- Joined
- May 15, 2011
- Messages
- 3,769
- Points
- 568
Been on the alfa forum recently with my hunt for a replacement for the Pearlescent baby and given that you can’t ‘see’ who you’re dealing with I’ve had a very pleasant experience to-date . Do miss some of the techie and black humour responses that I get on here.
On the Leisure section recently – don’t normally go in there – a 19 year old looking for a ‘daily drive’ but clocking up 20K a year and was looking for a bit of ‘street cred’. Anyway I flew the flag mast high for the 500 and then I realised why Fiat did their Ferando Alonso Twin Air ad (it’s currently up on www.fiat.ie) to attract the young male. Jennifer Lopez was on free-to-air last night and I asked the OH what did you think of the ad. She commented that it was good and Jennifer Lopez was ‘hot’. Bit of a marketing dilemma with this since that ad kills ‘all the good’ that the Ferando Twin air had done.
Quite a few of you mentioned that you got into 500 ownership because of the scrappage deals that the government brought in. I would be one of those after tiring of the german engineered 323i that blew a gasket at 79K . Replacing a six cylinder engine was major surgery since they don’t respond well to having their head skimmed so that was off loaded very cheap to a guy whose brother was a mechanic.
So I wanted something that started, ran cheaply, looked cool and was the start to a eco relationship. I got a little worried sitting in a pristine ’06 ‘new shape’ Boxster S yesterday blipping the throttle to hear the rasp and bellow of the engine on a car costing €20K with only 17K on the clock and a annual road tax of €1,500. Tempting proposition with 30mpg + on the open road with a typical 18mpg if your were playing with the horses. Not something that would be easy to off load when the time comes but I can always dream. I didn’t ask the poor salesman for a go in it but he mentioned that I could read all about it on Top gear.
They had a similar one in the garage that was owned by another guy ‘my age’ who drove a Smart. He used the Smart so much that he never bothered to use the Porsche and decided to sell saying that it was a waste of money since it was not being used.
So getting back to the ‘title’ I bought my first 500 with my head and heart. I would describe myself as not of the ‘shy and retiring’ type and quite confidant to drive something different. Like something with a ‘bit of get up and go’ and has a bit of character. I like to know what’s under the skin and would like to dabble a bit in tweaking the bhp of the car if it was needed.
On the Leisure section recently – don’t normally go in there – a 19 year old looking for a ‘daily drive’ but clocking up 20K a year and was looking for a bit of ‘street cred’. Anyway I flew the flag mast high for the 500 and then I realised why Fiat did their Ferando Alonso Twin Air ad (it’s currently up on www.fiat.ie) to attract the young male. Jennifer Lopez was on free-to-air last night and I asked the OH what did you think of the ad. She commented that it was good and Jennifer Lopez was ‘hot’. Bit of a marketing dilemma with this since that ad kills ‘all the good’ that the Ferando Twin air had done.
Quite a few of you mentioned that you got into 500 ownership because of the scrappage deals that the government brought in. I would be one of those after tiring of the german engineered 323i that blew a gasket at 79K . Replacing a six cylinder engine was major surgery since they don’t respond well to having their head skimmed so that was off loaded very cheap to a guy whose brother was a mechanic.
So I wanted something that started, ran cheaply, looked cool and was the start to a eco relationship. I got a little worried sitting in a pristine ’06 ‘new shape’ Boxster S yesterday blipping the throttle to hear the rasp and bellow of the engine on a car costing €20K with only 17K on the clock and a annual road tax of €1,500. Tempting proposition with 30mpg + on the open road with a typical 18mpg if your were playing with the horses. Not something that would be easy to off load when the time comes but I can always dream. I didn’t ask the poor salesman for a go in it but he mentioned that I could read all about it on Top gear.
They had a similar one in the garage that was owned by another guy ‘my age’ who drove a Smart. He used the Smart so much that he never bothered to use the Porsche and decided to sell saying that it was a waste of money since it was not being used.
So getting back to the ‘title’ I bought my first 500 with my head and heart. I would describe myself as not of the ‘shy and retiring’ type and quite confidant to drive something different. Like something with a ‘bit of get up and go’ and has a bit of character. I like to know what’s under the skin and would like to dabble a bit in tweaking the bhp of the car if it was needed.
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