500 Twinair Lounge

Very good

Read the reviews so decided to try one out. Whilst on the initial test drive I was sat in the back and my wife was up front with the salesman. When she booted it I actually laughed out loud as I wasn't expecting it to go quite so well. I knew before ordering that the car would not return the reported 69mpg and but hoped for about 50mpg.

Ordered one from a different dealer who let me take one home one evening so I could try the lights and see what it is like on my daily 100 mile commute, I also got a discount and they offered 0% finance.

In the first week the car covered just over 1300 miles. This included the daily commute which is over dual carraigeways and then A roads. The car is driven with economy in mind so the eco button is on all the time. Then second major part of the mileage was due to a visit to Durham and the Pennines. Car sat on the A1 at about 80ish with no complaints and also spent alot of time in eco mode.

Leaving the eco button on doesn't make a huge difference as you can still keep up with all the other traffic around and not have to thrash the car too much.

Overall fuel consumption so far with 1700 miles on the clock is 45mpg & if I just do the daily commute without going over 60 then I'm getting about 54mpg.

Overall impression is, so far so good, with a comfortable driving position with excelent visability and a surprising amount of room. The sound of the engine does take some getting used to as it is so different from 4 cylinder engines. Both daughters love driving it and have both requested that it is donated to them after my stint with it.

21/3/11, Had to call the dealer and book the car in to fix a fault. Low on power & makes no difference if Eco button is on or off. I hope this isn't the sign of early reliability issues on the Twinair engine or electrics. Car is now 2 1/2 weeks old with 2150 miles. I will update when back from the dealers.

22/3/11, Not getting the car back for 2 to 3 days. Dealer told me the turbocharger has failed and is now waiting for Fiat to deliver one which should be on Thursday (why is it taking 2 days?). Feel very annoyed that a new car has had a turbo failure so early on.

Collected car after 3 days at the dealer. Really annoyed that they left the steering wheel, gearstick and bonnet with with greasy handprints. Car has Ivory steering wheel so called dealer to let them know. They appologised and said drop it back for a valet but that involves a 30 mile trip out of my way. I informed them that I would clean it but any problems and I would require a new steering wheel.

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