500X Hi from new 500X owner

[AnthonyH]

I'm just interested to find out as much as I can. I'm quite attracted to the idea of the Panda Mild Hybrid - read a few reviews and seen some you tube stuff all of which seems quite positive - but have reservations so the more I can find out the better.

I took a look myself, it is interesting. I believe a smaller panda is also going into production later, but don't know much about it.

I've read the AI generated.

I like the idea of self charging, being stuck on a motorway service station waiting for a car to charge isn't so appealing.

I'm not convinced the engine is under powered as described here.

 

[Milo500X]

This is a very informative read. And very much correct info for the original poster.

So this question to the original poster...have you seen the service history for this vehicle? If not it will be worth asking to see it and then posting it here for us to have a look at.

It does appear important that these vehicles have a regular oil change. Its equally important that the correct oil is used, sadly the service booklet probably won't tell you that, but should you decide to buy this vehicle you should be very careful and ensure the mechanic you use knows what that oil is.

It also appears that the original poster doesn't need the timing chain changed.

Yes I did see the service history and all services were present and stamped by Fiat garages. I must admit I couldn't have scrutinised them too thoroughly as I got myself in a mess when it came to the MOT mileage history. I'm sure had I thought more about it instead of panicking, it would have all added up. I think the fact that I'd looked at so many different cars some with wet bets some dry and some chains got me confused. I may have been smitten by this one and had rose tinted glasses on.
Anyway this thread has been very useful and helpful. My thanks to all contributors. The deal is back on again and I'm in the good books with my daughter again

 

[s130]

The deal is back on again and I'm in the good books with my daughter again

Big double win then.

Now you (family) and your daughter (family) go out to dinner to celebrate! Send the tab to the dealer

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

The deal is back on again and I'm in the good books with my daughter again

Please do let us know how it turns out?

 

[Milo500X]

Please do let us know how it turns out?

Well it all turned out great. My daughter loved it and her Italian Water dog (Lagotto Romangolo) totally approves with the posher Italian carriage. Her Panda has been a fantastic car for the last 6 years so hopefully this will be as reliable. Thanks for all help and comments during deliberations.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Well it all turned out great. My daughter loved it and her Italian Water dog (Lagotto Romangolo) totally approves with the posher Italian carriage. Her Panda has been a fantastic car for the last 6 years so hopefully this will be as reliable. Thanks for all help and comments during deliberations.

Great outcome! I wish her many happy miles of trouble free motoring. The dog is a dead ringer for my daughter's Labradoodle, although I think hers is slightly bigger. A lovely dog with a very gentle nature.

 

[rmjbn1]

Sorry, a bit off topic, but I thought it might be an idea to clarify a couple of points...

I'm quite attracted to the idea of the Panda Mild Hybrid

There's other "stuff" I'm looking into with the Firefly. It's a turboed engine and of quite small capacity

Jock, you're probably aware, but just clarifying that the car in this thread, 500X has a turbocharged 1.0 Firefly engine
Panda (and 2-door 500) Mild Hybrid have non-turbo version of this engine

I like the idea of self charging, being stuck on a motorway service station waiting for a car to charge isn't so appealing.

I'm not convinced the engine is under powered as described here.

The Mild Hybrid Panda & 500 are not hybrid EV's, they do not have an electric motor transmitting drive to the wheels.

What they have is a Belt Starter Generator (BSG) which takes the place of both starter motor and alternator.
It provides a small amount of assistance via auxiliary belt to the engine under acceleration.
It has its own 12V Li-ion battery conveniently mounted under the front passenger seat where a rear passenger would usually keep their feet.

As for under-powered, I guess that depends on what the driver needs from it. To me, it feels optimised for sitting in urban traffic. Out of town, I didn't hate it, but has very little torque, felt a bit gutless to me, needed working quite hard and thirstier than my old EURO4 1.2 60hp FIRE

Again, none of this applies to the OP's 500X in this thread. I hope they get on well with it

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Sorry, a bit off topic, but I thought it might be an idea to clarify a couple of points...



Jock, you're probably aware, but just clarifying that the car in this thread, 500X has a turbocharged 1.0 Firefly engine
Panda (and 2-door 500) Mild Hybrid have non-turbo version of this engine

The Mild Hybrid Panda & 500 are not hybrid EV's, they do not have an electric motor transmitting drive to the wheels.

What they have is a Belt Starter Generator (BSG) which takes the place of both starter motor and alternator.
It provides a small amount of assistance via auxiliary belt to the engine under acceleration.
It has its own 12V Li-ion battery conveniently mounted under the front passenger seat where a rear passenger would usually keep their feet.

As for under-powered, I guess that depends on what the driver needs from it. To me, it feels optimised for sitting in urban traffic. Out of town, I didn't hate it, but has very little torque, felt a bit gutless to me, needed working quite hard and thirstier than my old EURO4 1.2 60hp FIRE

Again, none of this applies to the OP's 500X in this thread. I hope they get on well with it

Thanks rmj. Some of that I did know, but by no means all. I'm really only jumping in and out of looking at the Firefly. I did know about the setup on the Panda/500 and it's the use of that BSG (thanks for that, didn't know that's what it's called) that I find interesting as it gets over a lot of the problems in using a conventional starter motor in a stop/start application. I believe it gives a nice wee boost accelerating away from a standstill, like pulling away from traffic lights, but the very small battery quickly runs out of "puff" leaving you with just the rather low powered IC engine from then until the battery is charged up again. That sounds like it will work well in an urban setting but be less than ideal out on the open road or motorway? I did know It's not what you would understand to be an EV - ie it has no electric traction motor/s - and, as such, I think it's very misleading to market it as any sort of EV even if they do call it a "mild hybrid" - the average man in the street is not going to understand what the relevance of that is.

The 500x I know pretty much nothing about at all so these comments in this thread are interesting me.

So far, regarding the Firefly engine, I'm thinking it's very complex compared to the simplicity we enjoy with the old FIRE engine. It's got a version of the hydraulic valve operating system we see in the Multi and Twin air and we all know there have been some very "interesting" posts from people who have problems with them. It's got a "long" timing chain - has to because it's OHcam - but chain and guide problems on OHC engines are littered all over the internet from many different engine makes - I prefer a "dry" belt myself - and, on some versions, you've got a turbo too! It's going to be very interesting watching to see how it pans out once there are a lot of them running around. On top of that you've got all the other stuff like a Direct Injection fuel system and all the other electronic control and monitoring systems common to modern cars - much of which is now very reliable, but costs when it goes wrong.

I'm with you in wishing our OP happy motoring with his and hope he'll be posting about his experiences to inform us.

 

[Dripsey]

Wondering did you buy this car in the end?
Did laugh at the dealer principal and servicing at fiat lols. So if the belt in our 2019 500x from the same dealership snapped, when its been serviced there from new 5 times (has 30K miles on it now), would the fact the cabin filter looks like it has never been changed invalidate the warranty (lols)!

I happened to check it randomly today and look at the state of what I found when compared to a new one . Also has a 2019 date on it so factory fitted.

 

[Pugglt Auld Jock]

Wondering did you buy this car in the end?
Did laugh at the dealer principal and servicing at fiat lols. So if the belt in our 2019 500x from the same dealership snapped, when its been serviced there from new 5 times (has 30K miles on it now), would the fact the cabin filter looks like it has never been changed invalidate the warranty (lols)!

I happened to check it randomly today and look at the state of what I found when compared to a new one . Also has a 2019 date on it so factory fitted.

On most cars the cabin filter is possibly the most neglected service item. I've seen them much worse than that. A lot of the blame lies at the door of the vehicle designers who seem to delight in making them as diabolically difficult to access as possible!