...or are they simply selling themselves at the moment?
Salesman we spoke to on Saturday suggested that 'a customer' might be able to 'negotiate' a free set of mats and a tankful of fuel, but that would be about your lot!
Funk White teamed with Red Leather, tinted glass, front fogs and those lightly anodised(?) 16" alloys is a most attractive package for sure...
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Just had an e-mail from someone who ordered a 500C and was quoted September (post summer) delivery at the latest. And the basic car gets improved suspension and handling, plus a price hike, from the autumn.
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 06/07/2009 at 21:12
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I wonder when someone will launch a reworked Morris Minor?
Edited by Webmaster on 25/07/2009 at 12:44
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I wonder when someone will launch a reworked Morris Minor?
That would never be a girly motor. :-)
Edited by Webmaster on 25/07/2009 at 12:44
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I saw one in North Devon yesterday.......MD
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Tried the 500 last week. I love the styling, it seems to go well, but I found one major irritation; nowhere to put your left leg comfortably. There's a small drawer in the binnacle, and the lip wherein one puts ones digit to open said drawer rubs on the outside of left calf; even on a short test drive I could see this being a major annoyance. Wasn't just me, wife tried it and said same thing.
Result; went to Hyundai dealers today and am currently having high-level financial talks with the wife to buy an i10.
To answer OP's question, I doubt it. For all that it didn't fit the bill for me, I can understand why so many people like it. The 500c was in the showroom when I went in; car looks even better topless!
Edited by Harleyman on 06/07/2009 at 21:46
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I was quoted 14-weeks (September) too HJ.
I read both of your recent 500 Road Test reports (Abarth & C) with great interest but couldn't deduce from them exactly when these improvements might/would be incorporated.
Do you think they would be in place in a September delivery vehicle? I understand that each 500C and Abarth is custom-built!
Best...
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Dealership had a 500C in that deep(ish) Red with the ivory/light-grey interior. They do look so cute in the correct colour combo but your point about the left-leg irritation is something to watch out for! I may arrange a test-drive later this week (they'd run out of brochures Kev so I had to download one!) as there were three different demo models available on site.
This 'OP' ref that is often used in replies ? Original Post?
Cheers...
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This 'OP' ref that is often used in replies ? Original Post? >>
The P can be poster or post depending of context.
Is anybody out there discounting... >>
Using HJ's new car tool (7th tab above) brings up:
honestjohn.cars-2buy.co.uk/results.php?model=500&c...=
The Fiat 500 featured in Top Gear on Sunday (repeats on Friday and Sat on BBC2 and BBC3) and so it would not be surprising if the queues lengthen further.
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"I read both of your recent 500 Road Test reports (Abarth & C) with great interest but couldn't deduce from them exactly when these improvements might/would be incorporated."
The suspension and steering improvements are there from the start in the Abarth and 500C. They are coming in the 500 and I'm guessing from 2010 model year from about September/October, together with ASC/ESP at a price increase of £500 - £750.
Punk Grey 4k mile 2008/58 1.2 Lounge with leather, climate and rear parking sensors made £8,300 at Blackbushe on Friday.
HJ
Edited by Honestjohn on 07/07/2009 at 08:37
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best looking car on the road at the moment
i really hope fiat cleans up with this car
they deserve it
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Fiat are marketing cars in the UK that are in touch with the circumstances that many folk find themselves in.
The banks and the government have seriously wrecked the economy. We want cars with low running costs and the greatest running cost is depreciation.
The scrappage scheme favours the purchase of small, cheaper cars.
Small, Polish built Fiats are very tough and reliable.
No wonder the dealers have no need to discount the 500.
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I can't quite put my finger on why I feel this way (purely visceral, gut feeling maybe) but I think the Fiat 500 is a far better invocation of times past wrapped in a modern shell, than the VW Beetle.
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I think the Beetle has dated badly. The FIAT 500 is even better than the BMW Mini.
I'd ask a question: why do so many everywhere refer to Fiat and not FIAT (they are initials after all). We don't say Gm, Vw or Bmw too often do we? But I don't really need an answer and there is already much thread drift.
I think these FIAT 500's must be selling quite well so why discount them if you were FIAT? And Ford pays them to build the new Ka at the same factory. They must be smiling at FIAT at the moment - both based on the Panda platform.
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I'd ask a question: why do so many everywhere refer to Fiat and not FIAT (they are initials after all). We don't say Gm, Vw or Bmw too often do we? But I don't really need an answer and there is already much thread drift. >>
You asked, but do not want an answer. However, Fiat themselves refer to the car as Fiat 500:
www.fiat.com/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_COM/home.jsp
"The Fiat 500 C has arrived. The Fiat 500 C, the original cabriolet version made by the Fiat Style Centre, .... "
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:-) But they are FIAT, i.e. Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino.
Maybe FIAT has renamed themselves.
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Blast... beat me to it by a nanosecond rtj70!
The acronym stands for "Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino" which means in English "Italian Car...
The brochure (a truly outstanding brochure delivery service you've got yourselves there FIAT ? ordered online Sunday evening, delivered to house Tuesday morning) and supporting literature contradicts itself a number of time ? FIAT, Fiat, FIAT GROUP, Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd, etc., but the coloured FIAT logotype is without doubt the primary brand ident, featuring extensively throughout the printed material.
Glad we got that sorted then...
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