Anyone Driven the Fiat 500 Yet?

[Noz]

The other day I had a chance to drive a 500 Sport.

I have to say...it was fantastic. Really cool, hip car. Very small, very compact...but so stylish for such a small package.

The overall impression was the car was well put together, had adequate performance for most situations, felt solid, safe, and sporty.

It was a quiet car for the size....had a nice exhaust note. Compared to the CRZ I had also driven a while back, I noticed the following:

- it was quieter than the CRZ overall...less road noise and wind noise. However the engine noise was greater...at least the exhaust was raspier.

- the gearbox was definitely not as good as the CRZ....the Honda has a better gearbox.

- It was stiffer in feel than the CRZ...the CRZ feels like it bounces alot when pushed hard..this car was more composed. It feels sharper than the CRZ in the corners.

- It definitely needs to be pushed harder than the CRZ to get going...it's slower but not by much. It needs to rev more.

- It has no start/stop system like the CRZ and only has Halogen lights versus HID options.

- It is about $2,500 less than the CRZ. I can lease one for about $240 per month for 36 months.

- Exclusivity is about the same as the CRZ right now....it may be more popular in the future.

- It has to rear seats although this is really a 2+2...not a real 4 seater.

- It does include a 4yr/50000 mile warranty with the first 3 years of ownership maintenance completely covered.

- Reliability as of yet is unknown but I can't imagine it being any worse than a VW.

Overall it was a nice package. Ive been on the sidelines for a new car for a while....I was about to pull the trigger on a CRZ sometime back but wasn't convinced fully about the car. Now that we're getting more options in the small car arena, choices are becoming more abundant.

Hec, even a Fiesta SES in white trip looks pretty damned sharp. But it doesn't have the style of the Fiat....it's one stylish little car.

Thoughts are welcome!

NOTE: On my 10 mile test drive, I averaged 34.2 MPG - this was with 3 people in the car and A/C blasting...all city driving. With the way I drive, I think I could easily hit well over 40 MPG in this car.

[Scotty001]

^

[Phat Panda]

Over here in the UK every woman and their dog have the 500... Few neighbours have them and whilst some are happy the majority aren't with the reliability, one neighbour started it up one day to find black smoke piling out the back... After going to fiat they said there was no problem...

Another neighbours just decided one day it wasn't going to start.. And that was that, had to go back to the garage on a truck

ANOTHER neighbour (densely populated area ) lol their air con decided it had had enough and packed up...

Personally I wouldnt be seen dead driving a 500... But that is only my opinion.

I had a Fiat in the past (1st car) I had the Punto Grande turbo... It was fun but also packed full of reliability issues the worst of which were the windscreen wipers decided to regularly pack up when it was raining.. Drove me nuts! So after that I went with Honda and got a Civic and now the CRZ and have to say that both these cars haven't been into the garage once for any reliability issues at all... Which is great..

Remember.. FIAT= Fix It Again Tomorrow

[romiata]

^^ Lol- I had a similar experience with my 1980 Spider 2000: lots of maintenance issues. I thought FIAT stood for "Fix It Again Tony"?!
I do like the look of the 500, though. We actually have a dealership close by, but I've yet to stop in and check it out. I've seen a few on the road, but not many. Same for the CR-Z; a few here and there

[holeydonut]

Kind of weird, but I haven't seen a woman driving a Cinquecento out in California yet. I do see a couple of ones with "500" vinyl decals on the side though.

I think it's great to see Chrysler found a way to make the business case work for running Fiats into the USA. Too bad they couldn't make the Brera replace the Sebring though... the Spider variant is just so damn good lookin'

[Noz]

Originally Posted by Phat Panda

Over here in the UK every woman and their dog have the 500... Few neighbours have them and whilst some are happy the majority aren't with the reliability, one neighbour started it up one day to find black smoke piling out the back... After going to fiat they said there was no problem...

Another neighbours just decided one day it wasn't going to start.. And that was that, had to go back to the garage on a truck

ANOTHER neighbour (densely populated area ) lol their air con decided it had had enough and packed up...

Personally I wouldnt be seen dead driving a 500... But that is only my opinion.

I had a Fiat in the past (1st car) I had the Punto Grande turbo... It was fun but also packed full of reliability issues the worst of which were the windscreen wipers decided to regularly pack up when it was raining.. Drove me nuts! So after that I went with Honda and got a Civic and now the CRZ and have to say that both these cars haven't been into the garage once for any reliability issues at all... Which is great..

Remember.. FIAT= Fix It Again Tomorrow

I have no doubt the Hondas are more reliable. That's almost a given.

I curious...the US model has a different engine than the European counterpart doesn't it?

I guess time will tell.

The lease on the Fiat's offers 3 years complete coverage....which is a GOOD thing with this car. Of course, the hassle of going to the dealer is another issue altogether.

Hope Fiat gets it right...it's not a bad package overall.

[pico33]

Originally Posted by Noz

I have no doubt the Hondas are more reliable. That's almost a given.

I curious...the US model has a different engine than the European counterpart doesn't it?

I guess time will tell.

The lease on the Fiat's offers 3 years complete coverage....which is a GOOD thing with this car. Of course, the hassle of going to the dealer is another issue altogether.

Hope Fiat gets it right...it's not a bad package overall.

I tested drive it 2 months ago. You can not compare it with European Version, because they are made in Mexico. The trims too plastic, no spare tire (cuz no room for that), cheap tires.

[Gitano]

I test drove a 500 a number of months ago and was not impressed. I have been eyeing the 500 since it was announced it was coming to the U.S., and admit I was disappointed when I finally got in one. It felt much like driving a Smart FourTwo, but it had rear seats (supposedly!!!). Missing was the low end torque that we have in the CR-Z, so it just wasn't as much fun to drive. Since the price for the two was about the same, I felt that for me I had made the right choice by not waiting for the 500. But, that's just me. I must admit, though, I do like the way the 500 looks. It may be more fun when some upgrades are available.

[Willard]

There is a reason Fiat stopped selling in the US a while ago. Insanely dismal reliability and basement level resale value. The ONLY reason they are back is becuase they purchased Chrysler.

[klynch201]

this thing is so ugly. saw one today with nice rims, but it just looked like crap..because the car looks like crap