RE: Fiat 500 Abarth: PH Used Buying Guide

RE: Fiat 500 Abarth: PH Used Buying Guide

Author
Discussion

Bungleaio

6,330 posts

202 months

Tuesday 16th October 2018
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Cruise can be fitted if required but not by fiat. Its something I'm looking ar adding to mine.

plenty

4,685 posts

186 months

Tuesday 16th October 2018
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Can the pedals be adjusted or a pedal box installed on one of these? Hired a 595 in Scotland for three days and 900 miles last month and it was so much fun, but I just couldn’t get along with how skewed the pedals were for my (extremely short) legs.

CooperS

4,503 posts

219 months

Wednesday 17th October 2018
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RLE said:
Yes fairly normal in my experience.
Same problem when I was looking for ours. In the end accepted some scuffing with a view of sorting down the line. Four years later still not got around to doing it.
For reference mine was an 09 plate with only 24000 miles. Certainly not got any worse to the point you would argue wear and tear on a nine year old car now but I was surprised by the condition of some. Maybe a job for this winter.......
..
I think it's because for many even the non racing buckets are a bit sporty (read narrow) so if you aren't careful can scuff over time.

Tbh if it becomes a problem there are plenty of good quality leather die repair kits.

Brandonflowers123

243 posts

93 months

Wednesday 17th October 2018
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DamnKraut said:
What seems to be missing a bit in the guide is anything on long term quality/ longevity, especially of the interior - something I’d expect Fiats to be especially poor at and something I recall mentioned in one of Doug Demuro’s videos featuring a 500 Abarth.
Never liked his videos.

My Abarth - 6 years old and 45k miles.

Wheel bearing needed replacing. DRL bulbs don't last very long. Brake pads wear out quick with TCC on. Car is low and suspension is stiff as with any sports car. So going over bumps too fast will damage ball joints but that's a cheap fix.

But other than that, never missed a beat. Always starts every morning.

It's a cast iron engine. It's solid. There are some crazy tunes running 250bhp. So my car at 135bhp it is not a stressed engine.

If you do a quick google, you'll find there isn't one review where engine has failed.

Do a google of ford ecoboost and you'll find a lot of angry owners.

ecsrobin

17,117 posts

165 months

Wednesday 17th October 2018
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Brandonflowers123 said:
DamnKraut said:
What seems to be missing a bit in the guide is anything on long term quality/ longevity, especially of the interior - something I’d expect Fiats to be especially poor at and something I recall mentioned in one of Doug Demuro’s videos featuring a 500 Abarth.
Never liked his videos.

My Abarth - 6 years old and 45k miles.

Wheel bearing needed replacing. DRL bulbs don't last very long. Brake pads wear out quick with TCC on. Car is low and suspension is stiff as with any sports car. So going over bumps too fast will damage ball joints but that's a cheap fix.

But other than that, never missed a beat. Always starts every morning.

It's a cast iron engine. It's solid. There are some crazy tunes running 250bhp. So my car at 135bhp it is not a stressed engine.

If you do a quick google, you'll find there isn't one review where engine has failed.

Do a google of ford ecoboost and you'll find a lot of angry owners.
Here’s a build video of a 310bhp 500/595 https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Hatmu-qG3Kc&feat... I’m not a great fan of these videos but shows that these small 1.4’s are pretty strong.

egor110

16,860 posts

203 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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I was looking at leasing one of these but a local garage has just thrown a curve ball.

They've got a 2010 abarth the small 135 bhp engine , 79k up for sale for £5570

This garage sell loads of cars in this area , they do there own warranty work even if you get extended cover and in there generally well thought in the locality .

Would i be mad to spend around 7k leasing one for 3 years when i can just pop a mile up the road and buy this one ?

pb8g09

2,334 posts

69 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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What's the full deal on the lease?

Daniel1

2,931 posts

198 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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egor110 said:
I was looking at leasing one of these but a local garage has just thrown a curve ball.

They've got a 2010 abarth the small 135 bhp engine , 79k up for sale for £5570

This garage sell loads of cars in this area , they do there own warranty work even if you get extended cover and in there generally well thought in the locality .

Would i be mad to spend around 7k leasing one for 3 years when i can just pop a mile up the road and buy this one ?
lease the new one. It has a better interior/infotainment plus warranty.

EDIT: unless you plan on modifying it to a less subtle degree

egor110

16,860 posts

203 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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pb8g09 said:
What's the full deal on the lease?
it's for a dual colour red/white

£1008.65 deposit

£168.11 x 35

total cost for 3 years £ 6892

they can also do a turismo in circuit grey for £7726

£179 x 35 plus £1437 deposit

pb8g09

2,334 posts

69 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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egor110 said:
it's for a dual colour red/white

£1008.65 deposit

£168.11 x 35

total cost for 3 years £ 6892

they can also do a turismo in circuit grey for £7726

£179 x 35 plus £1437 deposit
Someone at my work has the latter one of those, and I must say it looks awesome.

egor110

16,860 posts

203 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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pb8g09 said:
egor110 said:
it's for a dual colour red/white

£1008.65 deposit

£168.11 x 35

total cost for 3 years £ 6892

they can also do a turismo in circuit grey for £7726

£179 x 35 plus £1437 deposit
Someone at my work has the latter one of those, and I must say it looks awesome.
I get the point that the lease deal won't need mot'ing etc but i'm so tempted to go and just buy the local one .

It's got the old style stereo but 90% of the time it'll be bombing around b roads or doing a 5 mile commute , it'll probably only see a motorway 3 times a year.

plenty

4,685 posts

186 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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You’ll lose maybe 2k when you sell that car on in 3 years. Possibly less.

Versus 7k for a lease for essentially the same car minus the touchscreen...seems like a no-brainer to me. 5k buys a lot of repairs.

pb8g09

2,334 posts

69 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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plenty said:
You’ll lose maybe 2k when you sell that car on in 3 years. Possibly less.

Versus 7k for a lease for essentially the same car minus the touchscreen...seems like a no-brainer to me. 5k buys a lot of repairs.
Whilst I'd argue you'll probably get closer to losing £3k when you shift it on with nearly 100k miles on the clock rather than £2k, I'd still agree with this.

You're buying the car to drive, not to be able to listen to Radio 1Xtra in any part of the UK.

geeks

9,178 posts

139 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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pb8g09 said:
plenty said:
You’ll lose maybe 2k when you sell that car on in 3 years. Possibly less.

Versus 7k for a lease for essentially the same car minus the touchscreen...seems like a no-brainer to me. 5k buys a lot of repairs.
Whilst I'd argue you'll probably get closer to losing £3k when you shift it on with nearly 100k miles on the clock rather than £2k, I'd still agree with this.

You're buying the car to drive, not to be able to listen to Radio 1Xtra in any part of the UK.
As a guy with the new 595 I can confirm the DAB fitted as standard to be quite gash! It finds Radio 1 and 2 fine just about anywhere, but if you want a different station, its pot luck to be honest. That said there was a firmware update recently that seems to have improved things a little.

RemyMartin81D

6,759 posts

205 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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A point to mention as well, despite being obvious is that the boot is fecking tiny. Seats down for almost anything bar bags of shopping.

ecsrobin

17,117 posts

165 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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RemyMartin81D said:
A point to mention as well, despite being obvious is that the boot is fecking tiny. Seats down for almost anything bar bags of shopping.
I’ve managed 2 Euro trips around a week with me and the mrs with flight case, large north face dry bag and camera backpack plus walking boots I don’t think it’s too bad and that’s coming from a civic which was best in class for boot space. IKEA runs have involved dropping the seats or taking the Volvo.

Daniel1

2,931 posts

198 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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Is still go for the new one. The other one is nearly 9 years old compared to hassle free motoring for 3 years. Horses for courses.

Pericoloso

44,044 posts

163 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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Hairymonster said:
Wasn't there a limited edition Ferrari version at about £55k?

I remember a photo of one with an exposed-linkage dog-ring gearbox which was about an extra £10k or something equally daft - apparently the gearbox needed a major overhaul every 10k miles!
Yes there was ,not sure about the gearbox stuff you mentioned though.

There was also a Maserati edition ,had no idea about it till I saw one for sale near me ,nice shade of purple ish and

Maserati esque wheel style.

CooperS

4,503 posts

219 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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Two separate cars.

The Ferrari was the top of the pile but you couldn't option the Dog Box. That only was with the Biposto which is the lightweight car they not related in the latest MK4 model.

Wife and I looked at a Ferrari edition very seriously for around 30k (Meridian Portsmouth). Very nice but we were put off the auto box at the time. 3 years on were I a 595 Comp Auto.... The only difference to my mind is that the Ferrari came with official leather luggage which was amazing but the old interior dates the car.

jamoor

14,506 posts

215 months

Friday 19th October 2018
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I drove the very latest models of one of these on a rental in PT.

Super stiff suspension, average dynamics, poor build quality.