I would think so as well. I even called the Chrysler dealer and asked if they’ll take my car to work on it. Hell no was the answer. So I’m a tad surprised that Chrysler dealers aren’t jumping over themselves to expand to become Chrysler Fiat dealers. Go figure.
I have noticed that the Fiat dealers are called “studios” – you will be giving grave insult if you call them a dealership while you are in there. :rolleyes: There’s a lot of amenities inside these “studios” and they always seem to be in a high-end part of town, next to the pricey mall with the Saks Fifth Avenue in it. They are never just a corner of the Toyota lot, down the street from The Dollar Store. I think Fiat seems to intend to position this car as a luxury compact, like it’s the BMW of shitboxes. Thing is, people who are looking to buy a shitbox are typically counting every penny and are not about spending an extra 10-20% for style and/or status.
I bought one new off the lot back in 2011. While the service plan is included, you can opt out for a discount because they realize some people are far enough from a dealer to make it a hassle. However, they flipped a bit when I took that option, and said I was the first customer to do so. They weren’t even that bad - the dealer was like 25 miles away in the 'burbs. (Chicago proper now has a dealership.)
As for resale - it wasn’t bad. I traded mine last year for a Boxster S and got $14.5k; I’d spent $17k for it the year before (500 Sport). I’d like an Abarth and might trade my Mini Cooper S for a used one when prices drop a bit (say, as much as a new 500 Turbo). Very fun car, and I liked the Fiat’s ergonomics more than my Mini.
I also had a Smart Fortwo a while back and while I got decent trade on it, the dealer couldn’t sell it for a year. Those, I think, have reached saturation.
Bah! A myth, perpetuated by people who never owned them, and do not posess the skills to work on them.
The problem was with “Tony” not fixing/understanding the problem the first time. To the best of my knowledge, Fiat uses Veglia and Magnetti Marelli electrics. Not perfect, but sure as hell better than Lucas!
I’ve owned/driven a Fiat for 25 years now. Fantastic car.
Gatopescado, most of the parts inside my 2012 Fiat are Mopar/Chrysler (I dunno about the electronics). It’s no longer your Uncle Tony’s Olde World Eye-talian Fiat. Your 25-year-old Fiat is a totally different car than mine (I think), which was built in Mexico.
The impressions I get is that they weren’t nearly as bad as the British roadsters they were competing with in terms of mechanical reliabilty, but man-oh-man the rust. Cars not surviving many Minneapolis winters in those days was to be expected, but those things had trouble surviving Miami winters.
Leases are only a good deal for people who don’t drive much. God help you if you exceed the mileage limits; those per-mile fees get really painful, really quickly.
Hey, my Saturn SL got 45 MPG..and it had a useable trunk and rear seats. Your “mechanic” cannot do an oil change on your car? I’d be looking for another mechanic.
Oddly the downpayment last night in Riverside CA was $999, $99 mo/24 mo/.020 mile over but today the down is $1999. Buy price for a stripped 2013 is $12999. Dealers are everywhere in L.A. so that’s a non-issue and it can’t be any more of a pain in the ass to work on than a turbo Mini.
You’re used to the high similarity of US, Japanese and common European cars, which share automotive DNA.
Many European cars of many vintages with “different DNA” will baffle mechanics who do not have specific experience with the marque. French cars of the 1950s-70s were infamous for having really bizarre service needs and techniques.IIRC, one of the Citroen models required a front hub nut to be torqued to 1,000 foot pounds; the Caravelle required a brace bar to be put in place when jacking it up, to keep it from bending, and one required something like removing the carburetor to drain the cooling system.
That said, any modern mechanic should have or be able to lay hands on service materials for any current car… they just may not want to.
Google around on “Fiat 500 oil change” and you’ll see it’s not a trivial issue. ETA: Here. 11 simple steps and a whole thread full of corrections.
I doubt most prospective customers know that Chrysler is building US-market 500s. It’s not like Fiat is a byword for quality anywhere else, in any event.
Not really. You can design a car to perform optimally or you can make it easy to service. From reading the instructions, it looks like the parts that have to be removed are for under car air flow and others are optimally routed given the tiny chassis. Rearranging all that to make it easy to service in five minutes is counterproductive. The car is “driven” every mile for 100,000 miles or more; making it best at that, rather than less optimal in favor of a twice-yearly service procedure, is the kind of tradeoff we will start seeing more and more.
This is the time of year ads for 3000+ down and tiny monthly payments really have a return on the advertising investments auto makers shell out.
People get an income tax refund, which they believe is found money (it’s really their tax overpayment from them not doing math or understand taxes), and they plunk it down on a lease down payment.
Your 25-year-old Fiat is a totally different car than mine (I think), which was built in Mexico.