Topic: Test Drive: 2017 Fiat 500 Pop

[mlin32]

I said micro Ferrari, not an actual one. In Abarth trim only. It has Italian character and sounds great. Clarkson said as much in his Top Gear review, it is not just me. Yes, reportedly not reliable...but neither is a Ferrari.

I know it is not the best car in the world, but it has charm. Driven an Abarth? It is fun to drive for what it is.

I like the little car, not "slappy" at all come on. I HATE the base model, said as much. If I was a slappy, I would defend the brand no matter the trim level.

I wrote a review about a base 500 a couple years ago in Germany. It wasn't even the turbo 999cc motor, it was the wheezy 1,2 litre with 69PS. Worst car I've driven. And it wasn't even Italian ! (European 500s are assembled somewhere in Poland)

[Scaerio]

I said micro Ferrari, not an actual one. In Abarth trim only. It has Italian character and sounds great. Clarkson said as much in his Top Gear review, it is not just me. Yes, reportedly not reliable...but neither is a Ferrari.

I know it is not the best car in the world, but it has charm. Driven an Abarth? It is fun to drive for what it is.

I like the little car, not "slappy" at all come on. I HATE the base model, said as much. If I was a slappy, I would defend the brand no matter the trim level.

I wrote a review about a base 500 a couple years ago in Germany. It wasn't even the turbo 999cc motor, it was the wheezy 1,2 litre with 69PS. Worst car I've driven. And it wasn't even Italian ! (European 500s are assembled somewhere in Poland)

Tychy.  The same factory produced 126's, the Cinquecento and Seicento of the 1990s, and also produced the second-gen Panda..

[Jaeger]

any 500 that is not in Abarth trim is a complete waste

the basic car is just joyless and gutless compared to the feisty micro-Ferrari that the Scorpion badge brings

Are you on a competition with Smart Electric to see who can say the slappiest thing?

Geez....

 

Crikey, that would be a dilemma and a half for who I would back....like being asked do you want to get kicked in the left or the right nut

Nah - Chaosphere is batsh!t irrational when it comes to Italian cars, but can present as entirely sane when addressing the rest of the automotive spectrum - which is most of it.

Smart Electric is batsh!t irrational when it comes to battery powered cars - and aggressively evangelical to boot.  He's like a Jehovah's Witness on meth whom you cannot dislodge from your doorstep.  And the rest of the automotive world is a pile of junk to him.

The mirror on the wall says he is the slappiest of them all.

Now, SE versus some of the GM slappies of yore - THAT would be a contest. 

[ChaosphereIX]

any 500 that is not in Abarth trim is a complete waste

the basic car is just joyless and gutless compared to the feisty micro-Ferrari that the Scorpion badge brings

Are you on a competition with Smart Electric to see who can say the slappiest thing?

Geez....

 

Crikey, that would be a dilemma and a half for who I would back....like being asked do you want to get kicked in the left or the right nut

Nah - Chaosphere is batsh!t irrational when it comes to Italian cars, but can present as entirely sane when addressing the rest of the automotive spectrum - which is most of it.

Smart Electric is batsh!t irrational when it comes to battery powered cars - and aggressively evangelical to boot.  He's like a Jehovah's Witness on meth whom you cannot dislodge from your doorstep.  And the rest of the automotive world is a pile of junk to him.

The mirror on the wall says he is the slappiest of them all.

Now, SE versus some of the GM slappies of yore - THAT would be a contest. 

errrr...

thank you?

I am a fan of Italian cars, yes. Particularly Alfa. The rose coloured glasses can indeed be heavily tinted at times, I admit. But I will not hesitate to criticize Italian marques for mistakes, faults, or problems - of which i admit there are many. I think the Alfa Stelvio, for example, is stupid. Necessary, and will make money for proper Alfas...but stupid. Can't be a hypocrite when it comes to my hatred of "sporty" idiot CUVs. Base 500 is complete garbage...actually anything in the current Fiat showroom that doesn't have a scorpion on it is crap. The 124 Abarth is not fast enough and too lukewarm for what it is supposed to be. Lots of whiffing at the plate for Italian makes...always has been the case.

SE is on another level entirely, and I am glad others think so too.

[conwelpic]

the 500 is going worse every year for sales, it peaked in 2012 selling 8,474 in Canada that year and so far this year they have sold 765 units.  2016 was only 1,028 sold.

The 500L is selling virtually nothing (sold 1 in October) and YTD of 41.  Wonder if the 2017 model year will be its last year.  There is no 2018 models listed on their website and in fact some of the 500 models only show 2016 models available.

[dkaz]

any 500 that is not in Abarth trim is a complete waste

the basic car is just joyless and gutless compared to the feisty micro-Ferrari that the Scorpion badge brings

Are you on a competition with Smart Electric to see who can say the slappiest thing?

Geez....

 

Crikey, that would be a dilemma and a half for who I would back....like being asked do you want to get kicked in the left or the right nut

Nah - Chaosphere is batsh!t irrational when it comes to Italian cars, but can present as entirely sane when addressing the rest of the automotive spectrum - which is most of it.

Smart Electric is batsh!t irrational when it comes to battery powered cars - and aggressively evangelical to boot.  He's like a Jehovah's Witness on meth whom you cannot dislodge from your doorstep.  And the rest of the automotive world is a pile of junk to him.

The mirror on the wall says he is the slappiest of them all.

Now, SE versus some of the GM slappies of yore - THAT would be a contest. 

I don't know how any of you came to that conclusion from "any 500 that is not in Abarth trim is a complete waste"

[Fobroader]

the 500 is going worse every year for sales, it peaked in 2012 selling 8,474 in Canada that year and so far this year they have sold 765 units.  2016 was only 1,028 sold.

The 500L is selling virtually nothing (sold 1 in October) and YTD of 41.  Wonder if the 2017 model year will be its last year.  There is no 2018 models listed on their website and in fact some of the 500 models only show 2016 models available.

Well when the only upside to these things was that they were "unique" but they were built with quality that would make the most paid off North Korean QA manager think twice about release....why would any rational person buy one?? Sorry, even the Abarth, for $30k I can think of many ways to have just as good of a time without something thats a WW2 grenade sans pin.

[Weels]

LOL. Just remembered this.
My son-in-law's dad this year traded in his 500 for a .....  can you guess? 

500L. 

I guess he is one of the 41   

Yes, he is italian

[jamie1]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

[CanuckS2K]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

    So, it's just still sitting there at your shop all this time?? 

[ChaosphereIX]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

warranty doesnt cover stupid

[jamie1]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

    So, it's just still sitting there at your shop all this time??

Yep. The car is a wreck. Body damage everywhere and one of the windows is broken. We covered the open window and parked it outside.

[rrocket]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

warranty doesnt cover stupid

And stupid people don't come with a receipt.

But they buy Fiat 500s!!   

[ChaosphereIX]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

warranty doesnt cover stupid

And stupid people don't come with a receipt.

But they buy Fiat 500s!!   

now that is unfair, have met very intelligent people in my Italian car clubs who have 500s. One I can remember is a doctor. Another an international policy lawyer. Both are smarter than I ever could hope to be.

[rrocket]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

warranty doesnt cover stupid

And stupid people don't come with a receipt.

But they buy Fiat 500s!!   

now that is unfair, have met very intelligent people in my Italian car clubs who have 500s. One I can remember is a doctor. Another an international policy lawyer. Both are smarter than I ever could hope to be.

Except in car buying, apparently.

[ChaosphereIX]

why? both are super happy with their purchases

[rrocket]

why? both are super happy with their purchases

Good for them...whatever floats their boat.

Doesn't change what I said.

[JacobBlack]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

    So, it's just still sitting there at your shop all this time??

Yep. The car is a wreck. Body damage everywhere and one of the windows is broken. We covered the open window and parked it outside.

I'll give you $500 for it... If you safety it... 

[rrocket]

We had a woman come in with her 500L. Had a coolant leak. Turned out she had hit something and had the lower rad support hit the rad. She thought it should have been warranty, but since it wasn't, she said Chrysler could keep it. That was over 2 months and we haven't heard a thing from her.

    So, it's just still sitting there at your shop all this time??

Yep. The car is a wreck. Body damage everywhere and one of the windows is broken. We covered the open window and parked it outside.

I'll give you $500 for it... If you safety it... 

$500 for a 500......