Fiat 500 US Market

I ordered an accessory for Brownie...coming from the UK...should arrive in a week or so...

 

500L pricing just announced, with shipping the base model (all have the 1.4 liter with turbo 160hp) will be right at $20,000.

2014 Fiat 500L priced from 19,100 USD

 

Rec'd today; installation was a bit sticky...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Towbin Fiat of Vegas has an unbelievable deal on Abarths now

$199/mo lease with $5200 signing. I saw one parked in a shopping mall. I thought it was a 500 but nope-- Abarth. The sign on the window said "Abarth special lease program -- $199/mo!"

Signing number is probably a bit high for most though. Still, $199/mo is darn cheap.

 

That is cheap: if I had somewhere to put it, I'd grab one.

I almost bought an Abarth instead of the Maserati last month. Awfully fun little car.

 

Well, my daughter wants to buy one now.

I don't really see any problem with that - the only thing I'd hate to see happen is that Fiat pull out any time soon - leaving her paying for a car that might be hard to get parts/service for or with a dramatically decreased value.

Thoughts? This would be her first "new" car purchase - I'd hate for it to be a sour experience.

BTW - For the first time ever, I think - it looks like about 40% of the cars on the lot at my local studio are Abarth's. Seems like they can't give them away.

 

How much off MSRP are Abarths selling for these days? Any kind of discounts or incentives out there for purchasing one? Also, anyone know good sources to find out true invoice pricing on the cars and option packages?

I've been toying with the idea of buying an Abarth since they first came out. Drifted on to other thoughts for a while, and now find myself thinking about it more and more. Basically I am hankering for a FUN daily driver. My FJ Cruiser is a fine daily driver, but not very fun. My 355 and MG's are fun, but nothing I want to drive back and forth to work and leave parked in the blazing sun all day. The Abarth ticks a lot of boxes: fun, good gas mileage, 4 seats (355 goes unused on a lot of trips where I'd otherwise take it because of our 2 year old), easy to use, unique, sounds good, inexpensive, etc.

 

Maybe look for a low mileage used one?

I got lucky and came across a 1900 mile Sport that was a trade-in for an Abarth and I paid the price of a Pop.

There are probably some early ones coming off of lease now and I suspect it won't be long until a "certified pre-owned" program is available (if not already).

Are you sure they are the same cars? My dealer has had a good selection of Abarth's for awhile but they seem to be turning them over at a decent rate based on my occasional review of their inventory. Interestingly the "no option" Abarths seem to sit the longest but again this is anecdotal.

Note sure of the reliability of the info but you might try these...

New 2013 FIAT 500 Price Quote w/ MSRP and Invoice

2013 FIAT 500 Abarth Abarth Price With True Market Value^®

 

Yes. It is a reliable car. I had a 500 Sport that I put 33,000 miles on and traded for an Abarth that I put 25,000 miles on. In my total of almost 60,000 miles I've had no trouble. But don't go by my good experience. Go by objective stats that show that yes, it is a reliable car. Also, sales are getting up there with Mini. Here in the Long Island/NY area I see about two every day. The factory is probably churning out too many and flooding the dealer lots. FIAT is not pulling out anytime soon. They own Chrysler, just introduced the larger 500L, and will launch yet another model in 2015.

 

For everyone's information, FIAT Club America's National Convention, the FIAT FreakOut is being held on LI, July 18-21.

Not jut for FIATS. ALL Italian car fans can attend, and ALL Italian cars are welcome to enter the concours.

To attend, there are two steps:

1) Be a member of FIAT Club America
You can pay full membership for $35, or just for Fiat FreakOut for $20.00

2) Register on line or by mail for all Fiat FreakOut activities.
There are charges for some things like meals, of course. Drives are free, but you still need to register to plan the event.

All you need to join and register can be found at this link:

https://www.fiatclubamerica.com/fiat-freakout-2013

 

I'm turning 34,000 miles on my sport - I'm not really concerned - just sort of thinking out loud. If they were to stop selling tomorrow, I wouldn't care and I'd be able to take the depreciation hit. Just thinking along those lines....

 

Just have her lease then, and the depreciation risk is assumed by someone else.

 

EXCLUSIVE! Fiat Slaps MINI Upside The Head With Racy New Commercial - YouTube

 

They've come a long way from J. Lo.

 

Fiat didn't do too well in the JD Power survey. They were next to bottom. So what say you Fan Boys? Have you had many problems? Be honest, now. (I know, I know, this is the Internet.)

 

Saw that. The JD Power Survey logs every negative comment by new owners. So if an owner of FIAT thinks that the seat adjustment handle is too flimsy, that is marked against it as poor quality. Is it? Maybe, depends upon you point of view.

I have a total of over 60,000 miles on my two 500s. Here are the problems that I have had between both cars:

Bubbles appeared in FIAT logo
Lower body cladding separating on one side (it is taped on)
The clock does not keep good time.

That's it. My car is a daily driver LI to NJ. Every day, highway, stop and go traffic, potholes daily, rain, snow, heat.

Performs flawlessly.
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

Ditto here. 19000 miles on the Abarth, daily driver (66 miles round trip). Slow clock. That's about it. Oh, needed new back tires too quickly, but then I did do a couple of track days and drive with a lead foot.

As an aside, Chrysler service departments rebadged as Fiat service don't yet know what they are doing. Maybe that's part of the survey problem.

 

2012 Abarth with 11,800 miles
Clock slow
Rocker clad issues on both sides
My car never liked to engage reverse gear and it is getting worse (service scheduled in July to check this out)
Tires are wearing fast (no track time at all, this is my daily highway driver)

 

'12 Sport w/21K miles.
Daily driver, 70 mile round trip interstate commute.
Problems are the aforementioned bubbling exterior logos and slow clock. Also had a clip break on the shift boot.

A/C might be an issue as we get deeper into summer as I mentioned in this post...

Overall, I'm...
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

JLO, err LOL! That's great and the L actually looks decent in that ad...perhaps my attention was distracted a bit though.

 

13K on my Abarth, no issues. The clock was slow the first day, I adjusted it, and it's fine now. One oil change/tire rotation, no issues other than the dealer charged two limbs (arm and leg as I recall).

no other issues so far as a daily driver

 

Car and Driver had their long term test of a 500. 40k no problems. They are used in rental fleets. I wonder what the spread is from Highly rated cars to lower rated cars in JD Power.

 

Unfortunately, the Fiat 500 comes in one above dead last. Surprising, the last place car is the Scion. "Et tu Toyota?"
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

I'm curious to see what the FIAT's "problems" are

 

As was stated, JD Power's initial quality survey includes what customers perceive are design flaws or bad choices. So if someone mentioned the Fiat's driving position, that's a "problem." This also means the IQS is very subject to the buyers' propensity to complain, which I would imagine is different among different car makers. For example, something tells me Porsche owners are bit more "brand-proud" than most and unwilling to complain to JD Power. BMW owners (at least according to a service-writer friend) are extremely whiny, especially leased 328 owners.