Hi everyone, only just registered, so feel cheeky asking for advice.
My daughter is just about to sign the order and pay the deposit for a 500X.
She's going for a 1.6 petrol Popstar in black with tobacco leather, navigation and DAB,ms he's also specified start/stop, roof bars and 17" black and silver wheels.

Anything there stand out as a bad move? The salesman is desperately trying to discourage her from getting leather, I think that's because he'll get a bonus for selling a 2015 spec car sitting in stock. She's determined, even though it means wIting 12 weeks ( ? I'm sure you could get a Morgan quicker!!).

Also is the 1.6 up to the job?, the demo was a 1.4. Although she's been driving her 1.2 Lounge for the last 5 years so anything will feel like a Ferrari 599.
Talking of which,the 500 not the 599, the trade in offer was so derisory we're keeping it and it'll pass down to a younger daughter,Mao we'll be a two Fiat household.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling.

Personally I wouldn't go with the 1.6 petrol. The 1.4 petrol turbo is a much better engine,smooth and powerful.

If I remember right the tobacco leather is seats only and door panels are grey, little bit of a colour mishmash I felt. Black alloys good choice to hide brake dust, 1.4 petrol engine so far seems thirsty but I have only done 2800 in 7 months but is plenty powerful. Heated seat option would be nice with cold leather in winter, also keyless entry good option if the budget can stretch to it.

I've gone for the 1.4 engine and it's excellent, very refined and powerful. The mpg isn't great I'm averaging about 32 having done 3000+ miles so far but I have the 9 speed auto so that may have an impact.

Nice spec, I've got the 17" wheels and they are nice but not as comfortable as the smaller ones, which seem better on uneven roads.

I avoided the 1.4 because its too small for motorways and too thirsty overall. The 2.0 engine was just too big for my needs, so the 1.6 diesel was just perfect.

In addition to the low fuel consumption, diesel fuel is also cheaper, so the overall monthly costs are considerably lower than the 1.4 engine.

Just my opinion

Yes the 17inch wheels are a good option any bigger and apparently the ride gets much worse. I strongly disagree that the 1.4 isn't up to motorways with 170bhp!! and I spend a lot of time on motorways where the car is very refined but for a little wind noise. I do however agree that the fuel economy is a big trade off but only if you're planning to do high miles over the life of the car.

1.4 too small for motorways?.....seriously?. It has stacks of power in my opinion and the turbo gives it a brilliant turn of speed. It makes a good motorway car smooth quiet and quick although maybe a bit thirsty? Are you sure you didn't leave the handbrake on?

Well, everyone is entitled to his or her opinion

That is why you do a test drive, right?

About the wind noise, I think all 500x's have it due to the air resistance of the exterior mirrors.

Infradig said:

Hi everyone, only just registered, so feel cheeky asking for advice.
My daughter is just about to sign the order and pay the deposit for a 500X.
She's going for a 1.6 petrol Popstar in black with tobacco leather, navigation and DAB,ms he's also specified start/stop, roof bars and 17" black and silver wheels.

Anything there stand out as a bad move? The salesman is desperately trying to discourage her from getting leather, I think that's because he'll get a bonus for selling a 2015 spec car sitting in stock. She's determined, even though it means wIting 12 weeks ( ? I'm sure you could get a Morgan quicker!!).

Also is the 1.6 up to the job?, the demo was a 1.4. Although she's been driving her 1.2 Lounge for the last 5 years so anything will feel like a Ferrari 599.
Talking of which,the 500 not the 599, the trade in offer was so derisory we're keeping it and it'll pass down to a younger daughter,Mao we'll be a two Fiat household.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling.

Click to expand...

Hi,
are you taking advantage of a SCHEME discount..? currently circa 20%

biggest advice I can give I'm afraid

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-iii/429364-fiat-motor-club.html

Charlie - Oxford

Infradig said:

Hi everyone, only just registered, so feel cheeky asking for advice.
My daughter is just about to sign the order and pay the deposit for a 500X.
She's going for a 1.6 petrol Popstar in black with tobacco leather, navigation and DAB,ms he's also specified start/stop, roof bars and 17" black and silver wheels.

Anything there stand out as a bad move? The salesman is desperately trying to discourage her from getting leather, I think that's because he'll get a bonus for selling a 2015 spec car sitting in stock. She's determined, even though it means wIting 12 weeks ( ? I'm sure you could get a Morgan quicker!!).

Also is the 1.6 up to the job?, the demo was a 1.4. Although she's been driving her 1.2 Lounge for the last 5 years so anything will feel like a Ferrari 599.
Talking of which,the 500 not the 599, the trade in offer was so derisory we're keeping it and it'll pass down to a younger daughter,Mao we'll be a two Fiat household.
Thanks for taking the time to read my rambling.

Click to expand...

Hi Infradig,

Haha, yeah it does sound like the salesman is perhaps more "keen" to flog you something else in stock.

My two bits of advice:

1. The options - sometimes it is difficult to know exactly what to get when ordering a new car. I don't think anyone on here can say the options she wants are bad as it is of course your own choice. Possibly you might want to get rid of Start/Stop, unless you are desperate to have the functionality?

2. The engine - there was a similar thread on the 500L section recently where a poster was looking for advice on the engine. I would highly recommend that you find a dealer or another retailer who has the 1.6 engine available to test drive if that is definitely the one your daughter wants (maybe not necessarily down the road, but within a reasonable distance).

I know what you are getting at with the 500 only being a 1.2, but the 500 and Panda are so much lighter and more nimble. The 500X is going to be like the 500L and even the Punto in that regard; i.e. much heavier and much, much bigger. So the last thing I would want is for you to pay all that money for a brand new 500X and then find your daughter hates the engine.

You may want to double checked on relative costs between models e.g. 500X City and Off Road Look.

The Off Road Look already comes with "stuff" (roof rails, darker 18" alloys, eco leather, etc) that are standard but can be costly options on the City.

Personally I have the 500X Off Road 1.4 MultiAir Turbo and am very happy with it in terms of performance, level of trip/features. I also you my car to tow a 1000kg caravan and have no problems either on A roads or motorways towing at their respective legal limits for towing.

Another point worth noting is that the speedo is very accurate! I'm used to Fiats reading 8% to 10% high so would quite happily on open & quiet roads/motorways take advantage of the 10% latitude. So in my old Croma driving at up to 85mph on the speedo was actually only 77mph. Do this in a 500X and there is a good chance you will get a ticket. This is especially true at the 30mph end of the speed. The 20-30-40 divisions are quite close because the speedo actually goes up to 150mph! For this reason I use the digital speedo most of the time

Stop/start is standard and can be switched off.

It's a must she compares each model in the line up for cost v spec, but also looks come into it too.

Had a quick look earlier today on Auto Trader, and it doesn't look like the basic 1.6 petrol is very easy to find at all! Think I spotted 3 in total in the used section.

I still feel the same way about it though, you would be taking a punt really without your daughter trying the engine out.

Also, I'm not sure anyone on the Forum has any real knowledge of the 1.6 E-torQ engine - is it a Chrysler one or a Fiat one?

1.6 petrol is an old tech engine. Been around a while, I wouldn't really bother buying a brand new car/model etc with an old style engine.

Wow, lots of hate and jealousy about the 1.6... its just an engine guys, not a spaceship

The current 1.6 on the 500X is a JTD engine from 2008-9. Basically the JTD engines are engines developed by the FIAT group with shared technologies by GM. Not related to Chrysler.

The new Maserati diesel engines are based on JTD (new Ghibli). Current variants go up to 3lt V6 Multijet 2, some going into commercial vehicles.

The only Chrysler engine that goes into the 500X is the 2.4lt "Tigershark" engine. As far as I know, this engine is only available for the USA market.

VeneziaBlue500x said:

Wow, lots of hate and jealousy about the 1.6... its just an engine guys, not a spaceship

The current 1.6 on the 500X is a JTD engine from 2008-9. Basically the JTD engines are engines developed by the FIAT group with shared technologies by GM. Not related to Chrysler.

The new Maserati diesel engines are based on JTD (new Ghibli). Current variants go up to 3lt V6 Multijet 2, some going into commercial vehicles.

The only Chrysler engine that goes into the 500X is the 2.4lt "Tigershark" engine. As far as I know, this engine is only available for the USA market.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately, the engine you're referring to is NOT the engine the OP asked about. They asked about the PETROL 1.6 E-Torq which according to Fiats own specifications is less fuel efficient and less powerful than the 1.4 petrol and therefore doesn't really seem to make it a good choice unless I'm missing something?

My thoughts exactly! 1.6 petrol is what is mentioned... 1.4 petrol or the diesel is the only choice ?

But as far as I know, the 500x doesn't have a 1.6 petrol. Or maybe I'm mistaken and it is available in the UK?

DismasX said:

Unfortunately, the engine you're referring to is NOT the engine the OP asked about. They asked about the PETROL 1.6 E-Torq which according to Fiats own specifications is less fuel efficient and less powerful than the 1.4 petrol and therefore doesn't really seem to make it a good choice unless I'm missing something?

Click to expand...

VeneziaBlue500x said:

But as far as I know, the 500x doesn't have a 1.6 petrol. Or maybe I'm mistaken and it is available in the UK?

Click to expand...

Somewhat confusingly it appears to only be available on the City Look version, I presume so they can advertise that very low 'prices starting from...' figure?

Yes it's just a way of getting a low price hence why it's not really a good choice.