Anyone have any impressions - good or bad with the Fiat 500e? Fantastic deal on the base model here in CA. You can pick one up on a lease for $0 down, drive offs only with a lease rate of $150 a month. Add another $20 if you want the sunroof. I usually spend that much per month on gas, so the car is basically "free" (about $3 for a full electric charge at home - free at the hook ups at the mall) It has a range of 80-100 miles on a charge and is fairly quick and for those of us in CA, it can go in the HOV lanes. Seems like a great, inexpensive DD car for to/from the office or running errands around town. Anyone have any experience with one?
I've seen a few driving around LA. I think that FCA sells them at a loss so they can use it for selling other cars in CA. I've never driven one. To me, electric cars should be the most dependable kind of cars you can make.
So I picked up the 500e mainly for my wife touse around town.Apparently these are only available in California and Oregon. It's a quick, fun little car. Great for those errands around town as the range is 85-110+ miles on a charge. Actually better in stop and go than the freeway with the regenerative charging with braking. With $11,000 in Rebates it comes to about $170 per month on a lease for one with the sport package and sunroof. I figure it will save about $120 a month in gas (at California $4+ gallon prices) so the net cost is closer to $50 per month. Sure beats what I was paying for the lease on my wife's Mercedes and gas.
I'm sure Fiat is losing money on these but because of the laws in CA and Oregon they have to make them. They are required by state law to have so many electric sales or they can't sell there (or something like that). That's good for you but not for Fiat!
That's what they were saying at the dealer. At $34K for the car, Fiat is losing money on each one sold. Factor in the $11,000 in rebates and its down to $23,000. A little negotiating and its down to $22,000 (at this price, they don't take much off). On a lease, you are only amortizing a little over $5,000 over the 3 years. LA's Department of Water and Power is even covering via additional rebate the cost of the Tier 2 Rapid Charger for the home (charges in 4 hours vs 16 for the stock one). At the end of the day, its a fun car. The rest of the country is missing out!
That's an amazing deal for what sounds like a fun little car. If I lived in an urban environment the 500e would be at the top of my list.
That is unbelievably cheap. If the batteries go away you can just let a tow truck take it to the recycle yard and you still wouldn't lose money. Drive it into the ground.
Also, don't you get several free rentals for longer trips (when you buy new)? I saw that on a 500e review, and I thought that was a cool idea. They are dirt cheap used.
Tons of them coming off the 2013-4 leases. You can buy them all day long around here for 6-9K depending on miles. Talk to your local dealer, though. Nobody areound here is trained to work on them, nor are they allowed to at the local draler. I asked, was told they could change the tires and wax it.
be careful buying one off warranty, I have heard the battery replacement (which is not uncommon) is a pure fortune.
The dealer told me they have a 100k warranty that is transferable for the battery and the one offered to me has -30k miles
I've got a crazy idea. Buy a used E model for cheap. Drive it around until the batts. give out. Then drop in a SBC (don't tell anyone), and you can keep driving it around without having to do any smog tests. Genius!
So here is the deal, the warranty expires in one year regardless of mileage. The car is back from a lease. So I researched the battery life, 5-8 years. So the car is 4 years old currently and I figured even if I had to replace the battery in a few years I might be ahead. Well , guess what a battery pack costs? sit down and take a deep breath $28,750.00 https://www.fiatpartswebstore.com/products/gb/FIAT/500E/BATTERY-KIT-Hybrid/11241489/68225701AD.html?partner=googlebase_adwords&kwd=&origin=pla
Electric car resale (Fiat, Kia, Mitsubishi, Nissan, etc) is ****. Take the incentives (California and Federal) and deduct that off the car new. That's the starting price for a used one. Then begin deducting for milage, etc. I've seen the Mitsubishi/Fiats (used) in the $5k-$8k range. For the price they're charging, you're better off buying a used one. Still get the warranty remaining, and it probably already has the carpool sticker on it.
You can lease one for $49/mo no money down. Yes thats right $49/mo. Less than the price of a tank of gas for a whole car. At that price its a throw away car.
In CA last year. But they still want $2 grand down. Still, a hell of a deal. Most leases where like $99 which was the same as a typical Fiat Pop, I think it's only for CA residents because you get the tax break to get down this low. I think dealers try to move them out of CA after the lease expires to try to get additional resale value. Fiat has to make these things to comply with the California regulations. So, they will do anything to get them on the street. Its also how you can get a Toyota with a $100,000 hydrogen fuel cell in it for $350 a month -- and FREE FUEL for one year! The irony is hydrogen is not green. They get it from natural gas. The bi-products is Co2 -- yep, greenhouse gas.