General Anything I should look out for!

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General Anything I should look out for!

davetheranspilot

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Hi,

My wife is finally swapping her 2008 105,000 mile YeYe green Fiat 500 with something newer.
We have put a deposit on a 2018 Fiat 500C Collezione in burgundy red and grey. It has the 1.2 engine, 17 inch copper coloured wheels, 7 inch display with carplay so is pretty well specd.
We haven't owned a convertable before and have concerns about noise? Are they bearable at motorway speeds?
Also is there anything that we should look out for. The car has only covered 6200 miles in three years so I would like to think its pretty much as good as new.
We have always had her current 500 (diesel) serviced by a local independent garage annually. What are the service intervals with the 1.2 engine?

Thanks in advance for your help :)
 
Hello and welcome to the forum.

We haven't owned a convertable before and have concerns about noise? Are they bearable at motorway speeds?

Only you can say what's acceptable to you. Test drive it at motorway speeds before committing to purchase, and imagine how you'll be feeling after doing a four hour drive in it.

The car has only covered 6200 miles in three years so I would like to think its pretty much as good as new.

It won't be; cars deteriorate at least as much based on age as they do based on mileage. In human lifespan terms, it's in its late teens. If you don't believe this, get them to put the car on a lift and see how much corrosion there is on the rear beam, springs and exhaust. You should budget on having to replace the battery soon (about £100 if you do it yourself); on a S/S 500, 3yrs is pretty much as long as they last; less if it's been stood around for weeks at a time. The front brakes will also benefit from being stripped, cleaned & reassembled; by now, it's likely the pads won't be sliding as freely in the reaction frames as one would like. Also, any warranty on a 3yr old car will be nowhere near as comprehensive as that on a new car.

Have it serviced annually, at MOT time, and at the very least, always have an annual oil & filter change, irrespective of mileage. Stick with your trrusted independent garage; it's already too old to be worth paying extra for main dealer servicing. The 1.2 is an extremely reliable and long lasting engine, but it does have an achilles heel - it won't survive being run low on coolant, so make this part of your regular checks, and at the very least, check the level each time you refuel the car.
 
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We haven't owned a convertable before and have concerns about noise? Are they bearable at motorway speeds?

That's a beautiful car and I'm dead jealous. :)


As JR suggests, it's a subjective thing but with the roof closed I find my 500C only marginally noisier than a tintop. Conversation can be conducted at ordinary levels at all speeds. Of course, with the roof open it's a different story and you do have to raise your voice, so on the rare occasions I have a passenger I keep it closed for their comfort. Otherwise it's always open (unless it's actually raining). In crosswinds it'll shift your hair about but that's what convertibles are for... :cool:
 
We've owned both, a twinair engined hatch and a 1.2c. We found barely any difference in wind noise between the two, the folding roof is multi layered and keeps the noise out pretty well. The biggest downside of the cabrio is the lack of a rear wiper in wet weather.
JRKs advice is, as ever, good. We didn't have battery problems though, the one in my twinair lasted from new to 6 years old when I sold it, although the s/s hardly ever cut in by that time. The 1.2 was 3 years old when we bought it, and nothing went wrong in the 2+ years we had it, even the s/s still worked well.
Yours sounds a very nice spec.
 
Hi - probably not an immediate issue but if it's a keeper, do get your garage to keep the hood runners well lubricated, and keep the hood "exercised". I've seen a couple of mechanism failures on older cars due to seizure and it's not pretty! And very fiddly and labour intensive to put right (not that I have done it myself!).

On noise I would have thought the 17" wheels would be more of an issue than the hood, but as others have said noise acceptance is quite a personal thing. I've recently changed from 15" to 16" wheels on my own '17 500S and find the difference quite marked.

Enjoy it!

Nick
www.auto500.co.uk
(been dormant on the forum for a while but getting back into things....)
 
Hi - probably not an immediate issue but if it's a keeper, do get your garage to keep the hood runners well lubricated, and keep the hood "exercised". I've seen a couple of mechanism failures on older cars due to seizure and it's not pretty! And very fiddly and labour intensive to put right (not that I have done it myself!).

Hello Nick;
How and where does one apply lubricant to the runners and what's best to use? I'm concerned about making a mess of it and only attracting dirt to wear the mechanism even more quickly.
 
Hi - I'd suggest lithium grease in an aerosol can with a thin extension straw fitted (i.e. like the thin red tube you get a WD40 can). You can get lithium grease cans so equipped in Halfords or other motor shops. Don't go mad, put the hood back and try and spot where the factory put lubricant to start with and top it up with tiny little squirts ahead of as many of the sliding parts as you can get to in the channels at the side. Move the hood mechanism forward and repeat a couple of times at suitable places. Careful where you squirt to avoid the headlining or interior! Work the hood a couple of times and check coverage along the length of the guides. (You might need to stand on something and use a torch to peer in).

I'd avoid putting anything on the broad flat horizontal plastic strips.

Nick
 
Great spec, I’m sure it looks the business.

Wife’s 500c is 11 years old soon and we haven’t used any lubricants. Couldn’t confirm if Dealer has as part of service either. I think using the hood regularly is important. Would probably use a silicon spray if I was going to lubricate to keep mess to a minimum.

The main thing I would focus on with a canvas hood is making sure you clean it properly and apply a waterproofer like Fabsil each year.
 
"Lubrication of canvas sliding side guide (cabrio versions)" is (or has been) part of the annual service schedule for the 500C so your dealer has hopefully done it at least some of the time!

Good points from people on PTFE and silicone lubricants. Not sure what the factory will have used but I've assumed it was a lithium based grease (maybe wrongly).

Nick
 
Hi - I'd suggest lithium grease in an aerosol can with a thin extension straw fitted (i.e. like the thin red tube you get a WD40 can). You can get lithium grease cans so equipped in Halfords or other motor shops. Don't go mad, put the hood back and try and spot where the factory put lubricant to start with and top it up with tiny little squirts ahead of as many of the sliding parts as you can get to in the channels at the side. Move the hood mechanism forward and repeat a couple of times at suitable places. Careful where you squirt to avoid the headlining or interior! Work the hood a couple of times and check coverage along the length of the guides. (You might need to stand on something and use a torch to peer in).

I'd avoid putting anything on the broad flat horizontal plastic strips.

Nick

Thanks; I'll see what I can find and give it a go. Silicon sprays sound good but I'm not sure of their longevity. Of course the treatment can be repeated more often. My roof is very well run in at 7.5 years being opened at every opportunity.

It's due for its annual clean and water repellant treatment which I'll perform on the next washing day. I favour Meguairs products for most things. Cleaning the interior liner is more problemmatical.
 
Hi - I'd suggest lithium grease in an aerosol can with a thin extension straw fitted (i.e. like the thin red tube you get a WD40 can). You can get lithium grease cans so equipped in Halfords or other motor shops. Don't go mad, put the hood back and try and spot where the factory put lubricant to start with and top it up with tiny little squirts ahead of as many of the sliding parts as you can get to in the channels at the side. Move the hood mechanism forward and repeat a couple of times at suitable places. Careful where you squirt to avoid the headlining or interior! Work the hood a couple of times and check coverage along the length of the guides. (You might need to stand on something and use a torch to peer in).

I'd avoid putting anything on the broad flat horizontal plastic strips.

Nick

Thanks; I'll see what I can find and give it a go. Silicon sprays sound good but I'm not sure of their longevity. Of course the treatment can be repeated more often. My roof is very well run in at 7.5 years being opened at every opportunity.

It's due for its annual clean and water repellant treatment which I'll perform on the next washing day. I favour Meguairs products for most things. Cleaning the interior liner is more problemmatical.
 
Powdered graphite would make a good none grease attracting lube
Buts it's very messy so probably not something you'd want to use heregreat for other things where the dirt won't Matter
 
I used to use Fabsil and then moved to Autoglym and Meguairs before going back to Fabsil after cleaning with Renovo.

The reason I went back to Fabsil was because they do Fabsil Gold in a tin that you can paint on with a brush.

The beauty of doing with a brush is that you can get it too really soak in. This makes the water runoff and also restores the colour avoiding the need to use a dye to restore the colour.
 
Fabsil doesn't appear to be available down here - no surprise...

In any case I'm happy with the spray-on product; my car is garaged and only goes out a couple of times a week and not at all on wet days if I can avoid it. I even carry a top cover to keep the UV off if I'm parked in the Oz sun anywhere for extended periods - talk about a coddled car!
 
Fabsil doesn't appear to be available down here - no surprise...

In any case I'm happy with the spray-on product; my car is garaged and only goes out a couple of times a week and not at all on wet days if I can avoid it. I even carry a top cover to keep the UV off if I'm parked in the Oz sun anywhere for extended periods - talk about a coddled car!

Shouldn't have an issue with rust like we do in the UK on the rear beam especially then
 
Shouldn't have an issue with rust like we do in the UK on the rear beam especially then

To be perfectly honest I've never looked! Melbourne's weather is pretty mild, even in winter, and we don't get ice or snow, so no salt issues, no 'winter' tyres and it's quite benign to batteries. If it wasn't for all the other idiots on the road in their utes and Landbruisers it'd be near ideal!:cool:
 
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