Opinions please on this Fiat 500's brown leather interior

[AC43]

As I've posted before ,my wife is after a metallic dark grey or darl blue 1.2 Lounge. 2015, 16 or 17.

A mate of ours has a grey one with black leather & black steering wheel and it's a really nice place to sit.

This one has dark brown leather and a cream steering wheel. It's at the other end of the country (and overpriced, yes I know) but me and the Mrs are trying to work out whether this is either

(a) Italian interior styling genius or
(b) whether it looks like the seats and door cards have come from one car and the dash from a completely different one.

Thoughts? Has anyone seen one with this interior?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009183...

[AC43]

Roboticarm said:

It looks fine to me, they don't seem to restrict the options in terms of wheel matching interior.

For example this one: https://www.motors.co.uk/car-57636902/?i=0&m=s...

You could basically add red, black or brown leather to models
The pads on the doors should match the seats and you can just about see that it does in one of the pics.

We've a 2012 500 bought new with various options and a pre reg 2019 abarth and also did have a brand new 2014 abarth and spent a long time reviewing the options.

Thanks. Yes the seats & door cards tie in nicely. And I think they'll work ok with the cream bits on the dash.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

As I've posted before ,my wife is after a metallic dark grey or darl blue 1.2 Lounge. 2015, 16 or 17.

A mate of ours has a grey one with black leather & black steering wheel and it's a really nice place to sit.

This one has dark brown leather and a cream steering wheel. It's at the other end of the country (and overpriced, yes I know) but me and the Mrs are trying to work out whether this is either

(a) Italian interior styling genius or
(b) whether it looks like the seats and door cards have come from one car and the dash from a completely different one.

Thoughts? Has anyone seen one with this interior?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009183...

Your link doesn't work. But if it's charcoal seats, black door cards and cream dash it doesn't seem uncommon. Not my taste necessarily, but not uncommon.

Superb cars though. We have a 2017 Lounge as a runabout and it's excellent. It's not possible to be unhappy driving it and the stereo is surprisingly good.

They took the link down when my order was accepted. The car's blue. The seats and front arm rests are a dark tan. Door cards black I think. The flashes on the seats are cream-ish which will help tie them in with the cream bits on the dash.

It's my wife inisting on the cream dash bits and it's her car so she gets the final shout. Personally, I'd have had black seats & steering wheel. On the dark blue it all ties together nicely.

I know what you mean about 500's making you smile. The first time I sat in one I just wanted one. All the other super minis may be objectively better but they're a bit drab and same-y inside.

[AC43]

Pericoloso said:

I like those seats colour ,makes a change from black but how long will that steering wheel stay clean and creamy colour ?

Thanks. And not long. That'll be my job then :-)

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

As I've posted before ,my wife is after a metallic dark grey or darl blue 1.2 Lounge. 2015, 16 or 17.

A mate of ours has a grey one with black leather & black steering wheel and it's a really nice place to sit.

This one has dark brown leather and a cream steering wheel. It's at the other end of the country (and overpriced, yes I know) but me and the Mrs are trying to work out whether this is either

(a) Italian interior styling genius or
(b) whether it looks like the seats and door cards have come from one car and the dash from a completely different one.

Thoughts? Has anyone seen one with this interior?

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/car-details/202009183...

Your link doesn't work. But if it's charcoal seats, black door cards and cream dash it doesn't seem uncommon. Not my taste necessarily, but not uncommon.

Superb cars though. We have a 2017 Lounge as a runabout and it's excellent. It's not possible to be unhappy driving it and the stereo is surprisingly good.

They took the link down when my order was accepted. The car's blue. The seats and front arm rests are a dark tan. Door cards black I think. The flashes on the seats are cream-ish which will help tie them in with the cream bits on the dash.

It's my wife inisting on the cream dash bits and it's her car so she gets the final shout. Personally, I'd have had black seats & steering wheel. On the dark blue it all ties together nicely.

I know what you mean about 500's making you smile. The first time I sat in one I just wanted one. All the other super minis may be objectively better but they're a bit drab and same-y inside.

I have never SEEN one like that, but it doesn't mean that it is not right.

She'll love it. She might even let you help choose its name....

Fingers crossed it looks good.

Re the naming thing it has started already.

LOL.

[AC43]

So it's been serviced & cleaned and it's had a machine polish.

It turns out that, as well as the electric sunroof, it's also got DAB - another nice surprise.

Annoyingly, though, it's still in Huddersfield! The sales staff are super-friendly and want to help but are getting radio silence from the people in the delivery side of things. Really frustrating. All I want to do is to book a slot to pick it up. Surely they'll be able to get it to Milton Keynes by next weekend.

I know it's a first-world problem but been left dangling is driving me slightly nuts.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

So it's been serviced & cleaned and it's had a machine polish.

It turns out that, as well as the electric sunroof, it's also got DAB - another nice surprise.

Annoyingly, though, it's still in Huddersfield! The sales staff are super-friendly and want to help but are getting radio silence from the people in the delivery side of things. Really frustrating. All I want to do is to book a slot to pick it up. Surely they'll be able to get it to Milton Keynes by next weekend.

I know it's a first-world problem but been left dangling is driving me slightly nuts.

The DAB is good. In fact the whole infotainment is pretty good for a car costing buttons. It is better than some of the other far pricier cars we have.

That's good to hear.

I must admit I was pretty appalled at the equivalent Fiesta's system when I tried one of them. It had a tiny little red on black LCD display buried deep in the dash. Horribly cheap-looking and very limited. It really put me off TBH.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

For example, it is currently the only car we have that will read my text messages properly. We don't bother with the car's inbuilt "speech to digits" for dialling numbers, which can be a bit retarded, we use Siri.

I struggle to fault the car really. It handles a bit skittishly with two people in it. With four it can corner faster than it should. Also we've got some rust on the window frames after 3 years, but it's being sorted under warranty. Value for money wise it's our best car.

I'm not sure how much of the more advanced info tech I'm actually going to get compared to the later ones like yours. The build date on mine is late Aug 2015. I think I might have missed the cut for Uconnect Live for examlple.

Even so, I still like the set up.

[AC43]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks VK. My little fleet is complete. Both blue, both with lots of toys, both with "500" in the name. But occupying opposite ends of the spectrum.

[AC43]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

My wife had a Clio previously and both of us liked using it for the urban thing.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Yes, I like the facelift. As soon as I'd sat in one/driven it that was that.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Thanks. Hope so. The light fabric does look good but light-coloured leather (like that in my Merc) would have been better.

anonymous said:

[redacted]

It's obviously not as revolutionary as the Mini but it's certainly a great bit of industrial design. Hugely popular where I live.

[AC43]

Aaargh. 10 days into the "7 to 10 day" delivery window and it hasn't been picked up from the supplying dealer.

Oh. So when WILL it get picked up? "We don't know."

FFS.......

[AC43]

mikeswagon said:

The seats look the same main colour as my daughters Vintage 57. She loves the colours, and I'm pleased to report the seats and steering wheel seem to be staying reasonably clean.

Excellent, thanks for sharing.

Meanwhile, it's looking more likely by the minute that I'll be booking a day off this week to go and get the car myself.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Excellent, thanks for sharing.

Meanwhile, it's looking more likely by the minute that I'll be booking a day off this week to go and get the car myself.

You could always hire a delivery firm. That is how ours arrived.

Yes, been looking into that too. There's one lot that could bring it down on Thursday. More expensive but more convenient.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Excellent, thanks for sharing.

Meanwhile, it's looking more likely by the minute that I'll be booking a day off this week to go and get the car myself.

You could always hire a delivery firm. That is how ours arrived.

They can't use 3rd party transport, unfortunately so day off it is; 2 hours to Wakefield, station pick up, hand over, 3 hour drive back.

Could be worse.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Yes, been looking into that too. There's one lot that could bring it down on Thursday. More expensive but more convenient.

We paid £160 from somewhere in Norfolk to Nottingham.

I was quoted a little more for Huddersfield to Milton Keynes (one branch of the dealer to another).

But it's not mine until I actually pay for it and they didn't want a 3rd party shunting their stock around.

It's no biggie as I was going to have to take a half-day off anyway to get it back from MK. And I've got two weeks to use up between now and the end of the year and no plans.

So (a) I get a day off to play cars and (b) I don't use up a chunk of my weekend. And (c) I get my hands on my new car my wife's new car.

[AC43]

Had a great drive home yesterday. I spent a bit of time at the dealer working out the infotainment then set off from Huddersfield for the 20 mile or so cross country run to the M1 (J37?).

First impreseeions were great. I had Talksport crystal clear on DAB plus directions from the (very good) built-in TomTom. I was also getting loads of what I now know to be speed camera warnings but was still getting to grips with the car and hope I didn't get nicked in one of the villages (I was staring at the instruments trying to work out why the car was beeping at me, not looking out for the forwarding-facing Yorkshire cameras....).

The lack of power was only noticeable of one or two of the steeper back roads and the hilariously slow way it tackled the slip road onto the motorway but after that it was just fine. It'll cruise all day long at motorway speeds. More to the point I found it incredibly comfortable and planted - I was expecting it to be bouncing around all over the place - quite the opposite.

I did another 20 miles or so then pulled over for something to eat just south of Sheffield. Read the manual a bit more to see if I'd missed anything then resumed the rest of the three-hour drive home.

Got out fresh as you like, showed it to my delighted wife who immediately jumped in and drove us to Queen's Park where one of her best mates lives. I was turfed out and they went off for a spin. 10 minutes later various mums and daughter were cooing over it metallic teal blue paint and funky brown leather. It was a massive hit - LOL.

Much to my surprise, though, I really really enjoyed driving it. After reading all the road tests I was really expecting it to be far more compromised than it actually is. It's a great little package with a fantastic interior and some really cool tech. It's a great city car, it's the cheapest car I've ever insured and taxed and it's by far the most economical. AND, surprise, it can do big distances with ease.

Thanks all who gave me advice and helped me narrow the search down. I'm very happy with it.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Had a great drive home yesterday. I spent a bit of time at the dealer working out the infotainment then set off from Huddersfield for the 20 mile or so cross country run to the M1 (J37?).

First impreseeions were great. I had Talksport crystal clear on DAB plus directions from the (very good) built-in TomTom. I was also getting loads of what I now know to be speed camera warnings but was still getting to grips with the car and hope I didn't get nicked in one of the villages (I was staring at the instruments trying to work out why the car was beeping at me, not looking out for the forwarding-facing Yorkshire cameras....).

The lack of power was only noticeable of one or two of the steeper back roads and the hilariously slow way it tackled the slip road onto the motorway but after that it was just fine. It'll cruise all day long at motorway speeds. More to the point I found it incredibly comfortable and planted - I was expecting it to be bouncing around all over the place - quite the opposite.

I did another 20 miles or so then pulled over for something to eat just south of Sheffield. Read the manual a bit more to see if I'd missed anything then resumed the rest of the three-hour drive home.

Got out fresh as you like, showed it to my delighted wife who immediately jumped in and drove us to Queen's Park where one of her best mates lives. I was turfed out and they went off for a spin. 10 minutes later various mums and daughter were cooing over it metallic teal blue paint and funky brown leather. It was a massive hit - LOL.

Much to my surprise, though, I really really enjoyed driving it. After reading all the road tests I was really expecting it to be far more compromised than it actually is. It's a great little package with a fantastic interior and some really cool tech. It's a great city car, it's the cheapest car I've ever insured and taxed and it's by far the most economical. AND, surprise, it can do big distances with ease.

It's a hit.

Built in Tom Tom you say? We don't have that. Is it after-market?

With regard to performance, you need to forget all about the little shift arrow on the screen. And the fuel gauge. They will go quite well if you rev them out. Drive it like you're Italian.

There was a Nav upgrade option on the price list which gave you TomTom & DAB. In the 5 inch screen thingy.

Yes, it's happy being driven Italian-style. The engine feels unburstable. But in the city all you need is 2,000rpm to 2,500. That's enough to keep up with the flow.

[AC43]

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Louis Balfour said:

AC43 said:

Had a great drive home yesterday. I spent a bit of time at the dealer working out the infotainment then set off from Huddersfield for the 20 mile or so cross country run to the M1 (J37?).

First impreseeions were great. I had Talksport crystal clear on DAB plus directions from the (very good) built-in TomTom. I was also getting loads of what I now know to be speed camera warnings but was still getting to grips with the car and hope I didn't get nicked in one of the villages (I was staring at the instruments trying to work out why the car was beeping at me, not looking out for the forwarding-facing Yorkshire cameras....).

The lack of power was only noticeable of one or two of the steeper back roads and the hilariously slow way it tackled the slip road onto the motorway but after that it was just fine. It'll cruise all day long at motorway speeds. More to the point I found it incredibly comfortable and planted - I was expecting it to be bouncing around all over the place - quite the opposite.

I did another 20 miles or so then pulled over for something to eat just south of Sheffield. Read the manual a bit more to see if I'd missed anything then resumed the rest of the three-hour drive home.

Got out fresh as you like, showed it to my delighted wife who immediately jumped in and drove us to Queen's Park where one of her best mates lives. I was turfed out and they went off for a spin. 10 minutes later various mums and daughter were cooing over it metallic teal blue paint and funky brown leather. It was a massive hit - LOL.

Much to my surprise, though, I really really enjoyed driving it. After reading all the road tests I was really expecting it to be far more compromised than it actually is. It's a great little package with a fantastic interior and some really cool tech. It's a great city car, it's the cheapest car I've ever insured and taxed and it's by far the most economical. AND, surprise, it can do big distances with ease.

It's a hit.

Built in Tom Tom you say? We don't have that. Is it after-market?

With regard to performance, you need to forget all about the little shift arrow on the screen. And the fuel gauge. They will go quite well if you rev them out. Drive it like you're Italian.

There was a Nav upgrade option on the price list which gave you TomTom & DAB. In the 5 inch screen thingy.

Yes, it's happy being driven Italian-style. The engine feels unburstable. But in the city all you need is 2,000rpm to 2,500. That's enough to keep up with the flow.

Ah, we have the "DAB as standard" offering. No Nav.

I found, when I first started driving the 500 in the city, that other drivers were somewhat discourteous towards me. So now I make sure that the 500 is the fastest moving vehicle in the immediate area!

Out of interest what age is yours? Mine was registered in Oct 2015.

Re city driving, it's great fun.

My other car is 5.5 E Class and I love the contrast. The 500 beats it hands down in town. I'm also amazed how good it was tackling 37 junctions of the M1 yesterday - wasn't expecting that.

For such a diminutive car it's a surpisingly-good all-rounder.

[AC43]

Roboticarm said:

Louis Balfour said:

Built in Tom Tom you say? We don't have that. Is it after-market?

With regard to performance, you need to forget all about the little shift arrow on the screen. And the fuel gauge. They will go quite well if you rev them out. Drive it like you're Italian.

Yup, I thought the wife's was a little slow, then I started to drive it hard revving it out and its pretty nippy, feels solid even when you push it hard

It certainly feels WAY more solid than the wife's old Clio which was 20 years old and probably had the rigidity of a crisp bag in comparison. Plus all the bushes, drop links and ball joints were pretty baggy on that one as I'd stopped doing all but the most important stuff to it towards the end.

[AC43]

This car is full of Easter eggs.

The salesman called today to check that everything was OK and I was able to get some more data on the infotainment.

Basically, he reckons that the TomTom in that car is live by default - ie it doesn't need a subscription or anything. That's brilliant. The system in my (2010) Merc is rubbish in comparison so I end up using Google Maps or Waze on my phone instead.

Secondly, I've started exploring Uconnect Live. I've set up my Uconnect account, Deezer account & TuneIn account and have linked them up.

Fingers crossed I can now add streaming music and podcasts to the already excellent DAB radio.

It's great to finally have a car that's set up for this generation of tech.

I think it's too early for Android Auto but this would be a very good second best.

ETA; it's got Android Auto!!!!

This makes me VERY happy :-)

Edited by AC43 on Friday 9th October 18:53