2012 FIAT 500 consumer reviews

Move over Mini, the Fiat 500 is now available in the United States and Canada. This city car may look tiny but once you take a seat behind the wheel, you forget you are in a car that could quite possible fit in the bed of a large sized pickup truck. Everything about the Fiat 500 works well together. The high-reving engine is mated beautifully to a 5 speed manual (forget the auto tranny) and you will find yourself pushing the car in corners to take advantage of superior handling. All body panels fit like they should and the little touches of chrome give the car a bit of class. The only disappointment is in the interior materials. Fiat relys too heavily on hard plastics. They are everywhere and you will not find a soft spot anywhere outside of the seats or armrests. While it lacks in soft plastics, it makes up for in design. The basic seats are supportive and adjustable plus appealing. The body color panel on the dashboard is a great touch. One thing that may take time getting used to is the single large guage cluster. When I first picked up my 500, I had the hardest time figuring out how fast I was going, but after a few trips, it became old hat. Don't get me wrong, the Fiat 500 is a city car. I wouldn't suggest you take many long trips with this car. You will notice that you do feel everything in the pavement, not too harshly but you will feel more than in your average miod-size. The best way to get your Fiat is to order the Pop with only the sunroof option. Check out a wheel distributor to personalize your Fiat. If you want a leather interior, there are many companies creating options. I love my Fiat 500 and have recommended it to many people and now to you.

I love driving my Fiat! I bought the Lounge edition because I love the extra flair it brought to the exterior and interior of the 500. My 500 is loaded with Leather seats, navigation, reverse parking sensors...basically everything you would expect on something much more expensive. Being a small city car, I was a bit nervous about it's highway performance but it actually does quite well and I feel extremely confident. Overall I am happy with my purchase and would definitely recommend it to others looking for a car with style and sophistication.

Gets okay gas milage, poor excuse for a backseat, might as well not have one. Not that much smaller than a sedan. Very disappointed with it, not worth the money.

I just purchased a Fiat 500c Pop. I got the white pearl with a burgundy top. The interior is red and cream with a white dash and steering wheel. This car is absolutely beautiful!! I had to get one out of state because there wasn't a lot of options where I live. Mine is a stick and I would highly recommend the manual. I am a woman and realize most women either don't like stick or don't know how to drive one. If you can and don't mind GET THE MANUAL. The car drives amazing and has a lot of pickup for such a small amount of horses. The options are amazing, and the car is high quality on the inside and out. People have told me it looks like a very expensive vehicle. I get a lot of questions, people stare and point while I am driving down the street. The compliments are endless. The seats are comfy, and the backseat fits my twins and boosters just fine. Love the steering mounted controls and the radio works great without having to upgrade to Bose. The sport button when pressed gives you a very noticeable difference in driving experience. Shifting is so smooth, I thought something was wrong with it when I first test drove it! The automatic cloth top feels very solid when operating it and opens up the car beautifully! Right now I am getting 44 mpg and that is city!!! Great car, get one now while the price is still acceptable. If it picks up in popularity like I think it will the price will go up as well.

I bought a 500 Sport w/stickshift. I've had it for three months now and I am 100% satisfied. I get 35 mpg city & 44 mpg highway (with A/C on). This is a truly excellent value for under $20,000. TALL people fit easily! It's deceiving in its small looks - for 2 people is very very spacious. Excellent value, excellent comfort, beautiful design & nice incorporation of current technology (USB, AUX..., XM/Sirius, Trip Info, Bluetooth, Voice Activation, iPod control from steering wheel, automatic climate control), excellent handling (was zipping along highway speed in NYC's torrential rains yesterday with no slippage). There are more comfortable seats out there from volvo & bmw ( for $30,000+), faster engines, AWD, but cars with these features all cost thousands more and get worse milage. The mini & new VW bug, for instance, cost $5,000 more than the Fiat when equipped similarly. Don't be shy! Sit in one! Try one out! 3000 miles into ownership and nothing but smiles.

The Fiat 500 has consistently been one of Europe's top selling cars since its introduction in 2007, and I couldn't wait to check it out once it arrived here in the States. Everything about it is surprising. Even in base trim it comes well-equipped, with a height-adjustable seat, keyless entry, a/c, Sport-mode button for more aggressive driving, and stereo with CD. Once I drove it, my decision had been reached. Tiny on the outside, for two people the interior is extremely comfortable up front. Everything is easy to reach, works well, and the driver's seat is soft and supportive without being bulgy in the wrong places like some other cars. All of the displays are large and well-marked and controls within easy reach. The styling of the interior is brilliant - unlike the Mini, the 500 captures a retro-feeling interior ambiance without putting the buttons and levers in places you aren't normally going to look for them. Other than a few things which are out of place, like the look of the door panels, the interior seems upmarket, almost near luxury, and the 500 is competitive in that area too - you can get heated seats, heated mirrors, a Bose or Kicker sound system, full leather interior, alloys and chrome galore for about $4k less than a Mini. The back seat is small, but it isn't entirely inhospitable. I have sat back there, and while it isn't a Suburban it does actually fit two people, and my dog likes it back there just fine. The interior is also rounded out by seven airbags, including a knee bag for the driver which is not the norm in this segment. The 500 was also safety-reinforced additionally for the US market. I do have a sunroof, but at 5 foot 10 I don't have headroom issues. Very tall people may, but since none of us should buy a car sight unseen I suggest you check out the headroom both with and without before you buy. Unlike the review below, I am aware that most cars with an autostick require you to shift the car yourself when the car is not in 'D' - which, for those of you who've never driven an automatic, means "Drive". With the autostick in "+ -", you must shift the car yourself. Press up for lower gears and down for higher. I am not sure what it so mysterious about this and, for the record, his car shifted at 40 and 70 in autostick mode to protect the transmission because that's what it does if you don't shift it manually. Also, I'd tend to take reviews from people that rented ANY car with a grain of salt. Are these people who would have purchased it otherwise? Not necessarily. You buy cars to live with - you *rent* them because you need transportation. Anyway, the 500 keeps up with traffic just fine. It feels sprightly and energetic, yet the ride is among the softest and most compliant I've ever experienced in a small car. It feels larger than it is until you try to park it, which is when you will see that you often have several more feet in front of you than you think you do. Those of you that like strong handling may well want to try the Sport, with larger tires and a lower stance but for most of the United States the Pop and Lounge versions offer a nice ride without a severe trade-off in handling or safety. Most of us owners are also getting MUCH better MPGs than the EPA numbers. Huh... The only marks I detracted were for reliability and that's only because it remains to be seen. As a new model here, only time will tell. But speaking of time, in the time I've had mine I've been delighted. It is simply brilliant in that it makes me and my family happy to drive it. Other people smile at it and wave. Others stop to ask what it is. Still others owned them in Italy and want to tell you about some experience they had in it. There are so few cars out there these days that don't feel like appliances. Still fewer that can make us smile with a starting price of $15,500. In both respects Fiat has finally shared with us a bulleye: high smiles per dollar. Such a rarity these days...

I now drive a Toyota Corolla stick. 45 years ago I owned a Fiat 600 stick shift. Last weekend, I rented an automatic Fiat 500 with the "shift feature". The new 500 is about the same size as the old 600. With a stick shift the new 500 might be o.k. for city driving. However, as the rental company did not tell me about the +/1 auto-stick feature, I drove on the highway without using it. The engine raced and only shifted at 40 and 70 mph. It performed better once I went online and figured out the shift, but it is no substitute for a real stick shift. Very slow to accelerate. Plus a gigantic blind spot. Don't buy.

I've had my Prima Edizione 500 for a month and am continually surprised everytime I pull out of the drive way. I did a lot of research prior to buying the car. I read every review. Its not a luxury car but its not meant to be. And the reviews about hard ride or noise or seat comfort I dismiss, If I had wanted these features I would have bought an American boat where there is no road feel and you are lulled to sleep. The car is peppy and sticks like glue while cornering. Take one for a test drive and you'll be sold.

I've had my Fiat 500 for about a month. I took it easy for a while as the engine was break in. Now that I've gotten to know the car and the engine working optimally, this thing is a joy to thrash around! I drive all of my cars hard (including a Honda Civic Hybrid - go figure), and this thing takes everything that I am giving it and I'm sure it could take more but I would like it to last a while. Don't be fooled by the 101 hp engine either. The 500 is definitely sporty and peppy as long as you are not afraid to step on the gas pedal. It likes to rev around 4000-4500 rpm's, so don't be so shy getting the car up there in rpm department. My car is a Prima Edizione and therefore comes with a lot of features. It is closest to the 500 Sport with a 5 speed transmission and 16 inch rims. The only downside - and I can't really call it a downside because I knew what I was getting when I bought it - is the headroom. I am 6'1" tall and I bought the car equipped with the sunroof which lowers the headliner a bit. My hair does touch the headliner, however I don't notice it touching anymore. I guess I got used to it. If you opt for no sunroof, you get a little more headroom. Speaking of room, this is a tiny A-segment car, and so you have to be prepared for the size before even test driving one. The front seats are smaller than your average car, however front legroom is not an issue (remember, I'm 6'1"). The inside does not feel small and claustrophobic, however, I have yet to sit in the back seat. I don't think I will dare go back there. This is definitely a two+two seater, and I wouldn't torture any of my friends in the back seat for more than a 10-15 minute ride. Kids and elves would be more than fine though. I haven't figured out the fuel economy that I am getting. There is an app for your computer where you can plug a flash drive into the car and then the computer, and then the app will calculate the way you drive. It is from Fiat and it is called ecoDrive. I just downloaded it today and will see how it works. I haven't had a car that I liked to drive in a while. This car is a joy every time I get behind the wheel.

The FIAT 500 has been available here in the UK since 2007. It is based upon the FIAT Panda. Here, it is available with: 0.9 2cyl (84bhp) petrol 1.2 4cyl (59bhp) petrol 1.4 4cyl turbo (100bhp/135bhp/155bhp) petrol 1.2 4cyl (74bhp) diesel The fastest in the range is the 1.4 Turbo Abarth Esseesse, with 158bhp, shifting to a top speed of 140mph. There is an Abarth version with 138bhp, and the standard 1.4, developing 100bhp. A special edition is avaliable, the '695 Tributo Ferrari', which has 170bhp, and hits 60mph in 7 seconds. It is a 1368cc engine. All 1.4s claim an average fuel consumption of 40+mpg. The two cylinder engine, named the 'TwinAir', is just 875cc, however, it develops a respectable 84bhp. It hits 60mph in 11.0 seconds and prodeuces a claimed 69.9mpg. Plans to introduce this engine with 64bhp and 104bhp have been announced. This engine can be found in the FIAT Doblo, FIAT Bravo, FIAT Grande Punto, FIAT Punto Evo and FIAT Panda. The engine comes with a 5-speed manual gearbox. The 1.2 is the cheapest of the range here in the UK, with prices starting at under #10,000. It is a 1242cc unit, which has been used in cars in the UK since the 1990s. It can be found in three generations of Fiesta, the previous generation Mazda 2, the new Ford Ka, the FIAT Panda, the FIAT Doblo, the previous generation FIAT Bravo, the previous generation FIAT Punto, and of course the FIAT 500. It is not particularly powerful, developing a mere 59bhp, however, it can be found in other variants developing 82bhp. In the FIAT 500, the claimed fuel consumption figure is a deeply impressive 55mpg. The 1248cc diesel unit develops over 70bhp, and an impressive amount of torque found at the low end of the revs. The diesel engine is called the '1.3 Multijet' Although they claim it to be a 1.3, technically, this engine is a 1.2. It can be found in the FIAT Panda, FIAT Qubo and Ford Ka, as well as the FIAT 500. Here in the UK, there is a FIAT 500C. It is available with an electronic fabric roof which folds to the back of the roof of the car. It means that the car can maintain its rigidity, with the roof remaining very similar to a standard FIAT 500. Although it gives the impression of a large sunroof, from inside you get the sense that you are driving a convertible. The FIAT 500 is very customisable in the UK; there are all sorts of different colours, engines, bodystyles, spec, equipment, wheels and stickers you can spec on the car, that it is rare to see two that are alike. Just check out FIATs UK website to see how unique you can make this car. The Italian stripes are very popular in the UK; contrasting green, red and white, usually either along the bonnet (hood), or across the sides of the car. The fact that you can almost personalise your own car has helped the 500 succeed over here, in a similar way to how the MINI has showed it can practically walk off of the showroom floor for the same reason. A concept has been shown by FIAT earlier this year. It demonstrated how FIAT intend on making a Fiat 500 Coupe, a sportier car in appearance. The original FIAT 500 was a success because it was simple, rugged and cheap. It was a charismatic, little car with bundles of charm and character. It was available with a 479cc (later 499cc) two cylinder engine developing a mere 17.5bhp. This rear-engined machine, however, started a revolution of small cars across Europe. In the 1990s, the FIAT Cinquecento (Italian for '500') was released. Available with either a 0.9 or 1.1, it was cheap, and many can be found around loads of European countries. Special editions of this car include the 'Pink' edition, which if you haven't already guessed, is a bit on the feminine side. Also, there is the 'BlackJack', a menacing looking car, with matte black paint, and grey alloy wheels. Try Googling these cars, just to see how much they stand out. Some of the FIAT 500 range in the UK is available with Start/Stop in order to make them more efficient. The FIAT 500 is well worth a look if you are in the market for an affordable small car. It is very nimble and agile, and is a much more exciting alternative to the Ford Fiesta or Honda Jazz (Fit).