General Just about to buy a 500X but this forum is putting me off.

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General Just about to buy a 500X but this forum is putting me off.

I have had a 1.6 Multijet Lounge (not the 4WD) since January. Bought at 10 months old and had done 6,500 miles at average of 43 mpg. I have put another 6,500 miles on it, averaging 52 mpg so the consumption is improving as the engine loosens up.

We like the car a lot and have had no problems with it, and would certainly recommend it. It feels well put together and has a nice, quality, interior (well, for a Fiat anyway!).

I would put the caveat on these comments that we are not really interested in the technology in the car - which seems to work well enough - as we are of that generation that buys a car to get from A to B comfortably and with minimum fuss. It does at least do that with a little style, unlike many of its competitors, which are as dull as ditchwater.

Cheers
Cliff
 
I too am one of the generation that puts fuel in it and off we go. I understand some of the technology and gimmicks but not all.

At the end of the day am I happy with the fuel consumption? Yes, is the car comfortable? Yes, do I actively enjoy driving it? Yes.

I could change the uConnect for something better but I can't be bothered, it's good enough.

Would I buy another? Yes

I hope that helps you decide Kev1234
 
Hi all.Kev's1234. OP says he is going to a "car supermarket" to purchase a car. The chances that he would get a prolonged test drive etc are ?????.
I would suggest he looks at the reviews from these places. According to some of the reviews, the headline prices( to get you there)are not always available.
Look carefully at warrantees.
Personally I would purchase from a local garage.
Obviously many people are satisfied with these supermarkets.
 
Surely Kev1234 would still get the full 2 year warranty regardless of where he bought it, but I doubt he'd get the third year from a non-franchised dealer. I imagine price will be the ultimate factor
 
I was about to pull the trigger and buy a 500X from a car supermarket this weekend.
But after reading this forum Im a bit put off. Are they really that bad?
One of the reasons for buying was the tech - such as uconnect and tom tom sat nav, but it seems that they dont really work that well.
Any body give me some positives ?



Why on earth would this forum put you off? Go to any car forum and you will see many complaints about owners cars. That's why these forums exist. They are the best place to air views on niggles faults etc. I have had my 500x for nearly two years and 24000 miles and I think it's been one of the best cars I have had. Previous to this I had a Panda,Punto,BMW ,Mazda,Laguna and Clio.Yes I have had a couple of minor issues ( all fixed under warranty) but compared to the Renault it's a fantastic motor.The Renault was a disaster forever breaking down...total nightmare.Bmw and Mazda very good but far to expensive. The 500x I feel is Fiat's best car to date.
 
Why on earth would this forum put you off? Go to any car forum and you will see many complaints about owners cars. That's why these forums exist. They are the best place to air views on niggles faults etc. I have had my 500x for nearly two years and 24000 miles and I think it's been one of the best cars I have had. Previous to this I had a Panda,Punto,BMW ,Mazda,Laguna and Clio.Yes I have had a couple of minor issues ( all fixed under warranty) but compared to the Renault it's a fantastic motor.The Renault was a disaster forever breaking down...total nightmare.Bmw and Mazda very good but far to expensive. The 500x I feel is Fiat's best car to date.



I find my iPhone works perfectly with uconnect,I stream my music from the phone without issue and I also use a memory stick to play loaded MP3 cds etc. I don't have the sat nav so couldn't comment.
 
Totally agree with this.

Go to the BMW forum and its the same - only problems.

I think people only post when something is wrong.

You don't often get posts saying everything is good.



There were issues with the 500X but mainly around the tech. Don't expect the UConnect to be up to much, its just a glorified media player.

But then the BMW one was not much better, just has better graphics and improved usability.

Does mostly the same thing though.



I'd drive one and make up your won mind.



Remember to drive it on a mixture of roads - include bumpy surfaces and around town in stop/start traffic.

And not just for 5 minutes. Remember you will be living with it.

Just like any car really. :)



Had mine 3.5 months and everything is good! [emoji4]
 
I find the forum way too negative as well, to be honest.

I've got a '66 plate 500X 1.4 petrol, manual, owned from new. It has been a very good car. UConnect is fine - the issues people have with it relate to the fact that they've bought an ex-fleet car and get upset when they can't update it. My 6.5" unit has worked great since day one and is easy to use.

Mine is also loaded with the various sensors, reversing cameras, adaptive cruise control and the like. All work well. The car as a whole is put together well, drives well and is comfortable.

Oh and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW or Mercedes.
 
I find the forum way too negative as well, to be honest.

I've got a '66 plate 500X 1.4 petrol, manual, owned from new. It has been a very good car. UConnect is fine - the issues people have with it relate to the fact that they've bought an ex-fleet car and get upset when they can't update it. My 6.5" unit has worked great since day one and is easy to use.

Mine is also loaded with the various sensors, reversing cameras, adaptive cruise control and the like. All work well. The car as a whole is put together well, drives well and is comfortable.

Oh and it's a heck of a lot cheaper than a BMW or Mercedes.

Mine is an ex fleet car and the UConnect system was set up for me just fine. Took a few weeks but they got there.

However - UConnect Live is crap. The Deezer app freezes more than an actual freezer, the traffic camera alerts which cannot be switched off because of a bug in the system are frustrating (bordering on infuriating), and the maps are so out of date you could use them for local history studies. Oh and try scrolling around a map on the screen. It freezes and then lands you 30 miles away. This is my experience of the 6.5in version at least.

The forum is not being unduly negative. On the whole, I think most people are objective and honest. There are issues with UConnect and with Fiat's ability to solve these problems, and any amount of accused negativity won't change that.

I will add that UConnect is generally ok as long as you don't enable live services. I had to uninstall the app from my phone to avoid being notified 20 times about one traffic camera.
 
I don't think the forum is negative either Cei. I have probably had more problems with my car than most, but my dealership (and Fiat most of the time, except for anything uConnect) have been brilliant. I could have bought a new car for the cost of what mine has cost Fiat to fix, but I'm not complaining. Now everything is fixed I love it and wouldn't swap it for anything comparable at the moment. It's up there now as one of the best cars I've owned. I don't regard that as negative, I regard that as using the forum as intended surely?
 
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Hi all. Having read many posts on the forum.It appears to me that as long as the car is 3yrs old or less, there is not much of a problem to get them fixed.
I would guess that most of the posters on the forum are from owners of older vehicles and their cars, as would be expected exhibit faults. Most owners being able to fix their own cars.Lets face it as humans as we get older more "faults" appear, so why should cars be different.
People come to the forum to get answers to issues, there must be thousands of owners who have no problems at all and therefore do not need the forum.
There's plenty of good advice to this thread and with this in mind OP will get a good vehicle.
 
I don't think the forum is negative either Cei. I have probably had more problems with my car than most, but my dealership (and Fiat most of the time, except for anything uConnect) have been brilliant. I could have bought a new car for the cost of what mine has cost Fiat to fix, but I'm not complaining. Now everything is fixed I love it and wouldn't swap it for anything comparable at the moment. It's up there now as one of the best cars I've owned. I don't regard that as negative, I regard that as using the forum as intended surely?

All I can say is that this is my perception. I know forums generally act as a magnet for complaints rather than praise, but some of the vitriol at times is a bit over the top for the problems experienced.

Mine is an ex fleet car and the UConnect system was set up for me just fine. Took a few weeks but they got there.

However - UConnect Live is crap. The Deezer app freezes more than an actual freezer, the traffic camera alerts which cannot be switched off because of a bug in the system are frustrating (bordering on infuriating), and the maps are so out of date you could use them for local history studies. Oh and try scrolling around a map on the screen. It freezes and then lands you 30 miles away. This is my experience of the 6.5in version at least.

The forum is not being unduly negative. On the whole, I think most people are objective and honest. There are issues with UConnect and with Fiat's ability to solve these problems, and any amount of accused negativity won't change that.

I will add that UConnect is generally ok as long as you don't enable live services. I had to uninstall the app from my phone to avoid being notified 20 times about one traffic camera.

Probably comes down to your usage. I just hook my iPhone up to it with a cable, my music is then played via the Media screen (coming from either the phone memory or Apple Music) with zero issues. I don't use the mapping that much either, as it isn't needed for local journeys and when I have done longer distances I've not come across any errors - nor indeed the traffic camera alerts that were out of place or intrusive.

Compared to two Pioneer units I've had the (mis)fortune to use, UConnect is decent. Best in the world? Of course not, but you'd need to pay Audi or Tesla a small fortune to get that.
 
I don't think the UConnect system is rubbish, it's OK for what it does, some of it I cant see the point of, such as the Facebook Connection, all you can do is post a Location Update to your Facebook page from your car, and the point of that is....

I don't use the Deezer or InTune functions, prefer to put my music on an SD card and play it that way.

The Maps is ok, my X is a 66 plate so it's relatively new with an updated map.

Yes, the Camera Alert is very annoying and cannot be switched off, I have to go over the Junction 10 of the M6 each day to work and I get about 30 beeps as I go over the junction despite all the Camera's being on the Motorway below... but I can live with it..

The car, other than the above is brilliant and is a joy to drive..
 
Hi all. Having read many posts on the forum.It appears to me that as long as the car is 3yrs old or less, there is not much of a problem to get them fixed.
I would guess that most of the posters on the forum are from owners of older vehicles and their cars, as would be expected exhibit faults. Most owners being able to fix their own cars.Lets face it as humans as we get older more "faults" appear, so why should cars be different.
People come to the forum to get answers to issues, there must be thousands of owners who have no problems at all and therefore do not need the forum.
There's plenty of good advice to this thread and with this in mind OP will get a good vehicle.
500x is 2015 on... none over 3 years old yet.
 
Nothing else like it out there, sat next to Range Rovers and thought my 500x was better looking and more reliable. Not had any issues in first year apart from getting used to the fact its not a Rolls Royce and the media system isn't the best, but it works, sounds pretty good and beats most other cars away from the lights and round corners. It has no faults, it just has Fiat quirks and that's why we love them. Ive had Rovers and the only bad point about them is the mechanics that fix them. Never listen to others, just go buy one. I didn't even test drive mine lol
 
I would just add that the interior appealed to me more than most other cars at the price. My Lounge has mostly good quality materials, with contrasting part leather (don't know if it's real but it looks and feels good) and a splash of body colour across the dash. Much more interesting than the usual greys and blacks.
 
Like the others here, I'm not sure what is putting the OP off.

I can't recall a forum with so few problems being reported, which factoring in the natural skew towards complaints is fairly impressive in my opinion.

I would not hesitate to recommend one. I've never done so little research before buying a new car and seriously wondered if I might regret it. I haven't for one second of the 14 months we have had ours.
 
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