Wow-what a comparison-MG vs FIAT! Neither make was known for reliability. I guess the MGB was OK-as long as it didn’t get wet!
Let us know what you decide, and I hope the negotiations go well.
As I said earlier, my first car was a 1979 Fiat X1/9. I bought it new. Back then, I chose it over the others I was considering because it was the most fun car to drive. I had that car for (only) 5 years and 85,000 miles, and I sold it because I got married and we had a kid. But in my son’s first few months before selling the car, I anchored his child seat between the two seats and to the central seat belt anchors. Fortunately, no cop here in California saw that.
During those 85,000 miles it only stranded me once when the starter failed, and even then I was able to roll it and pop the clutch to drive it over to “Tony”.
Other than that, there were no failures and with regular maintenance that car was a champ.
It went on to at least three other owners and many years and miles before I lost track of it.
It was a great car and I always enjoyed driving it. Fun.
That Fiat stirred my soul!
I drive a Fiat 500. I fucking love it. Awesome car, buy one, you wont regret it
Over a year and a half later, and I still smile when I walk up to it in a parking lot.
My wife had a new MINI Cooper for a while, and the Fiat drives similar. Zippy as hell, even with the standard engine it can get from 0-45 in nothing. After that the power tapers off, but it still moves effortlessly. I could stand a bit more power, but I couldn’t afford the Abarth (it wasn’t available in America at the time anyway).
I have not had any reliability problems, and routine maintenance is included.
I’ve seen some good discounts on 2012 models advertised.
Yeah! The MGB was not too bad if it started, I think it only broke down once on the road. But plenty went wrong over the few years I had it, clutch, head gasket, lots of electrical issues. I bought the Fiat 124 in great shape for only $900 in 1990 or so, helluva deal. I think the dealer owed my dad a favor or something. I don’t remember as many problems with it but it did need some engine work. Both were a lot of fun to drive.
This is where I would post a picture of my new car, if I had an online photo account. Or a camera.
So instead I’ll insert some melodramatic spoiler space and announce that I just drove home in a…
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… 2012 FIAT 500 Pop with five-speed manual transmission. There were two identically (lowest) priced cars on the lot and I picked the red one.
So now it’s controls and buttons and phone calls and paperwork, arrgh! But I am very happy with my choice, and I wanted to offer a final thank you to everyone who weighed in.
Cool! Enjoy your new car.
. . . on your way to a Honda dealership to buy a Civic.
Only two problems with this advice
- A Cicic is quite a bit more $ than the other cars being discussed here
- If you read up two posts from yours the OP has already bought a car.
Congrats on the new car, plankter! May you have fun with it, and many enjoyable miles.
Hmm, choice of boring econobox (Yaris), or fun, quirky hatchback (Fiat 500)
No brainer, the Fiat, and go with the manual transmission option in either one, it’ll maximize the performance from tiny engines, torque converter automatics are criminally inefficient
Yea! I was rooting for the Fiat.
Hah, thumbs up. Those Fiats are darn slick.
I came close to buying one last year, but ultimately decided I needed a little more legroom and decided a manual was the wrong call choice for my commute. Wound up buying a used New Beetle TDI, which I love, but I still grin when I see all those 500s scootin’ around.
Good thing to consider. Stop-and-go traffic, in a manual car, is amazingly fatiguing.
To the OP: congrats, and enjoy the new wheels!!
You are absolutely right-I always wondered why car makers never offered a manual transmission with a power-assisted clutch mechanism. It would take the fatigue awat, and make maqnuals more popular. I used to have an AMC with a manual transmission-that clutch spring was a real workout for my left leg!
I had a FIAT as a rental car for a day while my car was in the shop. It was a bit slow for me, but I was impressed with the room inside. I’m fairly tall and I didn’t feel crowded in the car. I think that the Abarth would be a pretty fun car to drive.
yay the heart wins!
I realize from the dates that this may be a dead issue by now, but I went with the Fiat 500 Sport over the Toyota Yaris. I priced out 2013’s and was able to get the Fiat Sport to about $ 1,500 more than the Yaris before the dealerships had their fees attached. I wound up with better tires & rims on the Fiat, upgraded upholstry, the 6 speed automatic vs 4 speed the Yaris has. As for safety, these two cars are disposable in an accident and hitting one another, it’s probably immaterial which comes out better after the collision. Hitting something bigger and neither will come out of that altercation to the better. Just the laws of physics.
The Fiat is Chryslerized. That is the new Dodge Dart has the turbo 1.4L as an option. And the dashboard beyond the speedometer to the windshield, that is Dodge Caliber like in just about every possible way. My Fiat was made in Mexico, the engine assembled in the USA. Not sure if the Yaris is 4 way disc brakes, but the Fiat is. Usually they put disc on the front & drum in the rear brakes. I figure I got enough pluses to offset the $ 1,500 difference in price and who knows these Fiat 500’s may be as collectible as the 1950’s and later versions ? That heritage thing that it and the mini coopers have ?
And it doesn’t take an Abarth to get attention with the 500. Too funny, at the local Starbucks and I can park in between & surrounded by the likes of Audi, Porsche, BMW, Lexus and get more looks & attention from the customers. Something about the 500 that is a chick magnet too. Maybe because they know you’re not compensating elsewhere ?
Driven softly for the first 1,500 miles, the Fiat does a little better than the estimates for mpg. I drive the 45/55 city to highway if you go by the type of road, but the type of actual traffic it’s more like grid lock 90/10 city/highway. I get 32.5 to 33.5 mpg in that snarled mess. I’d like to take it on a pure highway driving experience to see what she’ll really get with nobody else on the road. Maybe leave in the middle of the night and see where I am 4-6 hours later ? I drive it in Miami, FL during peak traffic to get that 33 mpg. I’d like to see what it’ll do not having to go 0-10 mph and stopping and going every few car lengths. And for that I’d have to leave at 1 AM and maintain 60-70 mph with the cruise control until I left Palm Beach county about 65 miles North of me. Once in that area, Daytona Beach is 250 miles which would include the 65 miles to Palm Beach. After that Jacksonville is 90 miles away. That 340 miles is mathematically possible on 10.5 gallons and 34 mpg highway rated driving. It’s 375 miles to where my brother lives in Fernandina, that would be a goal to see if it could get there on 10.5 gallons ? I’d probably have to stay at 70 mph on cruise control to have a shot at it ?
Another thing, based on either’s size, expect bullies to try you for even your side of the road/driving lane. I went from a mid sized SUV to this and have small car anxiety in that regard. Any driver that thinks that because you have a new car and are smaller than they are will definitely try to force their bigger vehicle ahead of you. My recommendation, let them have the spot it’s not worth the wreck for you. They won’t get there but a car length or two ahead of you anyway with traffic. You’ll get great fuel economy in spite of them. It’s funny, they know what they pulled and when they stop immediately you can beep your horn at them for being a jerk. The guilt makes them nervous for having done what they know they did to you. It won’t cure them as a jerk will always be a jerk.
Parking is a joy in the Fiat, as it would be for the Yaris. I’ve already gotten prime parking because the smaller car fits and the bigger one’s don’t in sub-compact spaces. The Fiat parked right even avoids door dings because it can be thin enough to allow a full door to be opened by a vehicle parked next to it. And it has so much room that some spaces are way too much space in front and/or to the rear. My biggest worry about pulling forward to the parking lot header is that another might think they have an open space there and drive in too fast to stop in time ? You know, the same jerk that forced their way in on the road, likes to bully into a parking lot space the parking lot too. That and the lazier motorist that doesn’t look when they pull out of a spot in a parking lot too. There’s small car anxiety again, driving thru a parking lot with SUV’s and minivans all around you ? You see them they don’t see you and it’s like being in a sports car just the same.
Apology for the long post, but this should cover just about everything.
As for the Fiat or Yaris being slower, this actually works. We all know that 0-60 mph is a time that is documented for cars. The Fiat is 9.2-9.5 seconds 0-60 mph floored. Well most other cars are 6-8 seconds themselves. The rule for a safe following distance is 2 seconds and another second for each adverse condition. The Fiat & Yaris have this built into their acceleration times. Besides you can’t control how close the tailgater behind you is anyway. They tailgate whether it’s 0-10 mph, 20 mph, 30 mph and any speeds beyond that even. It’s the same jerk that usually forces their larger car in on you anyway in traffic. A bully is a bully.
As for manual transmission, yeah, in grid lock traffic it’s way more work than I want to do. Spastic driving is spastic driving for some folks. I don’t want to wear out my brake pads for unnecessary stops and restarts.
I once found myself in a Yaris. Was horrendous. I’ll never put myself through that again…
When I saw this thread bumped, I was sure it was going to be plankter coming back to tell us that his Fiat has been in the shop 8 of the last 10 months and to curse us for talking him into it.