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

[loveshandbags]

Not a bit of it . The upside is that if you are 'lucky', you could move it on in a year or two without suffering the mind-boggling depreciation involved with a new one, having had a lot of fun in the process. And you can service it yourself without worrying about the warranty .

Hope you get the outcome you're looking for - and Merry Christmas .

And a merry christmas to yourself JR and to everyone and their families on the FF.

have you considered buying in england, the prices seem to be lower?

Have looked a bit.
Typically on a cost of st£10K it translates to a landed cost of around €14k plus the costs involved in 'getting it over'. Timing is important on the exhange rates with it fluctuating beween 83p-90p to the €.
If I was to buy that demo A500 in N.I. there is an opportunity of getting a 2+1 warranty with the dealer honouring the dealer bit. This is normally lost on importing.
Ideally would like a glass roof & leather preferrably below 12K miles so that it would qualify for an esseese upgrade. Low mileage preferable as well for the VRT valuation - very little difference in this valuation on the mileage.
basic 2011 -> VRT €3500
basic 2010 -> VRT €3000
basic 2009 -> VRT €2500
extras are depreciated over 4 years so a 2011 fully loaded with have an estimated VRT of around €5000
I can now see what there are quite a few guys here using N.I. registered cars legitimising it with a business / residental address up North. I was trying to keep it simple with the foolish offer on the abused esseesse.

 

[grimwau]

Ideally would like a glass roof & leather preferrably below 12K miles so that it would qualify for an esseese upgrade. trying to keep it simple with the foolish offer on the abused esseesse.

Michael, don't forget that there is also a 12 month time limitation on the esseesse upgrade.

 

[loveshandbags]

... the Fiat IRL website always appears a bit out of date and they're still including the 1.2 Sport although when you enquire via a dealer its apparently no longer available! also no mention of the TA Plus on the site....are we not getting it? I reckon they could easily sell a lot more 500's here with a bit more, sorry, a LOT more marketing effort, I called in to two dealers to get a test drive in a TA and neither had one available........great! Embarrassing really. They're probably scratching their heads wondering why their sales are down! :bang:

It's always been like that and some of the calculations are a bit dubious. Still most use the uk one and then use the .ie to get some idea of the price of the extras.
I found Tractamotors the best for getting test drives and Gary is straight talking no nonsense easy to deal with. Boyne motors in Dundalk has a demo TA for sale - the cheapest TA on carzone. So good choice there for getting a blast.

Sorry to hear of your woes with Fiat over here Michael, tbh they never struck me as being particularly proactive, particularly compared to say Renault for example...

I rang up the resident car salesman on the Abarth esseese today to check on my offer of €14k to the 'main' man. 'They' weren't too happy with my offer and he got irritated with me saying that I was a dealer buying and selling possibly one or two cars a year . I denied this stating that I was buying the car for myself and said clearly that I'm not in that business. He maintained that I was knocking his car to get a better price and if I wanted it - it is there for €16K take it or leave it. He said that he would get the service history fixed up and give it a 6 months or possibly one year's warranty and sell it in the new year for €19K advertising it on carzone. I wished him the best with the car commenting that he must be very confident of selling it since there are 4 other Abarths up on the web for sale and 2 off them have been there since early on this year and haven't sold. So the gloves were off for a bit but we ended with a bit of Christmas cheer.

 

[loveshandbags]

Michael, don't forget that there is also a 12 month time limitation on the esseesse upgrade.

Thanks for reminding me of this. Quite a few talk about doing the upgrade but don't realise that dealers are only allowed to fit it as you correctly pointly out is less than 12 months and less than 12K and that it has not been hitting the rev limiter (time based) - some have failed on this.
Also N.I. have not been able to do the esseesse upgrade. Imagine the scenario of going up before the 12 months is up and they couldn't do it !

I have been graciously sent these pictures. Some one went a bit mad with the stripes and the scorpians - these would have to come off so you would have the option of possibly leaving the abarth side stripe. Pity it's missing the glass roof - it finishes it off. Has black leather and dual zone. Priced at st£15,250 demo model. It's the pearlescent paint which will give someone a HA on here. It will all come down to the exchange rates, VAT recovery and the VRT man.

 

[ahmett]

How do they know if you hit the rev limiter btw? Is it true they dont do the upgrade if it hits the rev limiter? I have no abarth but i have definatley hit the rev limiter on the 1.4, its very easy to do so in 1st gear!!!

Even if they dont let you, cant you just tweak the ECU and change that without anyone noticing? = )

 

[jrkitching]

How do they know if you hit the rev limiter btw?

I believe such events are logged by the car's ECU. If an engine blew up and a claim was made under warranty, I'd expect FIAT to download the event logs and refuse the claim if evidence of significant abuse were found.

 

[Venters]

I believe such events are logged by the car's ECU. If an engine blew up and a claim was made under warranty, I'd expect FIAT to download the event logs and refuse the claim if evidence of significant abuse were found.

:yeahthat:
There was a good one a while back of a tuning company blowing a GP sportings engine to bits. Then having a massive sulk accusing Fiat of being crooks for not fixing it for them after they logged hundreds of over revs. lol

 

[loveshandbags]

Given the strictness of Abarth on refusing an upgrade to esseesse it probably would be advisable for an wannabe to get the ECU checked particularly if it was a demo.

I've found a car that interests me 'not too far from here' with 7K on the clock and has all the bits and bops. Priced for its condition. Unfortunately with the Euro crisis and the current exchange rates at 83p to the £ - this is a hugh difference to what I could have got last July 2011 (it was nearly 90p to the £). On a car costing st£12K+ it amounts to a difference of €1K. There's probably no point looking back at the historical graphs because we're now in different times.

And who thought that car forums were about cars.:chin: It looks like you have to be a bit of an economist to predict the future now.

 

[loveshandbags]

...Seriously, given what you saw when you removed the oil filler cap, why are you even considering this?...

... Unfortunately with the Euro crisis and the current exchange rates at 83p to the £...

Curiosity get the better of me today and swung by the Garage with the 'Press' car thinking of increasing the offer to €15K. Met the resident salesman in the parking lot where I was checking out the new Guilettes that had come in and after a little chat we wormed our way back towards the esseesse. We went inside the showroom to get the key for 'one more look' and a suit approached and spoke with him. He handed me the key so that I could have one last look and said that I've just be told that the car is sold - the guy who's getting it has just been approved for finance. Checked out the oil cap (hence the pic) and the sludge on the inside of the cap wasn't as bad as the last time I checked it. Mileage had been changed back to KM and it was now at 21K something - possibly another 100-200 miles since I sat in it last. Returned the key and was still thinking that I might have over-reacted on this one. Just have to wait until the white Mito 155TB that's advertised comes in. Thought RUI would appreciate the 'white' pic with the greenary in the background - remember someone saying that grass wasn't a good backdrop.

 

[RobinPJ]

I think it was more an issue of not photographing wheels on grass rather than an inherent problem with greenery.

 

[jrkitching]

Checked out the oil cap (hence the pic) and the sludge on the inside of the cap wasn't as bad as the last time I checked it.

One look at that oil cap would have been enough for me. I've just taken a picture of mine for comparison (it's done about 8500 miles total & 5000 since the last oil change, which would have been the last time it was removed).

You've done the right thing to let it be someone else's problem and I'm sure you'll end up with a better car, whatever it turns out to be.

 

[306maxi]

and for comparison. Here's mine at 31517 miles having had a change at about 16 or 17k miles and then another at 23-24k miles. I should point out that the car had just been run for a bit so the oil hadn't had the chance to all drain into the sump just yet.

 

[loveshandbags]

Quite a difference between ragging a NA and a turbo car that is on the limit. Gearbox is rated for 206Nm and the esseesse model is giving out 201Nm. Some recommend that the oil in the gearbox is changed after a track day....

I would like to correct this. It should be 230Nm on the Essesse or an A500 that has been remapped or using a 'plug-in' chip. I was tempted to get one of these 'chips' for the current motor and came across an ad of a A500 that has been TMCd. IIRC it already had a gearbox change. Sometimes the 'past' can catch up with you.

 

[306maxi]

I would like to correct this. It should be 230Nm on the Essesse or an A500 that has been remapped or using a 'plug-in' chip. I was tempted to get one of these 'chips' for the current motor and came across an ad of a A500 that has been TMCd. IIRC it already had a gearbox change. Sometimes the 'past' can catch up with you.

Remember who the driver of that car is though and perhaps it's not the tuning box's fault or the car itself, but the driver.

 

[grimwau]

I would like to correct this. It should be 230Nm on the Essesse or an A500 that has been remapped or using a 'plug-in' chip. I was tempted to get one of these 'chips' for the current motor and came across an ad of a A500 that has been TMCd. IIRC it already had a gearbox change. Sometimes the 'past' can catch up with you.

Michael, I believe that ad is for Draigflag's old car and we all know how badly he treated it.

As you say though, it is always worth bearing in mind the ratings of any components when considering tuning for more power.

 

[grimwau]

Remember who the driver of that car is though and perhaps it's not the tuning box's fault or the car itself, but the driver.

Thanks for beating me to the keyboard once again, lol.

 

[306maxi]

Thanks for beating me to the keyboard once again, lol.

Hehe. You know I spotted which car it was a mile off I just knew it was his. You get the feeling he doesn't actually want to sell it though....... no price mentioned, no mileage mentioned and he's slagging it off so only a complete nutter will want to think of buying it.

not that Paul would ever cry out for attention

 

[RobinPJ]

I wonder if Paul is ever on here still (as a guest)?

 

[306maxi]

I wonder if Paul is ever on here still (as a guest)?

I would be surprised if he's not

 

[loveshandbags]

Michael, I believe that ad is for Draigflag's old car and we all know how badly he treated it.

As you say though, it is always worth bearing in mind the ratings of any components when considering tuning for more power.

As it happens I can't used a tuning box on a T-jet since it needs higher octane fuel although I could use the E5 being sold by Maxol which is unofficially 99 octane (don't really believe it). Anyway I've plenty.
I hope the proposed MA A500 has it's boost retarded in the lower gears like the 206GTI to save the gearbox. A 'tuned' A500 if driven in a particular fashion has a short life. Leaving the A500 standard IMHO will prove to be the best option and that's what I plan doing with the 155TB.

Hehe. You know I spotted which car it was a mile off I just knew it was his. You get the feeling he doesn't actually want to sell it though....... no price mentioned, no mileage mentioned and he's slagging it off so only a complete nutter will want to think of buying it.

not that Paul would ever cry out for attention

Surprised to see that the ad wording was allowed. I would imagine Abarth would be concerned about safeguarding their reputation and want their cars to last. Allowing the ad may be a suble reminder of what 'not to do'.

I wonder if Paul is ever on here still (as a guest)?

Given the number of 'returning members' placing Classified ads on the FF he probably considered placing an ad on here.