Overview & Reviews

Fiat is one of the earliest and grandest names in automobiles, dating from the establishment of Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino ("FIAT") in 1899. During the early years, its racing cars were the envy of every nation. Later on, the Fiat Topolino ("Little Mouse") was as famous as the Volkswagen KDF (subsequently known as the "Beetle") in the 1930s and '40s. The 1950s saw Fiat put much of Italy on wheels with the hugely popular 500, sparking the "Italian Miracle," a renaissance of European consumer products.

Sadly, the company's fortunes in the United States were mixed. Here, the Fiat 1500 won over a fair share of enthusiasts in the mid-'60s, and the early-'70s saw the Fiat 850 (Spider and Coupe) become popular among college students. Yet the Pininfarina-designed Fiat 124 sports car did the most to keep the Fiat image alive in America, as cars like the front-wheel-drive 128 and midengine X1/9 ultimately failed. Even Lancia, Fiat's premium brand, withered quickly after an introduction in the mid-'70s. Ultimately, Fiat's poor reputation for quality and its inability to cope with ever more stringent emissions regulations led the Italian company to pull out of the U.S. market altogether in 1984.

In 2000, General Motors acquired a stake in Fiat as part of a joint venture to create a new generation of small, affordable cars for Europe. GM's financial troubles led to the unraveling of this agreement in 2005, but Fiat had invested the GM money wisely in new air emissions technology. When the bankruptcy of Chrysler took place in 2008, Fiat saw an opportunity to return to the U.S. In 2009, Fiat acquired a controlling interest in Chrysler.

The Fiat 500, debuting for 2012, was the first of Fiat's new generation of cars to come stateside. Staying true to its lineage, the new 500 is very small, nimble and stylish. In addition to the 500 coupe, there are also the 500 convertible and hot-rod 500 Abarth to further tempt those looking for a small car with plenty of personality. More recently, Fiat has expanded its lineup with the fully electric 500e and the family-friendly, four-door 500L.

User Reviews:

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  It Popped! - 2012 Fiat 500
  By Gi - January 20 - 9:19 am

  Fun car to own and drive. It a crowd pleaser with loads of people smiling when I drive by. Enjoyed it very much. I almost forgot to put in gas.

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  My angry little car - 2016 Fiat 500
  By Brian Ach - November 20 - 1:30 pm

  Heres the thing--there are a lot of cars with more room, better build quality, more cache, better reliability, and more room. There are cars that have way more updated electronics, navigation, etc. and are more functional in terms of rear seat space, ergonomics and the like. None of them will be more fun than this car. None of them will make you smile, laugh, look forward to driving them, talk to people about them, or write a review. The Abarth (mine is a 2016 automatic in yellow) puts fun first and functionality second, but dont take that to mean its a toy or not a good everyday car. The automatic is a hoot (I own three other stick shift cars including a Porsche 911 in NYC) and blips the throttle with a roarty exhaust backfire when you get on the brakes. It pulls hard in point-and-squirt traffic when in "Sport" mode (the only mode you should be in) and hugs off-ramps like velcro to wool. Its fun. No one looks twice at your Mini Cooper S or your GTI. I catch people looking at this yellow bee all the time. The amazing thing is how good the ride is. Short wheelbase and stiff springs dont add up to comfort, but on the highway and terrible pavement, those dual-mode shocks work their magic and it is amazing. Seriously. Front seat space is good, visibility is great (a by-product of the high seating position) and when you fold the rear seats down (or delete them) its like the worlds smallest SUV. Its as much car as you want, but no more car than you need 94% of the time. Can humans fit in the back? Better than you think...but its tight. Can I park anywhere? Yes. Do what I did--find a used one with less than 5K miles on it, with a full factory warranty, let someone else take the depreciation hit, and drive off into the sunset. Does the exhaust sound better than a Ferrari? Yes. Is it fast? Not really, no. Does it know it? No. Its like the chihuahua who thinks its a Pit Bull, but its tongue-in-cheek. Its fun. Its probably just what you need.

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  Cute car, shifty car - 2016 Fiat 500x
  By kim - October 21 - 9:26 am

  If youre looking for something cute and stylish then Fiat 500x is the way to go. Not a good car when it comes to handling traffic! So much shiftiness, its definitely disappointing! On the highway though, great car! It feels safe and pretty smooth For the most part. Doesnt handle little bumps on the road too well. Overall, not the best car, but at least its cute?

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  Cute little car for pasta lovers - 2012 Fiat 500
  By Ed - July 27 - 10:56 pm

  Fun little car

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  Surprisingly adequate and just a little fun too - 2016 Fiat 500
  By libero1@earthlink.net - August 22 - 9:36 am

  Spouse and I found ourselves in a rush and needing a rental car. The only car immediately available was a Fiat 500 with automatic. We took it. On a 100 mile road trip to the event venue, the car proved to be more than adequate to the task. While acceleration was slow, once at speed the car maintained interstate speeds without trouble. We drove 80 and even 85mph, passing many more powerful cars. If you know how to drive a small engine, this thing will do the job. It was comfortable for two and luggage space was adequate for a long weekend trip.

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  Great-ish car. - 2016 Fiat 500e
  By Jon Sweitzernoffenhold - March 25 - 1:18 am

  I like the way the car drives, but dislike a lot of the interior features. First off, the performance is great and Ive never had such a fun car to drive. The acceleration sets you back in your seat and is instantaneous. I dont mind the range as we kept our gas cars and 95% of our driving is local. The charging has been fine with the standard 110 outlet and I dont see a need for the fast charger. My 7 year old daughter fits in the rear seat without a problem, but Im happy the lease will be up in a few years as well run out of room as she grows. As for the bad....Headroom is awful. Im 63" and basically have to put my head into the sunroof area to drive. Backing out of a driveway is difficult as the rear visibility is very poor. Im happy for the sensors. Storage inside the car is also horrible. The glove box interior is flat so all your stuff comes out when you open the door. The cupholders are too close together for even 2 medium drinks. Theres nowhere to put a cell phone. I hate the radio. Theres a navigation warning that comes on for a while that prevents you from changing the channel...unless you take your eyes off the road and hit the "accept" button twice. I dont need navigation as my cell phone does it better. The Satellite Radio sounds compressed and worse than a cassette tape. Theres no CD player. I love audio and honestly cant speak to the quality of the speakers since broadcast radio is the best quality thing Ive listened to. I hate that every statistic is listed in MPGe, but we fill the car in kilowatts. I find MPGe to be a worthless number. One cool feature about the car is the smartphone app that allows me to turn on the climate control before I get to the car. Its just tough that it only turns on the last setting you had. If I drove with the air off and the windows down, I have to remember to turn it back to automatic 68 degrees when I park if I want to use the app. I also love/hate the Apps function to show where the car is because it allows the person with whom you share the car with to spy on you. I have nothing to hide, but it gets weird when the other person knows where you went out for lunch. The regenerative braking is cool, but it doesnt seem to activate fully until the car is less than 90% charged. i.e. It will regenerate up to -10kw, but after 89% battery remaining it will go up to -40kw regeneration. It almost pays not to fully charge the car if you dont need the range. Theres also a weird spot between 5mph and 0 where the brakes engage differently and grip strongly into a forceful stop. Overall I like the car as a car, but dont like the comfort features. Ill miss it when the lease is up because it is such a unique experience.

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  The more-than-adequate compact crossover from Fiat - 2016 Fiat 500x
  By D. Winkler - September 22 - 3:51 am

  This is a compact version of your average American crossover, with enough horsepower, traction and capability to do almost everything you need it to do, and not a bit extra. It wont tow your heavy equipment or move much of your furniture, but in Pop form, with the turbocharged multi-air four and six speed manual, it will get down the road nicely. Put some good snow tires on its steel wheels and you will get where you are going through considerable snowfall. The seats are comfortable, but rear seat passengers will be crowded. Handling is really quite good, though my Fiat 500 Pop would run circles around it, and the 500X could easily be called "quick," but not fast. Note that the six speed manual makes all the difference in this model Fiat, though the option sacrifices you will have to make to row your own gears are substantial. It seems that Fiat jumped on the manual-because-we-must bandwagon and the 1.4L 6MT is basic in most areas. They saved the really good stuff for the Easy and Trekking versions. No matter, the Pop 1.4L 6MT is a hoot to drive, has good road manners, decent acceleration with the turbocharger and a healthy lack of infotainment bells and whistles. I do wish accessories were more reasonably priced and the 1.4L multi-air engine didnt eat premium gas, but there is much to like and no complaints so far. The Pop manual edition wont be easy to find, since it seems each studio has only one, but Fiat is offering some attracting incentives this fall (Oct 15).

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  Love it so far! - 2012 Fiat 500
  By Chelsea - May 2 - 11:56 pm

  I fell in love with Fiats after my trip to Italy and have wanted one ever since. After being super unhappy with Honda, I traded in for a Fiat. As a college student who works a lot and commutes, I put a lot of miles on my cars, relatively quickly. Ive had my Fiat for nearly a year and have put on about 10,000 miles on it (now has about 50k miles) and absolutely no problems so far. I dont think its THAT comfortable of a ride, but its not uncomfortable. I feel safe in it. Its very responsive. Stereo sounds good. I was really looking for something cost effective and it fits the bill. It costs $15-20 to fill my gas tank which I love. The only issues I have with it are minor. The bluetooth button is annoying, I dont use it and my hand always seems to hit it while steering. And the blinker is a little wonky. Ill have my blinker going left or right, take my turn, and many times it wont turn off so Ill manually put it in the middle to stop blinking, but instead, the opposite blinker goes off. I dont know if its just my car or a known problem, but its a pretty minor complaint. I just feel like anyone driving behind me probably thinks Im crazy when I have my left blinker on, then right after my right blinker may turn on until I can get it to stop blinking. Otherwise, great little car with a lot more space than it looks like from the outside. I love throwing the backseats down and having tons of room. A lot of people stare at it wherever I am because there arent a whole ton of Fiats around, which is cool. Great commuter car, I truly enjoy it and would recommend it.

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  Fiat sport turbo - 2012 Fiat 500
  By A Ressing - November 24 - 9:00 am

  Only had it a short time but love turbo and handling.

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  Over 20K on a 2014 Fiat 500L Trekking - 2014 Fiat 500L
  By Scott in DFW - November 17 - 3:28 pm

  Its a shame this car has gotten such bad press. I know some have had bad experiences, but Ive read about others who have had wonderful experiences with this car. You can almost park this car almost anywhere -- I believe its length is a few inches shorter than a Toyota Corolla -- yet it has such room inside for passengers and cargo. Its not a sports car, but it handles well enough and rides comfortably on all but the roughest or bumpiest roads. As of this writing, I have had no issues at all; just normal maintenance. The bad press has probably affected sales, so look carefully for a good deal if youre shopping for one.