I'm pricing up a new new 500X Sport, in 1.0ltr flavour, and the leather seats option is calling me.. If the numbers work out, I'm going for a red one, with 19" wheels and a full-sized spare wheel (because I'm an old fella these days and anyone knoes you needs a proper spare wheel).

1) The full-monty spare wheel is just GBP95 more than a space-saver and I don't want to regret not spending those few extra quid years from now, when I have a puncture in the rain, next to a ditch in Llwydiarth or similar. But does the full-size spare come with any compromises, e.g. like it doesn't fit in the wheel well, or similar? I don't want/need a bulging boot floor.

2) The standard interior is a kind of vinyl (?) called "techno-leather" with cloth inserts... It's reasonably attractive but I'm an old fella these days so techno-<anything> sounds too racy to me.

In any case "when I was a lad..." vinyl seat cloth felt like it was 3/16" (ask your nan) thick and apart from it felt plastic, was not a bad replica of real leather. The techno seems to follow modern trends in that it's nicer to touch, probably better.. but has lost some "charm".

So, the quite expensive leather seat option is tricky to ignore. I've had a look at the configurator and it looks like the vinyl seats (irony!) fitted to the first model X's.

Does anyone have a photo of the leather seats as fitted in a 500X Sport? The configurator is a bit "CGI" so doesn't give me a very clear picture. Cars on Autotrader and eBay etc. don't have the leather seats.. only techno.

3) Anyone saying "No" to the 19" rims? I'm going to have them anyway.. but it'll be interesting to hear any reasons why I really shouldn't.. so at least I can say... "yep.. they was right..."

4) Is there anything else I need to have, which I've ignored? The beast seems to have electric everything, which I'm probably going to curse at some point (a speedo, a rev-counter and an oil temperature gauge are the limits of essential equipment for me...) but since it's "fully loaded" already, one or other more gadgets isn't going to make me swear much more.


Hopefully I'll hear back from the salesperson today, confirming that the PCP deal I've bashed out isn't a terrible mistake and they need to add 10% to the APR etc.. so there's time to tweak it, if the Forum tells me my spec' could be better..


Ralf S.

Does this mean you're parting ways with the Stilo?

Well.. yes and no. The beast is on 210k now and is suffering a bit.

It needs a new clutch and flywheel.. which is a job that's been hanging around for ages... and in December someone hit it up the rear, smashing the bumper and stoving in the rear corner.

The roof paint is faded, the bonnet and mirrors are peeling and one of the sills has some corrosion that I've fixed with a new piece of galvanised... but it needs finishing to be 100% smooth... and then painting too.

It also smokes a lot (shorter trips these days, or may be something more serious) and it only just made it through the MOT on emissions after a few goes.

Having said that, I've got a new 4-pce clutch kit to fit.... and I've got a whole "rear corner" which a breaker cut off another car, that needs to be welded on, so that the bumper support lines up with the new (blue) bumper... then the new bumper to fit.

Once I'm there, which will take a fair bit of time/work, I'll re-spray whichever bits of the car need to be Tiziano red, rather than Tomato, or faded or peeling red, or blue (bumper).

When it's in pieces I'll have to get to the bottom of the smokiness.. it could be a new (or less old) turbo will be needed, for instance.. but better to do that when it's off the road and I can think about it, rather than trying to keep it running in between, as a daily car.

So, the new car will just give the old beast some time in my shed while I repair it. It's worth *minus* fifty quid according to WBAC.. and it's been in the wars with me for such a long time that I can't scrap it. I wanted to get it to 221k, which is distance to the moon mileage... It's close enough now that it would be rude not to get it there.


Ralf S.

I parted company with my 500X last September, but as an Opening Edition it had what I was informed were 'leather seats'. I don't know if they are the same as you are considering but I always found them to be smart , durable and comfortable.

My current carriage has 19" rims and I find them no worse than the 18" rims of the 500X.

As an amusing aside, I found a button on the dash of my current car next to Heated Seats button, so I pressed it to see what it did. It seems it blows chilled A/C air through the seat and the back, which is errrm interesting, but possibly useful on a hot day.

Thanks Alan.

As above, the early model leather seats seemed pretty nice quality to me, so leather is on the options list until I've seen them in real life.. I'd have to really not like them.

At the moment the dealers I've contacted all seem to be breaking the 11th Commandment "Thou shalt not take the pi**..":

I sent a few of them the spec' I wanted and got some pretty good quotes. When I contacted the cheapest one, I found out that the quote only applied to cars "in stock" and the spec' I wanted is, annoyingly, only available to order. I'm wondering what car meets my spec' that they could provide me a price for it, yet is not in stock? The beast must have some time-travelling capability that Fiat forgot to mention...

Anyway, I probably don't want a Flux Capacitor... so on to the next cheapest quote. I outright told these guys, their quote was great and when can I have it?

..

..

..

Silence.. Ahhhh Ahhhh


Third cheapest quote, is at least more honest. This time the price he quoted was for cash and the car is in stock, even though I mentioned I wanted PCP and the car needed to have leather seats, whereas the car in stock doesn't...


I've given up for the moment. There's a full moon at the end of next week, so if I wear red shorts and blue hat, grow a moustache on one side of my face only and change my name to Clarice, then I would meet the qualifications to get a deal with the next dealer on my list, and I'll be sorted...

Ralf S.

Have you tried CarWow? Build a car and wait for the quotes to come flooding in?

You might have a problem though unless there is a level of spec that has the leather as standard. I was lucky on my Opening Edition it was standard spec for that model, likewise eith my current car. If it isn't standard spec you might have a problem sourcing one in stock unless you can locate an ex demonstrator someehere.

I loved my Lounge seats which were part faux leather, I thought they looked great - the "leather" was a contrasting light colour which was a nice change from the normal "50 shades of grey" that most car interiors are. I also liked the centre parts being fabric as they were neither cold in winter or hot in summer. The Hyundai I have now has the same mixture of materials, but its back to the black/grey alas. At least they are heated, which the Fiat's weren't.
Regarding wheels, I found the ride in my 500x pretty firm with its 18" 45 section tyres, and would have happily gone down a size. Some people don't seem to mind it though.

Re: Leather in Sport vs other Options questio

TrevC said:

I loved my Lounge seats which were part faux leather, I thought they looked great - the "leather" was a contrasting light colour which was a nice change from the normal "50 shades of grey" that most car interiors are. I also liked the centre parts being fabric as they were neither cold in winter or hot in summer. The Hyundai I have now has the same mixture of materials, but its back to the black/grey alas. At least they are heated, which the Fiat's weren't.
Regarding wheels, I found the ride in my 500x pretty firm with its 18" 45 section tyres, and would have happily gone down a size. Some people don't seem to mind it though.

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Yes, those grey/gunmetal lounge seats are my favourite X seats.. I’ve been fighting against all-black interiors but I’ve given up for this one.

Predictably the broker route has turned into a slog. £X per month.. that turns out to be only valid on the summer solstice, if Halley’s Comet is in the sky at the same time as a lunar eclipse is taking place over Uzbekistan. Otherwise it’s £XXX per month.

I’m currently doing it analogue.. emailing every dealer in sight and repeating the same old details to get the same slightly disinterested response. I would use my local dealer.. his list price quote suddenly seems not too unreasonable.. but the parts department there has banned their sales from selling me a new car, otherwise they’ll lose half their revenue..

Ralf S.

Ralf S. said:

Yes, those grey/gunmetal lounge seats are my favourite X seats.. I’ve been fighting against all-black interiors but I’ve given up for this one.

Predictably the broker route has turned into a slog. £X per month.. that turns out to be only valid on the summer solstice, if Halley’s Comet is in the sky at the same time as a lunar eclipse is taking place over Uzbekistan. Otherwise it’s £XXX per month.

I’m currently doing it analogue.. emailing every dealer in sight and repeating the same old details to get the same slightly disinterested response. I would use my local dealer.. his list price quote suddenly seems not too unreasonable.. but the parts department there has banned their sales from selling me a new car, otherwise they’ll lose half their revenue.. [emoji3]

Ralf S.

Click to expand...

I know that I've gone away from Fiat, but I went onto Carwow and Auto Express, got a quote, printed it off, walked into an analogue dealership and asked them if they could match the quote. Not only did they match it, they bettered it.

My mum will be selling her 500X very soon...

1.4 Turbo MultiAir Lounge, April 2017 from Arnold Clark (bought December)

Red all leather keyless etc etc 12k miles just having bumper scuffs tidied this week, probably Fiat fluids service too.

Still ongoing... I now have a spreadsheet to keep track of all the various offers and quotations. Ahhhh

There's quite a bit of variance between what dealers think is the list price, curiously enough... and not one of them has mentioned that Fiat has a Spring Promotion during May. It's all rather dispiriting.. (reminds me why I only buy a new car every 20 years..)

Meanwhile.. does anyone have a photo of the Sport leather seats option? The standard seats are called "techno-leather" which one dealer thinks is the leather seats option.. <sigh!>

And does anyone have a full-sized spare wheel? Does it fit in the well properly or does it protrude?
Failing that, does anyone have a space saver wheel and, if so, does it have foam packing under it or does it fill the spare wheel well?


Ta.



Ralf S.

Mine had a space-saver, with bits of foam holding the jack etc. It was a 2015 model, when there were a few boot configurations around, not sure what you get now.

No news.. every single dealer who said they could give me a sh*t-hot price via the brokers has only managed to get half-way there.

Instead of being able to afford it, I'd have to sell my daughter to the Middle-Eastern looking gentleman down the road... in which case I won't need a family car any more.

I'll have a look at a Vauxhall Grandland as an exercise in the meantime. It could be that it's just the Fiat dealers taking the ****... or it could be they're all like that.


Ralf S.

I think the Grandland is a fair bit bigger than the 500X. As you keep your cars for a while, could be worth checking out the Kia Stonic or Xceed, with their 7 year warranties.

TrevC said:

I think the Grandland is a fair bit bigger than the 500X. As you keep your cars for a while, could be worth checking out the Kia Stonic or Xceed, with their 7 year warranties.

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I 'upgraded' to the Kia Sportage Mild Hybrid only because Fiat culled the Diesel Auto 4x4 from its range. 8 months in I'm mightily impressed. Although bigger, the consumption is only very slightly heavier than the 500X plus it's loaded with safety tech and the 7 year warranty.

No regrets so far, the only 'down side' is the black interior but that doesn't bother me, plus the leather seats are air conditioned, that was a surprise [emoji23][emoji23]

Yes, my daughter has a 2016 Sportage. The dealer spotted an oil leak from a crankshaft oil seal at the 4 year service. It was repaired under warranty with no quibble, they would have also changed the clutch if it had been contaminated.
Again, the Sportage is a bit bigger than the 500X. My wife's Renault Captur is identical in size to the 500X I had. The interior of her 2018 example is nothing like as nice as the Fiat, but there's a new one out now that's much better. The "S" trim looks similar to the 500X Sport, and is a similar list price with the 140 TCE engine, which is chain cam. Renault have a 5 year warranty now, and are currently offering 0% finance. Worth a look?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009213992638
Or there's this 500X - red, 19" alloys, looks like leather seats, under £20k!

TrevC said:

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009213992638
Or there's this 500X - red, 19" alloys, looks like leather seats, under £20k!

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That's the boy.. but the seats are the standard "techno-leather" not the leather-leather... and I also fancy the full-sized spare wheel.

My car would have to be a factory order because of the leather seats, whereas the advertised cheap cars are all sitting on someone's forecourt... Hence when I add £1k of options, their "best price" jumps up about £5k, to more or less List Price.

I'm trying to convince anyone to do me a deal on a factory order but there's not much interest. It'll end up being delivered in September (71 plate) and I guess the dealers won't have problems hitting their quotas in a new plate month.

They might get more interested if I go back in August (since the car would arrive at the end of 2021).

Still banging away though... sooner or later I might wear one of them down..


Ralf S.

It does look the biz in red with those wheels! If you are planning on keeping a car, its worth getting one you really like - in a few years, if you've paid a bit more, you will have forgotten about the extra.
I only mentioned Kia because they offer a good long term ownership experience with that warranty- if their cars weren't reliable they couldn't afford it. Servicing seems very reasonable too, but if they don't appeal then far better to get something you enjoy owning.

Ralf S. said:

That's the boy.. but the seats are the standard "techno-leather" not the leather-leather... and I also fancy the full-sized spare wheel.



My car would have to be a factory order because of the leather seats, whereas the advertised cheap cars are all sitting on someone's forecourt... Hence when I add £1k of options, their "best price" jumps up about £5k, to more or less List Price.



I'm trying to convince anyone to do me a deal on a factory order but there's not much interest. It'll end up being delivered in September (71 plate) and I guess the dealers won't have problems hitting their quotas in a new plate month.



They might get more interested if I go back in August (since the car would arrive at the end of 2021).



Still banging away though... sooner or later I might wear one of them down..





Ralf S.

Click to expand...

Like Trev, I can only tell you of my experience with Kia. Like you I had to buy a 'stock' car and then have my options fitted by the dealer, but leather upholstery probably wouldn't fit with that, but I see no reason why the same shouldn't apply to a special order. Firstly I got a quote through Auto Trader or Car Wow which the dealer agreed to match, then they offered me a further £2.5k discount if I took a finance plan, which I accepted, then paid off in full without penalty (at the suggestion of the dealer).

Possibly worth a try.