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- Jun 5, 2009
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Hi all,
I have booked my car in to be looked at, but I just wanted to check with people who are more familiar with the 500x. Mine is a 1.4t manual.
The start/stop function only works after the car has been on a long run. By long run, I mean on the motorway for 20+ miles. It will then work for a couple of days after which it will stop working until it does a long journey again. My previous car had start/stop and this functioned much more reliably. Presumably this is a problem with the battery or the charging? Having the system work like this defeats the object of start/stop in the first place!
Also, it's an impossible car to drive smoothly. The brakes are either on or off. The accelerator and gear changes/clutch are incredibly aggressive - especially on a down change. And when you ease on and off of the accelerator, you get a kind of double judder/jolt. It even does it when regulating the speed whilst using cruise control so I know it is not a heavy right foot. The diesel 500x hire car I had, had the sharp brakes so I presume this is just how the car is. But the gears/accelerator were very smooth. My car has the 18in wheels, so I expect the ride to be less accommodating, but some of the discomfort is definitely being caused by this clutch/accelerator problem. Any thoughts? Does this car have a DMF? I know some petrols do.
It is so bad, I find the car un-drivable in sport mode because it is so damned uncomfortable with the brakes and sharpness described above. Even in auto mode, the car has trouble putting its power down when pulling from a complete stop out of a turn quickly. I wanted a quick getaway pulling out of a road on my way to work earlier and all the car did was spin the wheels with several jolts to the cabin until the car finally got moving.
The car idles a little roughly when the air conditioning is off until the engine is very warm (i.e. at the end of the 7 mile journey to work, or after I have put my toe down a few times). But if I put the air con on - the idle is extremely smooth - even from just a couple of minutes into the trip. You wouldn't even know the car was running if you couldn't hear a slight hum when the aircon is on. Any thoughts on this? I tried getting an engine detergent in the fuel tank before I took the car down to Somerset (from London), but the fuel filler cap prevented the solution going in and I just ended up with a puddle on the floor. So a wasted tenner and an angry petrol station person is all I got.
Aside from this, I just have a couple of trim issues but I am far less concerned about this even if the buzzing and creaking is annoying!
Overall I am very happy with the car. It was comfortable on the 280 mile round trip. Much better than my 65-plate Fiesta. Just hope I am not being pedantic. However, the way I see it is - I have spent a lot of money and I would like the car to be of a certain standard.
Thanks all
I have booked my car in to be looked at, but I just wanted to check with people who are more familiar with the 500x. Mine is a 1.4t manual.
The start/stop function only works after the car has been on a long run. By long run, I mean on the motorway for 20+ miles. It will then work for a couple of days after which it will stop working until it does a long journey again. My previous car had start/stop and this functioned much more reliably. Presumably this is a problem with the battery or the charging? Having the system work like this defeats the object of start/stop in the first place!
Also, it's an impossible car to drive smoothly. The brakes are either on or off. The accelerator and gear changes/clutch are incredibly aggressive - especially on a down change. And when you ease on and off of the accelerator, you get a kind of double judder/jolt. It even does it when regulating the speed whilst using cruise control so I know it is not a heavy right foot. The diesel 500x hire car I had, had the sharp brakes so I presume this is just how the car is. But the gears/accelerator were very smooth. My car has the 18in wheels, so I expect the ride to be less accommodating, but some of the discomfort is definitely being caused by this clutch/accelerator problem. Any thoughts? Does this car have a DMF? I know some petrols do.
It is so bad, I find the car un-drivable in sport mode because it is so damned uncomfortable with the brakes and sharpness described above. Even in auto mode, the car has trouble putting its power down when pulling from a complete stop out of a turn quickly. I wanted a quick getaway pulling out of a road on my way to work earlier and all the car did was spin the wheels with several jolts to the cabin until the car finally got moving.
The car idles a little roughly when the air conditioning is off until the engine is very warm (i.e. at the end of the 7 mile journey to work, or after I have put my toe down a few times). But if I put the air con on - the idle is extremely smooth - even from just a couple of minutes into the trip. You wouldn't even know the car was running if you couldn't hear a slight hum when the aircon is on. Any thoughts on this? I tried getting an engine detergent in the fuel tank before I took the car down to Somerset (from London), but the fuel filler cap prevented the solution going in and I just ended up with a puddle on the floor. So a wasted tenner and an angry petrol station person is all I got.
Aside from this, I just have a couple of trim issues but I am far less concerned about this even if the buzzing and creaking is annoying!
Overall I am very happy with the car. It was comfortable on the 280 mile round trip. Much better than my 65-plate Fiesta. Just hope I am not being pedantic. However, the way I see it is - I have spent a lot of money and I would like the car to be of a certain standard.
Thanks all
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