Really? Will it have tires? How can they do that?
Need more information.
How much money down?
How long is the lease?
How many miles are allowed and what’s the charge for miles over that?
What credit rating is needed to qualify?
There are lots of ads for $99/month Fiat 500 leases. They’re trying to move the cars and there are a few gotchas but they’re trying to move an unpopular car. You’ll have to contact the individual dealers to find out what the details are since that’s the key to any lease.
From http://www.capitolfiat.com
2013 Fiat 500 Pop
24 month lease at $99/month plus tax.
$3,499 due at signing, and up to 10,000 miles per year (20c/mile after that).
So yeah, you can lease one for that price but it’s a reasonable initial cash payment.
Do you maybe mean UNreasonable??
They are unpopular? I see them everywhere! Is that just the result of the low pricing?
Agreed. Most people who are enticed by the $99 figure are unlikely to be able to come up with the $3499. Makes me wonder who the ads are targeting.
That would be killer on Oahu, Hawaii. You’d never get to the mileage/year and the car would actually fit in the tiny parking spaces there.
Sorry, by “reasonable” I meant “considerable”. Typical british understatement, I guess!
They stand out because they are distinctive and you notice them. But as far as I can tell sales have been OK but not living up to projections. There’s only so much of a market for tiny cars in the US. Having said that, sales are increasing but perhaps it’s to deals like the $99/month lease.
The Abarth version has been massively popular, but the base 500 isn’t selling quite as well as expected.
I think the Fiat 500 is an example of a car with a very limited market-once the people who liked them buy, there is very little interest outside that group. These low rate leases are pretty dangerous-you have to read the fine print about what the “residual value” is (at the end of the lease. Basically, if the dealer/leasor cannot sell it for the residual, you have to pay the difference. I don’t know what used Fiat 500 cars go for, but my guess is that they are very difficult to resell. Plus, even though these cars are very small, they do not deliver exceptional gas mileage. So the value of a used one is iffy.
Attractive leases are often a good way to get people into cars with suspect reliabilty records, since you never get out of warranty and you don’t have to worry about long-term reliabilty past your lease term. VW pushed the super-cheap leases during their darkest days in the late-90’s/early-2000’s, as did Hyundai during the early stages of their US resurgance. Fiat is definitely in the “dubious reliability” category based on the notoriety of their earlier attempts at the US market alone, regardless of what the long term reliabilty of their new products turns out to be.
The offer also stipulates “Available with approved credit.” So you’ll need a good, maybe even a very good credit score to qualify.
Hey how about $1 a year? :rolleyes:
24 month lease at $1/month plus tax.
$6000 due at signing, and up to 10,000 miles per year (20c/mile after that).:dubious:
I own a 500. While I have not attempted to sell it yet, I’m not sure I can agree with your last statement there. I took my 500 on a 2,600 mile road trip last year and got 40mpg on that trip. It cost me less than half the cost of a plane ticket to drive to where I was going and back. That’s no more exceptional than any other low-horsepower, 4-cylinder, gas-powered shitbox out there right now, and a bit better than many. (Cannot compete with a hybrid or electric.)
I think one of the hindrances to the Fiat’s popularity is simple: There are few Fiat dealerships and they are far between. Right now, I have to drive about 200 miles one way for an oil change. For my car, I got three years of free maintenance with the price of the car, so my next stop in will include tire rotation, fluids, air filter, oil change and probably some other stuff. I called around local mechanics in town and nobody will touch it. I popped the hood for my (now former) mechanic and they just laughed. “How the hell do you do anything to this car?” And that’s why everyone takes their Fiat to the dealer for work and that’s why people who would consider trading in their Mini or Honda Fit fall right out of love with the car.
Had I realized what a colossal pain in my ass it would be to drive 400 miles every time I need an oil change, I would not have bought this car from my friend. I needed a new car and she needed to sell her Fiat, so I just made life easy and snagged her car off her. I now regret the decision, but not because I don’t love the car. The car is great. I just don’t want to take a day off work and drive 400 miles every time something breaks. Also: I’ve had this car one year now (It’s 2012) and nothing has broken.
I take issue with the idea that the car isn’t popular though. Just an hour ago, I was stopped in the Taco Bell parking lot while people pelted me with questions about my car. This happens about 2-3 times a week. If they can’t stop me for a conversation, I will see them turning their heads to check out the car. One guy rolled the windows down while driving next to me at 40 mph just to tell me “Cute car!” (I am not young and hot; it wasn’t me. ;)) Based on the reactions to the impromptu interrogations I’ve allowed myself to be subjected to, I’d say the biggest hangup is lack of dealers. When there is one next to every Honda dealer in every town, Fiat will stand a better chance. The next biggest hangup is that the pricing might have to come down a bit because I think for comparable vehicles, you pay a little more for styling. Depending on what you want, a Mini or a Fit might be a better buy.
For the bolded part- Is this a new thing? I have a friend in the insurance business. His company has written a lot of residual value insurance (and lost their asses on SAABs). I hadn’t heard of the car companies trying to foist this onto the consumer directly.
That should become far less of an issue as Chrysler and Fiat become more integrated.
Leases are a good vehicle option for about 1 in 50 ‘buyers.’ Unless the overall deal is just crazy-outstanding, or unless the terms of the lease fit you very, very comfortably, they’re a bad choice.
They are good 100% of the time for dealers.
[QUOTE=GreasyJack]
Fiat is definitely in the “dubious reliability” category based on the notoriety of their earlier attempts at the US market alone, regardless of what the long term reliabilty of their new products turns out to be.
[/QUOTE]
The old joke is that the name is an acronym of Fix It Again, Tony!
Hopefully, the current models don’t use any electrical components made by Lucas (the Prince of Darkness). 