Off Topic A little 'thump' today on the pearlescent...

[RobinPJ]

So, reading between the lines, this could be a car which FIAT Ireland have put some track day safety mods in & 'loaned out' to various 'customers, friends & press' to 'have a bit of fun with' both on & off the track. Having finished with it, they've removed the track day mods & are selling it through their franchised dealer network without full disclosure of its history.... :nono:.

I've often wondered what happens to all those demonstrator cars we see being thrashed around the circuit on the motoring programmes .

Thanks for publishing your 'uncensored' pics as a warning to others .

Michael, the good news is that you could claim it may have been driven by Jeremy Clarkson.

The bad news is that it may have been driven by Jeremy Clarkson.

 

[jrkitching]

Thing is, what are you going to do now? Option 2 just gives you a less pretty example of the car you've recently sold, so you're essentially paying another 6k euros for a 5 year warranty. Having driven the SS, a 1.4 is just going to leave you feeling disappointed every time you push the pedal in anger.

How far will your budget stretch? I think an A500 would make a lot of sense for you - fun when you need it, practical for the rest of the time - and you'd at least be getting better value from the stupid euroecotaxes on anything above 140g/km in Ireland. But this is one car where known history and warranty is everything, and you can't get a better history/warranty than buying a new one. There just might be some better deals to be had in the financial wastelands of 2012, and you can always retrofit the SS kit later...

 

[arorat]

Thing is, what are you going to do now? Option 2 just gives you a less pretty example of the car you've recently sold, so you're essentially paying another 6k euros for a 5 year warranty. Having driven the SS, a 1.4 is just going to leave you feeling disappointed every time you push the pedal in anger.

How far will your budget stretch? I think an A500 would make a lot of sense for you - fun when you need it, practical for the rest of the time - and you'd at least be getting better value from the stupid euroecotaxes on anything above 140g/km in Ireland. But this is one car where known history and warranty is everything, and you can't get a better history/warranty than buying a new one. There just might be some better deals to be had in the financial wastelands of 2012, and you can always retrofit the SS kit later...

Wow, that summed this up nicely, could not agree more.

Michael, think of it this way A500 > 1.4 so more fun for a while and with your tetchy side you can look at doing the SS upgrade rather than just jumping into it and we know it's a challenge you like and long may you argue to the 9th degree with Maxi.

Go do the right thing

 

[loveshandbags]

Wow, that summed this up nicely, could not agree more.

Michael, think of it this way A500 > 1.4 so more fun for a while and with your tetchy side you can look at doing the SS upgrade rather than just jumping into it and we know it's a challenge you like and long may you argue to the 9th degree with Maxi.

Go do the right thing

What interested me about the car was that it was already esseessed. With a standard Abarth I would be tempted to stick a TMC piggy back chip into it and mess up the insurance cover. Having the little goodies of the lighter 17s, the 'proper' ECU, tyre pressure monitors and performance springs which would need the 'missing' Koni FSDs, the car would essentially be stock so I could tick the box of 'no mods'. Retrofitting a SS kit on a A500 after the 2 years up is not a 'dealer upgrade' and I would be getting into thin ice if its a mod or not. Getting a A500SS that has not being given a 'run for its money' secondhand is probably looking for the impossible.

 

[loveshandbags]

So, reading between the lines, this could be a car which FIAT Ireland have put some track day safety mods in & 'loaned out' to various 'customers, friends & press' to 'have a bit of fun with' both on & off the track. Having finished with it, they've removed the track day mods & are selling it through their franchised dealer network without full disclosure of its history.... :nono:.

I've often wondered what happens to all those demonstrator cars we see being thrashed around the circuit on the motoring programmes .

Thanks for publishing your 'uncensored' pics as a warning to others .

They sold a 'Fiat owned' 2010 A500c last week for €20K as a trade sale to one of their 'own' guys. I published a picture of it on the bi-colour thread. This was never advertised. It was the fact that I had spotted this and the fact that I had seen the car in the 'other' dealer that I was called an Anorak.
The Funk white that I just recently sold was a Fiat car. Left on display as a showcar for a number of months. Supposedly driven by 'a' member of staff. Bought by a Fiat rep for his daughter who traded the car in against an A1 in the Audi centre. That was where I bought it. This was a really genuine car and given how 'tight' the car was it had an easy life going to the 'church and back'.
The guy that I had dealt with when the car was advertised in October has a 'honest' reputation and I understood he gave the car back to Fiat. I was advised by a very reputable dealer in his area that was selling a Funk 500 white convertible that he would never sell it - 'who buy a car like that'. He discouraged me parting with the €9k cask + my own car stating that I would never sell it. The trade know what's going around. Judging by 'other threads' if a well healed individual bought it and discovered the history I reckon a lot of money would end up getting spend and it would not be on the car.
In hindsight I probably shouldn't have published the pictures and expect a slash from the 'fallout'.

 

[loveshandbags]

Wow, that summed this up nicely, could not agree more.

Michael, think of it this way A500 > 1.4 so more fun for a while and with your tetchy side you can look at doing the SS upgrade rather than just jumping into it and we know it's a challenge you like and long may you argue to the 9th degree with Maxi.

Go do the right thing

I reckon that Maxi is reading this and using your words saying WTF. I reckon he's 'tied up' at the moment and would expect his 'words of wisdom' shortly. At least he has done the smart thing and not published pictures of his car with his registration numbers on them so he can't be found out.

 

[306maxi]

I reckon that Maxi is reading this and using your words saying WTF. I reckon he's 'tied up' at the moment and would expect his 'words of wisdom' shortly. At least he has done the smart thing and not published pictures of his car with his registration numbers on them so he can't be found out.

I've been a bit busy recently. Had a job interview 2 weeks ago today for the job I'm currently temping in. Got told that I didn't get it on the Friday morning and was told that my last day would be 21/12 (today!), found out that afternoon through some gossip the guy who'd been offered it had turned it down. Was then asked on the Monday morning if I wanted to work till February as they were going to readvertise. Then a coupe of days ago I was asked if I wanted to go onto onto a contract with the college that I'm working in for 3 months as a sort of trial with a view to being permanent.

So my head has been all over the place for the last 2 weeks.

Then this morning we've had some power issues with the servers that caused them all to go down and then one wouldn't come up properly :bang:

All sorted now and though and I'm looking forward to having just under 2 weeks off

 

[306maxi]

So, reading between the lines, this could be a car which FIAT Ireland have put some track day safety mods in & 'loaned out' to various 'customers, friends & press' to 'have a bit of fun with' both on & off the track. Having finished with it, they've removed the track day mods & are selling it through their franchised dealer network without full disclosure of its history.... :nono:.

I've often wondered what happens to all those demonstrator cars we see being thrashed around the circuit on the motoring programmes .

Thanks for publishing your 'uncensored' pics as a warning to others .

I would agree with jrkitching.

A car like this will never have been treated with the sympathy that it deserves and may end up costing you a lot of money.

I think you need to weigh up the cost of what could go wrong and the extra wear, with the benefits. The potential risks with a turbo charged loaner are high IMHO. The clutch, gearbox, suspension, turbo and engine may have all been subject to abuse.

What are the issues with importing a car from the UK? I know obviously warranty is a problem, but if the worst happened you could always trailer the car over here. At least there is a warranty of sorts if the worst happens. You'd also have a much wider choice of cars and specifications.

 

[loveshandbags]

I would agree with jrkitching.

A car like this will never have been treated with the sympathy that it deserves and may end up costing you a lot of money.

I think you need to weigh up the cost of what could go wrong and the extra wear, with the benefits. The potential risks with a turbo charged loaner are high IMHO. The clutch, gearbox, suspension, turbo and engine may have all been subject to abuse.

What are the issues with importing a car from the UK? I know obviously warranty is a problem, but if the worst happened you could always trailer the car over here. At least there is a warranty of sorts if the worst happens. You'd also have a much wider choice of cars and specifications.

I would have a 2 year FIAT warranty on the car and it would be 'honoured' here providing it was serviced as per the manufacturer's schedule. All that I would lose is the 'dealer' bit but isn't up to much anyway. If it was an Abarth specific problem I could go up to Donnelly Bros up in N.I.

 

[Chrisilda]

No, no , no... please don't do that! Not any chance of importing or at least wait for a while?

 

[Chrisilda]

Michael you should check the James Blu thread

 

[306maxi]

I would have a 2 year FIAT warranty on the car and it would be 'honoured' here providing it was serviced as per the manufacturer's schedule. All that I would lose is the 'dealer' bit but isn't up to much anyway. If it was an Abarth specific problem I could go up to Donnelly Bros up in N.I.

Not too bad then

 

[Melanabb]

Michael, I completely understand the predicament you are in. When I was buying my car (ex-demo Punto Abarth 300m on the clock) there was esseessed version with 16K miles and £3K more dearer. I've never would have gone and bought that! The images of pimply boy racers ragging the poor thing on the 'test drives' was vivid in my mind. I went for the lower powered but pristine and minute mileage example sitting on the forecourt. But then, I HAD that choice... As you've rightly said, the possibility of finding a non-abused A500SS is almost non existant, especially where you live as the Abarths of any kind are very few and far between. In the end, you'll do what feels right for you and hopefully you'll be happy with the choice. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[306maxi]

Michael, I completely understand the predicament you are in. When I was buying my car (ex-demo Punto Abarth 300m on the clock) there was esseessed version with 16K miles and £3K more dearer. I've never would have gone and bought that! The images of pimply boy racers ragging the poor thing on the 'test drives' was vivid in my mind. I went for the lower powered but pristine and minute mileage example sitting on the forecourt. But then, I HAD that choice... As you've rightly said, the possibility of finding a non-abused A500SS is almost non existant, especially where you live as the Abarths of any kind are very few and far between. In the end, you'll do what feels right for you and hopefully you'll be happy with the choice. Good luck and keep us posted!

I think the difference was that yours was just a demo whereas the one Michael is looking at sounds like it was a press car or something that people just had a jolly in. If there's a warranty I guess there's no big deal Jrkitching joked about Clarkson having driven it, but I've heard a lot of nasty stuff about magazines and the way they treat press cars and personally I just wouldn't touch them.

 

[sixer]

Any concern or misgivings you have towards a car pre purchase will be greatly magnified once you have paid a whole pile of cash for it. The vehicle that you want is too expensive to take a punt/risk towards in my opinion - not that you asked me but this is a forum after all.

Buy a brand new twin air plus for the money - you know, the one that you said are wannabe Abarth ;-) on the Abarth side of the forum.

.....incidentally, WE are not wannabe Abarth....if we wanted one we would have bought one

Plain gut feeling should direct you, make the decision yourself whilst miles away from the car.

 

[Chrisilda]

There was an Abarth convertible press car of a greek magazine driving around my neighborhood. You don't wanna know what this guy was doing to this poor car!

 

[ahmett]

I think the difference was that yours was just a demo whereas the one Michael is looking at sounds like it was a press car or something that people just had a jolly in. If there's a warranty I guess there's no big deal Jrkitching joked about Clarkson having driven it, but I've heard a lot of nasty stuff about magazines and the way they treat press cars and personally I just wouldn't touch them.

Yeah but cant you just have a mechanic check teh fundamentals and give the all ok? I mean cars can go through a lot of bad things before destroying them and after destroying them the damage is obvious. Whats the worst that can happen? The clutch you can check out, the brakes and pads and tires you can check out the suspension you can check out and the engine you can check out. Even if you drive it hardcore the car doesnt let you overrev the engine and you can even have diagnostics to check it out!

Sure a used car isnt as good as a new car but no reason to get overcautious either. Michael, if you really like the car and they give a warranty i see no problem with it. You can always take it to a mechanic you trust and check it out to see if there are any obviosu problems with it.

 

[306maxi]

Yeah but cant you just have a mechanic check teh fundamentals and give the all ok? I mean cars can go through a lot of bad things before destroying them and after destroying them the damage is obvious. Whats the worst that can happen? The clutch you can check out, the brakes and pads and tires you can check out the suspension you can check out and the engine you can check out. Even if you drive it hardcore the car doesnt let you overrev the engine and you can even have diagnostics to check it out!

Sure a used car isnt as good as a new car but no reason to get overcautious either. Michael, if you really like the car and they give a warranty i see no problem with it. You can always take it to a mechanic you trust and check it out to see if there are any obviosu problems with it.

Not all problems are obvious though.......

 

[ahmett]

Not all problems are obvious though.......

You mean electronics? Thats what i can think of and if you are driving it and everything works i mean it cant all of a sudden collapse in one day, and even then warranty is the backup. If the cars 'control surfaces' (aeronautical term i know) all seem ok and handling seems fine and engine performance, i think all's good in the hood.

There is always a risk involved, but thats even the case in brand new cars.

 

[ahmett]

Any concern or misgivings you have towards a car pre purchase will be greatly magnified once you have paid a whole pile of cash for it. The vehicle that you want is too expensive to take a punt/risk towards in my opinion - not that you asked me but this is a forum after all.

Buy a brand new twin air plus for the money - you know, the one that you said are wannabe Abarth ;-) on the Abarth side of the forum.

.....incidentally, WE are not wannabe Abarth....if we wanted one we would have bought one

Plain gut feeling should direct you, make the decision yourself whilst miles away from the car.

Michael don't buy a twinair. Its a worse car than your current 1.4, no matter how much money you save.