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General Buying an Abarth 500?

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General Buying an Abarth 500?

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seeka

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Hi guys,

I'm looking to buy a 2010, 500 Abarth. I wanted to ask if there's anything I should be on the look out in particular when I go to see it on Friday? It seems to be in immaculate condition from the photos, has low mileage etc, and I'm looking forward to giving it a spin, but in terms of drive, interior, suspension etc, is there any little Fiat/Abarth characteristics you'd recommend asking the dealer or checking out before I buy?

Thanks!
 
Hi Seeka , I'm near You and test drove that car if it's the same /only one advertised in Republic right now .Close up like many cars the wear and tear is a lot more obvious( NEVER buy a wet car or based on pics other than ultra close up ) .I wrote of my experiences after the test drive here .My main concern was a flat spot in the acceleration . I've since driven one or two more 500s ( vanilla) and been even more disappointed .I once had a small part time job ' in the trade' and my boss only presented cars in tip top cosmetic and mechanical condition and it beggars belief how dealers ( even ones with six figure cars on the forecourt) can present cars for sale with the vague promise 'it will get whatever it needs . I know it costs money to put things right and I presume they'd sooner have 15 badly prepared cars than 10 'minters' .
Anyway the 2011 low mileage one for sale might be worth looking at the owners just had a baby and I'd say if you haggle hard you might just get it at 4 figures . And then there's the older one with high mileage .I spoke to the owner in the phone and he sounded genuine but it's too dear .
Maybe we should go halves on one ! You can have it January to June :)
Let me know how you get on .Not sue if a one or two year old from U.K. might be Best Buy .Duty not too bad ...and of course there are loads of €14-20k ones for sale here too , well three or four !
Cheers !
 
Last edited:
ytareh said:
Hi Seeka , I'm near You and test drove that car if it's the same /only one advertised in Republic right now .Close up like many cars the wear and tear is a lot more obvious( NEVER buy a wet car or based on pics other than ultra close up ) .I wrote of my experiences after the test drive here .My main concern was a flat spot in the acceleration . I've since driven one or two more 500s ( vanilla) and been even more disappointed .I once had a small part time job ' in the trade' and my boss only presented cars in tip top cosmetic and mechanical condition and it beggars belief how dealers ( even ones with six figure cars on the forecourt) can present cars for sale with the vague promise 'it will get whatever it needs . I know it costs money to put things right and I presume they'd sooner have 15 badly prepared cars than 10 'minters' .
Anyway the 2011 low mileage one for sale might be worth looking at the owners just had a baby and I'd say if you haggle hard you might just get it at 4 figures . And then there's the older one with high mileage .I spoke to the owner in the phone and he sounded genuine but it's too dear .
Maybe we should go halves on one ! You can have it January to June :)
Let me know how you get on .Not sue if a one or two year old from U.K. might be Best Buy .Duty not too bad ...and of course there are loads of €14-20k ones for sale here too , well three or four !
Cheers !
Click to expand...


Thanks ytareh!

Its actually an English one I'm going to see in the UK - not til May 11th now. Flat spots drive me nuts - my current Clio 197 suffers from the same - but I will give the car a good test drive and walk away if I have to.

Did you end up buying one in the end?
 
No not yet , it seems very hard to get a good one but a Volare Blue is still the dream .If you wanted a cheap substitute there’s a red 100hp Panda around Dublin at the moment in DoneDeal .I think I once owned it .Its €3k asking .I found it didn’t have enough oomph to justify only getting 36-43mpg ( and my commute is close to ‘perfect’ , non stop , open roads .) And the ‘legendary handling ‘ had a narrow window of mid range speeds .My 1.1 Panda is FAR more fun to chuck round roundabouts like a hooligan .The Abarth and 100hp share a stupid turning circle althoughthe latters vertebrae crunching hard suspension is uniquely bad .The 100hp is also uninspiring handling at very high speeds eg motorway ‘bends’ in the rain .It holds its tracking on Irish roads for milliseconds .....but strangely I’m tempted to buy it back...
I’d say there’s a fair risk of settling and buying the wrong car in England rather than coming home empty handed although the choice is obviously far better.Advert Pictures can disguise a multitude and that’s before you even go for a test drive .Id want to have at least 2 or 3 potential purchases lined up ideally .May 11 will come round fast enough !
 
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How are you getting on with new Abarth? Speedramps? Mpg? Etc ...
 
Would be curious to hear back seeka .Did you sell your 197 ?How do they compare ?
 
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