Lancia Motor Club

can someone tell me the easiest way of importing a new car from Italy?

erm, i haven't a clue, but what are you thinking of importing?? ;D

Base model Fiat 500 (lhd) advertised at very good price.

if you can find a dealer over there and sort the Italian speaking, then you should just be able to buy it and get it shipped over here on the back of a truck.  Might be worth asking if they can provide you with a RHD UK spec one for a good price - its worth asking.  Then you just need to go through the registration formalities - there are good guides on the DVLA website which I'm sure you're familiar with? 

Reminds me of an old joke

"Look Fred, heres a tailboard for sale on E-Bay". "Dont touch it, it probably fell off the back of a lorry"

I qwould have thought your namesake Paul Baker would know.

Tim

Have you compared the prices nearer to home? eg belgium,  germany

Was rather what I thought Scarpia.  Belgium or the Netherlands are good places for car shopping from the UK because of proximity and language.  There are also plenty of dealers over there who are very happy to sell to English buyers, and to customise the spec (including RHD) for them.  Whether there are the savings there once the additional costs, including shipping, are taken into account, I don't know - the Euro sterling exchange rate is not as attractive as it was a few years ago.

Actually, I think that the Pound has been dropping against the Euro and is now at it's lowest level ever, although I could be wrong. Vaguely remember hearing it on the News the other day whist doing something else.

Also, the demand for RHD 500 outstrips supply at the moment. I went to the launch last night and the dealer told me he was being allocated 2 cars a week but had taken 18 orders over the last few days. If you order one now you won't get it until June or July.

Similarly, there are waiting lists for LHD 500's and they can't make enough in Poland so they are thinking of also expanding production to Southern Italy where they make the Yipsilon.

Therefore, I'd be dubious about a "cheap" used LHD 500 from Italy as it's probably a "wrong un" or been involved in a major shunt.

I would have thought the best option for a cheap LHD 500 would be to make a silly offers to the many dealers on Autotrader who imported them as soon as the 500 was launched in Europe thinking they would make a fast buck before RHD was launched here. From what I can see they've all still got them and now with the RHD launch they'll be dieing to get rid of them. Have a look there's plenty to choose from.

Cheapest 500 seems to be about £7950 but dealers only ordered fully spec'ed cars for launch. Best to wait six months when I'm sure the cars will be discounted

I also went to the launch last night, there wasn't a "Pop" on show but the start at £7900, the "lounge" starts £9300-£10,700 as does the "Sport". All "On The Road Prices"
They were taking orders for delivery in April, although one lucky young lass managed to buy the "Lounge" 1.3 Multijet Diesel on show with delivery for tomorrow (Wednesday).
Very impressed with the car and particularily the build quality.
Lots of add on bits but the spec for the basic vehicles as above were pretty impressive.

One pain was that the launch started at 6.30pm but all Dealers weren't allowed to unveil the cars (although there was 1 on show ???) until 8 pm to coincide with the Launch at the London Eye and the rest of the UK Dealers. There was an official from Fiat who read out a blurb with the official line, pity he couldn't speak without looking at his notes, didn't exactly sound spontaneous.
Very nice car cover for it available for a mere £390 that looks like the old 500, very clever.

Brian
8227 8)

apparently alot of customers were very unhappy about how they were treated by Fiat & some have cancelled their orders! Well done Fiat! >:(

Hi Brian

I actually went for a drive in a 1.3 mjet Lounge registered that day. Perrys in Aylesbury, where I went, were not selling off their launch cars as they'd have nothing to show people, well that's what they told me.

I put a deposit down on 5 Oct 2007 through Perrys Amersham an AR dealer, and they get their info via Aylesbury. It was good on the night as we went onto the computer and saw the status of my car. It's being built week 5 (next week) and will be here early March.

After chatting with the sales staff it seems to me that the dealers almost got what they were given  on the launch cars, as the lounge I drove had upgraded 16" alloys, which I was told were not available at launch. Similarly, one of the other cars had an electric roof, again not an option at launch and the dealer wasn't expecting this.

First drive impressions? Well, the 1.3 m-jet didn't seem as pokey as the one I had in my Punto, but I am used to driving a 1.9 mjet 140 in my 156 SW. Having said that I didn't think we were going that fast but when I checked the speedo we were doing 55 mph, in a 60 zone I hasten to add. The seating position is pretty upright, but then it is a 500 and not a sports car, and my left knee felt a bit constrained. The wind and road noise was quite high but it did have the upgrade alloys. It was also pitch black and the car had not been PDI'd and I had the salesman chatting away in my left ear. We were out for a good half hour though.

The fit and finish was second to none and with the demand and hype there are bound to be issues when trying to get one of these cars, so I can't see why people would feel they have been badly treated and be cancelling their orders. Everyone's been as helpful as possible to me.

Looking forward to getting mine but I think it will take a few drives to get it right.

Cheers

Alan

^{Edited for date on deposit. Got my years wrong.}

Actually saw one zipping round a roundabout in Walsall today - I sense they are going to become a familiar sight...!