[panther76]

hey all. i have really becomed intrigued with owning a fiat 500. i have always been a hatchback lover. howerver, there just isnt much soul in the small cars these days. heck, even my 79 year old dad, who has been driving camry's and maxima's forever loves the look of this car.

i want a car that looks fun and is a little fun to drive and gets good mileage.

101 hp in a 2350 lb car is plenty, so that is not a concern.

i have a toyota echo loving friend who always brags how his 05 echo is rated at 35 city/42 highway and thus says the fiat 500 mileage should be that good. i knew the epa changed its rating methodology in 2008. lo and behold, i discovered that his echo, under todays testing standards is rated at.....
http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/calculatorCompareSideBySidePopUp.jsp?column=1&id=20800


...............30 city/38 highway. same as the fiat 500 (well, in manual tranny form, which is the only way to drive a small car, imo). so, same epa numbers as the echo, but most certainly (im hoping) much more fun to drive.

so, i expect getting into the 40's mpg should not be hard at all with reasonable driving.

havent driven one yet, as there are no dealers remotely close (i live in southwest Michigan). ill drive pretty far to test drive one and even to buy one.

here is my concern: even if all the dealers listed were open, a big chunk of people would be left with drives of 100+ miles just for service.

this doesnt seem to be reasonable, especially with the blind leap of faith purchasing a fiat requires. are chrysler dealers who dont sell fiat's going to be able to service the 500's?

if not, i cant see pulling the trigger on this car.

thanks for any replies.

 

[calin]

Yes, the Fiat dealership I bought my 500 from told me that I can also take my car to any Chrysler dealership for service. My Fiat dealership is only about 20 minutes away, so that's not a problem for me.

 

[panther76]

Yes, the Fiat dealership I bought my 500 from told me that I can also take my car to any Chrysler dealership for service. My Fiat dealership is only about 20 minutes away, so that's not a problem for me.

i guess thats another concern. will chrysler acrually survive this time around. at any rate i suppose a service network would have to b in place for some time.

 

[andyandrews]

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. There was a requirement to have free-standing buildings for the Fiat brand. But the technicians could come from anywhere (from across the parking lot in many cases.) What are they doing - oil changes. A lift is the primary resource.

 

[panther76]

I wouldn't worry about it if I were you. There was a requirement to have free-standing buildings for the Fiat brand. But the technicians could come from anywhere (from across the parking lot in many cases.) What are they doing - oil changes. A lift is the primary resource.

i called fiat today. i was told an authorized fiat dealer was the only place to get the 3 yr 36 k maintenance program services:

The car comes with 3 years/36,000 mile free maintenance (schedule "A", which is normal driving) that includes select wear items such as; Brake Pads, Rotors, Wiper Blades and Clutch.

The intervals are at 8,000 miles and service at Fiat dealers only

this is good and an added benefit.....but not great for those of us that live 80 miles from the nearest dealer.

 

[andyandrews]

i called fiat today. i was told an authorized fiat dealer was the only place to get the 3 yr 36 k maintenance program services:

The car comes with 3 years/36,000 mile free maintenance (schedule "A", which is normal driving) that includes select wear items such as; Brake Pads, Rotors, Wiper Blades and Clutch.

The intervals are at 8,000 miles and service at Fiat dealers only

this is good and an added benefit.....but not great for those of us that live 80 miles from the nearest dealer.

The reality is that the Fiat 500 is a small city car. Fiat decided to mandate separate SALES facilities, copying the Mini Cooper paradigm. Therefore the limited numbers of new facilities, and distribution routes, as well as the design narrative of the vehicle, indicated locations near population centers. If you are not an enthusiast, and live far away from the city, it does not make as much sense to own one.

 

[thelattelady]

I took the blind leap...I live about an hour drive from the nearest dealer. I was told my 500 could only be serviced by a Fiat dealer...not a Chrysler dealer. After three weeks of ownership I had to drive back to the dealer due to a problem with the floor. It seems that the ac was draining into the car rather than out of the car. I dropped the car off and was given a Hyundai rental. I received a call today that the ac problem was quickly corrected. The carpet is to be replaced but will not be in until next week at the earliest. I love my new car but hope to not have to visit the dealer too often.

 

[rrucker]

We're all different, but an hour or so isn't unreasonable to me. The closest dealer is about 40 minutes from me, but I purchased and have mine serviced that's about double that (I like them better).

The closest Honda dealer (for my wife's car) is also 40 minutes and I drive over an hour each way to work (all highway), so I'm used to driving a little to get somewhere.

Ryan

 

[jimbo]

My studio is about 45 minutes away, not too bad. As far as actual mileage goes, it will be better than what is listed on the sticker. It seems
that they get around 38mpg mixed driving until 3,000 miles or so, then jumps up to over 40mpg. I have a 13 Sport, am now getting 42mpg mixed
with a little over 4,000 on the clock. Welcome and good luck!