I collect our 500 from the dealers tomorrow. The order was placed on 23 April so it has taken 12 weeks The dealer quoted 10 -12 weeks so was pretty much spot on. It's a 1.2 lounge in Pasadoble Red with Black leather and ambiance with ESP, climate and side rubbing strips.

My Question to all you current 500 owners, what in particular should I be looking for when going over the vehicle at acceptance? I will closely examine every body panel and wheel for any scratches and dents along with the interior paying particular atention to the leather. I will also ask if the hatchback has been drilled to fit the number plate and request that any dealers self advertising stickers be removed from any panels (grrr I hate those)

Then, (hopefully) it's off home into the garage for a coat of wax and some gliptone on the leather!

Vic

Check all the interior panels for scuff marks. Mine was a showroom car and has several little scuff marks on the trim that wont come out, the door panels etc really do mark very easily.
Just look over it like you would a used vehicle.

well basically when picking up a new ar your primerilly looking for damage to any part of the vehicle inside and out that could otherwise be attributed to yourself unless otherwise spotted before you drive away

any other problems you have with the vehicle after you drive away would be covered under the warranty so dont wory about checking that every thing works till you get home

so yea check inside outside on the roof scuffs and in the foot well and kick panels aspecially even the slightest mark please do be picky and ask for them to be replaced if there's the slightest mark after al it your car at the end of the day and you'll have to live with it and it's new so should be new condition

also make sure you have everything in the car nothing missing all books cars manual isr pack radio code and instructions blue and me instructions service book aa cover booklet and so on

locking wheel nuts in the car tool kit and jack spare wheels

you would be amazed at the things that have been missed on pdi not by me i must add i pdi every car as iv it was my own

Brilliant stuff Littlepip17, extremely useful, thanks. I hope the dealer is ready for me!

Vic

Check the battery has been connected properly - continental cars come with a quick release clip on one of the connectors and during transit the battery is left disconnected.

Make sure they've locked it properly before driving off, or you might experience what happened to me - go over a bump entering a petrol station forecourt and the next time you try starting the car nothing happens

Stevie Wonder did my PDI...

Check to see if some scrote has re-drilled your boot-lid to make fitting the registration plate easier for him, if he has and didnt clean off all the tiny drilling filings they will quickly rust and leave horrid rust blemishes in the paint that might need waxing or claying out.

Damiano said:

Check the battery has been connected properly - continental cars come with a quick release clip on one of the connectors and during transit the battery is left disconnected.

Make sure they've locked it properly before driving off, or you might experience what happened to me - go over a bump entering a petrol station forecourt and the next time you try starting the car nothing happens

Stevie Wonder did my PDI...

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Ffoxy said:

Check to see if some scrote has re-drilled your boot-lid to make fitting the registration plate easier for him, if he has and didnt clean off all the tiny drilling filings they will quickly rust and leave horrid rust blemishes in the paint that might need waxing or claying out.

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both happened to me noticed the battery terminal when checking the fluids mine was the grey plastic lever closest to the car's body, boot lid was drilled even after telling them not to, mine had lots of glue leaft from the transport protection stuff came off easy but had to do it myself..finally check the service book has been filled in for the cars pdi etc: and all the hand books are there

battery clips are lose on all pandas and 500 garages should know this that's highly unacceptable if i were you i would waltz right back to the garage with it lose and ask the service department if there tech is blind and ask them to put it right there and then to make sure the person that did it is punished lol

back tail gates drilled i would ask for a replacement if yours has been drilled after you requested it not to be i have seen the inside of many boots after this and the screws often lie close to wiring or washer pipes and are very likely to cause a problem if grages want to screw to the boot they should use the 4 holes at the corners of the plate provided there is also some screws and plugs provided in the cars kit on pdi

oh and thats one more thing check the fluid levels primerily water and oil before you leave

this will show the garage you know how to and have done so any future problems with the 2 most important fluids in the car can never be suspected that you have not checked them make sure salesman sees you do this just one of them subtle hints ay

also check that there is a little blue filter inside the filler neck of the screen wash i have seen allot of these removed and chucked nfor some reasone people seem to find it ever so difficult to spend 2 more seconds filing it up omfg so if it's not there demand you get it if they say it never had one tell them you saw one in the showroom model lol

What about the central wheel inserts, I have heard reports that when these are fitted carelessly the clips break leaving them loose .

lfc958 said:

What about the central wheel inserts, I have heard reports that when these are fitted carelessly the clips break leaving them loose .

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in some cases yes

they have mostly been broken in the car before they re fitted thou i have had to order loads more on pdi

fiat put them in the passengers oot well at first and it seems they were getting stood on buy someone posably in the factory or in transit not entirely sure

they now come in a bag in the boot and i haven't seen a broken one yet

they also seem to have changed the design and or plastic material to something a little stronger and more flexible as the colour changed slightly

i put a ittle grease on the legs anyway when i fit them it helps them pop on and come off again in the future so i haven't broken a single one as yet

white 500 said:

both happened to me noticed the battery terminal when checking the fluids mine was the grey plastic lever closest to the car's body, boot lid was drilled even after telling them not to, mine had lots of glue leaft from the transport protection stuff came off easy but had to do it myself..finally check the service book has been filled in for the cars pdi etc: and all the hand books are there

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Are you going to make them sort it?

Jon.

Check the tax disc is correct!

https://www.fiatforum.com/500/155873-tax-disc.html

Grrr.

Most Easterly Panda's said:

Are you going to make them sort it?

Jon.

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yea ask for a new tailgate

make them sort it i would without a doubt an if they dont threaten to phone fiat customer services

don't let them just cover the holes with paint either mark it in such a way as you know it's yours say for instance inside under the trim

as mentioned before it is quite common for the battery clip to not be installed properly here's some pics

correct

incorrect

'cks sake, just went out to check her car, one of the rear no. plate screws was half way out, checked behind it, yep, single hole drilled and rust behind the plate.

lazy b'stards

fibs about the finance
back tracked on the trade in offer
wrong number plate given (we'd chosen one from a list)
fibs about the free mats
15 psi in one of the tyres
system language not set to English
clutch cylinder dead (which we had to argue out with them)
snotty customer service from service department
courtesy car requested back before car fixed / tried to give 500 back despite the fact it was clearly dangerous to drive
now rusty holes in the tailgate

Oh, and the screw was half way out because the the hole was to big for the zinc plated (which is gonna last a while . . . not) screw they'd bodged in

I love you fiat dealer

andyBBB said:

'cks sake, just went out to check her car, one of the rear no. plate screws was half way out, checked behind it, yep, single hole drilled and rust behind the plate.

lazy b'stards

fibs about the finance
back tracked on the trade in offer
wrong number plate given (we'd chosen one from a list)
fibs about the free mats
15 psi in one of the tyres
system language not set to English
clutch cylinder dead (which we had to argue out with them)
snotty customer service from service department
courtesy car requested back before car fixed / tried to give 500 back despite the fact it was clearly dangerous to drive
now rusty holes in the tailgate

Oh, and the screw was half way out because the the hole was to big for the zinc plated (which is gonna last a while . . . not) screw they'd bodged in

I love you fiat dealer

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I'd go and crash my 500 into their showroom to show your appreciation.

as you can probably tell, I do not own a 500

i've already offered to take a week off, stand outside the dealership and 'discuss' how great they are as a company to EVERY customer entering the premises

andyBBB said:

i've already offered to take a week off, stand outside the dealership and 'discuss' how great they are as a company to EVERY customer entering the premises

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name and shame

have you complained to fiat customer services they will jump up and down on the dealer for half that stuff

also what was the car in for that made it dangerouse to drive i'm intrested

dealer is 'Blackburn Motor Park' in Lancashire

not spoken to Fiat yet, think i'll drop them a line to discuss the tailgate issue before I speak to the dealer

the issue was the clutch cylinder was misbehaving, so you'd be sat at a junction waiting to go and *bang* clutch would drop on it's own and fire you out into the traffic.

or you'd go to change down through gears coming to a junction and it wouldn't go in gear

The dealer said this wasn't a problem, and we should just pump the clutch and 'be careful'

Sure that'd have gone down well on the insurance form . . .

andyBBB said:

dealer is 'Blackburn Motor Park' in Lancashire

not spoken to Fiat yet, think i'll drop them a line to discuss the tailgate issue before I speak to the dealer

the issue was the clutch cylinder was misbehaving, so you'd be sat at a junction waiting to go and *bang* clutch would drop on it's own and fire you out into the traffic.

or you'd go to change down through gears coming to a junction and it wouldn't go in gear

The dealer said this wasn't a problem, and we should just pump the clutch and 'be careful'

Sure that'd have gone down well on the insurance form . . .

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Go to another dealer to get this dangerous problem fixed then complain to whoever will listen within the FIAT organisation, that really is pants...