Hello All,

I am new to this forum and I was wondering if you could offer some advice regarding a test drive.

I am looking to get a Fiat 500 and was thinking of having a test drive soon, my problem is that I have to travel 20 miles to work and back everyday (40 miles a day) and I would like to test drive the car for a period of time (a week?) back and forth to see if the car is practical in both comfort and economy before I truely decide that it is the car I want.

Would a dealer let a car go on a weeks test drive or am I looking at hiring one out?

Any help would be gratefully appreciated.

Thanks

with some charm ( i think ), i managed to get a full day's test drive 8am -6pm i doubt a dealer will give you one for a week give you'r local dealer a call and ask the worst they can say is no !!

I do a minimum of a 25mile commute each way every da & would have no problems doing more. It's a very comfortable car.

I've wondered about this too.

It would be useful to hire one for a day before making a purchase. So many people make their buying decisions on a mere 10 minute test drive!

They then often find some shortcomings when they actually come to live with it on a daily basis.

I'd like to investigate this possibility before we look at buying one later this year - coming down from a 5 door Ford Fusion will obviously have it's compromises but we'd like to see if my wife could live with those compromises - without being chaparoned by a salesman with strong, naff aftershave tagging along.

If you're fairly central in the UK, apparently you CAN hire a 500 from this website: http://www.eurodriveuk.com/

when aranging my test drive i basically told the salesman i was not going to buy a car on a "up the road" test drive and would like to take the car for the full day to try it on different roads etc he asked the dealer manager who said yes we did 20 miles on the motorway plus a good selection of roads we even went to the supermarket in it and came back to a huge crowd of people looking at the car ( this was early feb last year ) when 500's were ultra rare.as mark has said the 500 in any engine spec is more than happy to do any amount of motorway miles you want

Thanks, I have checked these guys out, funnily enough they are not a million miles away from where I work.
Obviously a test drive over a longer period of time may work out cheaper than hiring, we shall see!

white 500 said:

when aranging my test drive i basically told the salesman i was not going to buy a car on a "up the road" test drive and would like to take the car for the full day to try it on different roads etc he asked the dealer manager who said yes we did 20 miles on the motorway plus a good selection of roads we even went to the supermarket in it and came back to a huge crowd of people looking at the car ( this was early feb last year ) when 500's were ultra rare.as mark has said the 500 in any engine spec is more than happy to do any amount of motorway miles you want

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Thanks White 500, I travel on b roads not motorways as the b road is more direct for me so I was concerned about the roll on the car going along b roads etc and the shorter wheel base over the road (I currently own a 1.2 Fabia sport).
Any info you can give me on this is greatly appreciated.

wampa said:

Thanks White 500, I travel on b roads not motorways as the b road is more direct for me so I was concerned about the roll on the car going along b roads etc and the shorter wheel base over the road (I currently own a 1.2 Fabia sport).
Any info you can give me on this is greatly appreciated.

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My route is about a 25 minute journey entirely on B roads and it handles fine along them, it's nippy in the corners but also comfortable when you need it to be.

For really long haul stuff though, I find it can get a bit uncomfortable and my shoulders begin to ache, but I think that may be to do with my driving position more than anything!

A while back I made a video of me driving my car along various roads if that's of any help?


Shakey camera was due to my camera holder, not the car! Mine is a 1.2 Lounge.

Hi am a newbie on this forum. For a long test drive you may wish to try out Avis who have the 500 available for rent, allowing you to try it out for as long as you like.
avis.co.uk/rent-a-Fiat-500

Give it a try and I'm sure you will love it!

Thats a great idea, dealer test drives arent great as they chat a lot and it doesnt let you concentrate properly on the car. Renting is the best bet, as the car will have some miles on it, so you can see and feel how its wearing too.

thats nuts to pay to test a car...

ask the dealer for a 48 hr test drive

Lloyd - love the video! You really do rev that engine before changing gear don't you ha ha ... perhaps I'm being too soft on the car and should drive it a bit more revvy not that fuel has dropped down in price!

Heidi said:

Lloyd - love the video! You really do rev that engine before changing gear don't you ha ha ... perhaps I'm being too soft on the car and should drive it a bit more revvy

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Heidi - that's how the 1.2 is meant to be driven, it loves it!

500Matt said:

Heidi - that's how the 1.2 is meant to be driven, it loves it!

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Right gonna rev it up now then lol. My son keeps saying faster mummy so maybe i ought to tee hee. Anyone see a pearly=white flash go past in bournemouth, it'll be me!!!!!

EDIT : I've 'found' The Ting Tings so we were grooving to That's Not My Name on the way to nursery - if that doesn't make me drive it like my old Seicento I had when I was in my early twenties then nothing will ha ha

Nuova500 said:

Thats a great idea, dealer test drives arent great as they chat a lot and it doesnt let you concentrate properly on the car. Renting is the best bet, as the car will have some miles on it, so you can see and feel how its wearing too.

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Problem with hire cars is people abuse them. Heard of "nothing drives like a hire car" and "Does it have a mans clutch?"

When you test a car you just tell them you want to take it for the day/a few hours without a salesman as you want to discuss the car freely. If they say no go elsewhere - that's not the company you want to have to try to take it back to when something goes wrong.

We got the Croma for a good couple of hours on our own to test. Gave it a real test up and down all sorts of roads and that was enough to convince it was for us. Respect to JCS of Kegworth for the 100% pressure free sale. Credit to car dealerships.

Heidi said:

Right gonna rev it up now then lol. My son keeps saying faster mummy so maybe i ought to tee hee. Anyone see a pearly=white flash go past in bournemouth, it'll be me!!!!!

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Careful you don't get a flash of your own from the speed cameras!

Took an Alpha Mito out for a test drive at the weekend, and it was a nice change from normal test drives. Firstly the sales guy gave it some stick, then really encouraged me to. He was pointing out overtaking opportunities & the best lines on his local (& wet) roads, as well as getting me to hold the revs high as we swapped it through the various sports settings..

had quite a laugh...