Super Uwe said:

Great news! Hope you like your new 500L, I'm sure the 1.4 petrol will be just right for your needs.

I know what you mean about the 500X, I have seen a couple on the roads around here and I am not quite sure about it either. It's alright but that is about it for me.

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The X was definitely a nice, good quality car, I just didn't feel it had a wow factor or even looked particularly distinctive. Could have been in a Juke for all I knew. (apologies to the X fans out there).

As soon as we were in the L though, it was like a breath of fresh air. Loved the visibility, the openness of the cabin and hubby thought it was definitely a more comfortable ride. The slightly bigger boot was a bonus as was not having to pay £1k for a colour we liked!

I've found the 1.3 diesel to be quite adequate for my purposes, even though my car is the MPW 7 seat version. I may be a 'Grandad', but I certainly don't drive like one, even though my annual mileage is likely to be only around 5K. Had I been buying the car new, I doubt I'd have paid the extra for the diesel, but buying 'nearly new', at 13 months old, Ex-Motability car with 3300 miles on the clock and saving me around 7 grand, it was a 'no-brainer' for me. Despite my low use, there's been no sign of the 'DPF regenerating' light, and my previous car for 3 years (Citroen C3 Picasso 1.6HDi 'Exclusive) similarly never showed the warning light. My MPG for the Fiat is averaging 50, not quite as good as the Citroen (never less than 54, well into the mid 60's on a run), but despite the smaller engine, the Fiat is much bigger, probably heavier, and about as aerodynamic as a breeze block, so you can't have everything. I've not found the 1.3 lacking, despite living in Derbyshire, a County well known for steep hills, although most of our driving is done only 2 up,- it'd doubtless be different if we had a full complement of people on board........horses for courses, I guess!
Keith.

I agree on that, I had the 1.3 diesel as a rental car in Italy, it was really fun to drive even on small winding mountain roads. I then bought the 1.6 diesel which is considerably more nose-heavy and also seems a bit less refined, more noisy. But I love the extra power
I am using it mostly for short trips, I don't think the DPF is much of a problem on these engines. I follow several 500L forums, Italian, German, and I never saw anything about DPF issues. Contrary to the Citroen I owned before.

Brandy

I would definitely recommend you drive a 500L 1.4 before the order goes 'Fixed' for production. The 500X with the MultiAir engine that you said you drove is 140bhp and has a turbo, the 1.4 in the 500L is a non-turbo 95bhp engine, so will likely feel quite different.

Considering it's modest power output, the 1.4 in the 500L is a decent engine, but I think if you were originally thinking of the 1.6 diesel and only found the 1.3 diesel 'ok', you're not going to be amazed by the 1.4 petrol. I've driven the 1.3 diesel and it was decent but no ball of fire - the 1.4 will feel even steadier and might leave you wishing you'd got one of the diesels.

Sorry to put a dampener on things, but a 500L Lounge is quite a bit of money for you to spend to find out the engine isn't as good as you hoped. At least try & find one to drive so you know what you're getting

JTD_Liam said:

I would definitely recommend you drive a 500L 1.4 before the order goes 'Fixed' for production. The 500X with the MultiAir engine that you said you drove is 140bhp and has a turbo, the 1.4 in the 500L is a non-turbo 95bhp engine, so will likely feel quite different.

Considering it's modest power output, the 1.4 in the 500L is a decent engine, but I think if you were originally thinking of the 1.6 diesel and only found the 1.3 diesel 'ok', you're not going to be amazed by the 1.4 petrol. I've driven the 1.3 diesel and it was decent but no ball of fire - the 1.4 will feel even steadier and might leave you wishing you'd got one of the diesels.

Sorry to put a dampener on things, but a 500L Lounge is quite a bit of money for you to spend to find out the engine isn't as good as you hoped. At least try & find one to drive so you know what you're getting

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Very good point, I hope the salesperson pointed that out.

I recently tried a 500X and was underwhelmed by it.

JTD_Liam said:

I would definitely recommend you drive a 500L 1.4 before the order goes 'Fixed' for production. The 500X with the MultiAir engine that you said you drove is 140bhp and has a turbo, the 1.4 in the 500L is a non-turbo 95bhp engine, so will likely feel quite different.

Considering it's modest power output, the 1.4 in the 500L is a decent engine, but I think if you were originally thinking of the 1.6 diesel and only found the 1.3 diesel 'ok', you're not going to be amazed by the 1.4 petrol. I've driven the 1.3 diesel and it was decent but no ball of fire - the 1.4 will feel even steadier and might leave you wishing you'd got one of the diesels.

Sorry to put a dampener on things, but a 500L Lounge is quite a bit of money for you to spend to find out the engine isn't as good as you hoped. At least try & find one to drive so you know what you're getting

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Unfortunately the dealer didn't have anything using the 1.2 petrol even though we did ask to try a completely different car to get a feel for it.

I thought the 1.3 diesel was only OK because it didn't feel as fun as the twinair in our Panda and was also an automatic which we hate, but it did feel perfectly spritely and responsive. The 500L we test drove was also an MPW (they didn't have a regular 500L), so I'd expect slightly better performance in the smaller model.

I definitely appreciate what you're saying as I am nervous about the engine being a disappointment, but I can't think how to get hold of one for a test drive. Perhaps I will contact the dealer tomorrow and just see if they can get one for us to try.

To be honest, the dealer has been great, it's just been a bit of a shambles in that they only had the wrong model, the wrong engine and the wrong transmission available to try!

Blue2U said:

Very good point, I hope the salesperson pointed that out.

I recently tried a 500X and was underwhelmed by it.

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The dealer told us several times that the 500L's 1.4 would perform like the 500X's 1.4 multiair in eco mode. I'm taking that with a pinch of salt as the 1.4 multiair is substantially more powerful and even in eco mode I expect it to have more guts. However, we did use the eco mode when test driving the 500X and if ours does perform the same as that we will be perfectly happy.

We've spent the last few days using our Panda in eco mode just to see how much weaker it is and although you can definitely feel there is less power to draw on, it's not as disappointing as we expected. So I'm feeling positive about the 1.4 in the 500L.

Spoke to the dealer this morning. No 1.2 engines available to try, but they are having a vehicle shuffle very soon and will let us know if one comes in as a result.

No updates on our order so far, so hopefully plenty of time before it is finalised.

That is a bit frustrating for you.

I do agree with what JTD_Liam said, although I do still think the 1.4 95hp is the best choice based on what you have said, I would hate you to have ordered such a high spec model and then find the engine is really not what you want. To be fair, I did suggest that in my original post...thankfully, haha!

I have a possible suggestion - your dealer may not have any 500L 1.4s in stock as demonstrators, but have they got any in their used car section?

Failing that, I would give Auto Trader a try and see if you can find any other car sales/garages nearby that have got a 500L 1.4 95hp for sale. You could take it for a test drive and see what you think of it?

Here's one that may or may not be nearby for you?
http://www.desiragroup.com/fiat/used-cars/5423944-fiat-500-l-1.4-pop-star-5dr/

Super Uwe said:

That is a bit frustrating for you.

I do agree with what JTD_Liam said, although I do still think the 1.4 95hp is the best choice based on what you have said, I would hate you to have ordered such a high spec model and then find the engine is really not what you want. To be fair, I did suggest that in my original post...thankfully, haha!

I have a possible suggestion - your dealer may not have any 500L 1.4s in stock as demonstrators, but have they got any in their used car section?

Failing that, I would give Auto Trader a try and see if you can find any other car sales/garages nearby that have got a 500L 1.4 95hp for sale. You could take it for a test drive and see what you think of it?

Here's one that may or may not be nearby for you?
http://www.desiragroup.com/fiat/used-cars/5423944-fiat-500-l-1.4-pop-star-5dr/

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Great minds think alike! I've been looking at that one in Diss and wondering if we should go and try it. Only 14 miles up the road from us. Probably a bit cheeky making them think they could get a sale when there's no intention lol.

Our dealer doesn't have any used ones either. The nearest in their network is in London and we did ask if there's any chance it could be brought up to Ipswich, but no go.

SuffolkBexx said:

Great minds think alike! I've been looking at that one in Diss and wondering if we should go and try it. Only 14 miles up the road from us. Probably a bit cheeky making them think they could get a sale when there's no intention lol.

Our dealer doesn't have any used ones either. The nearest in their network is in London and we did ask if there's any chance it could be brought up to Ipswich, but no go.

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Haha, no worries!

I'd definitely give it a go, and I wouldn't worry about your intentions with it. It's perfectly normal for people to test drive a car and then decide not to buy it.

Super Uwe said:

Haha, no worries!

I'd definitely give it a go, and I wouldn't worry about your intentions with it. It's perfectly normal for people to test drive a car and then decide not to buy it.

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Well we've booked a test drive for tomorrow lunchtime, so fingers crossed we like it!

Apparently the staff have been using it as a runabout, so the guy my hubby spoke to knew what it was like to drive. He was very positive about the engine, even saying it was more spritely than the 1.3 diesel. Of course, he is hoping we're going to buy it, so could just be sales talk, but it's a good sign.

Had a test drive in the 1.4 petrol, happy to say we were more than satisfied with it! They had a gorgeous yellow trekking in the showroom too, which looked very tempting! Felt a bit guilty as the dealer (Desira in Diss, Norfolk) was very nice and helpful, so if anyone reading this is out that way, I'd recommend giving them a look.

Now just have to wait for ours to be built. The dealer we saw today said the current lead-time was 10-12 weeks (possibly as soon as 8!), but ours says 16 weeks. Oh well, better to have the longer estimate and be pleasantly surprised if it's earlier. Hoping it will be at least April though to get the newer registration lol.

Glad the 1.4 is good enough for you. I've not driven the 1.4 version myself so I don't know, but Fiat do tend to make a good job of getting good performance out of what looks like a modest engine.

It sounds like your dealer could do with learning a thing or two about helping customers though - if I was spending all that money on a brand new car, I'd expect them to find me a car with the same engine as the one i'm ordering. In the circumstances I might've gone so far as cancelling with the one dealer and ordering from Desira Diss. It sounds like they'd change an existing vehicle on order to meet your spec, thus avoiding the initial lag time before the order enters production, whereas your dealer is just quoting the build time for a completely new order.

Anyway, at least your mind is now at rest with the engine choice

JTD_Liam said:

Glad the 1.4 is good enough for you. I've not driven the 1.4 version myself so I don't know, but Fiat do tend to make a good job of getting good performance out of what looks like a modest engine.

It sounds like your dealer could do with learning a thing or two about helping customers though - if I was spending all that money on a brand new car, I'd expect them to find me a car with the same engine as the one i'm ordering. In the circumstances I might've gone so far as cancelling with the one dealer and ordering from Desira Diss. It sounds like they'd change an existing vehicle on order to meet your spec, thus avoiding the initial lag time before the order enters production, whereas your dealer is just quoting the build time for a completely new order.

Anyway, at least your mind is now at rest with the engine choice

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Yes, I did find it very odd that they couldn't provide a test drive vehicle very close to our requirements at all. I didn't realise we had another dealer so close, or we would have gone for a test drive with them as well and may well have chosen them instead. Desira also had one of each diesel engine, one with lounge trim and one Easy model. The petrol we test drove was a Pop Star, so there was a good variety to look at (my hubby was rather tempted by the Easy)and there was also the Trekking on display in the showroom. Conversely, GlynHopkin had 3 diesel MPWs, all Pop Star trim and nothing else.

Had some good news on Friday though - order confirmed at status 10 and the dealer was able to choose a delivery time of late March which is way earlier than expected. He said Fiat may change that, but the fact the system allowed him to choose it is a good sign. Maybe it's because we haven't selected any unusual options?

Very exciting knowing it could be here next month! Better crack on with getting the accessories ready!

SuffolkBexx said:

Yes, I did find it very odd that they couldn't provide a test drive vehicle very close to our requirements at all. I didn't realise we had another dealer so close, or we would have gone for a test drive with them as well and may well have chosen them instead. Desira also had one of each diesel engine, one with lounge trim and one Easy model. The petrol we test drove was a Pop Star, so there was a good variety to look at (my hubby was rather tempted by the Easy)and there was also the Trekking on display in the showroom. Conversely, GlynHopkin had 3 diesel MPWs, all Pop Star trim and nothing else.

Had some good news on Friday though - order confirmed at status 10 and the dealer was able to choose a delivery time of late March which is way earlier than expected. He said Fiat may change that, but the fact the system allowed him to choose it is a good sign. Maybe it's because we haven't selected any unusual options?

Very exciting knowing it could be here next month! Better crack on with getting the accessories ready!

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I would've thought with the size of Glyn Hopkin, they could've rustled up a 1.4 from one of their dealerships, so that's not impressive. They're usually pretty decent for a bigger dealer chain though, so I wouldn't be too worried about anything else.

Desira have been Fiat for quite a long time, so probably have a better idea on what specs to order in for people to look at - very often dealers just have a sea of the same spec, and it seems this is what your dealer had done. It might put your husbands mind at ease to know that the Easy spec has been discontinued, so the Lounge is the nicest spec available - Easy was always lower spec than the Lounge and didn't have alloys or glass roof as standard, so the Lounge is definitely the one to go for if you want good equipment levels. The Trekking looks good too, but does without glass roof and climate control.

Good news re the order potentially taking less time. I used to order Fiat's and Alfa's for a dealer and 8-12 weeks is more typical than 16. Adding certain options could cause delays so the fact yours is a fairly straightforward order may help, or the dealer might've amended an existing order (for a demo car for example) to fit your spec, which will cut off a few weeks of lag time that a brand new order can endure

JTD_Liam said:

I would've thought with the size of Glyn Hopkin, they could've rustled up a 1.4 from one of their dealerships, so that's not impressive. They're usually pretty decent for a bigger dealer chain though, so I wouldn't be too worried about anything else.

Desira have been Fiat for quite a long time, so probably have a better idea on what specs to order in for people to look at - very often dealers just have a sea of the same spec, and it seems this is what your dealer had done. It might put your husbands mind at ease to know that the Easy spec has been discontinued, so the Lounge is the nicest spec available - Easy was always lower spec than the Lounge and didn't have alloys or glass roof as standard, so the Lounge is definitely the one to go for if you want good equipment levels. The Trekking looks good too, but does without glass roof and climate control.

Good news re the order potentially taking less time. I used to order Fiat's and Alfa's for a dealer and 8-12 weeks is more typical than 16. Adding certain options could cause delays so the fact yours is a fairly straightforward order may help, or the dealer might've amended an existing order (for a demo car for example) to fit your spec, which will cut off a few weeks of lag time that a brand new order can endure

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They did have a 1.4 at another branch, but wouldn't bring it up for us. They said they might get one in with the upcoming shuffle, but no guarantee. Other than the lack of available cars though, we've been happy enough with everything. Their service dept also seems good as we had an issue with our Panda and it was fixed under warranty without any quibble.

We're very happy with the Lounge spec, I think my hubby was just rather taken with the red upholstery in the Easy we saw. I'd seen pics online and thought it was nice, but it was even better in the flesh. I wanted an electric sunroof, so with the Lounge already having the fixed one, it made for a cheaper upgrade and the fogs and rear electric windows were a must too. I prefer the look of the upholstery on the Lounge too (they seem to have changed it to a ribbed black/grey design rather than the embossed writing which neither of us were as keen on).

The Trekking is lovely, but we have never used the traction+ on our Panda Trekking, so it's not a feature we actually need. We will be putting all-weather tyres on though as we live in rural Suffolk and need to deal with plenty of muddy, wet roads.

I can't remember where I initially heard it could be 16 weeks to arrive, but the dealer said orders were taking that kind of time when we first enquired. As we were initially considering the 500X, that's probably what we were all thinking of with regard to lead-times.

Whether it's 16 weeks or 8 though, it's going far too slowly. I think I need to find a support group for people going through the agonising wait for a new car!