Feb 08 is the launch date and there's no guarantee of this date as ALL cars biult for 07 have now been sold with 23,000 going in the first 2 days. 200 deposits have been placed with UK dealers so far and the basic price is £9,995 and will rise to just under £15k However as there is going to be so many variations in which you can order your car, prices will vary greatly.

Considering my Panda 4x4 Climbing was £10,400, it's priced in the same area.

Oh and there's a strong possibility that once Fiat make their mind up on what spec the Abarth is to be, it may be LHD only and limited numbers.

The sales staff at the Fiat dealerships actually seem to have less information about the 500 than we have on here and by looking in the motoring press.

A salesman I spoke to on the phoneyesterday gave me a whole load of baloney about the 500, he seemed to be 'making up fibs as he went along' so I gave him a false name and a false phone number of a telephone kiosk in a remote location in Scotland. Chances are there'll never be any reply when he rings, its a TK in the middle of nowhere but ringing that with some supadupa offer will keep him busy so he won't have time to mislead other suckers, um er sorry customer who come into the showroom!

I saw a different salesmanwhen I arrived at this same dealership (Northampton) to look at this LHD vehicle was he was much more sensible.
OK,he has to try and sound authoritative, when he actually has no definate price details or launch date. (He's telling people they will start at £8500 BTW.)

As a salesman he wants you to leave an order and a £500 deposit to get you a RHD version of the car in the new year. That's his job. As punters(customers) we just have to take what we hear from sales staff with a pinch of salt, because it is all guesswork at the moment.

The downright bullshine some Fiat salesmen seem to give customers is a disgrace IMO and maybe one of the many reasons Fiat has such a bad reputation in the UK.

The launch date is supposed to be Feb 08, but it could change.
There's a Fiat dealer on autotrader claiming January 08 delivery which is a bit optimistic.
There's a trader on ebay selling 500's who claims to have 20 in stock right now. He hasn't really - he's only got the one, but claims to have access to other vehicles according to customers requirements. I would say beware of anyone who claims to be able to get you any model you want in any colour you want!

sounds like you got Neil on the phone at motorvogue then kevin. So did i.he hadnt got a clue.

I know someone whos seen the Black sport at ttcentre.com in Surrey but they one got one, not got 20 in stock like they say on ebays, little liars

Is the silver one still at nthampton then kevin or anyone.
Is it mini one quality or not
Does it look like a hairdressers car
Will Panda sport owners be crying their eyes out
Will it beat my b/fs Cooper?
Whos the best to speak to at Nthampton dealer?

I have sat in a 500 for a few mintues, but I haven't driven one, so I am no expert, however IMO the build quality seems much better than the other Fiats I have looked at (the Panda and the Grande Punto), it is a similar quality to a BMW MINI.

Here's a link to a picture of the vehicle:
http://www.motorvogue.co.uk/News_Item.asp?ID=6&level2=0&node=0

It is a cute and friendly looking car and maybe will be seen by some people as a hairdressers car or a grannymobile, but it is no more feminine than my present Ford Ka o )and no more of a blue-rinsers motor than (say) a Nissan Micra. It looks less sporty than the 1.4 Panda Sport. It is so cute that to look sporty it needs some sort of bodykit.

No doubt JazzyJase or someone can remember the 0-60 time of a 500 with a 1.4 engine, and will know how that compares with the different Mini models, but I don't think Panda 1.4 or MINI Cooper drivers have too much to worry about.

If I can remember the name of the sensible guy I spoke to at the dealership, and who showed me around the vehicle I will send you a PM Ms Cinq.

Apart from this silver 500 Sport at Nthampton, there is a black sport we know about at the tt centre in Surrey, and one or two London dealers are supposed to have a 500 sport as a 'static demonstrator' in their showrooms.

If anyone knows of any other 500s in the UK at the moment, perhaps they could let us know on here.

I have sat in a 500 for a few mintues, but I haven't driven one, so I am no expert, however IMO the build quality seems much better than the other Fiats I have looked at (the Panda and the Grande Punto), it is a similar quality to a BMW MINI.

Here's a link to a picture of the vehicle:
http://www.motorvogue.co.uk/News_Item.asp?ID=6&level2=0&node=0

It is a cute and friendly looking car and maybe will be seen by some people as a hairdressers car or a grannymobile, but it is no more feminine than my present Ford Ka o )and no more of a blue-rinsers motor than (say) a Nissan Micra. It looks less sporty than the 1.4 Panda Sport. It is so cute that to look sporty it needs some sort of bodykit.

No doubt JazzyJase or Suasexed-Tom can remember the 0-60 time of a 500 with a 1.4 enguine, and will know how that compares with the different Mini models, but I don't think Panda 1.4 or MINI Cooper drivers have too much to worry about.

If I can remember the name of the sensible guy I spoke to at the dealership, and who showed me around the vehicle I will send you a PM Ms Cinq.

Apart from this silver 500 Sport at Nthampton, there is a black sport we know about at the tt centre in Surrey, and one or two London dealers are supposed to have a 500 sport as a 'static demonstrator' in their showrooms.

If anyone knows of any other 500s in the UK at the moment, perhaps they could let us know on here.

KevinB said:

No doubt JazzyJase or someone can remember the 0-60 time of a 500 with a 1.4 engine, and will know how that compares with the different Mini models, but I don't think Panda 1.4 or MINI Cooper drivers have too much to worry about.

Click to expand...

0-62 on the 500 1.4 is 10.5 seconds. Panda 100HP is 9.5. MINI One is 10.9 and MINI Cooper is 9.1.

Further to my post above, re 0-60 times. The 500 has a higher power to weight ratio than both MINI's and the Panda 100 HP, so why's it slower to 60? My guess would be that it doesn't hit 60 in 2nd and requires a change up to 3rd.

It would be interesting to see the in-gear times, but I would bet that a 1.4 500 and a MINI Cooper would be evenly matched across country.

Fiat 500 1.4
Power 100 bhp
Torque 131 NM
Weight 930 Kg
Power/weight 107.5 bhp/ton
Torque/weight 140 NM/ton

MINI Cooper
Power 120 bhp
Torque 160 NM
Weight 1140 Kg
Power/weight 105 bhp/ton
Torque/weight 140 NM/ton

Fiat Panda 100 HP
Power 100 bhp
Torque 131 NM
Weight 975 Kg
Power/weight 102.6 bhp/ton
Torque/weight 134 NM/ton

MINI One
Power 95 bhp
Torque 140 NM
Weight 1135 Kg
Power/weight 83.7 bhp/ton
Torque/weight 123 NM/ton

We've spent a happy hour this afternoon playing with the silver 500 Sport at Motorvogue. Unfortunately, it's not possible to actually have a drive. The car is on Italian plates and is registered and insured to a private individual in Italy. Motorvogue have the car "on loan" to encourage people to put down a £500 deposit which will get them a place on the initial UK production run. The car will have to be returned to Italy at some stage. This might be quite soon as Fiat UK are already making unhappy noises about it being on display in Northampton. If you decide to go ahead and place an order now, the dealership will ask for final details (model, colour, options etc.) when Fiat release the UK price lists which will be a month before the UK launch. This is probably going to be late January 08. It seems that 15 punters have already put money up front having seen the LHD car on display, so the tactic appears to be working.

The car on show is in silver which makes it a bit anonymous. It has part leather sports seats in grey which are really very comfortable, and a single piece rear seat. I gave the dashboard area and door panels a good thumping - they feel really solid and well screwed together. The plastic used is good quality and not at all shiny looking - mostly black with the main panel (it's plastic, not metal) in the silver body colour. It's all in a very different league to my wife's Cinquencento Sporting with all that hard rattly plastic and exposed screw heads. The gear selection is nice and positive and the leather steering wheel has a nice feel.

There's plenty of room for two adults in the back. The boot is a good size (the same as a Panda) with a space saver spare wheel hidden away under the floor, a trick BMW couldn't manage. In fact there seems to be much more useable space than in the MINI, which is strange because the BMW product is bigger all round. Under the bonnet is a familiar engine - clearly labelled 100HP - with everything tidily presented. The screen wash bottle is easy to fill and not hidden away down the wheel arch like the Cinq.

The sales patter was clearly aimed at trying to extract the £500 deposit and signed order. Unfortunately, Fiat have not really given UK dealers any hard information as yet and some statements made seemed a bit dodgy. "There won't be a split folding seat on any 500 model". "The colours are all new and previously unseen on any Fiat". "The speedo will be clearly marked in MPH. There isn't room for KPH and anyhow, who wants it?". Other bits of the patter are probably a bit more believable - "The Pop will not be available in the UK". When asked to confirm that the diesel will be available from the launch, the salesman said "Of course!" but he said that to us a couple of years ago about the Panda 4X4.

The lasting impression about this car is how solid it all feels. It also looks quite "chunky" and robust with a real sense of character. I was expecting a "girly" car but the 500 is much more than that. So, will we be buying one? Yes, of course!

Here you go folks: NF500 drives the New Fiat 500



Photos on Flickr, here.

Excellent. So you seem to agree with me that it is an excellent quality product, but you can see why I didn't give it '10-out-of-10' as
silver is probably not the best colour for it.

The 'Popular' version might not be available in the UK but they may give us an 'Active' version which will be amost identical.

I got to see it first, NF500 got to drive it first.

The "What's in our car park?" part of Autocar's website is today showing that they have already acquired a nice pale blue 500 for their long-term test fleet - left hand drive of course.

My Local Dealer has one! its the 1.2 Sport in black looks brilliant i think i may be ordering one! ill post pictures up either tonight or tomorrow cant wait until its ready to be test driven!

Mitchc3

Fiat have not really given UK dealers any hard information as yet and some statements made seemed a bit dodgy. "There won't be a split folding seat on any 500 model". "The colours are all new and previously unseen on any Fiat". "The speedo will be clearly marked in MPH. There isn't room for KPH and anyhow, who wants it?". Other bits of the patter are probably a bit more believable

Click to expand...

Sounds like mitchc3 got salesman Neil at motorvogue Nthampton as well, making anything up as he went along to make up for lack of real info. You wouldnt get that from mini dealer salesmen or theyd be out of work when bmw found out.

Prices from 9000 they told me what about you others who dared to go to motorvogue?

Will get my fella to take me to see a 500 sport this weekend in Wakefield, not sure what Im looking for at this early stage though;general quality really.

If you think MINI dealers don't make things up you're looking at them through very thick lens rose tinted glasses. My experience with MINI2.com is that there's many MINI dealers who will merrily talk nonsense and even down right lie to their customers. I think it's a UK car dealer problem (I've personally had disgusting service at BMW/MINI and Smart/Mercedes dealers), not a Fiat specific issue.

When you find a good dealer, try and build a good relationship and keep with them is what I would advise. I know family members who've had great service from Honda and Volvo dealers near me, but I wouldn't know if they're all like that. We had good service (sales) at the Honda place too, even though we made it clear we were just nosing about.

All smoke and mirrors at Motorvogue when it comes to UK pricing. It is, however, useful to visit the FIAT Italy and FIAT France websites. Choose the countries at http://www.fiat.com

The euro FIAT websites look exactly like the "old" UK FIAT webpages, so choose 500 then Configurator. You can see what features are included in each model and the prices. You might find a dictionary helpful to sort out the option packages.

Basic prices in both France and Italy are the same - from 10500 euro up to 14500 euro. That would be £7,096 to £9,800. France seems to have a choice of only seven colours while Italy gets eleven. It's still not easy to see which colours are metallic except by any additional cost which appears on the configurator panel. We fancy yellow, but it's not clear from FIATs current info if this is a version of Broom Yellow or some hideous new metallic thingy like on the Honda Jazz.

this is the 500 at my fiat dealer, lhd and still everything italian so not able to take it out on british roads yet

Yo - I went in to dealer and saw that one today, 1.4 sport but I couldnt get photos on my phone - too dark a car at the dark end of showroom.
Def not pushy salesmen tho, v laid back like. Car too dark for me and nose end could be prettier - not a DD gorgeous car like in some of the photos -very fem. looking and may get bullied on roads by bigger cars- top quality in the cockpit nearly as good as mini for that and amazingly good for a Fiat.

My bro and bf didnt rate it at all - black def not its best colour - I will look at Colt CZT and YarisSR someday - no rush to buy for me and meatier engines in a 500 would prob be better. I Didn't ask for a drive - hemmed in the showroom a bit and LHD too but I seen it before some of you lot anyway thanks loudpunto for putting me onto that. IOU 1 can of fizzy pop.

There is a 1.4 Sport for sale for 15990 pounds on autotrader.co.uk

The dealer (JCS Fiat dealer of Kegworth Derby) claiming this is the price and Fiat have let them have the only one in the country.

Tell me this is not the official price!


http://www.fiat.co.uk/Community/forums/thread/407.aspx


http://atsearch.autotrader.co.uk/www/cars_search.jsp?searchform=&modelexact=1&lid=search_used_cars_full&photo=1&state=none&sort=&hassearched=Y&make=FIAT&min_pr=75&source=0&model=500&max_pr=&miles=1500&agerange=&mileage=&postcode=SM1+2RD&bodyid=0&fuelid=0&colour=&transmissionid=0&ukcarsearch_full.x=31&ukcarsearch_full.y=10

http://www.jcs-kegworth.co.uk/used-car-sales/

i saw a red 500 being tested. I work at bruntingthorpe proving ground and there was one being tested on the track, sat in my office window and watched it fly round for an hour. Not sure which model it was put it was shifting

Ms_Cinq said:

Yo - I went in to dealer and saw that one today, 1.4 sport but I couldnt get photos on my phone - too dark a car at the dark end of showroom.
Def not pushy salesmen tho, v laid back like. Car too dark for me and nose end could be prettier - not a DD gorgeous car like in some of the photos -very fem. looking and may get bullied on roads by bigger cars- top quality in the cockpit nearly as good as mini for that and amazingly good for a Fiat.

My bro and bf didnt rate it at all - black def not its best colour - I will look at Colt CZT and YarisSR someday - no rush to buy for me and meatier engines in a 500 would prob be better. I Didn't ask for a drive - hemmed in the showroom a bit and LHD too but I seen it before some of you lot anyway thanks loudpunto for putting me onto that. IOU 1 can of fizzy pop.

Click to expand...

they also have a white one at their sister garage they are going to have it in a couple of weeks. if i go down while it is there ill get pics!

i'll hold you to that can of pop! lol