I drove the Up and was very impressed indeed. The Citigo is exactly the same car only with a few cosmetic differences. It comes down the same production line.
General Thinkinkng about getting a 500
- Thread starter Mrrikki
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General Thinkinkng about getting a 500
I drove the Up and was very impressed indeed. The Citigo is exactly the same car only with a few cosmetic differences. It comes down the same production line.
If the Citigo has the best deal it will be very hard to resist.
I asked the VW salesman how difficult the headlamp bulbs are to change and he told me that if I bought them at VW they'd change them for free.
Now, if they are accessible that's no big deal, but if not....
I asked the VW salesman how difficult the headlamp bulbs are to change and he told me that if I bought them at VW they'd change them for free.
Now, if they are accessible that's no big deal, but if not....
The headlight bulbs were easy to change on my golf, you flipped the back cove off turned the bulb holder 1/4 turn and the bulb came out in the holder. Very easy to do. My a3 was similar but my seat Leon takes the skin off your hands 
I liked it, it drove well with the engine feeling larger than a 1 litre.
I did feel the dash reminded me of a VW from 5 years ago this was the only negative thought I had, the seat and driving position was comfortable along with good feeling suspension.
It was not as fun as the 500' or even the Aygo but felt well built and safe.
The bulbs on my lupo were a complete pain in the wotsit to change!!!
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Is that 6K a year ?
If you were impressed with the A500 then IMHO you would enjoy the TA.
Drove my dad's Fluence early on this week with the 110bhp 1.5 turbo diesel engine. Supposedly returns 50mpg+ and apparently it was designed to be an electric car. From the drive that I had in it - it was 'nothing to write home about'.
With all the talk about the UP the Zoe might be a strong competitor to the 500 given it's price point. Since you would need to spend £70 a month on 'rental' payments to hire the battery it would not be justifiable. Plus with a real world range of around 60-70 miles you would really have to be commuting 30 miles each way to make it worthwhile. Renault have a 'test' to see if one's requirements suit an electric car and I found it hard to fail.
. After driving the Leaf I was impressed with Electric power. 'The soon to be released' Zoe appears to have 'performance' aspirations but understand that it can be quite noisey inside. Also surprised at the weight of the car at c. 1,400kgs.Renault are offering a package of preferential hire rates for that 'long distance' commutes for those round trips.
If Fiat could fast-track their electric 500 at a price comparable to a Zoe they might be surprised at the demand for it.
The Zoe would make an ideal replacement for LadyKitching's Panda (which does a 40 mile round trip daily commute), except for the fact that it will cost about twice as much to buy and twice as much to run.
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I did check
if the turbo diesel is available in the UK and as you said it's not available.This is the car that my dad bought...
[ame="http://vimeo.com/14987761"]http://vimeo.com/14987761[/ame]
a 2011 ex-demo model to replace a gaz guzzler Lexus. One of the reasons he ended up with a Renault was because they were the only garage that were giving him a 'decent' trade-in. I would guess that he will get bored with it and will get rid of it within the year. After sales service has got a lot of 'bad press' with Renault particularly in the electrics department.
The leasing price of the batteries for the Zoe came from here and it states 'from £70'. Another link on the Fluence ZE also states £75 per month on a 3 year 'contract'. But if it is from £40 I'll have to believe you.
If someone was looking to dabble a bit in an Electric car this Twizy is up on autotrader. If the OH was driving it - 'range anxiety' might be the least of her worries
but it might be a bit of fun.Bob Flavin the guy who did the diesel Fluence review also did the Blackjack TA (Click here) and he quite liked it saying that it received a different kind of attention than the 500c. After the last 'discussion' on BJ TA IMHO there's a quiet following out but they're 'keeping their heads down'.
If LadyKitching was looking for a 500 look alike and wanted a sexier shape than the Panda I would imagine that the Zoe at say a 70 mile daily round trip might justify itself.
If LadyKitching was looking for a 500 look alike and wanted a sexier shape than the Panda I would imagine that the Zoe at say a 70 mile daily round trip might justify itself.
Ssssssh
. Not while it's costing 11p/mile in petrol, it won't!- Joined
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Ssssssh
That is cheap motoring.
Have you worked out the b/e point ?
No your right, batteries are £70 .. I'm sure that's increased.
http://www.renault-ze.com/en-gb/z.e.-range/zoe/renault-zoe-life-1944.html
The uk don't like saloons like Ireland do for some reason
http://www.renault-ze.com/en-gb/z.e.-range/zoe/renault-zoe-life-1944.html
The uk don't like saloons like Ireland do for some reason
There isn't one. Assuming it's £70/month to lease the batteries with a 6000 mile pa limit, the Zoe's direct operating cost is at least 14p/mile before you even think about paying for recharging.
And since we only paid £6600 for the Panda, depreciation over 100k works out a tad over 6 1/2p/mile
. It really is cheap motoring & I think you'd be hard pressed to find any new car that can better it.At current fuel prices, the Zoe & its rivals are only going to be justified on cost grounds for those who can gain a fiscal advantage in the form of a BIK reduction or CC exemption.
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:Offtopic:There isn't one. Assuming it's £70/month to lease the batteries with a 6000 mile pa limit, the Zoe's direct operating cost is at least 14p/mile before you even think about paying for recharging.
And since we only paid £6600 for the Panda, depreciation over 100k works out a tad over 6 1/2p/mile
At current fuel prices, the Zoe & its rivals are only going to be justified on cost grounds for those who can gain a fiscal advantage in the form of a BIK reduction or CC exemption.
Checking back on that Fluence link on the £75 per month charge
The battery lease for the Fluence ZE is set at 75 GBP per month, based 6,000 miles/3 years.
I had not released there was a 6K mile p.a. limit. So if one was doing 25K a year (based on a daily round trip of 70miles - I was doing that in a 'previous life') I wonder how 'penalties' are worked out ?
My apologies to the OP - hopefully we haven't gone too far off topic.
My apologies to the OP - hopefully we haven't gone too far off topic.
We're not as far off topic as you might think - the OP's original post was about comparing the 500 to other cars they might want to consider
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Thanks for that link. Renault are going 'all out'.
Ireland doesn't like Estates but for the smart purchaser it increases their re-sale but it takes a little longer to sell. Quite a few now are buying hatchbacks that look like saloons - go figure.
I had a meeting with seat today and the new seat Toledo is a combined hatch and saloon just like the skoda superb. Talking of running costs, I had a quote on a panda twin air from our lease company and the service part is quite high, based on 8k per year it's £39 per month + vat, that does cover everything £20 a month more than a polo. I'll have a look at the service rates on the up tomorrow
The Zoe would not work for me as I need to do 10k per year. I am looking at a Toyota Yaris today and the Fiat 500 again, my wife has decided to get a car now so she may get a small car with me getting something slightly larger like the Yaris.
Such a hard decision with so many options, need to convince my wife I need the 500 Abarth!
Such a hard decision with so many options, need to convince my wife I need the 500 Abarth!
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