500 G'day Fiat Folks

[Puggle]

Hi,
I'm a long time European car admirer/owner, (soon to be) first time Fiat owner in Sydney.

I'm in the middle of trying to buy a 500 Pop. I freaking love those little cars and it will be the first "new" car I will have ever owned.

I just wish I didn't have to deal with car dealers.

So, anyway......... HI!

Cheers, Em

 

[bgunn]

I just wish I didn't have to deal with car dealers.

So, anyway......... HI!

Cheers, Em

Hello

Alas, you're afflicted with the same syndrome as many of us; that we love the car and hate the dealership it was bought from. If I could have ordered the car directly from FGA, and selected 'factory collection' (as you can with Mercedes cars, for example), I would have jumped at the chance. Driving the car home from Poland would be such a good laugh, and chances are it would be in a far better state having come directly out of the factory without some chump middleman thinking their 'PDI' was any good.

 

[Puggle]

Driving the car home from Poland would be such a good laugh, and chances are it would be in a far better state having come directly out of the factory without some chump middleman thinking their 'PDI' was any good.

Now THAT would be a road trip indeed.

My father (who has owned two Fiats) was originally trying to talk me out of buying own because of their previous bad rep from back in the day, reckons they must have transported them upside-down or something on the boat coming over because they always had problems and rusted in really bizzare spots. Driving it from Poland would certainly cut out the chance of poor shipping too

 

[306maxi]

Tbh I wouldn't be hugely keen on driving in Poland, they drive like maniacs and make the Italians look safe/patient/normal

 

[Puggle]

Yikes, I've never been to Poland but I've been to Italy and that's a scary thought.

 

[306maxi]

Think of those Russian driving vids but a lot tamer

 

[Aussie500nut]

My father (who has owned two Fiats) was originally trying to talk me out of buying own because of their previous bad rep from back in the day, reckons they must have transported them upside-down or something on the boat coming over because they always had problems and rusted in really bizzare spots. Driving it from Poland would certainly cut out the chance of poor shipping too

Your father sounds about my vintage
Had my first Fiat in early '70s than restored a Bambino about '85 - that's my Avatar
We used to joke about the iron termite problem
It was even suggested that "fiat" translated from Italian into English was "rust"
Happily they are a lot better now - well I hope they are since we bought a TwinAir Plus

 

[44sunsets]

Hi,
I'm a long time European car admirer/owner, (soon to be) first time Fiat owner in Sydney.

Welcome to the club!

I still have yet to encounter another 500 on the road here in Sydney -- though I have seen one or two parked at station car parks during my morning train commute

Even at the service centre for my 1-month courtesy service -- I only saw 2 other 500s there. It's a joint Hyundai/FIAT/Alfa Romeo service centre and the vast majority of the punters there had soulless Hyundais

 

[bgunn]

Tbh I wouldn't be hugely keen on driving in Poland, they drive like maniacs and make the Italians look safe/patient/normal

I'm half Polish, you've got no sense of adventure! It'd be fine. It's the conditions of the roads themselves you'd have to worry about - until you got onto the Autostrada (which tend to be a lot better as EU funding has sponsored a lot of road building programmes)..

 

[Puggle]

Welcome to the club!

I still have yet to encounter another 500 on the road here in Sydney -- though I have seen one or two parked at station car parks during my morning train commute

Even at the service centre for my 1-month courtesy service -- I only saw 2 other 500s there. It's a joint Hyundai/FIAT/Alfa Romeo service centre and the vast majority of the punters there had soulless Hyundais

So, I gotta ask where did you buy your 500 from? I'm still trying to figure out who's the least worst out of all the awesome choice of dealers here in Sydney :bang: You'd think they'd WANT to get a sale but it appears they don't know how.

 

[yosachan]

Think of those Russian driving vids but a lot tamer

i watched those on youtube, they drive crazy in russia, i mean so many accidents there... :bang:

 

[306maxi]

I'm half Polish, you've got no sense of adventure! It'd be fine. It's the conditions of the roads themselves you'd have to worry about - until you got onto the Autostrada (which tend to be a lot better as EU funding has sponsored a lot of road building programmes)..

Come over here.... half stealing all of their jobs!

P.S I'm Australian so I completely steal jobs

 

[bgunn]

Come over here.... half stealing all of their jobs!

P.S I'm Australian so I completely steal jobs

I can tell you about a really funny argument I had with an Irish builder who was leafleting/plying for trade around the inlaws. Started on a tirade about Polish and other eastern Europeans working for nothing and stealing all of their building jobs.

After listening for around 10 minutes, I injected the fact I have Polish roots into the conversation, and that he ought to at least know what he's talking about, given that anecdotally, the Irish were effectively doing the same in the 60s and 70s (i.e. undercutting locals in order to secure work). To see a very loud mouthed person shut up and mumble to themselves is always a funny thing.

 

[306maxi]

I can tell you about a really funny argument I had with an Irish builder who was leafleting/plying for trade around the inlaws. Started on a tirade about Polish and other eastern Europeans working for nothing and stealing all of their building jobs.

After listening for around 10 minutes, I injected the fact I have Polish roots into the conversation, and that he ought to at least know what he's talking about, given that anecdotally, the Irish were effectively doing the same in the 60s and 70s (i.e. undercutting locals in order to secure work). To see a very loud mouthed person shut up and mumble to themselves is always a funny thing.

When I moved here in 2006 and started my first job, I would quite often overhear people saying that sort of thing, eye contact would be made and then "oh, I don't mean you Daniel! You're OK!" which was presumably because English is my first language and I come from a country which is quite British.

 

[44sunsets]

So, I gotta ask where did you buy your 500 from? I'm still trying to figure out who's the least worst out of all the awesome choice of dealers here in Sydney :bang: You'd think they'd WANT to get a sale but it appears they don't know how.

I got mine from a certain well-known dealer north of the CBD... they're supposed to have the best reputation for FIAT/Alfa-Romeo but my experience was very different. I won't go into the details but suffice it to say, a very heated argument was had between me and the salesman before the manager stepped in and we came to an agreement.

In reality, I can't say I've ever come across a good dealership. They all seem to be weasels in some form or another.