanan37's story - it'd be an awful pity for any otherwise constructive posters to get banned over it.;) Anyone got any further opinions on the car?

Mr.David

I had one as a rental car for 2 weeks - it was the base model 1.2 pop I think. Loved it, really feels like a special car. And makes you question the size of your own car as its all you need 99% of the time.

Thumbs up

p.s. It didnt overheat at all

langdang

Anan1 wrote: »

Anyone got any further opinions on the car?

In Ireland it's always going to be a niche car, bought mainly on style, so be even more careful than usual about colours/accessories. Wrong colour or badly tarted up could make it very difficult to move on in a few years. As tempting as the performance models (1.4 petrol turbo) might be, the same applies - most people who buy these won't be rallying them around and will go for the smaller sensible engines.

Edit - not saying to avoid them, or the performance version, just be aware that you may pay a penalty down the line for being individual...

Zubeneschamali

langdang wrote: »

Wrong colour or badly tarted up could make it very difficult to move on in a few years.

It comes in some unusual colours, but I wouldn't worry about buying any of them on this sort of car.

As with the Mini, I would avoid Italian flag roof treatments, chequered stickers, 500 stickers, racing stripes etc.

A bit of leather is relatively cheap new, and I'd be tempted.

Dangerdunf

Top gear seem to like the car anyway

Heres the link for James May's review

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZmGv-ecm3I&feature=PlayList&p=B4CABC4EF28F829C&playnext_from=PL&playnext=1&index=20

ianobrien

Having driven an Abarth version (for a very short while) I found it a riot to drive. It reminded me of the old French Hot Hatches......

shakencat

i want the new pink one


im in love

langdang

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

It comes in some unusual colours, but I wouldn't worry about buying any of them on this sort of car.

As with the Mini, I would avoid Italian flag roof treatments, chequered stickers, 500 stickers, racing stripes etc.

Yes, colours that would look wrong on other cars can look really well on the 500, but there's probably still some options to be avoided in the catalogue or at least see them in the flesh on a grey Irish overcast day before you decide

MetzgerMeister

Sexy little car alright! Another lad who owned one had a thread here a while back. After owning it for only a few days he was having problems with the windscreen wipers.

He said they were jumping across the windscreen and he found it hard to get the dealership to rectify the problem.

Doubt this has happened on all of them but just to make you aware

EDIT: Link - http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055835894&highlight=Flippin+Wipers

JHMEG

Am I the only one on here who thinks this is a seriously girly car, very much along the lines of the original Ka and even the Micra!

Zubeneschamali

JHMEG wrote: »

Am I the only one on here who thinks this is a seriously girly car, very much along the lines of the original Ka and even the Micra!

You may be the only one who cares...

.Longshanks.

JHMEG wrote: »

Am I the only one on here who thinks this is a seriously girly car, very much along the lines of the original Ka and even the Micra!

If I lived in a city i'd have one of these in a heart beat

cantdecide

It's the Ireland poverty spec models only issue (as it always is)...

EDIT: Great minds, LS100

RobAMerc

I hired the 1.4 td for a day in Teneriffe earlier this year.

Its a really nice little car - well sorted, fun to drive and has an excellent fit and finish.

I did find the 1.4td ran out of steam once the revs got up a bit (diesels do ) but you learn to compensate.

I have to say - I dove the nuts out of it for the day and the petrol gauge hardly moved !

I would have an off white one in a minute ( with the throw back chrome front bars ) but I think they are starting to be the cool peoples recession "Mini" though and you'll always get idiot anti Fiat bias so watch out for a big price drop come resale.

mfceiling

RobAMerc wrote: »

I hired the 1.4 td for a day in Teneriffe earlier this year.

Its a really nice little car - well sorted, fun to drive and has an excellent fit and finish.

I did find the 1.4td ran out of steam once the revs got up a bit (diesels do ) but you learn to compensate.

I have to say - I dove the nuts out of it for the day and the petrol gauge hardly moved !

I would have an off white one in a minute ( with the throw back chrome front bars ) but I think they are starting to be the cool peoples recession "Mini" though and you'll always get idiot anti Fiat bias so watch out for a big price drop come resale.

JHMEG

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

You may be the only one who cares...

Just an opinion. Obviously I don't care as I have no intention of buying one...

Zubeneschamali

JHMEG wrote: »

Just an opinion.

The TT is girly, the Z3 is a hairdressers car, the Beetle is gay, Yuk! an ugly bird in a Mini, shouldn't be allowed, rear view make-up mirror bimbo, school-run soccer-mom mammywagon...

I'm just sayin!

McSpud

No idea what like to drive but one of the best looking ordinary cars on the road today. I can never resist having a glance at one when I see it.

JHMEG

Zubeneschamali wrote: »

I'm just sayin!

Good for you! Last time I checked opinions were allowed!

Vertakill

I too think they're a tad girly but they really do look good, but I'd only have one in white.

I especially like the interior.

rcdk1

My wife has had a 1.2L petrol Pop model (i.e. base model) for two years. Despite myself I quite like it. I've driven it alot recently while my own car was in the garage.

Pros:
Looks (but that's up to your personal taste).
A very respectable 6.0L/100km (47mpg).
Easy to park.
Even the 1.2L is very nippy. It'll accelerate continuously all the way up to 160kph (on an unlimited stretch of autobahn...).
Relative to the size/type of car there's a reasonable amount of room for 4 adults.
Would suggest getting the blue&me bluetooth and media system (optional extra).

Cons:
Looks (but that's up to your personal taste). I do find other drivers give me less respect.
Hard to defog the windows.
Limited visibility behind and to the left/right (e.g. when changing lanes).
Can be prone to crosswinds on Dual carriageways/motorway.
Small boot.
Wipers do tend to"jump" across the windscreen sometimes.

AJCOT

Thanks for all your responses, even the daft one.

ha-ya-said-what

This is pretty much the only thing in News I have read involving a Fiat 500

So I can only say they are not for women or learners!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/oxfordshire/8618414.stm

stimpson

I took one for a test drive with my old dear a few months ago. Nice little car. Very firm suspension though - could be a good thing or a bad thing depending on your cup of tea. I found it a little too crashy to be honest.

The Ka is built on the same platform in the same factory and is basically the same car under the bodywork. Ka has a revised suspension setup though - extra roll bar and slightly softer springs I think. Felt far less twitchy than the 500 and far more comfortable. Maybe not quite as much fun in the bends.

If it was me, I'd have gone for the 500, the ould one would have had the Ka...except she put her name down for a Clio instead. :rolleyes: But certainly drive both before you decide.

Paparazzo

They look cool, make sure you get the Italian flag sidestripe

af_thefragile

Its a bit pricey (but still much cheaper than the ridiculously overpriced Mini).
And its a bit of a girls car. So if you're a guy, you might wanna reconsider it.

And I'ld go with a Renault Sport Twingo Cup instead.
Much more fun to drive.

T83

af_thefragile wrote: »

Its a bit pricey (but still much cheaper than the ridiculously overpriced Mini).
And its a bit of a girls car. So if you're a guy, you might wanna reconsider it.

And I'ld go with a Renault Sport Twingo Cup instead.
Much more fun to drive.

Did not know they made one until 5 minutes ago... I friggin want one, I love tiny hatchbacks!

A few weeks back I had to decide which car to replace my dead car with, needed something a-b that would be cheap to run, but hate tiny engined big cars. I test drove the 500, the Ka and the Aygo. My opinion for what it's worth:

The Ka handled better than the 500, the 500 was the best looking of the three by a long shot, the Aygo handled better than all the others, the Ka's styling is trying waaaaay too hard. All three look like toy cars on the inside, the 500 was pretty effeminate but some guys will be able to pull it off, like pink shirts or white framed sunglasses, some guys don't give a sh1t what you think of them and it shows....... but the Ka was THE girliest thing I have ever sat in, and I'm not the type to call a mini a girls car or a TT a hairdresser-mobile, but my god the interior was like a Nokia express on cover with flower patterned seats for extra wooooh!

In the end I went with the Aygo, I LOVE IT, honestly it has the better chassis and handling, and since I was going with the most frugal option available the little 3 cylinder had more punch than the 1.2 in a heavier car. That said, Ive had 3 500's pass me since Ive bought it (it could have been the same one), white with black 4 spokes, and each time I thought to myself "that looks the f**king balls I should have bought one!!"

The moral of my endless rambling... if your one of those guys who doesnt give a sh1t and it shows, just buy the 500, theyre all city cars, theyre all nippy around the city but the 500 is actually cool (and I dont say that a lot) the Aygo is not!