General Too good to be true?

[crabman]

Hey guys,

I have started looking at Fiat 500s and have hit the issues of limited availability and few reductions. People just love this car too much!

So... I have been shopping around for a while, and was wondering what you guys thought of this deal...

It's a year old silver 1.3 lounge with black ambience and cloth interior (my ideal colours), ESP and 6500 miles on the clock. No damage, in presteen condition. Has been driven by a fiat sales person since manufacture.

I'd be paying £9,500... and the list price is £11,775. Over £2,000 off for under 7,000 miles on the clock seems too good to be true to me.

What do you think?

crabman

 

[Ffoxy]

Hey guys,

I have started looking at Fiat 500s and have hit the issues of limited availability and few reductions. People just love this car too much!

So... I have been shopping around for a while, and was wondering what you guys thought of this deal...

It's a year old silver 1.3 lounge with black ambience and cloth interior (my ideal colours), ESP and 6500 miles on the clock. No damage, in presteen condition. Has been driven by a fiat sales person since manufacture.

I'd be paying £9,500... and the list price is £11,775. Over £2,000 off for under 7,000 miles on the clock seems too good to be true to me.

What do you think?

crabman

Its a choice with risk that only you can make TBH.

That said, I have now had my MJet GPS for 2 1/2 years, it cost me £9,500 as a 6 month old sales-persons demo car. I plan to keep it, it hasnt been faultless but all issues have been minor and fixed under warranty. Looks and runs great, no regrets about the saving I made at all.

If you want that car go get it, it wont be around for long with current supply and demand, if you have any doubts leave it and walk away... simplezzzz.

 

[Mollie]

For a list price of £11775, this car must have more extras than metallic paint and ESP?

 

[Mollie]

Sorry, didn't realise it was diesel!

 

[Venters]

I think Mr Turtle will like it.

 

[nottsfiat07]

I think Mr Turtle will like it.

But what about Joy? She's the one u gotta convince. Oh snap!

 

[pearce_jj]

I think, like the early minis, the earlier 500s might work out a lot less expensive to keep than the books are suggesting.

 

[crabman]

Well, I've booked a test drive tomorrow.

Will let you know how it goes. I was also told that if I stayed on spec, I could have any colour etc built and delivered within 6 weeks... so will have to think about that as well.

I think my fiancee will want to keep this car until it's dead, which means she'll go one of two ways:

1) Dismiss the 7k as tiny in comparison to the life or the car and be happy with a 2k reduction.
2) Want the car to be hers through and through and order a factory car, thinking the saving over the life of the car is small per year.

I'd prefer the price reduction, but she wears the trousers in this relationship

I know there's always a bit more risk with a used car, but with only 7k on the clock, what things should I look for when inspecting the vehicle?

Oh, and what price would you pay for an on spec factory model? I wouldn't get ESP but it's likely she'd want a metallic paint. Is £10,500 doable? Or will £11,000 be the most I could expect?

First cars are so difficult!

Thanks,

crabby

 

[Mollie]

Lounge Diesel? List is £11,100 with no options. Best of luck if you think you'll get it for even £11,000!

 

[suzey]

Looking forward to hearing how you get on tommorrow

 

[STILO NEWBIE]

Driving by the sales-person? yea right, even it was, he/she will not treat the car as their own, as it isn't.
I took my Bravo in for service and guess what car I got for the day? 500 1.4 sport, nice~~~ did I thrash it? of course, and I'm sure most ppl will, (not all, but most will) car only done over 5k, not even run-in, do ppl care? i dont think so, so you need to be very careful buying those so-called ex damo, sales-person car etc, i will rather buy a private own second hand as it was belong to someone who actually paid for the car!!!

 

[pearce_jj]

should be pretty easy to check - tyre depth will give it away. Also check all four tyres have the same dot number.

 

[306maxi]

Well, I've booked a test drive tomorrow.

Will let you know how it goes. I was also told that if I stayed on spec, I could have any colour etc built and delivered within 6 weeks... so will have to think about that as well.

I think my fiancee will want to keep this car until it's dead, which means she'll go one of two ways:

1) Dismiss the 7k as tiny in comparison to the life or the car and be happy with a 2k reduction.
2) Want the car to be hers through and through and order a factory car, thinking the saving over the life of the car is small per year.

I'd prefer the price reduction, but she wears the trousers in this relationship

I know there's always a bit more risk with a used car, but with only 7k on the clock, what things should I look for when inspecting the vehicle?

Oh, and what price would you pay for an on spec factory model? I wouldn't get ESP but it's likely she'd want a metallic paint. Is £10,500 doable? Or will £11,000 be the most I could expect?

First cars are so difficult!

Thanks,

crabby

Before the scrappage was announced I managed to haggle a £300 discount out of my dealer. I wouldn't expect to get much more than this if anything from a dealer.....

 

[Venters]

Driving by the sales-person? yea right, even it was, he/she will not treat the car as their own, as it isn't.
I took my Bravo in for service and guess what car I got for the day? 500 1.4 sport, nice~~~ did I thrash it? of course, and I'm sure most ppl will, (not all, but most will) car only done over 5k, not even run-in, do ppl care? i dont think so, so you need to be very careful buying those so-called ex damo, sales-person car etc, i will rather buy a private own second hand as it was belong to someone who actually paid for the car!!!

Looks like I'm the mug then for looking after and even cleaning my own demos, nevermind getting them into the workshop within half a day if I thought was remotely wrong with it.

 

[STILO NEWBIE]

Looks like I'm the mug then for looking after and even cleaning my own demos, nevermind getting them into the workshop within half a day if I thought was remotely wrong with it.

Let us know if one of your demo is up for sale.

 

[306maxi]

Driving by the sales-person? yea right, even it was, he/she will not treat the car as their own, as it isn't.
I took my Bravo in for service and guess what car I got for the day? 500 1.4 sport, nice~~~ did I thrash it? of course, and I'm sure most ppl will, (not all, but most will) car only done over 5k, not even run-in, do ppl care? i dont think so, so you need to be very careful buying those so-called ex damo, sales-person car etc, i will rather buy a private own second hand as it was belong to someone who actually paid for the car!!!

Why would you thrash it? Why not treat it with respect so that the next person who uses it or the person who uses it 6 months down the line has a nicer car to drive rather than one that's been ragged? If I ever get a courtesy car I'll treat it nicely because the dealer is being courteous to me by providing a car for me to drive.

 

[Venters]

Let us know if one of your demo is up for sale.

Mines were no different to the other guys demos.

Seems to be a lot of BS about how dealer staff treat cars.
Still I'm a big believer in Karma so it's all good.

 

[STILO NEWBIE]

Why would you thrash it? Why not treat it with respect so that the next person who uses it or the person who uses it 6 months down the line has a nicer car to drive rather than one that's been ragged? If I ever get a courtesy car I'll treat it nicely because the dealer is being courteous to me by providing a car for me to drive.

Respect

 

[306maxi]

Respect

It just seems to me that it's a two way street. People complain about dealers being crap but then other people go and rag the demo/courtesy cars! If we treat them better then hopefully they'll treat us better.

 

[crabman]

Right, well... test drive went well. I liked the diesel. Then I drove the 1.2 that they had, and it wasn't very different at all.

Then the sales person apologised but the dealership had 8 weeks left on the car agreement so couldn't sell it.

And then I started to think about the cost between the diesel and the 1.2.

£1,400... it'd take more than 50,000 miles to recoup that with the fuel benefits!

So, now I am looking at making a new one from scratch. Will probably go for the stop start edition.

Fun, fun, fun!

crabman

PS: Anyone got the front fog lights? Wondering if they are worth it. And the side rubbing strips? They add a bit of style in my opinion.

OH! And if we aren't getting discounts, what about free extras, like mats and mud guards?