2012 FIAT 500

2013 500 Abarth Cabrio

By droy (CA) on Wednesday, April 10, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 600

Pros: "Performance, Ride, Fun, Value, Build Quality"

Cons: "Steering Wheel needs telescope feature"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"This car needs is a telescoping steering wheel and passenger seat adjustment should offer same settings as the driver seat. It takes a bit to get used to sitting "on" the seat vs. sitting "in" the seat, but overall a really fun car for my daily commute of 60 miles in Southern California traffic. Very solid, and quiet on the freeway. Love the exhaust note around town. Yes cup holders are small so I bought an Abarth cup for 8 bucks it fits great. Skip the auto climate control, it works OK but for 800 bucks you get the same effect using the standard heat & a/c controls. The Beats stereo system is great and the Blue & Me works well. I also skipped the Tom Tom because I have a Garmin and I prefer to keep it on the left of the instrument cluster vs. the factory settings of on the right side."

4 people out of 4 found this review helpful

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Fantastic Value

By Music Dude (FL) on Saturday, April 06, 2013

I own this car - My approximate mileage is 12,700

Pros: "Quality of construction, fuel economy, reliability"

Cons: "Rear seat room"

Likely to recommend this car? (1-10): 10

"I bought my 2013 Fiat 500 Sport 5 speed to replace a 2009 Mini Cooper S Clubman. After owning the Mini just wasn't confident that it would hold up long term without having to take out a second mortgage to pay the mechanic. At under 30K miles, I had to have the following done: timing chain and tensioner and front brake pads along with regular routine maintenance. When I traded the car in at 32K, the car was indicating that it needed rear brake pads in another 10K miles. So, going from a 27,000 car to a 19,500 car would be painful, right? Not at all. I have features in tis car that the Mini did not have- 7 speaker Beats Audio with satellite radio and climate control. OK I gave up the power of the turbo in the Mini for the 101hp Fiat, but I am now averaging 39 MPG on my daily 120 mile round trip commute. Highway manners/handling are excellent, and the sport seats are very comfortable, even on long trips. The brakes are excellent, and the steering is very responsive. Fit and finish is excellent and the paint quality is far better than one would expect of a car in this price range. I have had no unexpected service visits, and the built in computer indicates when routing maintenance is requires. My oil change light came on around 8000 miles. While it does have rear seats, think of them as emergency seating only. With only 101hp on tap, expect to downshift from 5th to 4th for speedy passing. I'd buy this car again in a heartbeat."

8 people out of 8 found this review helpful

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