Hello all, joined a few days ago.

Found this great forum when looking for information on the current 500's released here in Australia. My current car lease is up in a few months and I def want to get a 500 as my next car.

I'm between Fiats at the moment. I owned a 1500 for about 12 years, and it was my daily driver for about 7 of those years, so have been a Fiat fan for quite a while. Unfortunatley I didn't have the room anymore, or the time to spend on the old girl, so she has gone to somebody who will give her the attention she deserves.

There looks like there are a lot of members here who like to help new owners, hope I may be able to tap into that knowledge if the need arises.

Cheers, Michael

Welcome to the forum. Lots of help and advice here-quite a big Aussie contingent too. If you are in the market for a 500 keep in mind that waiting times can be 3-4 months or more if what you want is not in the showroom. So if you're looking to get a car early next year you might want to start shopping now...

PsFiat said:

If you are in the market for a 500 keep in mind that waiting times can be 3-4 months or more if what you want is not in the showroom.

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Lol! I believe from reading from people on this forum, that even living here in the UK, that it can take 3 to 4 months from ordering a car to your own spec to it arriving at the dealer for collection and the distance from London to Tychy in Poland, is only about 985 miles or a 15 hour drive

frupi said:

Lol! I believe from reading from people on this forum, that even living here in the UK, that it can take 3 to 4 months from ordering a car to your own spec to it arriving at the dealer for collection and the distance from London to Tychy in Poland, is only about 985 miles or a 15 hour drive

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Lol for sure ! Takes as long to get a car from 1000 miles away as it does 10000 miles away- go figure ....

PsFiat said:

Welcome to the forum. Lots of help and advice here-quite a big Aussie contingent too. If you are in the market for a 500 keep in mind that waiting times can be 3-4 months or more if what you want is not in the showroom. So if you're looking to get a car early next year you might want to start shopping now...

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Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I noticed that there were quite a few members from OZ on here. Still don't notice many 500's on the road over here, but these cars are obviously popular amongst the people with some taste.

I'm not going to go the "order and wait" path with this car. I went through that a few time before, and the wait time of almost 6 months in both cases nearly killed me. This time I'm going to take my chances on what will be in stock when I'm ready to buy. I'm pretty open to the colours, etc which Fiat are offereing over here, so hoping I should find something that grabs me. The only thing I def want is the car will have to be 500c .. figured it's about time I owned a cabriolet.

frupi said:

Lol! I believe from reading from people on this forum, that even living here in the UK, that it can take 3 to 4 months from ordering a car to your own spec to it arriving at the dealer for collection and the distance from London to Tychy in Poland, is only about 985 miles or a 15 hour drive

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I live a little far away, but for you local guys a nice run back from the factory would bed the car in a little.

Definitely worth trying your luck. I ordered a 500s with the electric sunroof - arrived 9 months later!

500man said:

Thanks for the welcome.

Yes, I noticed that there were quite a few members from OZ on here. Still don't notice many 500's on the road over here, but these cars are obviously popular amongst the people with some taste.

I'm not going to go the "order and wait" path with this car. I went through that a few time before, and the wait time of almost 6 months in both cases nearly killed me. This time I'm going to take my chances on what will be in stock when I'm ready to buy. I'm pretty open to the colours, etc which Fiat are offereing over here, so hoping I should find something that grabs me. The only thing I def want is the car will have to be 500c .. figured it's about time I owned a cabriolet.

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Hi, and welcome. My partner and I both have Cabrio's - you'll never want to drive a 'tin-top' again! Both cars came off the showroom floor or from stock already landed. Unless you want to spec the car up to personal taste it's no big deal (admittedly I wanted a red one and got black) as they come pretty well equipped.

The Pop doesn't have reversing sensors and rearward visibility in the Cabrio isn't great. That's the one thing that I'd want fitted. The sensors in the Lounge make life much easier...

Welcome

Another Aussie - yeah !!! Another Italian car tragic - double yeah !!!

500man said:

....I'm not going to go the "order and wait" path with this car. I went through that a few time before, and the wait time of almost 6 months in both cases nearly killed me. This time I'm going to take my chances on what will be in stock when I'm ready to buy. I'm pretty open to the colours, etc....

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I'm another one that definitely couldn't be bothered to buy a car and then have to wait months for it. I've bought three brand new cars all direct out of the showroom, so it was like a week from starting negotiation to buy, to actual handover.

As I've posted in previous threads, this TA we now own, I just did a national search on Auto Trader, saw a brand new pe-reg motor in a spec and colour we liked, phoned the Fiat dealer 150 miles away from where we live, negotiated a good PX deal on our old POP and bought the new car over the phone without ever even seeing it first or test driving it! It has turned out to be a corker of a little car, ok, a couple of minor niggles sorted under warranty and a recall for wiring that took all of 5 minutes to sort, but still, a good little car that we saved over GBP3.5K on from Fiat's list price.

It was actually quite nice to be told by the servicing franchise where we have just had the car serviced at, that the car is a nice colour. Ours is Midnight Indigo Blue and we don't see many that colour where we live. Indeed, I don't see many that colour full stop.

If you can find one already in stock at a good spec level for a decent price, go for it.

Piccolo Nero e Bella said:

Hi, and welcome. My partner and I both have Cabrio's - you'll never want to drive a 'tin-top' again! Both cars came off the showroom floor or from stock already landed. Unless you want to spec the car up to personal taste it's no big deal (admittedly I wanted a red one and got black) as they come pretty well equipped.

The Pop doesn't have reversing sensors and rearward visibility in the Cabrio isn't great. That's the one thing that I'd want fitted. The sensors in the Lounge make life much easier...

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Thanks for the welcome, and happy cabrio driving to you and your partner.

Good advise about reversing sensors .. I'll keep that in mind when buying.

Joseph500 said:

Welcome

Another Aussie - yeah !!! Another Italian car tragic - double yeah !!!

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Cheers Joseph500. Guilty as charged on both counts mate.

500man said:

..I'm not going to go the "order and wait" path with this car. I went through that a few time before, and the wait time of almost 6 months in both cases nearly killed me. This time I'm going to take my chances on what will be in stock when I'm ready to buy. I'm pretty open to the colours, etc which Fiat are offereing over here, so hoping I should find something that grabs me. The only thing I def want is the car will have to be 500c .. figured it's about time I owned a cabriolet.

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As you are after a 500c you will have ticked the reverse sensor box. They come standard on the 500c here. Wish they did on the Lounge too.

Keep in mind when shopping for cars in stock that there are still quite a few pre series 3 builds in dealerships . Use this to your advantage with price negotiations.

I am sitting in the "order and wait" path for a Lounge because we wanted a particular colour AND the new TFT instrument cluster. I think the TFT cluster is an improvement and I reckon it will assist future resale by defining the car as being newer.

Even after committing to this path we are still not getting everything we wanted. Would have liked reverse sensors too, but we bought a car that was built and on ship to Australia. So a compromise. my plan is to fit parking sensors later myself.

So definitely something to be said for grabbing something from the dealership floor. Apart from colour choice there are probably not too many decision to make with the 500C package in Australia, so if you like the colour and price you'd be good to go.

logger said:

As you are after a 500c you will have ticked the reverse sensor box. They come standard on the 500c here. Wish they did on the Lounge too.

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I thought (and read in a review) that all 500C's have standard reverse sensors but, while they're standard on 500C Sport & Lounge models, in the Pop they're optional.

PNB you are no doubt correct. Sorry. I am showing my own newby ignorance here. I had naively thought 500C meant a Cabriolet Lounge only as compare to basic Lounge. So if OPs prime spec is Cabriolet, he has in fact a lot of decisions to make. Three models to choose from apart from the series decision, even before considering colours and interior.

logger said:

PNB you are no doubt correct. Sorry. I am showing my own newby ignorance here. I had naively thought 500C meant a Cabriolet Lounge only as compare to basic Lounge. So if OPs prime spec is Cabriolet, he has in fact a lot of decisions to make. Three models to choose from apart from the series decision, even before considering colours and interior.

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You're not wrong Logger! If you're one of those people who has trouble making up their mind you'd be in dead trouble...

As I said, I really wanted a red hatch but when they showed me the black Lounge cab with red seats and ivory highlights I was sold - and in 7 days I was driving it.

There is still a lot to be said for customising - despite the wait. I ordered the sunroof and the 'perfezione' pack which included upgraded headlights, bigger wheels and leather ... I realise that once you decide to buy you want it NOW, but why not get exactly the car you want ...?

PsFiat said:

There is still a lot to be said for customising - despite the wait. I ordered the sunroof and the 'perfezione' pack which included upgraded headlights, bigger wheels and leather ... I realise that once you decide to buy you want it NOW, but why not get exactly the car you want ...?

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I understand your point PS. I was looking for a red one on a whim but it was never a deal-breaker and the black Lounge with almost everything that opens and shuts has reallly won me over. It looks fantastic (when it's clean!) and I've added a number of custom fittings that make it stand out from the crowd. I regard it as a fortunate coincidence that it was available at the time and I'm more than pleased.

If I'd ordered and waited I'd have had to settle for an auto and, in any case, the poor old trade-in probably wouldn't have lasted another few months. Besides all that I'd just spent six months waiting for an ordered car that never did turn up - I cancelled it in disgust as I don't have the patience of some people here (it wasn't a Fiat, something quite different).

Good news .. the 1.4 S 500c is no longer a dream, it's a reality.

I'm just waiting for the paperwork and pre-delivery to be done and she'll be mine .. I'm hoping Friday at the latest.

As I mentioned in a previous post I wasn't too fussy about colour, and 3 were in contention at different dealers. However the dealer with the black / black won out, what with closest location and better deal (getting fitted carpets / 16" wheels and the tradein price I wanted), so that's what I'm getting.

Never had a black colour car before though .. are these hard to keep clean?

500man said:

Never had a black colour car before though .. are these hard to keep clean?

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Yes, very - and they'll show every swirl & scratch, so best be careful who you let wash it, and stay away from any offers to clean your car free from the dealers.

I had one for about ten years - it looked absolutely great for the first couple of years, but keeping it up was a lot of work and it didn't age gracefully.

OTOH, solid white is easier to maintain than you might think.