New Motor for the Wife - Fiat 500?

[Dogzyboy 0]

Bored on Friday afternoon so thought I'd get the opinion of you lot on this one :)

 

I know it's been discussed a bit on this forum, but....

 

I'm looking to possibly take advantage of the government scrappage scheme & get shot of the old 306. The wife has her heart set on the new Fiat 500 & at the price after the £2k off, it's looking like a tempting proposition. Personally, if it was for me, I'd spend the cash somewhere else & not bother with the scrappage scheme, however, if that's what she fancies, then it seems a shame not to get something out of the government, and get a brand new car into the bargain.

 

Has anyone got an thoughts such a venture?

[vr6storm 0]

Bored on Friday afternoon so thought I'd get the opinion of you lot on this one :)

 

I know it's been discussed a bit on this forum, but....

 

I'm looking to possibly take advantage of the government scrappage scheme & get shot of the old 306. The wife has her heart set on the new Fiat 500 & at the price after the £2k off, it's looking like a tempting proposition. Personally, if it was for me, I'd spend the cash somewhere else & not bother with the scrappage scheme, however, if that's what she fancies, then it seems a shame not to get something out of the government, and get a brand new car into the bargain.

 

Has anyone got an thoughts such a venture?

 

 

is the 500 actually part of FIAT's scrappage deals?

 

as I believe not every model in their price lists qualify

 

Editted

http://www.startingroup.co.uk/fiat/scrappage.html

 

so it is :clap:

 

if she's need ing a new car then why not,I'm a fan of the 500 too

[Jim 2]

I love the 500 and have done since I first saw it a few years ago. If I was buying a new, small car it'd be what I bought.

 

And hell, if Michael Schumacher owns one, it's good enough for anyone IMHO! :)

[Henny 0]

Normally I wouldn't comment on things like this, but a friend of mine got one of these when they first came out (the new ones, not the originals!) and the build quality was shockingly bad, even for Fiat! New clutch after less than 1000 miles, electrical faults, rattles the works... I'm pretty certain she's now got rid of it and ended up getting her money back from the dealer... :eek:

 

If you're going to buy one, make sure you've driven the one you're buying and don't order one from the factory, get one that's currently sat in a showroom somewhere that you can see the state of BEFORE you hand over your cash... :pale:

 

Shame really, as I like the look of 'em...

[Jim 2]

I guess all new model means there are going to be reliability issues.. I wouldn't personally care too much as long as they're getting fixed under warranty by a suitably grovelling dealer!

[Kevin Bacon 5]

Schumacher may have a 500, but he also owns other 'FIAT' cars he co-developed, such as Ferrari 599XX, Enzo, F50 thingymajig etc etc :lol:

 

The missus tried a 500 when shopping for a new car (sadly the Abarth wasn't available at the time) and to be fair it was a hoot to throw around, but it was sooooooo gutless at anything past half throttle and the ride quality was too fidgety and quite bouncey (very short wheel base). The build quality I felt wasn't too bad for a FIAT but obviously some way off German standards. It was plenty pokey enough for her needs, but neither of us felt particularly secure in it tbh.

 

If we hadn't spotted the Polo GTI at a local dealer, she would have ended up with (another) Nissan Micra. THANK YOU Wolsey VW of Ipswich for sparing me that humiliation :notworthy:

[mattnorgrove 0]

THANK YOU Wolsey VW of Ipswich for sparing me that humiliation :notworthy:

 

:lol:

[craigowl 0]

Fiat build quality and dealership has ranked poorly as long as I have known.

 

Cheap and good to drive, so I believe, but where, for example, are the preserved examples of onetime "Car of the Year" - the first ever hatchback, the Fiat 127, sporty 124, Alfasuds, etc. etc. of the 1970s?

All turned to scrap and rust long ago, that's where.

[aide 0]

can't comment on the 500 apart from liking the look of it, they at least stayed true to the original

 

i did read an article on the scrappage scheme in the sunday papers few weeks ago, and it seems a lot of dealers are taking the mickey with the scrappage scheme, giving you (upto) £2k off yeh, but from an inflated starting point

 

one example provided was for a mid range focus zetec, best price from a dealer with scrappage considered was about £1.5k higher than a separate deal for just the car from an internet dealer.... plus you got to sell your own car on top :cuckoo:

 

defo shop around and cross compare dealer/scrappage -v- straight purchase and private sale

[Dogzyboy 0]

Hmmnnn... Not sure what kind of responses I was expecting, but thats definitely given me some food for thought.

 

I've been for a look & a seat in the 500 & it does seem fairly well built, but there is just something nagging me about buying a Fiat, for all the reasons mentioned above. The other options she's considered are a Mazda 2 or an Ibiza. I know they'll both likely be better built, but at a price.

 

Going to take a good look at those 3 this weekend & see what we think of them. It might come to a trade-off between "coolness" & build quality/reliability.

 

Thanks for all the comments though folks. :)

[one_eyed_willy 0]

was also thinking of getting one for the missus, had a couple of test drives. one in the 1.4 sport and another in the diesel edition.

 

in my opnion i think they are great, look good drive good and for the price they are great, no worse than a peugeot or citroen for the same money. build quality is never gonna be great unless you spend alot more cash on a german or alike make.

 

i would say its a good buy :)

[vwdeviant 0]

Would consider an SS when they finally come out! :nuts:

 

Oh and as for Shuey owning one... did you see the TG interview? What else does he admit to own as well? :pukeright: