Ok ok I didn't ask the last salesperson!

1.On pcp is the servicing for the 3 yr term I've been quoted for free of charge?
2.my pcp offer was set at 5k pa: the sales guy knows I intend to do 10k+ but it made the purchase a lot more affordable as the final payment was higher and the installments lower.
However how would this affect whether fiat could refuse to service? I.e there would be more servicing during the period surely?
Anyhow; I think I'll get some real world quotes of 12k max and see what the monthly payments are like; after all a) I can afford up to £350 and b) it makes the final payment a lot lower in any case.
As long as the apr is still 4.7% ish I don't mind!

Btw; anyone see the black 2008 500 in eBay with 56k on the clock!

What's your thought on mileage nowadays; I still tend to think 10k a year or less is low, 12-15 k average and anything over pretty high!

timbo58 said:

Btw; anyone see the black 2008 500 in eBay with 56k on the clock!

What's your thought on mileage nowadays; I still tend to think 10k a year or less is low, 12-15 k average and anything over pretty high!

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Don't make the mistake I did.
Buy once.
Buy as low a mileage as you can.
Chopping and changing can cost money but it certainly costs time.
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/267541-new-1-2-pop-secondhand-1-2-sport.html

There was a big difference between a '08 38K and a '09 8K. Less creaks and seemed better put together plus a better ride which is hard to explain.

1.4 is great value for money. If you can get a Euro 5 one with 140grs (S/S is a bonus but too expensive).

An Audi TT with 100K on the clock is a lot different than a small car with the same mileage.

IMHO I could trade spec for lower mileage and a 'proper' service history.

Don't expect great mpg from a 1.4. I averaged 37mpg in the '08 and 35mpg in the '09. 40mpg on the motorway. Still it's cheap car to maintain.

EDIT: I have mis-read your posting thinking that you were going to buy a secondhand 500. :doh: If you exceed a certain mileage e.g. 10K p.a. is there a penalty i.e. does your repayments go up ? IIRC £150-£160 seemed to be the figure for a Pop and it climbed to £250 for a 1.2 by diesel. £350 seems an awful lot for an 'economy' model ?

No; definitely only looking for new ta 500 lounge.

The dealer told me the 5k per year limit only really mattered if you wanted to give the car back on pcp, however whilst I can see that I wondered if there was free servicing for the 3 year pcp term?
If not; it doesn't matter.
If so, I wonder if the free servicing would apply if the speedo revealed a significantly higher mileage that the agreement?
Would they even check since the mileage is part of the finance agreement not the service agreement?

I have a budget of £350 a month and can put down a £3000 deposit min (my Audi Tt part ex or I might sell it privately)
The budget will include anything I have to save towards the final pcp payment

The dealer told me under pcp only a maximum of 25% would be accepted as a deposit- does that ring true?
Whilst I realise that any finance deal requires a 'return' it seems odd to stop at a Max deposit?

Anyway; thanks for the input!

timbo58 said:

Btw; anyone see the black 2008 500 in eBay with 56k on the clock!

Click to expand...

Found a black 1.2 Sport POP on 52500(ish) on an 08 plate. 12 to 15k is considered pretty much average mileage these days for many people, so 52k is just stretching that a little. Interesting thing about the advert I read, the seller reckons it only costs about £35 to fill up. I beg to differ! Not sure where the seller has been filling up, but even filling up at our cheapest supermarket, costs between £42 and £44 when filling from fumes.

Clearly, if you intend going down the PCP route, make sure you sit down and read the small print. If you mess up, it could be entirely your fault and could prove expensive. I remember when we bought our old MX5 brand new back in 2003, I spent over an hour at the dealers reading through every minute detail of the paperwork, which incidentally, caused me to refuse the GAP cover which was being pushed very heavily at the time. The salesman was not a happy bunny with me, but seeing as I walked in the dealership on the 23rd of December to buy a car which at the time the full on the road list price before discount, was 18k, I politely informed him that if he wanted his Christmas bonus, he'd better shut up. I absolutely screwed the dealer at the time for all sorts of extras besides paying significantly less for the car than the original OTR price. Christmas can be a fantastic time to buy if you have the cash! I suppose you don't want to wait 'til next Christmas though!

If you're going to buy second hand/used or 'Pre owned' (I love that term!) then scour 'tinternet'. If you're prepared to travel the country, you can find some cracking deals. We bought our own POP from a garage over 200 miles away from where we live and got an excellent deal. I agree with loveshandbags though, buy the lowest mileage car you can afford.

Good luck with whatever you do!

timbo58 said:

No; definitely only looking for new ta 500 lounge.

The dealer told me the 5k per year limit only really mattered if you wanted to give the car back on pcp, however whilst I can see that I wondered if there was free servicing for the 3 year pcp term?
If not; it doesn't matter.
If so, I wonder if the free servicing would apply if the speedo revealed a significantly higher mileage that the agreement?
Would they even check since the mileage is part of the finance agreement not the service agreement?

I have a budget of £350 a month and can put down a £3000 deposit min (my Audi Tt part ex or I might sell it privately)
The budget will include anything I have to save towards the final pcp payment

The dealer told me under pcp only a maximum of 25% would be accepted as a deposit- does that ring true?
Whilst I realise that any finance deal requires a 'return' it seems odd to stop at a Max deposit?

Anyway; thanks for the input!

Click to expand...

IIRC no one that I know of gets free servicing. The MINI has a TLC pack - supposedly excellent value. Brother-in-law bought a mega expensive 520D and got free servicing for 4 years on 'some deal' that they worked out. A service wouldn't cost all that much - warranty should cover any surprises at least for the first 2 years.

In relation to the TT if your brother wants to buy it and your confident that it wouldn't come back to haunt you then if it was me I'd probably sell it to him. Selling privately can be tricky particularly with a car approaching 100K.

In relation to Finance agreements etc. there are a lot of experts on this here and some excellent threads. For me personally it's alien terrority with gap insurance, etc.
https://www.fiatforum.com/500/270668-fiat-500-cha-cha-azzure-cream-leather-interior.html (it's later on down in the thread or a similar one by the same OP).
The only concern I would have is if you had to terminate the agreement e.g. if it didn't suit your requirements and you had exceeded the mileage 'by a long shot' - it would be worthwhile working out the 'worst case situation'. You sound like you know what you're doing though.

Thanks guys; agree with it all.

It's been a toss up between the 500 and the new Vw up all the time; the clincher being the 500 has a little more soul and climate control/glass roof, although the Vw has £99 3 year servicing and sat nav/ heated seats! And it's £1000 cheaper.

The Tt is being viewed this week privately, I have no concerns about that; I'm firm on price and have the backup of brother/agreed px to fall back on.
It's been thoroughly serviced and I have no knowledge of any issues so I don't think anything can come back to me to be honest.

The pcp will be scrutinized before I sign and I believe the only issue with over mileage is if you need to return it when it's a 6p a mile charge, but I'd be keeping it in any case after the 3 years.

timbo58 said:

Ok ok I didn't ask the last salesperson!

1.On pcp is the servicing for the 3 yr term I've been quoted for free of charge?
2.my pcp offer was set at 5k pa: the sales guy knows I intend to do 10k+ but it made the purchase a lot more affordable as the final payment was higher and the installments lower.
However how would this affect whether fiat could refuse to service? I.e there would be more servicing during the period surely?
Anyhow; I think I'll get some real world quotes of 12k max and see what the monthly payments are like; after all a) I can afford up to £350 and b) it makes the final payment a lot lower in any case.
As long as the apr is still 4.7% ish I don't mind!

Click to expand...

just out of interest, are you lokking at the FIAT website offers, they are quoting 1.2% APR for a new car + a delearer contribution to the deposit. Works out at less than the list price over three years. Have you compared that?

500 TwinAir Lounge with Fiat i-deal

OTR£12,760
Fiat Deposit Contribution £500
Customer Deposit£1,250
Amount of Credit £11,01036
Monthly Payments£179
Optional Final Payment (inc fee of £285) £4,860
Total amount payable by customer £12,554
Duration of Contract 37 months
Rate of Interest (Fixed) 0.04%
1.2% APR

timbo58 said:

Thanks guys; agree with it all.

It's been a toss up between the 500 and the new Vw up all the time; the clincher being the 500 has a little more soul and climate control/glass roof, although the Vw has £99 3 year servicing and sat nav/ heated seats! And it's £1000 cheaper.

The Tt is being viewed this week privately, I have no concerns about that; I'm firm on price and have the backup of brother/agreed px to fall back on.
It's been thoroughly serviced and I have no knowledge of any issues so I don't think anything can come back to me to be honest.

The pcp will be scrutinized before I sign and I believe the only issue with over mileage is if you need to return it when it's a 6p a mile charge, but I'd be keeping it in any case after the 3 years.

Click to expand...

I looked at the VW Polo with the 3 cylinder engine - same as the up - IMHO crap little engine - when you wind her up there's nothing there. Question marks over how long it will actually last. But then I'm not a fan of VW. There's no comparison on the 2 cars. The TA is in a different league.

My Parents ordered a TwinAir Lounge last weekend & we got the low-interest rate PCP plus £500 deposit contribution from Fiat but no servicing was included. Your dealer might be doing an extra offer but as far as the Fiat website says, there's no Official Fiat-UK servicing offer running at the moment, so your mileage should make no odds to that.

Youre also right that if you just intend to pay for the finance until it's paid off & then keep the car at the end, the extra miles you do won't matter. However, if you hand it back at the end of the agreement with more miles than you said you'd do on the agreement (ie 5k a year) then the dealer will give you less money than the Guaranteed Final Value says so you may have to make a contribution towards clearing the final finance payment. Similarly if you hand it back & order a new car there might be a shortfall in the old car's value & your dealer might ask for an extra contribution towards meeting this shortfall.

As a former salesman i would always advise that unless you definately want to keep the car after the finance finishes, make sure the whole agreement is affordable including any circumstances that might arise at the end of the agreement. Extending the agreement from 3 to 4 years will reduce the payment & although the interest rate will increase, the current rates Fiat are offering are pretty reasonable - my Parents are paying just £700 in interest charges over 4 years on their agreement, with no deposit from us (just Fiat's £500). The rate we've got is around 3.2% & off the top of my head the monthly payments are about £215, though we've added some extra to the car so payments might be less/more for you.

Liam

If you're a member of British Cycling (costs about £30 a year) you can get about £1500 off the price of a new 500 (and other Fiats and Alfa Romeos) through Fiat's privilege purchase scheme

Cheers guys; very interesting: I certainly have a bianchi!
So it looks like I should join British cycling!
The dealer didn't mention a special offer on servicing; it was a side note in what car mag this month that said some did this; other manufacturers obv!

Amaferanga: which package on brit cyclings membership gets the discount?
It seems I need to sign up before I can find out?
And bike radar has quoted it at £1750 but there's bound to be a catch and £30 is £30 after all?
Perhaps it first include part ex or pcp deals?
Would dearly like to know!

timbo58 said:

Amaferanga: which package on brit cyclings membership gets the discount?
It seems I need to sign up before I can find out?
And bike radar has quoted it at £1750 but there's bound to be a catch and £30 is £30 after all?
Perhaps it first include part ex or pcp deals?
Would dearly like to know!

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I have the Silver level membership, but I'd have thought you'd get access to the discount with Bronze as well. I can send you the pdf with the discount examples if you PM me your email address so you can see what you'd be getting before you join BC.

timbo58 said:

Amaferanga: which package on brit cyclings membership gets the discount?
It seems I need to sign up before I can find out?
And bike radar has quoted it at £1750 but there's bound to be a catch and £30 is £30 after all?
Perhaps it first include part ex or pcp deals?
Would dearly like to know!

Click to expand...

£30 is £30 but £1750 is a lot of money .

I think I count money in the same way that Baldrick counts beans:

http://wn.com/Blackadder_II__Baldrick_is_trying_advanced_mathematics

Very true!
Anyway; I'm doing this in the iPhone so as soon as I get to my MacBook I'll do some more research as the discount could definitely be the clincher.
I checked glass's guide today and the price offered for part ex was fair, unfortunately. :-(
Got a few viewers this week so if she gets an offer above £4200 then I'll be car less until a new one is bought!
Best put some gas in the Lambretta then!