Drove a 2013 Fiat 500 for a week; Love my Yaris even more

[roxy1]

Originally Posted by Thirty-Nine

What kind of issues did you have?



See, I don't much like the regular 500. I wouldn't buy one. However, I love the Abarth, and would plunk down $22K for one. While the interior isn't a whole lot better, you're getting the turbo engine, a limited-slip setup, better brakes, better suspension, bigger wheels and stickier rubber, and some other exterior stuff. And the sound. Oh the sound! The Abarth to me is just so much fun.

first, there were indications from fiat that there would be a lot more dealers that never materialized. in fact, one confirmed studio that would have been an hour closer to me backed out a month after I bought my car. it was the proximity to this dealer that made me take the leap of faith. beyond that, it had been mostly an inability to fix simple things right the first time (for example a side skirt that was peeling off). this gets amplified when each round trip is 3 1/2 hours.

as far as the abarth, it depends what one is looking for in a small hatch, for me it is about having fun when I want but having a comfortable daily ride and maximizing mpg's the rest of the time. the base 500 did this very well.

the good thing for anyone wanting an abarth (or any other fiat) is that they are getting discounted pretty heavily these days. the downside is that right now the resale value on fiats is quite poor.

to be honest, if I had a dealer within 30 minutes of me, I probably would have stayed with the 500.