500 Hi from Oz

[Ceecil]

Hi All

After exploring the forum over the last few days I decided I should join even though I don't actually own a Fiat. However, my daughter bought her first car, a 500 1.2 Duologic a few weeks back, so I guess I'm joining on her behalf. She loves the car but has little interest in the technical side of things which is probably fairly typical of a teenage girl.

Here in Australia there isn't a huge number of 500s or Fiats in general for that matter and there doesn't seem to be a local Fiat forum so this looks a good place to gain some knowledge.

Cheers

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Hi All

After exploring the forum over the last few days I decided I should join even though I don't actually own a Fiat. However, my daughter bought her first car, a 500 1.2 Duologic a few weeks back, so I guess I'm joining on her behalf. She loves the car but has little interest in the technical side of things which is probably fairly typical of a teenage girl.

Here in Australia there isn't a huge number of 500s or Fiats in general for that matter and there doesn't seem to be a local Fiat forum so this looks a good place to gain some knowledge.

Cheers

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

One of the charms of the 500 is the fact they aren't too common, at least in my view. The numbers went up a bit in 2013 when the price was dropped but it's back up around where it used to be now and you see them less frequently. The local dealers prefer to aim it a bit up-market and price it to match.

There is, or was, an Australian owner's thread but it hasn't seen the light of day for at least a couple of years.

Your daughter is obviously a discerning individual to choose something a bit 'different'. I'm often asked if I'm driving my daughter's car because it seems to be assumed to be a 'girls' car.

If your daughter's 500 is a bit older you might want to check the wiring from the body to the hatch for wear, breakage etc - a frequent source of problems. It's covered pretty thoroughly in a number of threads.

 

[Ceecil]

Hi, and welcome to the forum.

One of the charms of the 500 is the fact they aren't too common, at least in my view. The numbers went up a bit in 2013 when the price was dropped but it's back up around where it used to be now and you see them less frequently. The local dealers prefer to aim it a bit up-market and price it to match.

There is, or was, an Australian owner's thread but it hasn't seen the light of day for at least a couple of years.

Your daughter is obviously a discerning individual to choose something a bit 'different'. I'm often asked if I'm driving my daughter's car because it seems to be assumed to be a 'girls' car.

If your daughter's 500 is a bit older you might want to check the wiring from the body to the hatch for wear, breakage etc - a frequent source of problems. It's covered pretty thoroughly in a number of threads.

Thank you for the welcome.

I think the 500 is becoming more popular here amongst teenage girls. Well, at least amongst my daughter's friends, who seem to be into what they call 'retro' cars. She has a couple of friends with 500s and another with a 'New Beetle'.

Even though my daughter's car is a 2014 model it has only done 28,000 kms so everything seems to be in pretty good shape, although I think it might have the infamous Euro 6 flat spot as sometimes from stationary it hesitates quite badly before moving off and doesn't really accelerate normally until the revs have reached 2500 - 3000.

I'm going to have to get the ECU checked to see whether it needs updating. I imagine I'll be ripped off as I'll have to go to a dealer for that.

 

[Piccolo Nero e Bella]

Thank you for the welcome.

I think the 500 is becoming more popular here amongst teenage girls. Well, at least amongst my daughter's friends, who seem to be into what they call 'retro' cars. She has a couple of friends with 500s and another with a 'New Beetle'.

Even though my daughter's car is a 2014 model it has only done 28,000 kms so everything seems to be in pretty good shape, although I think it might have the infamous Euro 6 flat spot as sometimes from stationary it hesitates quite badly before moving off and doesn't really accelerate normally until the revs have reached 2500 - 3000.

I'm going to have to get the ECU checked to see whether it needs updating. I imagine I'll be ripped off as I'll have to go to a dealer for that.

I love the 'retro' look and I think the 500 is the best example of doing it right. The Beetle missed the mark and the MINI is a bit overdone.

I'm none too enchanted with the dealers myself. The one from whom I bought the car claimed to deal in 'prestige' cars and charged like it ($1000 for a service...) but sometimes you have no choice.

Ours are both 2013, my wife's being a 1200 Dualogic Pop which has just passed 30,000km without any issues at all, so we haven't experienced the Euro6 problems. I don't rmember whether there was a recall related to it in this country.

 

[Ceecil]

$1000 for a service! Ouch! That's why I'm not looking forward to going to a dealer.

No, there never was a recall over the Euro 6 issue in Australia, or anywhere else as far as I know.

Fiat Chrysler denied there was a problem for quite a long time and in the process frustrated a lot of owners. They eventually updatec ECUs as cars were brought in for servicing. Of course the problem with that was cars missed out on the update if they weren't serviced by Fiat dealers.

It appears my daughter's car only had its first service carried out by the dealer, which unfortunately was a few months before the update was issued.

 

[Mrchocolate]

Hi mate, ive owned a 2012 Twinair plus for two years this far, got a bargain online, expected to need a big service to fix some niggling issues as expected buying a used car privately, but alas, its been running perfect, the previous owners had it serviced religiously, never had an issue in the two years I've owned it (touch wood), great car, really zippy, so easy to drive.

I just get it serviced at my local mechanic, had all my cars serviced there and never had an issue, he even loves the car, the shock he had when he only saw 2 cylinders

 

[Ceecil]

Hi Mrchocolate,

Yes, the TA sounds interesting and they seem to be quite inexpensive. I imagine a lot of people would be put off by only having 2 cylinders, so the demand would be limited.

I am liking my daughter's 1.2 more and more. It really is a fun drive. The only thing it needs is a bit more grunt, particularly at low revs.

Perhaps an Abarth next time.