Go FIAT....it's a great little car.

 

I never drove a base Fiat as sold here in the US. I drove an Abarth SS in France. So there might be the difference.

 

...It's a FIAT. It's a slight step up from a Smart Car. Agree with previous posters who said it looks like a toy. Then again it seems like most of the people commenting on this thread seem to be more "compact car" people than MINI people...just in observation.

 

I just saw the FIAT commercial featuring JLo.........WTF? Talk about taking something with great marketing potential and F'n it up......

 

I'll take a 500 Arbarth SS in a heartbeat; just watch!

- Erik

 

Sounds like French cars

 

Just read in NYTimes Auto section: FIAT Abarth 695 version in 2012.

http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2011...ef=automobiles

Cost? $52K!!

 

Maybe just a teeny-tiny bit of difference! Different engine, different suspension, different driving experience...

 

 

With ya on that one, depending on what they do to the suspension on the Abarth. If an Abarth had been available in the US this past July when I got my Mini, I would have seriously considered it.

 

Curiosity got the best of me and I test drove a FIAT500 today. No way I would ever consider trading my MCS in for that POS. The seat sat like I was in my Jeep Wrangler, visibility was horrible, absolutely no power, and I just about kicked a hole in the floor board when I went to change gears. I've driven a Justa before and it felt nothing like that. I see no way the Abarth could come close to my MCS. But we will see........

 

Basically Fiats are for people that think that a MINI is too big.

 

^ Idk about that. I own both...And comparing the two the 500 has more boot space and headroom.

 

We tried to drive a Fiat before ordering our Countryman. We were at the dealership for almost an hour. There was nobody around most of the time, and when people briefly showed up, they completely ignored us. If the sales vultures are that bad, I can't imagine the service department.

While waiting, I sat in a few and played with the controls. My overall impression was cheap, plastic, flimsy. The door handles felt like they were held on with duct tape or zip ties. All the controls felt flimsy and cheap. The interior was spartan. There is no contest between Fiat and Mini.

 

See I was treated basically the same way at the local Mini dealer as you were treated at Fiat. I was ready to buy and no one wanted to give me the time of day there. So we left after lurking around the showroom for 30 minutes or so. Ended up at the Fiat Studio down the street and we drove off in a Fiat 500 Sport with alot of extras thrown in. Their customer service and the over all experience was A+. It went in for it's first service visit a week ago and I was really happy about how I was treated.

My MCS is going to the dealer for it's Inspection II service this week and we'll see how their service experience will be.

We have to remember the 500 is a economy car that just so happens to compete with the Justa not the MCS. The Abarth will compete with the MCS. Which I can not wait to see the comparos come spring 2012 between the two.

I hear you on the cheapness but I feel the Mini is pretty cheap as well. I feel like I'm going to break off the interior door handles or the seat release handles on the front seats. There is other things that I do not like about my MCS.

What's funny their is a Fiat vs Mini thread over on the Fiat 500 forums.

 

I have seen the MINI has 38.8" in the front.
The 500 has 38.9 (989.1) or 37.6 (956.3) with sunroof.

Pretty sure I tried to sit in the non sunroof version and still didn't fit. The seat did not seem to go down enough. Too narrow for me as well.

The rear seat has 2 more inches in the MINI, I can fit in there, would not really want to, but I can.

Dimensions aren't everything either, different size and body types will fit differently. I tried the 500 on for size and gladly talked to the salesman, then left with a huge smile on my face as I walked to my MINI.

It is a cute car, but not big enough for me (sounds silly when talking to a guy who owns 2 MINIs, lol.

 

The front seats in the 500 are minivan high. The driver's seat has height adjustments but the passenger does not. That is the first thing I disliked about it.

When we bought the 500 the dealer had 5 used Minis on the lot. They were telling me that they have taken in 20 Minis in on trade since they have opened in the late spring.

I like the 500 but I am worried about the long term reliability.

 

20? I seriously doubt that. I wouldn't doubt that they actually bought those MINI's from an auction and brought them in as a sales gimmick.

 

quick storm the dealership and claim those minis!

 

IDK but I really don't think so because the 3 times I've been to that dealership there was always some Mini owner in the showroom trading in. Or maybe some of them did come from auction or from one of their other locations. They do have other brands like Nissan, Infiniti, Jeep, Honda, and VW.

Their already been claimed. Oh wait they have two on the lot.

 

The fiat actually shares some slight design cues from the PT Cruiser (barf) if you look at it from the rear.

It's a pretty meh car overall too

 

I like it. Not too sure about it's reliability, though ... Being a product of FIAT and Chrysler, especially. I'm sure someone will bring a 500 or 500 SS to the autocrosses next year, that will be the acid test between the two ( vs. my R53) cars... for me, anyway.

Fanboys ... Every forum has them, I suppose.

 

well in all fairness 1st gen minis were the product of chrysler and FWD BMW

 

anyone saw the fiat abarth commercial with the lady with scorpion tattoo her neck?

 

I was just going to point that out. Come to think of it the Tritec engine is from DiamlerChrysler, manufactured in Brazil and is shared in export Neon and PT Cruiser models.

The current engine is the Prince engine which is shared with PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The Fiat 500 shares it's platform with the Ford Ka.

I think it's a cool commercial.