Well its back to the drawing board for a new car and I think after some calculating finances we are prepared to spend around 10K on a chic car for SWMBO. We have had a MINI so preferably that one is out, the Fiat 500 is not her cup of tea and a bit too small.
We have both seen pictures of the MiTo and like the look and as a closet Alfa fan I am more than happy to spend some money on a car for her that I like as well!
Does anyone have any info on when its likely to come to the UK, prices etc? The local dealer is confident that they will have specs etc in the next 4 weeks but was a bit clueless for the rest of the info we wanted.
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There are some more pics on here including the interior.
www.italiaspeed.com/2008/cars/alfa_romeo/05/mito_g...l
As for availability and prices I heard summer in Europe and January 09 here. Prices are to start at around £12,000 I believe
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Thanks for the link - some nice pictures there!
I was hoping that they might be here before then, especially as the local dealer was optimistic they would have more information for us in the next month or so!
Does anyone else think that £12K is a bit overpriced? I was hoping it would be about that for mid-model, not entry!! Suppose we will only know when prices are released!
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The last Fiats launched in the UK (Bravo and 500) did undercut the projected starting prices. Not sure if this is press inaccuracy or a deliberate ploy?
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Well its back to the drawing board for a new car and I think after some calculating finances we are prepared to spend around 10K on a chic car for SWMBO. We have had a MINI so preferably that one is out the Fiat 500 is not her cup of tea and a bit too small.
It has the same chassis as the Grande Punto/Corsa, so if it was much more expensive than those then I don't think it would sell.
What was wrong with your MINI, I'm very tempted by them, did you just need more space?
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"...As for availability and prices I heard summer in Europe and January 09 here. Prices are to start at around £12,000..."
UK car magazine website is saying the same - LHD - July, and RHD - Dec, and quotes the same price. 3-door only.
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We had several problems with the MINI and was becoming expensive as it was going out of warranty. Also, it wasnt particularly economical and the Cooper wasnt as quick as we expected so made a decision to cut losses and go out of the frying pan and into the fire and bought a MGTF 160!
The TF is now a weekend car and so need something for the OH to go to work and back. The Grande Punto was a consideration but dont like the look of the depreciation and the only thing that would be any good would be the 1.4 16v so not cheap to buy.
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We had several problems with the MINI and was becoming expensive as it was going out of warranty. Also it wasnt particularly economical and the Cooper wasnt as quick as we expected so made a decision to cut losses and go out of the frying pan and into the fire and bought a MGTF 160!
Oh, I was considering a MINI, and the fuel consumption was a big reason for me looking at them. They look pretty green on paper, especially the new ones (which has the stop-start rubbish). The pre-2006 Coopers get 40-42mpg on the combined cylce, do you know what mpg you were getting?
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Her average was about 32mpg on a daily commute, that was on a run of 80% motorway/dual carriageway and the rest on B roads getting to it and then the same home on a 55 mile round trip. My girlfriend doesnt exactly drive hard either - in contrast she gets about 40 out of the TF on the same trip.
Best I got was 37 on a 140mile motorway trip where I changed gear only a handful of times.
Later ones may be different but the consensus from the dealer was that the manufacturers fuel consumption figures were virtually impossible to achieve. The Chrysler engine isnt known for sipping juice I dont think.
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Her average was about 32mpg on a daily commute that was on a run of 80% motorway/dual carriageway and the rest on B roads getting to it and then the same home on a 55 mile round trip. My girlfriend doesnt exactly drive hard either - in contrast she gets about 40 out of the TF on the same trip. Best I got was 37 on a 140mile motorway trip where I changed gear only a handful of times.
That is shocking, but at least I know not to buy one now. I think I will need to choose very carefully when I look for my next car. It's strange how the Mini is considered to be a greener car than the TF because it officially has lower fuel consumption.
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Best thing to do is when test driving have a look on the trip computer for the fuel consumption since last reset - its not overly accurate but may give you an idea. Dont not buy from our experience alone, although I dont think you will get many people arguing that its a frugal car on fuel, unless its a diesel of course.
Im sure the newer ones will be better on long runs as they have 6 speed boxes rather than revving at nearly 4K at 80 on a pre 2006.
I think the tax on the TF is about the same as the MINI - its very strange that the 160 model we have has better emmisions and mpg than the lower 115 and 135 models - work that out :-)
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